I recently heard from 'Beenham Old Boy' Billy Murphy. It was great to hear from him again after all these years. I asked him to share some memories of the 'Old Girl On The Hill' and this is his reply;
Pete,
Great to catch up and thank you for filling in memories from
Beenham lodge. Like you I loved the place and remember the orchards ( storing the apples over the barn) and plenty of room to run around, we
even had a tennis court!
What a great laugh with all the kids, always
something going on. Anybody remember when we were all learning how to
Knit!?
I also got busted hitching, Aunty Bee picked me up and gave me a
fine lecture!
A quick memory; Barrie was responsible for keeping the
furnace going and one day I was "helping" him. Something went wrong and
we set the place on fire! I think Barrie was beating it with his shirt
and I got an extinguisher that worked crap - Harry Manville (Super') saved the day
with a CO2 extinguisher that worked. I think the man wanted to do us
bodily harm but settled for calling us every name in the book!
Really
enjoyed Kennet school too, it was great for sports and I remember
running cross country past Reeds paper mill and playing football for the
school. Coaches Mr. Strand and Mr. Cant? I even got a conduct mark for
being too lippy to Mr. Corp. I still have my report card! Good days and
somehow it seems it was a real sweet time for kids.
How about Miss
Draper always slurping her tea?
I wish I had some photos to share but
they seem to have been lost over the years which I regret. I'll have
another look.
Keep up the good work! - Bill.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, thanks a lot Billy. Yes, Harold Manville (Boss Man) and his wife became my God-Parents while they were there, and do you remember the time he pushed Steven Castle's face into his porridge because he refused to eat it, saying it was TOO lumpy? Or the time the lads from Greenham Common came and the Fish & Chips were cold by the time we all got to eat them - a few of us had a little snigger and dear old Harry noticed - a few blood vessels bled then I think - He either had anger issues or 'we' were just a little bit of a handful :-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
