TELL ME ABOUT YOUR CHILDHOOD

WELL WE TOUCHED ON MY CHILDHOOD A WAY BACK , BUT DID YOU KNOW THIS HANDSOME MAN ABOUT TOWN, WAS ACTUALLY A CARROT CRUNCHER . THE PICTURE ON THE LEFT IS THE CHURCH I WAS CHRISTENED IN , WAY BACK IN SEVENTY TWO, I WAS BROUGHT UP IN THE VILLAGE OF DITCHLING , LIVING ON THE TOP OF THE COMMON , I REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS ALL JUST FIELDS , and no giles it wasnt in a gypsy caravan

THE LITTLE HAMLET OF HOUSES WE LIVED IN HAD ABOUT FIVE FAMILIES IN IT . MY EARLIEST MEMORIES ARE OF WATCHING THE VIETNAM WAR ON THE LITTLE BLACK AND WHITE TV AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT, GETTING BATHED IN THE KITCHEN SINK, ROAMING ACROSS THE LOCAL COUNTRYSIDE ,BUILDING CAMPS ,CLIMBING TREES AND GENERAL CHILDISH MISCHIEF .


GOING TO THE VILLAGE SCHOOL WAS A JOURNEY IN ITSELF ABOUT FIVE MILES AWAY , IT WAS SITUATED ANT THE END OF A LONG LANE THAT CUT THROUGH A GRAVEYARD , THE YOUNG KID CASUAL FELL IN LOVE WITH REBECCA SKELTON ON HIS FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL , HER DAD OWNED THE LOCAL PUB , DIDN'T HELP AT FOUR YEARS OLD THOUGH. THE CHURCH WAS ATTACHED TO THE SCHOOL AND THE PLAYING FIELD IN THE PICTURE BELOW KEPT ME ENTERTAINED IN THE DAY, FEEDING THE DUCKS ON THE POND ON THE WAY HOME SOMETIMES.






VILLAGE LIFE WAS SLOW AND THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR WAS THE VILLAGE FETE ONE YEAR THE INVENTOR OF THE CAR USED FOR CHITY CHITY BANG BANG ,WHO LIVED IN THE VILLAGE CAME WITH THE CAR ,GIVING THE KIDS RIDES ROUND THE FIELD , I REMEMBER BECOMING IN CONSOLABLE , WHEN IT DIDN'T TAKE OFF ,, WELL I WAS 32 BY THEN



THE ACTUAL COMMON WAS AN EERIE PLACE SOMETIMES THE MONKS FROM THE NEARBY RETREAT COULD BE SEEN WANDERING , IN THE EARLY MORNING MIST , ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING THINGS TO HAPPEN WAS THE FIND OF A SPITFIRE IN THE POND ON THE COMMON , JUST LOOKED LIKE A HEAP OF JUNK TO ME BUT HEY IM JUST A COUNTRY BOY .