Growing Up In Hilborough

A Memory of Hilborough.

My father was chauffeur to Major Charles Mills of Hilborough Hall. I grew up there between 1950 and leaving school in 1962. I attended the village school. We lived on the main road opposite the Nunnery which has connections to Lord Nelson. It was a country life, I spent my time up at the dairy which provided milk for the hall from a small herd of Jersy cows. Along with time spent with Mr McIntyre the head Gardner for the hall gardens. I was allowed to go to the hall on Sundays at 5 pm to watch TV especially Annette Mills and her wooden puppet Muffin the Mule, she would play the piano and sing. My father was away a lot due to his work, but he would always return from London with a new toy from Selfridges, which had caught his eye. The shooting season was fun, we would get a brace of pheasants for Sunday Lunch. Sometimes we would go for walks across the park to the lake. I remember getting chased by the swans disturbed at nesting season. Another favourite place was the mill, today I doubt children would be allowed as it was full of hazards. But us kids seem to understand the dangers and still had fun. Sometimes the miller Mr Freestone would turn off the wheel and we could look for baby trout under the stones in the River. I bought two home in a jar. Dad put them in our well and they lived for a long time and got quite big. I could tell quite a few tales of life on an estate in the 50s. This is just a snapshot. I now live in New Zealand.

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