[dotti34]

Gosh, I wouldn’t know where to start, so many memories. I grew up in a village and looking back I’m not sure what sort of a wish we all had but it just seemed like having fun at the time – and no we were not village idiots even if we sound like we might have been, reading some of this. We liked to think we were daredevils, everything was an adventure.

If there was thunder and lightning we wouldn’t worry about running home but we would dare each other to stand under the tallest tree in the woods. When walking through fields we would choose to take the field that said ‘no trespassing’ or even ‘beware of the bull’ – with fingers crossed that the bull was tethered by the ring in its nose. Life was never boring.

We jumped across brooks – without the help of a rope, Margaret. Usually did this until someone fell in. We went robbing apple orchards where so much of the fruit got wasted – yes, those horrible green apples. Then had to eat them before we got home so that our mum’s didn’t know what we had been up to. Never thought of throwing them away. Not like they wouldn’t have guessed when we were up all night with bellyache. Even on this ‘excursion’ we would climb over back fences and walk up paths – hoping someone would see us and give chase, that was part of the ‘fun’. I was often scared witless at times but I wouldn’t let anyone know – and I suppose others felt the same.

Come to think of it we were right little *****, but did we hurt anyone, except ourselves, no! Did we ever expect anyone to do anything or everything for us, no!