The Towers had no heating – there were those ‘Cozy Stoves’ and it was my job to carry the coal in scuttles to which ever room we were using.
I remember going to buy chews – Black Jack and Fruit salad- from Higginbothams in the High Street.
In the early days I went to Freshwater to school, to Miss Gloyn’s with Graeme Dillon – still my friend. Beryl Kearns used to drive us. I had to sit in the front with Beryl; she said it was just not possible to drive us if we were sitting together in the back of the car.
Do you remember Charlie Attrill, the boatman here at the Yacht Club?
I used to spend all day with him in his launch. He’d normally have a few lobster pots off here so we’d go potting at 6, and I’d spend all day with him, taking people out. He taught me a lot about small boat handling. It was a happy upbringing if you like small boats, which by God, I did. If you get salt water in your veins at an early age it’s a dangerous thing. I loved every minute of it; just couldn’t fault it.
John Caulcutt. b 1947