Ahhhhh the memories, they don't half come flooding back, once one has made a commitment to follow through with this.
My very first earliest memories are from 1.5 years old. I was standing on the private beach at the foot of Trebah Gardens http://www.trebah-garden.co.uk with my mother, and my then 3 going on 4 years old, sister Tracy. Can still locate the exact spot, plus the dreaded long walk back up through the garden, uphill all the way to the house, behind the main house, that then belonged to Donald Healey, owner of the Austin Healey Sports Car Company. I'll never forget the TV camera that was placed on top of the old boatshed. Do wish we could have stayed there longer.
At 3 years old, we moved temporarily into an old caravan for 6 weeks at Maenporth Beach, Termite35, aye, exactly the same spot as your family that now have a luxury apartment there, on the way, driving up this hill, I still remember vividly seeing an old tramp dressed in rags who used to live in a cave in the side of the hill. He would always smile and wave cheerfully as we drove past in the old Riley.
4 years old, my 'glory' years. I have more memories of four years old than any other time in my life. I became aware of life then, an awareness that I was alive, a living breathing thing, the world around me then looked so enormous.
The meetings at this time were held at Berkeley Vale, Falmouth, about 25-30 in attendance. Can still remember Gordon Webb and his wife Honor, Alec and Barbera, Des and Joy, Aunty Agnes, Rosie Hudson, Ethel Gooch and my nan Emily there.
Very shortly after this, we moved to the new Kingdom Hall in Parc Brewer, Penryn. Can remember that hall being especially built.
It was great fun at four, used to so much enjoy crawling through the tunnels of the chairs, having races with Simon Brazier to see who could get from the front row, to the back row in the shortest possible time, all ten rows, was quite a feat I can tell ee. I was dead chuffed when I beat him. The Meddars and the Dawkins became my best friends at this time, although a few of the names escape me now. Some I remember, many I do not.
Everyone used to get the most extraordinary stomach aches in this hall, it wasn't until years later that it was found out why, one of the then brother Eddy Thomas had plumbed the water supply up wrongly, which meant that we were drinking stale water straight from the tank in the loft. He didn't half make decent doughnuts though for the local assemblies in the then Truro Guildhall.
As such a young child, in many ways life could not have been almost more perfect. My family seemed stable, even if there were many arguments, upsets and shouting. Dad was sent down here by the Society to serve where the need was great. He was a conscientious objector in '53 and had spent as a result 4 months in one of Britains ugliest prisons, Wormwood Scrubs. At this time, we lived at Penryn in Helston Road, going to infants school just down the main street.
It felt really special to my childlike imagination, one day soon living in a world where all the animals got along with one another and people living forever. It felt great knowing that I was going to live forever. Just loved my orange Paradise Book with the dinosaurs on the inside cover.
At meetings, I didn't exactly concentrate as well as my parents hoped might be the case. It was at this age of four that I particularly remember being slapped on the legs a lot to keep me awake, not to look around, pulling faces at the other kids my own age, being taken out the back if I was being in their eyes particularly naughty. Can still recall the utter humiliation I used to feel as I was led back to my seat squawking my eyes out and mannnnn!! the pain, ouch!
On the ministry, we always seemed to get to work the territory map of Stithians, a particularly bleak and windswept moorland scattered with untidy farms with enormous dogs and hugely long walks to get to them. I think this was one of my first real phobias, a fear of dogs, but dad always looked out for us, but it still remained completely terrifying for years to come.
I also remember being exceptionally shy, if friends came visiting, it would take ages for me to be coaxed downstairs, a problem that was to haunt me for many years to come, developing into full blown demo and agrophobia. I'm pleased to say, only just recently, do I seem to have shaken off the last vestiges of thise feelings.
More to come later ...
Celtic Mark
FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real
Edited for one or two spelling errors