Childhood Bliss

A Memory of Smallfield.

I lived at Triddles Farm and rode my bicycle all the way to school at Redhall Road.  At lunchtime we all had to walk all the way back to the village hall for lunch and all the way back again after. We played marbles in the drains in the playground and slides on the snow in the winter (all against Health & Safety nowadays).  I remember a Mr Joss, one of the teachers, who would rap you over the knuckles if we got anything wrong. I remember learning to knit, and writing with a pen which you dipped into the ink, maypole dancing and school sports day. We cycled for miles around the lanes and must have been away from home for hours. I can't remember any rainy days although there must have been plenty.   

Later on I can remember the youth club in the late 1950s in the hall where we would all get together, and catching the bus to the cinema in Horley. The last bus home was at 10-ish so if we missed that we had to walk.

Wonderful days, wonderful friends. What a shame it had to end.

Mary Rutter (nee Wright)

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