Old Cottages

A Memory of Horningsham.

July 19th 2012
Vancouver
Canada

Oh ! My god what a shock
I was evacuated to Horningsham in 1941 to live with my mother's aunt Jessie and her husband Billy. He had been gassed in WW1 and worked on the Longleat Estate as a gardener, but I cannot remember their surname.
I could not stand living with them and spent most of my time with the Ford family and eventually moved in with them. I am sure it they lived in the cottage on the right of the photo. Jessie and Billy lived in some old estate cottages which are no longer there. No running water, no inside toilet, she was a terrible cook and very srtict - they had no children of their own.
I went back in 1973 and found the old village water pump at the corner of their garden. This brings back so many memories.
I went to school for the first time at 3 1/2 and learned to read within 3 months. I walked every day from the village to the school. I remember movies (film) in the village hall and the night a german plane on the way back from bombing Bristol crashed near the village and brought down the power lines and stopped the movie - 'Beau Geste'.
At 76 this photo and the village photos brings back so many memories. My e-mail is eurocdn@aol.com - if there is anybody out there who remembers anything about those days please contact me.
I lived there for about two years if i remember correctly. Thanks, John May, Vancouver, Canada.