17. Family Trip To Cleeve Prior

During the early part of the thirties, circa 1932, my father took us all down to Birmingham to go to see his brother Jim at Smethwick along with his family. We went the same day to Cleeve Prior where father’s sister Bess lived. It was not far from Evesham in Worcestershire. We stayed there for a week and it was rather boring as there was so little to do. As my aunt Bess and her husband Will Taylor (cousins) were market gardeners, they had mum, dad and myself picking red currants for the market. They were then left by the roadside to be picked up by a carrier. I thought I would get a few more in my basket so I gave it a shake only to be roundly scolded as it was supposedly damaging the fruit.

George in Evesham, 1932

Apart from having a bicycle ride one evening on Will Taylor’s old ramshackle cycle, which took me to the outskirts of Evesham, much to my aunt’s surprise, we had a trip via bus to my father’s old home at Bourton on the Hill. This was a little more interesting as dad was introduced to people he had not seen for many years, including a cousin of his named Charlie Tustin. We also saw my cousin Flo (Florence). She was employed then as a lady’s maid at Bourton House. As dinner time approached it was considered the thing to do to have dinner at a lady’s house. I believe it was dad’s cousin. She was a peculiar sort of person, never taking off her hat. However, they had a dog in the house and as I was offering it a snack it savaged my hand quite badly. This upset dad very much. Anyway, it was done. We got my hand bandaged up and hoped for the best. That same afternoon, as dad had often talked about the Four Shire Stone, a girl around the same age as myself went together on bicycles, one of which I had borrowed for the trip, to see the monument. It had ancient history going back as an historic spot in the dark ages. As you walked around the stone one went into the counties of Oxford, Gloucester, Worcester and Warwick. I think the boundaries have now changed but it was an interesting experience and was only a few miles from Bourton. Whilst we were at Bourton we visited the graves of father’s parents, John and Alice. They were buried in different areas as apparently when John died it was found there was some difficulty with regard to drainage where Alice was buried, so it had meant that John had to go in a new grave. Years later when mum and I visited Bourton we couldn’t find my grandmother’s grave. I think they had had them covered over. It was supposedly quite near the church door. My father told me he had been a choir boy in the church and also showed me where he was born at Kite Lane. On our return to Cleeve Prior the same day, I had my damaged fingers attended to by two ladies in the village. I think they cauterized the bite to stop any chance of tetanus. I think the ladies were part-time nurses as it would appear people went to their abode if requiring any minor assistance.

When I started work after the holiday, the lady who had taught me to weave dressed my wound every day for me. She was a St. John Ambulance nurse and very efficient. Her name was Jane Fishwick and she would have made an excellent hospital nurse. She was unmarried till the day of her decease, when she was found dead in bed.

At the outbreak of war in September 1939, a blackout was imposed throughout the country. Everyone had to have black curtains covering the ones which were already in place, no torches were allowed and you had to have your bicycle lamp light covered with a red disk. It was very dangerous to be out in the blackout as one could easily walk into a lamppost or anything in the way. In addition, the church bells were forbidden to be rung as the ringing of the bells would signify an invasion was about to take place or had started. The bells were not rung again till 1945.

Continue to 18. Crooke Hall to Lisieux Hall