Wembley Convalecent Home, Near Bideford North Devon

A Memory of Bideford.

In 1948 when I was 9 years old I was sent to Wembley convalescent home in North Bideford after recovering from scarlet fever, I loved it there, it was like heaven on earth. we had no education, all we had to do was read a passage from the bible that we were unfamiliar with and learn it off by heart and then we were allowed out to play. In the grounds there was three large rhododendron bushes that were large enough the play in. the staff kept us well dressed and took us for walks in the woods and after walking for about half an hour we would come to a group off cottages with a stream running beside them and there was rabbit holes large enough for us to fall into so we had to be careful, I expect the woods are all gone now. probably housing estates and shops are there. I spent a year there and because my mother had said she would only let me go to the convalescent home if they would give her a council house in Kent,I went in back to live with her and my step father in St Pauls Cray Kent. we had been living with my aunt and uncle in North London.