13 Years Old

A Memory of Rosneath.

I moved here with my Mum and Dad in 1953 for a year. My Dad was in the navy then,and served in the base there. We lived in Heather Cottage in the Clachan, opposite the Post Office.

Mr and Mrs Macarthur owned the cottage and we lived upstairs. I used to play with their son Eric in the garden.
We had great fun when it snowed sledging down the hill behind the house.
I also made friends with the rector of the manse,s son only I've forgotten his name. I went to school at the Hermitage Acadamy in Helensburgh. By bus it is about 12 miles. We also used to go fishing off the pier by the Ferry Inn - is the inn still there?
My dad made me a sailing boat (model) and I used to sail it in the burn behind the house and in the gareloch.

After about 2 weeks I began to talk like the natives but when I arrived home in England it soon went. I have great memories of the loch, the village and the surrounding countryside, and I was sorry to go home. I came back about 20 years later, but it had all changed it's never the same is it.

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