As I started to develop and grow up into my teen years, although I kept up my friendship with the many friends I had, I stopped being such a tomboy and became, in my eyes at least, more ladylike.
I joined the tennis club in the summer and used to love going there to play tennis, I also joined the local youth club. At this youth club we would hold impromptu dances, dancing to the pop music of the day, but it was generally somewhere to go and meet friends rather than hang around street corners.
Each year around the middle of September, this youth club used to take part in the annual Malmesbury Carnival, by decorating a float. Of course this was another occasion to get dressed up in fancy dress, depending on the theme that was chosen. We would also be encouraged to walk along side of the float with buckets to collect donations for different charities.
By this time I had also taken an interest in first aid and joined the local junior section of the Red Cross. Every week we were given first aid lessons on how to bandage a particular limb or part of the body, as well as being taught how to give basic first aid to somebody who had injured themselves or been taken ill.
When I was fourteen I spent my summer holiday as a ward assistant at the local cottage Hospital, see photograph.
