To Cornwall

The phony war continued on the expected air raids had not materialised, but Dad decided we would be safer out of London even if Mum would not go .She worked at J Lyons and Co doing war work. Once again my sister and I were packed off to safety, but we had no idea where to until we were there. Bus's and coaches took us from the school to the station. We said good-bye to our parents at the school, I had to be a good boy and look after Mary and insist on being kept together. The platforms at Paddington Station were, filled with children carrying small cases’ haversacks and gasmasks with all their possessions. We were loaded onto the train by teachers none of whom we knew. Eventually the steam train started off, puffing and snorting at first, as I believe it was quite a long train.

The train passed our home Octavia House on the right then the Wormwood Scrubs on the left with its prison then out to lesser-known outer areas of London then into the unknown on and on all day. Somewhere about midmorning we were issued with a drink of milk. Now we had strict instructions not to lean out of the window; we could have the window open because it was hot, there was no teacher in our carriage, one of the boys claimed that his milk was off so he threw it out of the window. The train was traveling at quite a speed at this time; the next thing we knew was an unknown lady teacher proffering a yelling small boy to us who was splattered with milk and had not observed the window rule. By late teatime the train was into Devon and at one station we were offered cups of tea the people on the platform shouted for the coops to be returned and this pronunciation told us we were in a strange county. After passing lots of sea on the left and going through a number of tunnels we then crossed a large bridge at Saltash. The rail track got rather slow and winding and we eventually left the train at a place called St Austell. Where we were herded on to coaches, to be driven to our final destination.
All along the route on the right of the coach was a long hill on top of which were pointed mounds we thought they were mountains. Some children thought we were in Wales, but it turned out we were on the edge of the St Austell Clay district. And the mountains were just slagheaps. The bus stopped outside Summercourt School and we were taken inside to sit while the locals decided our fate, my sister and I were nearly the last to be sorted out. It was explained to us that seeing as we were not to be separated Mary was to stay with a Mrs. Gregor, and I was to stay with the Oulds, on the other side of a semi-detached house. An ancient but well kept brown taxi took us to the house in Narrow Lane We were introduced to Mrs. Gregor, Mr. and Mrs. Ould there son Wallace who was about fifteen years old, and Grandfather May who was just about seventy and walked with a stick. Aunty Hilda as I got to call Her, soon had supper on the table after inquiring about our journey, it was nine o’clock at night by this time, and we had. been traveling since six o’clock that morning so after a supper of white cake and cocoa, we were taken into Mrs. Gregory’s, as they thought it would be best for us to sleep together for company.

THE FIRST MORNING.

In the morning after breakfast, I was introduced to the Collins boy who lived about a hundred yards up the lane, his father was a Methodist lay preacher, and they lived on a small holding nine acres. He took me on a tour of the farm, saw the cows, chickens the chickens were the main income .Two large fields for them to run in and a large shed in each for roosting at night. I also met Misses Collins and the rest of the family, which seemed to have arrived at two-year intervals. After lunch I had to write a short letter home to let my parents know we had arrived OK and for Aunty to Hilda to say we were all right and would be looked after well by her and Misses Gregor
The summer of 1940 was a fine one and we ran wild up and down the lane climbing into the trees I learned how to make bows and arrows, it seemed like summer would last for ever. Then one afternoon I was playing with Mary in the garden, when Miss Carter our Head Teacher arrived to talk about provisions for school which was to start up in early September in the Village Institute building in the center of the village. Wallace was given the job of showing us the route we would take each morning, up the lane to the church through the rectory path, which was planted with chestnut, trees and wild garlic turn left along another lane to the local school. Then turning right along the A30 main road being very careful of the traffic to the Women Institute in the center of the village.

SMALL JOBS.

The summer passed very quickly. The new people and surroundings the animals cows pigs sheep, dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, which to be careful about, and where and how to stand and where to catch
hold of, if needs be. During this time small jobs were allotted to me, we had two pigs in a sty beside the bucket toilet at the bottom of the garden, it became my job to feed them, with scraps from the kitchen that Aunty boiled up on the range then cooled sufficiently with drinking water. The drinking water came from a bucket well, and mixed with a measure of meal from a sack in the shed. In early spring we were looking for to pigs to replace those that had gone to market. Uncle had found a farmer in Penhale who was willing to sell two piglets, so after tea we set off with a sack each, Uncle gave strict instructions as to what sort of pigs were best i.e.. We wanted floppy ears if possible with the longest body prick eared pigs would be more active than floppy eared and the long body would make a pig heaver once it filled out, by this time I knew how to handle a pig by its ears. Uncle being taller and stronger would whip the pig straight off its feet by a back leg, Mr. Hawky only had Prick eared pigs. The ones we chose were both nice and long. Uncle was well pleased with his purchase, and we carried a pig each in a sack back to their new home at the end of our garden. Plenty of straw was laid out for their bed and a small feed placed in their trough .I had already learned that pigs will keep themselves as clean as possible. Their mess is always as far away from their feed trough as they can get, and even if kept in a muddy field they will clean themselves to a bright pink as long as they are given plenty of straw

I also assisted Uncle with the gardening. I gradually learned to use all the tools, in the best and most economic way. Forks Spades Hoes Chisels Saws including a cross- cut saw Hooks Hatchets and Axes Hammers up to a 14-lb Sledge used with wedges for splitting logs for firewood. I also learnt about wild strawberry plants blackberry's and there supply to Aunty for a Sunday tart; I called it a pie because it had one crust on top which was cut and the fruit then piled on to it. The pie or tart was often quite sharp because of the lack of sugar. Later in the year when the berries were in abundance all of the children and Aunty Hilda would pick as many as we could for jam and jelly making.

SCHOOL.

The first walk to school seemed a very long walk a mile and a quarter in all. Mary and I set out with your full kit for the day school satchel filled with sandwiches a drink cold tea or coffee also gas mask in a box with string or tape to put over our shoulders. The first stretch was up the long and narrowest part of the lane to the farm lane to Penrose Farm. Then the next stretch to Glebe Farm where we often had to dodge the geese then right past St Enoder church through Vicarage drive to School lane then right into the Village then on to the Women’s Institute, which was to be our school.

The W.I. was divided into three classrooms and the children were split accordingly into infant’s juniors and seniors, but when it rained the noise was so loud with tin roof that lessons had to stop for a while. There was no playground but the village recreation ground was a couple of houses away so we used that and also for sports, but only if the weather was fine. At first I was in the junior class but soon I was upgraded to senior and at this time we acquired another Class room but it was out through the other end of the village this meant another half mile walk after assembly, to a chapel in Chapel town. After a few weeks we were more accustomed to the new teachers school routine and the long walks, home -work was letters home each week, sometimes up to four and five pages both sides of the paper If the paper would take it. This was because paper was scarce, having to be shipped from Canada. . Sometimes Aunty Hilda or Mrs. Gregor would put in notes asking for money to buy clothes boots etc. Wellington boots would have been used regularly keeping feet dry in wet grass. And therefore wore out often.