2 Christmas Field

A Memory of Sible Hedingham.

Around 1943 or 1944 my brother Bob, and I were evacuated from London to live at this lovely address - now Yeldham Road - and to equally lovely people by the name of Smith. Victor and Gladys who became our much loved second family together with their daughter Thelma. Little did we know then that we were to become life long friends. At the time Bob and I were about 4 and 5 years old and we must have settled in well as I remember no tears. We loved country life - we even had chickens in the garden! I remember standing on the chicken coop and waving to Thelma at the secondary school during playtime). We were soon enrolled at the little Church School in Castle Hedingham. We made friends with the next door children - Brian, Peter and Janet and I am still in touch with Janet who lives in New Zealand and Brian. Sadly, Peter died about three years ago. Other neighbour children were; the Jays and Hardys, Raymond Clark and Lawrence Boreham and my friend to this day - Valerie Elliott. Valerie lives about a two hour drive from me here in Canada!
Across the road we children loved to go 'up the lane' to explore or throw our 'cudgels' at the walnut tree. The only time I have ever tasted fresh walnuts! I remember Mr and Mrs Amey lived in the quaint little house at the entrance to the lane and Mrs Amey provided the only pidgeon pie I have ever tasted. Another memory is of us all tearing up the lane early one morning after hearing a doodlebug explode the night before which made the front door cave in! Our mother in London, only had a broken window throughout the war. I remember going with 'Aunty' to the Co-op in Sible and Mortimers in Castle for groceries. On Sunday evenings in the summer we would walk to St. Nicholas Church and I loved hearing the church bells calling us. Some summers we would go gleaning and I remember how sore the stalks made our lower legs as we didn't wear long trousers in those days. As I got older the 'rec' in Sible became a favourite place for meeting boys! I will not embarass them by naming names! We continued going to Sible every summer holiday until we went to work at age 15 and Bob continues to see Thelma and family in Halstead once or twice a year. He takes me on nostalgic visits around the old haunts when I visit which often makes me tearful as I can truly say these days were the best of my childhood. I have lost touch with one friend by the name of Pauline Ambrose who lived on Brookside in Sible and if anyone knows her whereabouts I would love to hear. Happy Memories.

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