I was always made to feel extra special by my mother's sister, my Aunty Mary, and I always spent a lot of time with her. I am told this bond stemmed from the time of my birth. For some unknown reason my mother was unable to look after me herself, so Aunty Mary took over the care of me.
As Aunty Mary was a spinster, and had never married, she always insisted the man she was to marry was killed in the First World War, but I have heard since it was because this young man jilted her after they were engaged to be married.
Anyway because Aunty Mary was a spinster, she didn't have much of a clue how to look after a new-born baby, especially one as small as I was and needing careful nursing. A washing up bowl was used to bath me in, but as I have survived to my present age with no ill effects I think Aunty Mary did quite a good job with me.
When my younger brother Chris was born, Aunty Mary couldn't take to him at all, even going as far as to say to my mother, "what did she need to lumber herself with another child for". By this time my mother had given birth to four children.
Aunty Mary had her own business, she was an upholstress and did soft furnishing for many of the well off in the Malmesbury area. As I grew older Aunty Mary offered to have me trained as an upholstress so as to be able to take over her business. At that time I thought it was more glamorous to become a secretary so declined. It is a decision I regret now.
I can remember her telling me that we were better off than some people, because during the war years when nearly all food was on rations, many of her clients would bring her fresh churned butter, eggs, bacon and occasionally a joint of meat, this was in exchange for Aunty Mary doing some small upholstery jobs that were required so as these clients could keep their upholstery in a reasonable state. At this time fabric to upholster furniture was very hard to get and was strictly on ration, so as with most things during the war, it was a case of make do and mend.
After the war when I was old enough to be taken out, I must have been around 8 or 9 years of age, Aunty Mary would take me with her when she visited these clients.
On one occasion I can remember being taken to this very large house on a private estate, and while Aunty Mary measured the pieces of furniture that required re-furnishing, I was given a drink of home made lemonade with cake and biscuits.
I discovered a few years later that this was the home of the very well known celebrity called Lady Docker. All I can remember is being sat in this luxurious room and I presume it was Lady Docker herself serving me with lemonade and eats. She was a lovely person and seemed like a film star to me.
Malmesbury is situated in an area of North Wiltshire and only 5 miles from the border with Gloucestershire. Tetbury being only about 5 miles away, and in this area were very many of the aristocratic estates.
The owners of Badminton House were regular clients of Aunty Mary, and I can remember Aunty Mary telling me they took her to Paris to choose the fabrics they required.
I can still remember the amount of fabric required in those days to make a set of loose covers for a three-piece suite. 10 yards per chair and 20 yards per 2-seater sofa.
I think the biggest project Aunty Mary took on was to make the furnishings for a 4-poster tester bed. She had to liaise with the carpenter on the estate, and she had to make the overhead canopy, as well as the drapes for each of the four posts. Aunty Mary did at one time have a photograph of the finished bed that she proudly displayed but unfortunately this has been lost with time.
I can remember sitting in her large workroom that was at the font of her house, and opened straight onto the road, and looking out of the large window onto this road that was the High Street.
In this workroom were her large treadle sewing machine and a very large table that was used to spread the material out on. This table needed to be large enough to take a double size eiderdown; I can remember Aunty Mary drawing the design onto an eiderdown in French chalk, prior to tacking and stitching on the sewing machine.
Aunty Mary employed a lady to help with the fine finishes that needed to be done by hand, and I was allowed occasionally to help make the piping that edged a lot of the arms of the chairs. I can still do this and I don't think I will ever forget how.
I used to stay at Aunty Mary's every Wednesday evening because I went to Brownies after which I would be allowed to have a fish and chip supper.
I can remember calling at the fish and chip shop situated in the Cross Hayes, it is still in the same position in Cross Hayes car park, although now under totally different management and is like all fast food outlets, serving a larger choice of menu rather than just the fish and chips we had in my childhood days.
I remember getting 6 pennies worth of chips with crackling, they are the little pieces of batter that breaks off in cooking fish, and if you were lucky you might get a big piece with fish still inside.
When I got back to Aunty Mary's I was introduced to the habit of having Salad Cream with my chips rather than plain tomato ketchup. I still have even today either Salad Cream or Mayonnaise on my chips.
As Aunty Mary was of a religion called a Baptist, and it was part of their religion that you never did any work on a Sunday, so Aunty Mary always had her Sunday roast dinner on the Saturday.
After Aunty Mary returned from Chapel on the Sunday morning we would have Bubble and Squeak for our lunch. For those people who don't know what real Bubble and Squeak is, it was made up from any leftovers.
Aunty Mary used anything that we had leftover from the previous day's meal for this Bubble and Squeak, boiled or roast potatoes, any vegetables left over, Yorkshire pudding, left over meat pieces etc. This was all fried up in a large frying pan and if you left it cooking without turning it to often it would get very crispy. I think I enjoyed the Sunday's Bubble and Squeak better than the main roast itself, especially with home made pickle.
At teatime on Sunday's Aunty Mary would have sandwiches made from Salmon & Cucumber, if it was summer time, and these sandwiches would have the crusts cut off, they would also be cut up into very dainty triangles. If it had been a poor week financially then it would be bread, butter & jam.
In wintertime we would have toast made over the open fire and with loads of butter on the toast.
Aunty Mary would never allow the wireless to be played on a Sunday, apart from a half hour programme in the early evening's that was called the Sunday Service and played hymns.
We had to make our own entertainment and the day was spent very quietly, either making presents for someone, whose birthday was due, or cutting out pieces from newspapers or magazines, especially those relating to the royal family, Aunty Mary was what is considered a Royalist, and sticking these items in a scrapbook. Grandma Charlotte also taught me how to make baskets from Raffia. The Raffia came in different colours, but mainly a plain buff colour, you used a large eyed needle through which the raffia strand and basically you would attach one row to another in a flat roundel until you have made the base and then start to build up the sides, easy.
We always had some sort of cake though and as Aunty Mary was very fond of seed cake we had this quite a lot. I haven't seen these cakes for many years and I don't think anybody makes them anymore.
Aunty Mary was very good at baking cakes. I can remember having to go into a large store cupboard that was situated up the stairs by the back bedroom, and getting the eggs that was needed from a very large crockery container in which these eggs were stored. They were stored in a solution of Isinglass to help keep them fresh longer.
Aunty Mary also had a store larder full on home made jams and pickles.
I can remember helping her make jam.
You had to wash the fruit fully to make sure they were perfectly clean and depending on the amount of fruit you would add the required amount of sugar. All this was put into a special large preserving metal saucepan, and put on the cooker to bring the fruit and sugar to boiling point; you had to keep stirring it so as it didn't burn or stick.
When it started to boil you used a wooded spoon to spoon out a little bit of the jam on to a saucer, to test it's consistency and setting properties.
When it was ready this was taken off the cooker and you started to fill the glass jam jars to the very top, to allow for settling as it started to cool, and these jars were then allowed to cool down.
After all the jars had cooled sufficiently enough you put a small piece of grease proof paper cut to shape over the jam and then covered/sealed the top of the jam jar with a larger piece of grease proof paper and an elastic band kept it in place. You stuck a sticker on the front of the jar to indicate what was in the jar.
Aunty Mary's garden provided a lot of the fruit she used for her baking; she had blackcurrants, redcurrants, raspberries, gooseberries, apples, pears and strawberries.
Apart from the home-made jams, Aunty Mary also made lovely fruit tarts. I still love gooseberry tarts. I can remember having to top and tail the gooseberries in readiness for cooking.
As I said Aunty Mary also made her own pickles and chutney. I can remember her making piccalilli and green tomato chutney.
She made Green Tomato Chutney by using the tomatoes left over on the vines at the end of the then growing season and wouldn't have ripened enough for salads. You don't seem to be able to get green tomato chutney anymore and shop bought pickles, chutney's and jams just don't taste the same.
My cousin Beryl was taught her cooking skills from her mother Aunty Cis, and whenever I visit Beryl, especially around September time each year she always gives me two or three jars of home made jams or chutney.
I can remember when I was around 12 or 13 Aunty Mary taking me to visit, I can't remember if it was a relation or friend, anyway this person lived on the outskirts of London, I believe it was somewhere around Watford on the Metropolitan Line.
Aunty Mary and I visited many of the sites all over London. I can remember being taken to The Tower of London to see the Beefeaters and to look at the Crown Jewels. Buckingham Palace wasn't open to visitors in those days, but I can remember travelling on a bus that took us pass it and looking to see it the flag was flying from the flagpole, this denoted that The Queen was living there.
At Horse Guards Parade we watched the changing of the guards, and at Trafalgar Square we fed the pigeons, I still have a photograph of me with pigeons all around me. See end of chapter for photograph.
The highlight of that day was being taken to Lyons Corner House and having tea. I cannot remember what we had to start with, probably poached egg on toast, but I can remember the Nippy bringing round a portable trolley filled with loads of gorgeous cream cakes and I was allowed to choose which one I would like. I know things change but there was something about Lyons Corner Houses that cannot be repeated.
On another occasion I can remember Aunty Mary taking me into Grimleys' the toy shop and being allowed to choose which doll I would like.
I chose a large doll that could close its eyes and had moveable arms and legs. She had dark brown hair and was dressed in a green tartan outfit with real leather shoes and a very pretty bonnet. I can remember playing with this doll for many years but unfortunately she got forgotten and lost as I grew into a teenager and gave up playing with dolls. I think she may have ended up with the 'Tetbury' family.
Another memory I have is being taken by Aunty Mary this time to a part of London called Hampstead Heath.
I know we always caught the bus to the house where we were staying and this was a large Victorian/Edwardian house on four levels. The bus trip went past one of the BBC theatres.
You entered this imposing house by the front door by going up some steps to it and this entrance was covered in black and white ceramic floor tiles. These tiles carried on into the front entrance and I seem to remember that this property must have been turned into flats, as we had to go up the stairs to the first floor. I can remember the kitchen being at the back of the property and looked out over a railway line at the end of the garden. Of course in those days it was still steam trains and I loved to watch the trains going past the window.
