The River

A Memory of Figheldean.

The River Avon dominated most of the kids' lives in the village! I remember swimming 'down the mill' and at Gunville where my Great Grandmother (Sarah Marks) lived. We used to scrounge used inner tyre tubes from Mr Stansfield (who owned the Tourist Coaches next door to the Workingmen's Club) and float down the river on them from the bridge. Also used to get the watercress from the bridge too! So much to do! Making carts out of old pram wheels and bit of plank! Walking miles 'up the downs' and drinking water out of the cow troughs!!! Those were the days! The 'playing field' had two swings and a roundabout - we thought that was pretty good! I remember when the 'circus' came to the village...in the hall! It had a live lion! Blimey...that was a talking point for weeks! Mushrooming and scrumping were other pastimes! Knuckle Sheppard was a genius at finding mushrooms....we tried to follow him once but he was a crafty old character and we lost him! There was a lovely old guy from Netheravon who used to cut the hedgerows, can't remember his name but he rode his bike to work and always had a piece of string tied up just above his ankles. He told me it was to stop the rats going up his trouser leg!. My Mum still lives in the village where she was born and is now 87. My brother is also still there - in Ablington - 1 house away from where both him and I were born before moving to Avon Banks in 1949 when I was just days old. My other brother, two sisters and I have moved out of the village. Obviously, I do go back quite often but find I don't know that many people who live there now. It was a lovely village to grow up in and I could wax lyrical all day about what we got up to!

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