Police Houses

A Memory of Hindlip.

I used to live with my aunt and uncle at 10 the Crescent from 1948 to 1954. It was a fantastic life there with woods to play in, and streams to divert. An absolute paradise.  As young children we could play all day in the woods in complete safety. I often wonder where everyone now is. I played with Rodney Halford, Ian Frathes, Sylvia Frathes, Robert Gamble, and many others. Every day we walked down the lane to Fernhill Heath School, and in the winter it was hell with the snow knee deep. I have lived and worked around the world since then, and am now working in Italy post retirement. But my mind always drifts back to those days at Hindlip. I remember Mr Webb the photographer, and still have the photograph he took of me with Janice Wild. There was also old Mark Dingly in the black and white cottage who always had a kind work for the children. And sadly, Flo Gammon, who organized our Christmas parties, but died so suddenly. On alternative Sundays we would go to either Hindlip Church, or Mrs Gamble would take us to on a long walk to the church at Martin Hussingtree. Bonfire night was fun with a big bonfire outside the hall. Now all of the houses in the Crescent and the Drive have been demolished. The farm at the back of the woods is still there, though I hear it is now up for sale and possible demolition.  The little row of cottages opposite the farm is also still there, but I do not know if any are occupied. It all reminds me of the old Housman poem:
Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?
That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.
It was something from a past age that only a few of us could enjoy.  I regret that my daughter could never share a similar experience.  Sadly I have no pictures to post.  Except for those of us who lived there no one will ever know Hindlip existed. I must go back one day and explore the church and old grave yard.  There is still so much to remember.
Dr C R Westwood
San Donato Milanese
Italy
2010

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