The Downshire Star was
a 4-6-2 standard gauge three-cylinder steam locomotive built at the Northchapel
Works in 1933 which had all the romance of the Flying Scotsman and the grace
and style of the Mallard.
It was a stunning
sight liveried in the black and gold of the DCRN, Downshire County Railway
Network, pulling the Prix Deluxe first-class coaches, dining carriage, and sleeper
cars, as well as second and third class wagons, and it ran from Abbeyvale to
all points North via Abbottsford, Finchbottom and Nettlefield
In September 1939 best
friends Lilian Baggott and Amelia Bryan met cousins and best friends, Steve Matthews and
Bill Prendergast in a second-class
carriage on the Downshire Star heading out of Glasgow in the late afternoon
sunshine, bound for Downshire, and romance blossomed.
The girls were
returning home to be with their families while the boys had been ordered to return
to the Downshire Light Infantry barracks in Nettlefield.
They said their
goodbyes on the platform of Nettlefield Station and the girls reboarded the
train.
It was to be the last
time they would see the boys for the best part of 10 months, as they left Downshire
the following day as part of the BEF, British Expeditionary Force, which was in
France two days later.
With the boys at war
the girls joined the WLA (Women's Land Army) and were sent to the Dulcets where
they were, along with two other girls, assigned to Trotwood’s Farm just outside
of Dulcet St Mary, and were fortunate to be working for Henry Trotwood, was a
kind and gentle man, because many farmers were not.
After being evacuated
from Dunkirk Steve and Bill ended up at St Lucy’s Hospital in Sharpington which
was only a 15-mile bus journey from Dulcet St Mary.
When they were passed
fit for discharge Amelia made a very bold decision, of proposing to Steve,
given that she was the quiet one of the two and generally relied on Lil for the
boldness, it was very bold indeed and Lilian followed suit.
The double wedding
took place at the Downshire Light Infantry Chapel in Nettlefield on the 20th of
July 1940 and they travelled on the Downshire Star to Abbottsford and spent
their wedding night at the Regents Hotel.
One week later the
regiment left Downshire again and on the 5th of February 1941 at Beda
Fomm in Libya the Bren gun Carrier that Steve and Bill were travelling in
took a direct hit from a German 88mm shell, Bill Prendergast was killed
outright but Steve was hit in the chest with shrapnel and injured just enough
to mean his war was over.
It was late May by the
time Steve got to St Lucy’s in Sharpington and
Lilian worked hard to
pick up the slack on the days Amelia was at the hospital, but Amelia made up
for lost time after Steve was discharged in August because Henry Trotwood made
it possible for Amelia to look after him on the farm.
As his health
improved, he still wasn’t strong enough for farm work but was able to take some
light exercise by walking around the farm, lengthening them week on week.
It was on one such walk
in September when he met one of Henry Trotwood’s neighbours, Sir Fabian Cook,
the eccentric Squire from St Mary’s Hall, who was wandering the woods that
bordered Henry’s long acre field.
From that first
meeting, despite a thirty-year different in their ages, the two men struck up a
friendship, and through that friendship Steve developed his interest in plant
propagation, which was Sir Fabians passion, which he indulged in his Victorian
Conservatory and hot houses.
Steve took to it so
well that by 1942, with his health and strength returned he was working for him
and after the war, he and Amelia worked at the Hall together and lived in the
gate Lodge.
Lilian on the other
hand stayed on at Trotwood’s Farm and, although she never stopped loving Bill,
in 1946, she married Henry’s son Frank who had returned from the war unscathed,
and they had two children.
Steve and Amelia were
not blessed with children so had to be content with being doting godparents.
Up at St Mary’s Hall, while
Fabian did the fun stuff, continuing with his “hobbies” of cross pollinating
and breeding new varieties of plants, Steve and Amelia had started to grow
plants commercially and by 1950 were supplying most of the councils in Southeast
Downshire with plants for Schools, Parks, and the grounds of public buildings,
as well as selling to farms and small holdings.
Five years later in
addition to the trees, shrubs, and plants they were selling plants pots, compost,
peat, and statuary.
With each passing year
a bigger and bigger share of their business was direct to the general public
and things were going from strength to strength.
However, despite
everything in the garden being lovely, bad news was just around the corner.
It firstly came from
Trotwood’s farm when Frank Trotwood,
having fought in France, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and Germany,
without so much as a scratch, had died from complications following
appendicitis in 1958 at the age of 41,
The irony was lost on
his widow Lilian of course, who at the age of 39 had twice been widowed and was
now left to run the farm and raise the two children on her own albeit with the
help of her father-in-law Henry.
An uncertain future
lay ahead for her, but the one thing she knew with perfect clarity was that she
would not marry again, or even give her heart to any man again.
Quickly on the heels
of Franks death was something much closer to home when Fabian had a bout of
pneumonia and nearly died himself.
After a short spell in
hospital, he returned to St Mary’s Hall but was confined to his bed for several
months, and to ensure he did as he was told, they employed a live in Nurse in the shape of
Natasha Webb to literally nurse him back
to health.
His recouperation took
a full year and his brush with death and the subsequent confinement put his
life in sharp focus and prompted him to put his affairs properly in order so
consulted at length, when Nurse Webb would permit it, with his Solicitor Neil
Yorke.
His principal concern was the disposition of St Mary’s Hall and the
land after his death, he had no family of his own, he’d lost both of his
brothers in the Great War and the love of his life Cynthia in the Spanish Flu
Epidemic in 1920 so he needed to make arrangements so that all that he
possessed would go to the people he wanted to benefit, and not to the exchequer
in death duties or capital gains tax, so with Neil’s help he set up the Dulcets
Nursery as a bona fide business, with Fabian holding a 51% stake, Steve and
Amelia having 40% between them, and the other 9% divided equally between his
loyal staff and the Trotwood’s, who he had a soft spot for, and on his death
his 51% would be divided equally between the remaining stakeholders.
After two years and with the austere fifties coming to an end the
business had gone from strength to strength and in June of 1960 Steve announced
he was taking Amelia away for a short holiday the following month to celebrate
their 20th Wedding Anniversary, they hadn’t been on holiday since they were
married, the last holiday either of them had was before the war.
After putting his
suitcase in the taxi, he walked back into the lodge and once inside the front
door he met Amelia coming the other way with two cases.
“Have you got enough
luggage?” he asked, “We’re coming back in a week”
“Yes, but back from
where?” she asked, “All you said was pack an assortment of clothes”
“Well let’s get going
then,” Steve said and took her cases out to the taxi
“But where are we
going?” she pleaded
“Abbottsford” he
replied curtly
“Where in
Abbottsford?” she asked impatiently, and he replied
“Abbottsford is all
you need to know for now”
“You’re very
annoying,” she said sulkily
The taxi drove them to
Dulcet St Mary station where they caught the Abbottsford train and when they
disembarked the porter led them to the taxi rank.
Taking their turn, he
opened the door for Amelia and quietly instructed the cabbie.
“The Regent’s please”
he whispered
“No problem guv” he
replied
“What
was that? Where are we going?” she asked
cursing herself for missing what was said.
When the taxi pulled
up outside the Regent’s Hotel the concierge opened the door and Amelia got out,
open-mouthed.
He followed her and
turned to settle the fare with the cabbie and then taking her arm they headed
into the lobby.
“Are we really staying
here?” she whispered in disbelief.
Her eyes were like
saucers as she took in her surroundings.
They had stayed at the
Regent’s Hotel on their wedding night but back in 1940 they occupied a much
more humble room to the suite he had booked for them, so once in their suite
they christened the rather lavish accommodations in the style befitting the
location, in proper wedding night style, before celebrating their anniversary
in equally grand style in the equally lavish restaurant.
The next morning, they
had a sumptuous unhurried breakfast before he drained his coffee cup and said
“Come on”
“What?” she gasped
“Come on we need to
pack” he instructed
“Why?” aren’t we
staying here?” she asked crestfallen
“We have a train to catch,”
Steve said heading towards the door
“But…” she stuttered
and trotted after him, quizzing him all the way
“I thought this was my
treat”
“This was just part
one” Steve informed her and kissed her
An hour later they
were sitting in the back of another taxi, this time he didn’t whisper
“Abbottsford Station
please”
“Where are we going?”
she said petulantly and then stamped her feet, so Steve laughed
“I hate you,” she said
Once at the station
they made their way towards platform 6.
Halfway along the concourse
Amelia stopped in her tracks.
“I refuse to take another
step until you tell me where we are going” she said
“Scotland” he answered
“on the Downshire Star”
“Scotland?” she
responded quietly “On the Downshire Star”
“Yes” he said, and she
threw her arms around him and kissed him
“Can we go now?” he
asked
“Yes” she said and
straightened her hat but after another twenty yards she stopped again
“Oh God the porter is
putting out bags in the wrong carriage” she cried, “Quick stop him, that’s
first class”
“I know” he said
calmly “But it’s not the wrong carriage”
“Do you mean we’re
travelling First Class?” she said in amazement, when they met on board the Star
in 1939, they were in second.
“I love you” he said,
“I’m so glad you asked me to marry you 20 years ago”
“I love you too”
Amelia replied and then they kissed again
