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Born in the decade before the Second World War, Harold Taylor, also known as 'Baby Taylor' for he was the youngest of the family, shares some happy memories of wonderful family walks.
Before the bypass was built, there was no way out of town other than West Street, and a walk across the West Gate Fields took us to Dell Quay, a popular Sunday evening walk for many. The stream of the Lavant followed the footpath most of the way, and in the days of steam, to stand on 'Jacob's Ladder' and allow a steam train to blast its hot air over your body was quite an excitement.
From the station out to the Fishbourne Road crossing, was the goods marshalling yard, so here there were many tracks side by side and the bridge was quite long. It got even longer during the War, for each time they laid a new track to take care of increasing traffic, so the bridge grew.
Our journey back from Dell Quay was usually more leisurely. After Dad had had a couple of pints in the local pub (which I think was called The Bull), and us kids had had our lemonade and crisps, we would walk to Stockbridge Road. Here we would board a bus to bring us back as far as the Cross.
Other Sunday walks would be through the water meadows to Goodwood and the Waterbeach Hotel, now called the Goodwood Park Hotel.
A similar journey was to turn off Madgwick Lane and take Stalk's Lane, coming out at Lavant, where we would go to the Earl of March and get a bus home. Another longer walk was up College Lane, through Fordwater, up the chalk path at Lavant to the Trundle, then down past the cottages, into West Dean and the Selsey Arms. These were delightful days when children did not flinch at being asked to walk. Alternatively, from Stalk's Lane we would come back through Fordwater and finish up at the Wellington Hotel at Summersdale.
From as early as I can remember, one of our favourite walks was to get a bus to Lavant, then walk along the road to West Stoke, where we would take one of the paths to Stoke Clump. As one walked along this road, on the north side were two cottages in their own ground, the West Sussex Children's Home. Around 1935, or perhaps before, they built a new complex of about 7 buildings in St. Paul's Road for this purpose and the Lavant home was closed.
When I went to the Central Boy's School, about 30 of these children would be marched to school by Goldsmith, the largest boy there. Strangely it has never struck me before, but I now wander if this is a fellow I worked with many years later in the Police. I do not remember what his Christian name was, but he did have a younger brother, Peter, as did this fellow in the Police.
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