[Fisherboy]

I knew Alice Miller in the early 1950s. She lived in a cottage in Duckworth Hall, Oswaldtwistle at the end of a row with Walkden Barn farm. I used to visit the farm every Sunday afternoon with my father and spent much of the time fishing in a stream which crossed the farm land. I would later visit Alice and her husband (and dog) and have tea and biscuits with them. She showed me how to paint and gave me a copy of a Christmas card which she said she had made for the Royal family. It was a picture of a dog in a highland type setting. She also gave me a copy of a book about 8 pages long entitled Bun-Ben-Bun which had hand-coloured illustrations. It was produced by the Yealand Studio in Carnforth and was written by Alice Miller with Illustrations by Margaret Hilton. She also gave me a copy of a poem she had written about me. It was entitled "A song for Bernard; a fisherboy I know". This poem was published in (I think) the Blackburn Times and I had the original framed.
The cottage where she lived was demolished many years ago, although when I last passed that way, the rest of the row was still standing. She moved into Oswaldtwistle (near to Miller Close I think) and I used to deliver milk for a local farmer to her at weekends.
She was a wonderful lady who, as far as I know, had no children of her own. I could never forget Alice.