My name is Elizabeth Farman nee Gibbons and I was born at 14 Whitehouse Estate, Suffield Park, Cromer in May 1937. This will be a record of some of my earliest memories.

My parents were Ruth and Ronald. At the age of two we moved to 4 Grove Rd. I started school at the aged of four and attended the St Martin's School in Mill Rd. The war had been on for a couple of years; and I can remember hiding under my desk when the siren went. We had two teachers -- Mrs Whittingham and Miss Holden.

I can recall a street party we had at the end of the war. There were about 40-50 children in our road: the Falkards, Fosters, Hills, Hedges, Humphreys, Wests, Coxes, Deareys, Davies, and by now I had a sister Margaret and brother Alan.

Dad kept some chickens and mum used to boil-up the potato peelings and add meal to it and any veg waste. In the shed was the mangle, which had two wooden rollers, and on wash days this would be used to press out the water from the sheets and blankets -- very hard work. Next door to the Wests' house we had an air-raid shelter. I don't remember going into it while the war was on but after we used to play doctors and nurses in it.

My Junior School was in Mount St Cromer. The headmistress was Miss Barrett and my teacher was Miss Woodhouse. We learnt our tables by chanting them over each morning.

Our desks were made of wood and had ink wells. We polished our desks and were quite proud of them. Other things I remember doing are: making mud pies, gardens on a baking tray, and collecting wild flowers to make a bride's bouquet.

These were purple thistles, pale blue cornflowers and white daisies. The daisies would be in the centre, next the cornflowers and then the thistles, keeping it in a circle. Then while holding the stalks together we put a centre cut-out doily around it.

Who can remember the oranges and lard being washed up onto the beach? The oranges were beautiful but the lard, even after mother trying to purify it several times, we had to bury it in the garden --it had such an awful smell.

A family photo

My sister Margaret had Scarlet Fever and was taken off to the Isolation Hospital in Roughton for six weeks. I also remember men coming to fumigate the bedroom and blankets (mum always said they ruined them).

Dad used to make rugs from cut up-strips of old coats or anything that could be used again. He used a hook on a handle and hooked the piece of cloth around, and this was pushed through the sugar sack, and knotted onto itself. They would last for years.

In 1947, the year of the big freeze, we had great fun up Happy Valley with a sledge. It made a long run from the Lighthouse to the Shelter at the bottom.

In 1948 the new Secondary Modern School was opened. I enjoyed my time at school and still keep in touch with many friends. I was a prefect and a good runner . I represented the school in the All England School Sports held at Southampton as a team member of the relay.

Elizabeth Gibbons, Janet Bunn, Pat Wright from Holt school and Bunty Madgett who was also at Cromer School, in the relay team at the All England School Sports held at Southampton.

May the 24th was Empire Day but also our school sports day. The field events and heats of the running would be held in the morning and the finals in the afternoon.

I can remember most of the teachers: Miss Reynolds P-E, Miss Hudson Cookery Miss Taylor Music, (We used to enter the Music Festival and nearly always did well), Mr Askew my first English /maths teacher, Mr Philips English, Mr Clews Science and Mrs Noon Drama.

Miss King took me for R-E. We did a wonderful play in which I was a child of Bethlehem.

Elizabeth Gibbons and her sister Margaret.

On leaving school I worked at 'Briggs' the Jewellers in Church Street, Cromer. My wages were 37/6d a week. There I learnt how to rethread necklaces that were bought in for repair and how to dress the shop window.
As a teenager I joined the Youth Club, went to dances and rolling skating, and worked in the evenings during the summer at the Melbourne Hotel.

At the age of seventeen I met my husband-to-be, Clifford Horne, who had just returned from Korea. We were married in the February of 1957 at Cromer Church, and lived and worked at Roseacre in West Runton as Chef and helper.
Our daughter Rachel was born in the November and in 1958 we moved to Cheshire.

Elizabeth Farman, Norfolk, 2002