Belaugh, St Peter's Church From The River Bure 1921

Photo ref: 70898

I was born in Belaugh and have lovely childhood memories. As I recall, at the time there was only 2 girls, myself and Rosemary Basted - all the other kids were boys. We had lovely times on the farms and in the river which ran down the bottom of my garden, there were 4 cottages where I lived with my parents and Aunt Nellie, The Misses Fields (Eva and Jean) lived one side, Ned Durrant and his father the other and ...see more

As a young boy my parents and I used to stay with a dear lady called Alice Riseborough, I think she used to be the sexton to the church. Iremember watching the American bombers coming back from raids over Europe, sometimes in pieces. I also became friends with some of the local boys. I also remember a farmer by the name of Haynes (?), and collecting water from the local well, and running down the garden and jumping into the bure. My love of fishing also started there. Wonderful wartime memories.

Known as the 'John Barley Corn' children because at the Staithe where they all used to play, there is an inlet. In the 1920s, when boats came past, the children would sing 'Old John Barley Corn if you throw us a penny we will sing you a song'. Sometimes handfuls of pennies would be thrown. The people on one boat 'Nelson' were always quite generous. It was quite a scramble to each get a couple of pennies.