1978 The New House Part One

I don't particularly remember the old house, I know what it was basically like because I visited the White's on a regular basis after we moved, and I had other friends who lived on my old road. But the new house was something else. Apart from the fact we lived there for over 13 years it was a memorable place. The house is probably pushing 400 years old, and has quite some history behind it. Down in the cellar there was a tunnel that led to the church, apparently the village had a whole network of tunnels. This tunnel had been bricked up a little way down it, due to the increase in traffic that passed over head. But there was still a good dark space to hide in and to frighten visiting friends with!

As I mentioned before the house belonged to the school that my father worked for. The accommodation was a bit jumbled up but we had our areas and the pupils areas. As you came in the back door, the front door wasn't used much, there was a big cloakroom and toilets. This was also the domain of the cleaning ladies. They had a little cubby in one corner were they could make tea etc. I used to visit them here on a regular basis when I was small. I also later discovered the polished floor of the big cloakroom was a great place for roller boots!

The next place you came to was our kitchen. It was huge, with a massive table right in the middle. There was a scullery attached and a larder through that. One wall of the kitchen was dominated by a very large Aga, which became the centre of the household. When people came round or we came in from the garden when it was chilly, we would all line up against the Aga with our backs against the rail. When it was really cold and we came in from playing in the garden with frozen feet, would sit with them in the coolest oven to thaw them out. Sometimes we had orphan lambs in boxes on the hotplate and I can remember our old Jack Russell, Scruff, sat quietly watching the boxes, wistfully. When there were no lambs he would claim his spot with his back against the Aga and good luck to anyone who tried to move him. The Aga was run on coal, which when it went out was a nuisance because the whole process of cleaning it and getting it fired up again sometimes used to take days. But with the village running on electric and no gas, when we had a power cut, which I remember having quite a few of, we were the only kids in the village that used to get a cooked tea!

There was a tall window on one side of the kitchen that, with a chair placed beneath it, made a good door into the beautiful, big garden. Otherwise it was quite a long way round! Everyone used this door including the dog.

The big table in the middle of the room used to host some lovely family get-togethers. Usually at Christmas. I remember one particular Christmas when we had a few relations there and there was a huge spread laid out before us. Happily enjoying the food we were all a bit surprised when a family of mice decided to join us by falling from the light fitting above our heads! I remember the mice falling with a sprinkle of plaster dust onto the table, but I don't actually remember the undoubted chaos that followed. I'm sure your own imaginations will paint a picture of aunts and uncles scattering, kids squealing, and no doubt a look of horror on my mother's face.

Also downstairs there was an office, my father was now Housemaster and my mother Matron, our private lounge, our playroom and the door to the cellar. There were also two dorms for the boys from the school. I always thought that I was lucky to have a playroom, but now I have my own kids I realise that it was my parent's that were lucky to have it! It meant we had our own space to play in, keep our mess in and it meant that the lounge was, well a lounge. That was the theory anyway. We still played in the lounge but we were usually using the coffee table as a slide or something equally naughty. The lounge and kitchen were a long way from eachother and as my mother spent most of her time in the kitchen we got away with a lot of things! We also had a piano in there, which I also consider myself lucky to have had. I just wish I had kept it up.

One of the best things about this house was the main staircase. It was our staircase, the boys weren't allowed to use it, they had their own. Which is probably just as well because it was a huge wooden staircase with some of the best banisters I've ever had the pleasure of sliding down! The stairs were in two parts with a big central landing. Over the years I mastered the banisters and could slide down the first part, do some fancy flip thing and then slide down the second part. We also used to climb them on the way up and not bother with the stairs at all. This is just what my youngest daughter would have been like, and the idea horrifies me! Thinking back it was pretty dangerous, the top banister was pretty high up and the floor below was a good hard polished slate. But I don't remember any major mishaps just the odd slip and crunch!