War Time In Send

A Memory of Send.

In 1939 on the out break of the Second World War my father was sent to London aerodrome, from Cornwall, to repair bombers and fighter planes. I was born in Cornwall, 12 Dec 1940, and my mother wanting to be with her husband took me to Send, where father had managed to get a shared accommodation with another family, called the Gaigens, spelling may be wrong, together in a bungalow in Tannery Lane. I think the bungalow and others have all been pulled down and new houses built there since the war. Father built an underground air raid shelter with bunks in it and every time the siren went off in the village we had to jump out of the bedroom window to get into the shelter. The next door bungalow, about 100 yards down the road had a direct hit with a doodlebug which demolished it, broke all our windows on one side and jammed all the locks.
I started school in Send, mother took me twice and then I had to go on my own walking, on the third day the school inspector turned up on mother's doorstep asking why I was not at school, with shock she explained that I had gone to school, they found me down by the canal fishing for tiddlers with a jam jar.
End of the war Dad got a job in Kemsing with a house, we used to travel home to Cornwall every summer on the Atlantic Coast Express from Waterloo station that was a great thrill. I loved every minute and could never sit down, it only stopped at large stations and would be doing 90mph through little stations, it made my hair stand on end.  Our destination was Port Isaac Rd Station, North Cornwall, about 4 miles away from Port Isaac. As we crossed the border into Cornwall we always could smell the sea and seaweed, what lovely summer hols we had.  Sadly Grandma died in 1948. Father got a friend with a three ton lorry and loaded all our furniture on to the open backed lorry, two of us had to sit in the middle of all the load with the cat in a basket as we trundled off to Cornwall to look after Grandfather. There was no dual carriageways in those days, and it took us over 12 hours.
I will mention that the end of the Southern Rail line that the Atlantic Coast express train went to was Padstow from Waterloo. Dr Beeching closed it in 1963.
I did leave Cornwall when I was 21 to join the merchant navy on the Queen Mary, hated it but stayed in Southampton where I had met a lovely maid, married and had a family, stayed for 36 years till my wife decided she wanted a divorce.
I came back to my homeland in 1996 a lot older and wiser. I still think of Send now and then, perhaps I will visit it some day and see if any of the Gaigen family are still there. My email is jan.cowling@virgin.net