Working Life Memories.

A Memory of Washford.

As a boy of 11 or 12, I left school everyday at 3.30pm. I then drove the cows to Mr Goodings Mill about 30 or 40 yards away from Mr Shepherd's shop. After being milked I drove them back again. In wintertime I'd grind up mangolds. I was paid 1/6 for this. Then I worked at Mr Shepherd's shop running errands and did odd jobs etc. I remember very well he had fowl houses under the Bridge road but the Council made a hole in the road and horse-drawn lorries drove to the top and tipped everything down the hole until it filled up. That part of the road is called The Ramp. Opposite my old home lived Mr Taylor who did odd jobs with his horse and cart. His home caught fire and burnt down as there was no water. After this the Council dug up the road in several places to find where the water pipe was. I am over 90 now but before the war I worked as chauffeur to the Penrose family at The Coombe Nettlecombe and travelled all over this country, America (3 times) and France. In America I was going through the Hudson Tunnel in New York at 50mph and was hailed over the tannoy to get a move on! I was in Paris for months at a time also in Germany and Switzerland. Then the war came and I thought it best to come home. Then I worked for Captain Bridges at Croydon Hall near Roadwater before I joined the RAF and did my part. So now life is quiet for me but I enjoyed it all.