Serena Dias de Deus: Early Years

I was born in South Street in 1939 in an old house, Grove Cottage, next to Grove House. We had no bathroom so it was washing in a bowl daily and a bath in a large tin bath dragged into the warm kitchen on Saturday night.

Those were the days when we knew all our neighbours and helped each other out in hard times.  I remember many a delicious chocolate cake being passed over the wall of Grove House by Mrs Ablitt, –  the Ablitts owned the butchers shop in the High Street and were Mollie Mallett’s parents.

One of my very early memories was of Mrs Lansdowne on the other side making me a cardboard Snowman covered in cotton wool full of tiny little gifts all individually wrapped.

Serena nee Hunt b 1939

South St. 2013

South St. 2013