The start

The lad came round to show his remote model car, of course I had to see it working, it is obvious he didn't feel the cold as I did because by the time he left I was frozen.
 Now to my tomatoes and apples. I have a few tomatoes but will have used them within a week so keeping up my goal of having my tomatoes into the New Year. As for the apples a lot once more have gone rotten but hopefully I will have enough for the next 2 weeks.
 Now what I have decided to do is write about my early life, this is to give a true account of life as it was in the 40s and 50s.
 I was born in 1937. The house that we lived in was a modern house according to the 30s which was when it was built. It was a private Estate but all the homes were rented. I guess that now it would be classed as a Housing Association but then it was I presume a Company from Nottingham. There were about 200 homes all houses many were terraced. The roads were called after the Isle of White. I can remember the one where I was born was Cowes Road, we later moved to a semi a 3 bedroomed house which was Shanklin Drive, there was Knighton Avenue Ryde Avenue and Kingston Avenue. I am sure there was another name but I forget.
 Anyway the house where I was born, I guess my Parents moved in around 1936, they were still building the rest of the Estate It was a 3 bedroomed property with a bathroom so it was indeed modern. It also had a back boiler. That is a boiler which warmed the water when the fire was lit. Obviously there was no other heating and there was also no electricity  so it was a boon to have a back boiler. We also had an outside toilet, different to where my Parents were prior to moving there. At the old place it was a shared toilet. They were in rows at the courtyard and served several families. We also had a coal house which indeed many had. It was the major way of keeping warm especially as all the houses were single brick built so when sitting in front of a coal fire in the winter the front was very warm but your back was very cold.
 The kitchen floor was red quarry tiles, in fact the only places that were of wood was the upstairs. Of course nobody knew of any difference as we more or less were in  the same boat.
 The start of the War of course I knew nothing of but in 1940 we had to say goodbye to my Father he was then approaching 30 a parent of 3 young children. He had one eye but was given an A1 category and soon went over to fight behind the Japanese lines in Burma. He didn't talk a lot about his experience only to say that Orde Wingate was the best Commanding Officer he had ever served under saying that the men had confidence in him.
 So it was when I began to realise the meaning of War as I was nearing 4 years of age. there were issued Andersen Shelters which I am sure some will have heard of. They were corrugated metal and had to be erected out in the garden to provide shelter when the Air Raid Sirens went off. The more one covered the metal with soil the more protection was afforded. As my Mother was around 26 years of age with 3 young children we had a Morrison Shelter. This was a metal framed contraption that into it was fitted a bed that is where my eldest Sister and I slept for a few years. My Sister was 4 years older than me so she knew more of what was going on.
 Naturally everything was on ration but potatoes and bread was reasonably plentiful although the bread was a dull greyish colour and never kept well at all. We had to register at the maximum of 2 places where you could purchase your rationed goods. One could be a corner shop and the other a major shop such as Co=op, International Stores Liptons and those sorts of shops.
 Those that had a back garden it was used to plant vegetables to supplement one's foodbank.
 So that what is was like for the first few years, it wasn't until I went to school that the Air raids became increasingly rarer. I could remember seeing I presume Lancaster Bombers circling overhead waiting to land at Spittlegate Aerodrome and noticing seval planes had been damaged, the odd one crashed on landing and all we would see was a lot of smoke. School next. More soon.