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Doreen
hippies understudy
429 Posts
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 Posted -
17/12/2007
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22:32
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Childhood memories of Doreen Gail Bancroft (nee Maisey)Originally written in spanish 1998.translacion by DoreenGail Bancroft.
BIRTH ANYBODY ELSE BORN IN A PUB?
Edited by - Doreen on 01/01/2008 11:45:22 PM
Dordygail 
always the one to make the best of things.
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Doreen
hippies understudy
429 Posts
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Posted - 23/12/2007 : 22:33
I was punished, the garden gate was tied up wth string,
how boring when i knew a great big world was waiting outside.
So i decided to make use of the tools i had at hand, always the one to make the best things, the short driveway had little round stones,and my nose had little round holes....they must have been made for each other...i tried one then two ..another ...another ,and so on, then they wouldnt come out again id done a real good job .
the doctor tried poking with all sorts of things but what worked best was belting the back of my head repeatedly untill they were all out.
my nose was damaged ,a nd was prone to nose bleeds for the rest of my life.
I did escape mind you by the back garden route,there was a gap in the hedge at the bottom of the garden.
I remember going scrumping with my brother to a nearby garden orchard there was a wooden fence of about one and a half meters high, to me at two and a half it seemed impossibly high ,a nd had to be half pushed up by my brothers gang ,a all of them about six or seven, i was the only girl and too small to climb the trees,destined to be the colecting bag, as my flared skirt would hold lots
of apples, so they filled me up jumper and all untill i couldnt move.
the owner of the property suddenly appeared furios,the gang scartered quickly like rats leaving the sinking ship.
there i was caught red handed frocked ,and jumpered, not able to run with the load, not even nowing that i was doing anything wrong.
I just stood there while this man looked at me taking in all the details,
he asked me how old i was...2... and then he asked , what do you think you are you doing?.. i said scrumping , having heard the word several times while the gang were planning the deed.
oh yes he said , and where do you live?i pointed in the right direcion,i always had a good sense of direcion, so he took me by the hand and presented me as a theif to my mother.
I was smacked a bit and sent to my room for a few days.
This was to be the first time i played turks head for my brother.
Edited by - Doreen on 02/01/2008 2:04:20 PM
Dordygail
always the one to make the best of things.  |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 24/12/2007 : 06:57
Keep going Doreen, we're reading it........
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Doreen
hippies understudy
429 Posts
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Posted - 24/12/2007 : 09:58
I remember the little wood at the end of the street,which was called the hilly bumps,because the whole floor was made up of a series of mounds,just big enough to be slid down, thus wearing holes in the seat of anything that you wore , my knickers had a permanent mud stain while they lasted,
what a shame that most kids today never even get dirty, in those days,
well yes i will admit it me and my brother were free agents as far as mucking up was concerned, but all the kids played outside , and enjoyed the nacional pastime ,and learning skills of getting dirty,mud glorius mud.
A little further on there lived a lady in a caravan whom my mother had befriended,the rest of the neighbors looked down on us newcumduns,
As mother had insisted in taking in some workmen at miday for a hot cup of tea, as there was frost at mid day , and the neighbors for whom they worked digging up the sewer pipes ,and replacing them refused to let them in the house to even go to the loo, so they had their sandwiches ,and cup of tea in the warmth of our kitchen
Of course mother was branded as a loose woman being that she had men in... a modern londoner she wore bright colors, (bright yellow toreador pants with tastles on them)and fashionable clothes, she was never dowdy as a respectable house wife should be, and apart from that she didnt apear to have a permanent husband, as Dad came late and not always,( like a theif in the night).
Any woman without a man that controlled her, and was good looking to boot would be a danger in the vicinity.
Any way the hilly bumps was my favorite place, contact with nature, has always been important to me right from an early age i especially loved trees, the hilly bumps had sqwirrels in it too,and if you were quiet they could be seen.
it was around this time that father had decided to start a new venture in the north,but Mother flatley refused to move any where,so the oportunity to get on in the world fell on stony ground, no way was she going to leave this beutifull house, even if it wasnt theirs, she would force him to stay.
I should explain that Mother was brought up in a household with a couple of servants, in a town house in Putney , Grandad had worked himself up from being boot boy to company director in a london firm .(insurance i think) mother was spoilt rotten , and protected from real life , she had no housewife ability apart from dressmaking , one must be fashionable.
After being married some time it came to a great shock to her that people had to pay for electricity, water, rates, this was something she felt was unjust like asking peolple to pay for the air they breathed.
She had little understanding of these worldly things, but as these things usually go there would be a rude awakening just around the corner.
Edited by - Doreen on 02/01/2008 2:10:30 PM
Dordygail
always the one to make the best of things. |
Doreen
hippies understudy
429 Posts
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Posted - 24/12/2007 : 10:54
I suppose that we all have diferent way s of analising and computing life.
I remember my first real burning question was about the dustbin men, Why do they want the rubbish? if its rubbish its rubbish,
It took me a little time to understand the system,but these questions were all set to rights before i was five, mother had obviosly not gone through that stage.
Dordygail
always the one to make the best of things. |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 26/12/2007 : 08:22
It's good stuff DD and has the flavour of the times. It's hard for modern woment to realise just how restricted women were in those days. Anyone who broke the mould and did her own thing was immediately suspect because the only way that society could function was if everyone conformed. Lots of parallels with the witch craze in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Single women of character didn't fit in at all so they branded them as witches. Simplistic I know but essentially that was what was going on. Keep going Kid, this is interesting stuff and a gold-mine for a sociologist in 100 years!
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Doreen
hippies understudy
429 Posts
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Posted - 26/12/2007 : 19:49
FOR SALE
One day sitting in my triangular window seat,watching how the wind moved the flowers on the trees, i heard mum coming up the stairs to put me to bed.
She entered, stood still like a statue with her mouth open,outside she was still but i could feel how something very strong was moving inside her.
I tried to make myself smaller, sure that i had done something very naughty that day , but i just couldnt remember it.
She started to breath heavily, and pointing at the window shouted ,
!WHO PUT THAT THERE!?
I said What?
THAT!!!!!
I followed her eyes , and forefinger to the middle top of the window,
it was a for sale sighn that i had seen Dad put there a few days before.
i said Daddy.
When?
Idont know.
!!!SLAP!!!
she slapped me, ( A turks head again)
and went off down the stairs crying out loud.
Dad was hardly ever there , but after the for sale sighn i dont remember seeing him, untill i had forgotten what he looked like.
My mother had thaugt herself the owner of that very nice property.
Dad was care taking the property for a client that was overseas,
and the owner had decided to sell,but meanwhile we had lived rent free for some time.
The divorce was in the offing,
mother refused to move , so we ended up almost on the streets.
But mother was a taurus , born with a strength of caracter.
she found an emergency home for us very cheap,Painters lodge,
it was three miles from Saffron Walden touching a wood ,the most beutifull bluebell wood i ever saw.
to get there there was a dirt track rural road.
there were two houses joined together , the second one was ours,
and was smaller than the other, where the game keeper ,and his family lived.
these houses had no electricity connexion,or water,the water came in a huge zinc tank pulled by a tractor.
the tank had a bronze tap on it , and in winter it was wrapped in a cloth with parafin on it and set light to in order to get it unfrozen enough to get some water out.
The bathroom consisted in a zinc bath hung on the outside wall near the front door, and the brick built plonk box way off in the alotment,
complete with newspaper ripped in squares , and threaded onto a wire hung on the wall.
in the kitchen there was a boiler for the clothes, a cooker that ran on butane gas , a tube led to the living room where there was the only light in the house mounted on the wall, a gas light, we used parafin lamps , candles, and we had pottys under the bed.
This way of living was not the norm at that time it was cosidered quite primitive for the area, but the house was nice , and when asked where is the best place you lived a few years later i would answer
Painters lodge.
Dordygail
always the one to make the best of things. |
Doreen
hippies understudy
429 Posts
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Posted - 26/12/2007 : 20:08
I loved Painters lodge, and its just as well as that was all mother could hope for without money or husband to back you up.
In those days it was exstremely dificult for a woman with two children in toe to find work, and if you found it you would be paid a pittance just because you were a woman,nacional assistence was non existent
weomen were looked down on unless you had a man beside you.
A divorced or separated woman was a subspecies , undesireable,
and very dangerouse, not having certain needs covered...
could end up stealing your husband.
But mother had faith in herself , and that is enough to break any bad luck charm if you ever had one dear readers.
This photografh was taken for the judge in the divorce case to see the children involved.
i was 2 and a half, my dress was mde by mum it was peach ,and white,the socks were new.
Edited by - Doreen on 29/12/2007 12:53:15 PM
Dordygail
always the one to make the best of things. |
Doreen
hippies understudy
429 Posts
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Posted - 26/12/2007 : 20:45
My new next door neighbors were good honest , simple country folk.
The father was jack tall kind man ,a giant of few words,Violet was short and round,was wise in her countryfied way,her mannerisms and modes were baste, but she a had a sixth sense,common sense,
eyes in the back of her head. she really knew how to cook.
Autie violet was not given to great shows of sentiment, but she had a big soft heart that equalled her inteligence.
In no time i had them both in my pocket, i was a little girl , and they had had four sons,and would have liked a girl,they did have a neice a little older than me but she did not live very near.
their house was full of animals,
the gun dogs,cats,canaries,outside there were goats,geese, rabbits,pigeons,chickens,feasants,pigs,even a tortoise.
I loved all these animals, i suppose that was my first contact with them.
sometimes uncle Jack used to use me as the inocent hand to slowly change the eggs under a broody hen, as he said , a broody hen wont attack a little girl, because little girls were good,and smelt different to the adults that always got pecked.
i know that was true because she never did peck me.
Dordygail
always the one to make the best of things. |
Doreen
hippies understudy
429 Posts
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Posted - 26/12/2007 : 23:35
THE PRINCESS
One day auntie Violets niece came to stay for a few days without her parents.
she was a badly spoilt child, she prounced about with her nose up in the air putting on airs and graces, she kept on telling me about all the nice toys she had , and the hundreds of party dresses.
she said i was poor, that you could see it by my clothes,and that i was a bit ugly.
this was my first experience of playing with another little girl.
I didnt take much notice of her bad manners, as i had always played with my brother,and him saying nasty things was quite normal.
I had several dolls, not very expensive ones but they were very well dressed, as mother knew how to sew ,and dressmake,all the left overs were made into my clothes or into dolls clothes depanding on their size.
i took two to play auntie Violets niece, one each.
But she started to stamp and scream in order to have them both,
so i went home to fetch another,it was just an ordinary doll, but she decided she wanted that one too , the three for her.
I had never seen anyone act up like this before this so bewildered i let her have them all.
meanwhile Auntie Violet had been taking all this in, and had decided to take the riening princess down a peg or two.
( did i warn you about Auntie Violet being a bit basic?)
she said come here girlie to the princess, and she put her across her knee, and said im going to inspect your arsehole,
she pulled her knickers down , and said OH!! how black and screwed up it is , i bet you dont evn know how to wipe your arse properly UFF !!its black.
She gave her a little smack on the bottom and let her go,the princess had a very black look on her face too, and was near to tears.
Then Auntie violet said come here Doreen lets see yours.
I was horrified after seeing how the princess got on,
i was sure that i would get even lower marks in the exam .
But you must never ever not do what an adult tells you no matter what ,well not in front of them anyway.
so Auntie Violet bent me over her knees for the inspeccion,
!AY! HOW PRETTY!!all pink like a rose, just like a good clean little girls arse should be, she smaked a kiss on my bum , and that was that.
the princess had been demoted to a simple pleybe, she acted like an almost normal little girl for the rest of her stay.
Auntie violet had hardly gone to school but she knew an awfull lot about people , and how to put everything into place.
I spent many a day in Aunti eViolets antiquated living room, full of huge clocks all chiming one after the other.
the sofa was full of velvet cushions they had tigers ,and chinese garden scenes on them, they were brought by a son who was doing his military service in Malasia.
i used to dry my wet socks, and welly boots in front of a parafin stove
with its half globe of red hot wire reflectsd in a metal concave mirror.
on the floorthere was a big mat made with a peg , a sack, and hundreds of bits of cloth,known as a rag rug,very colorfull.
more than once i fell asleep with the warmth , and the good feeling in that house.
Auntie Vi earned a place in my deepest affecions with the years.
Dordygail
always the one to make the best of things. |
Doreen
hippies understudy
429 Posts
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Posted - 27/12/2007 : 11:32
NOSES
Soon after the move my garndpa, and auntie Meg came up from london to visit us, and to see where we were living,i only remembered having seen them once before. We had been to see them , their house was very large, and full of antique objects, untouchable objects like an extensive collecion of chinese figures,some three thousand years old,Nietski,s,porcelain,jade,most of these pieces were kept in glass cabinets under key.
When the rest of the family had retired to have a rest grandpa tried to explain things about the figures,like this is from the ming dynasty ,and this is from the ....dynasty,it was way over my head,but later he took the key out of his pocket, opened th doors ,and let me touch some of them saying dont tell anyone.
I especially liked a large piece that was made up with all the animals you could imagine intertwined,and one on top of the other forming a cone shape about two foot high.
All the figures figure were perfectly formed underneath too, the feet would have left perfect footprints, grandad said that you can tell a good figure by looking at the underside of his feet.
In the livingroom there were large glass doors leading to a well kept
landscaped gardenit had trees and grass all sorts of flowers ,and shrubs,the flower beds were laid out with no straight lines so it was very pleasing to the eye,this was one of grandpa,s hobbies.
But now Grandpa , and auntie meg mums sister were visiting our very humble house,after having arrived the tour of the house made, i remember how cold the atmophere was, i think grandpa was shocked by the lack of amineties ,and heating.
so i took him by the hand to show him my nice things, i showed him the edge of the wood, the floor was carpeted with bluebells,mostly blue but there were also some pink ,and some white in odd clumps.
grandpa gave me a kiss , and said thankyou, its very pretty, that is the only kiss i had from him that was not from the protocol of arriving or leaving.
He decided to take us to a restaurant for dinner, the best one , it was called the saffron hotel a medievil building near to the church gardens,inside it was sumtuosly decorated, and very refined,like my Aunt Meg,it was better to eat out than to have to sit in our depressing home,idont think that Aunt Meg understood or shared my love of freedom ,nature , animals at that moment.
Sitting at the table trying to eat with decorum , dificult at my age ,and with my chin almost resting on the table, we were celebrating the divorce but i didnt know that , my fathers name was avoided like mud,
he was definately tabu after having abandoned my mother to her fate so to speak.
well i was sitting there in this deathly silence looking up peoples noses literally, and an obsevacon ocurred to me.
i said:
- You know my Dad?
everybody breathed in abruptly...
Mother said !!!Yes Dear!!!?
- Well he,s got all hairs up his nose.
A deathly silence prevailed over the entire dining room,
everbody except my brother were flabergasted
how could you answer that statement ?
My brother Peter just giggled, and the waiter had to turn around so they didnt see his face whilst he left the room covering his mouth.
Edited by - Doreen on 13/01/2008 10:57:55 AM
Dordygail
always the one to make the best of things. |
Doreen
hippies understudy
429 Posts
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Posted - 27/12/2007 : 21:16
THE FLOOD
A little while after in the spring grandma died,she had been ill for a long time with breast cancer, but treatment in those days was tu cut it out ,and hope for the best.
Mum had to go to london for the funeral, my brother Peter and i stayed at home with Auntie Violet, but we would sleep in our own house,separated from hers by a thin wall.
That night there was a storm, with a cloudburst just where we were, the area was prone to small floods, but this was more than the usual flood, and had washed mud ,and water into the house a meter high.
i had slept through all this with the sleep of the inocent.
I awoke with the sun streaming in through the window, and vaig voices downstairs in the porch, i came down the stairs rubbing my eyes still half asleep holding on to the wooden banister as a guide,
at the bottom there was a corner in the stairs with four more steps, the banister had a ball at this corner , i used to hold onto the ball and fly down over the last steps to the hall floor, this converted you into tinkerbell the fairy for just a moment , i didnt see the water , the brain does not always read the sighns when you are half asleep and the hall mat was floating on top of the water camuflaging it a bit .
so i swung round the last bit , flew , and went SPLOSS into the water up to my neck, it was cold like a bad dream ,only i was,nt dreaming .
Antie Violet came rushing in from the door where she had been bucketing water out over the sand bags,and recued me from my panic.
When my mother came home late that night there was little disorder left in the house, uncle Jack , and auntie Violet had moved earth and sky to get things as clean as possible.
mother found only a wet sofa , and a stain half way up the walls, and the coke stove that grandpa had bought for us lit to try and dry things out.
the sofa was recovered by mum in a pale green ,and cream stripe material to hide the water stains,it ended up looking much better than before.
Auntie Violet although her house was swimming too couldnt bear to think of my mother coming back from the funeral to find the house in that stateso my house was done first.
Its agood thing that grandad had given us the stove as a present it soon dried evertyhing.
Dordygail
always the one to make the best of things. |
Doreen
hippies understudy
429 Posts
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Posted - 27/12/2007 : 21:26
so you see stanley , being shanghaed by the merchant navy is not my only experience of deep waters.
if this is getting boring say so and i will stop.
Dordygail
always the one to make the best of things. |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 28/12/2007 : 08:06
Doreen, the reason that you aren't getting responses is not because people aren't interested, just that the topic doesn't need response, just attention. It's wonderful open stuff and paints a rea;l picture. Look at the number of hits and keep going......
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Doreen
hippies understudy
429 Posts
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Posted - 28/12/2007 : 10:47
Ok if there are any mistakes you dont understand tell me and i will try to correct them, or do it yourself if you can,and wish to?
this will be long drawn as there are over a 90 pages in spanish , written in font size 16word,so it will turn out quite long if i get to the end.
Must admit that some responce eggs you on thanks Stanley.
Dordygail
always the one to make the best of things. |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 28/12/2007 : 11:37
Doreen, it's like writing for the paper, no matter how often the editor tells you how many people are reading your work it's always nice when someone pokes their head up and says something. Main thing to remember is that writing like this is invaluable as a historical document. if it gives one reader a clue in 100 years it is all worthwhile. Keep going.......
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
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BIRTH, any body else born in a pub?
