When we moved into our council houses at Thorley there were only eight houses. There was space further up the road, past number 8 for some more houses to be built, but for a number of years it was just an overgrown plot with long grass. It was here in the long grass that several of us council house children had our first introduction to smoking. Fortunately I can’t recall where the cigarettes came from, but many a ciggy was shared in the secrecy of the long grass!

Andrew Budden and I were exploring the Marsh at the bottom of Tattels Lane, when our co explorer Johnnie Holtom, who was a year or two older than us, pulled out a pipe and amid much coughing and retching, lit it up. Eventually he offered us a go, with the same result. Cigarettes, I had found were much easier to get on with.

Eventually the council started work on new houses so we lost the use of our secret place. Peter Smith b 1946