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John White recalls childhood memories living in Kent.
Times were getting tough and in 1936 Dad lost two contracts and had to sell one truck so that meant laying off George Foreman. After this it was back to a one-man band for Dad.
He sold both trucks and bought a 2 tonne Morris - This one cost him £289.10.6d. but it was more powerful and more comfortable.
We had to move from Ridge Row as our lease had run out. Dad managed to get one of the cottages at Acrise Court.
From the cottage it was almost four miles to school in Acrise so Dad bought me a bicycle and because of the distance and time taken my driving had to take second place.
One of my jobs at this time was to draw water for three houses and the stock on the farm. This meant when I got home from school I had to harness up Captain, a full shire draft horse.
Using a one and a half inch hemp rope about 180 to 200 foot long, one end attached to a single tree and the other to a seventeen gallon milk can, I would tell Captain to stand with the rope just slack. I went back to the well, pushed the can off the edge of the well and yelled 'Back up, Captain'.
No doubt the horse knew as much as I did about drawing water. He would back up until I yelled 'Whoa'. He would stop and stand still. The can had a 14 lb weight tied to one side and this used to tip the can over and it filled with water.
I would then lead Captain forward until the can was at the top of its travel when I would tell him to stand. He would hold the weight until I got back to the well and could swing the can.
When I yelled out, he would slacken off the rope and the can would catch on the side of the well and tip the water into the tank. Sometimes we would misjudge things and I would get the water over me.
This went on all summer, and as the supply of water got lower we had to extend the rope. At its longest we had 250 feet which would have put the water level at about 220 foot below ground level but it never ran dry.
I have heard that the well is 400 foot deep and the water comes from an underground stream.
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