I suppose in trying to write the story of your life the place to start is at the beginning. It is difficult to decide what is the beginning as very early childhood is a series of images imprinted on your mind, unconnected and disjointed; some trivial, some important but which at the time of the impression must have had great importance at that stage of development. Most of these are hazy memories of people, environment and occasions. World events are of no concern except where they directly impinge upon limited world of a child. For instance the sight of the R101 airship passing overhead is a vivid memory, whereas the great slump is only remembered by accompanying my father or mother to the trade union office or the unemployment exchange to obtain the benefit payment. There was also the discussions about being on short time or having to work three days on and three days off, remembered only for the anxiety it caused among adults at that time. Falling into the brook that ran past the house in The Portwey stands out in my mind as an event far more important as it was a regular occurrence because of my lack of ability to jump it the same as the older children and this caused me trouble.
I was told by Dave my oldest son that I should write down all that I remember and, laying in bed one night, I made up my mind to make a start; and now that I have started I feel rather silly as it all seems so trivial and uninteresting but being as I have started I will produce two or three pages and then make the decision as to whether to carry on or not. Having studied the family history, I wish that my parents and relations had been a bit more forthcoming in writing things down.
Well, what will my descendants want to read? World events are well documented, recorded, analysed and regurgitated, judged in retrospect divorced from the actual circumstances and very often misjudged against the social conditions of the reader at a time in the future. How often do older people say “It wasn’t like that”. Local events however can be of more interest as these usually have a bearing direct or indirect on the environment in the area in which you lived. To sum all this up I suppose this will consist of a century of hearsay—fact or fiction—and the recording of family and local events seen through the eyes of one of the family living at that time.
| Read Me | Next |