Charcters Of Hilton

A Memory of Hilton.

My husband's great-aunt was Minnie Drake, who had been the local teacher all her life, until retirement. We visited her and her sister Fanny in their thatched cottage, first of all before our marriage and later after our marriage. A small fire would burn in the hearth and the house was full of china and chairs passed down the family. When we visited for the first time I wore a long purple maxi coat. Minnie gave a wry smile and said "Is Anita the Bishop?". Little did I know that one day many years later I was to be in the first group of women priests ordained in Bristol Cathedral in March 1994. Minnie had died many years earlier but her words had a prophetic ring, but I shall be well retired before the legislation goes through to ordain women as Bishops, however, although she did not realise it it her joke had at least partly prophetic insight! My husband's memories go back to a further sister called Julia and an older lady relation called Ginnie. My husband's mother was a Drake and she grew up in Milton Abbas. We were told that ten children had been brought up at one time in the small thatched cottage. The two sisters whom I met, Fanny and Minnie, were very hospitable, one could never leave without having a cup of tea or a glass of sherry. I made them a Christmas cake until we moved from Dorset to live near Bristol. I have fond memories of them and the village. They were great characters.

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