Downshire Diary – (98) Snowstorm in Springwater

 

Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the north but our story begins further south at the most southerly fringe of the Pepperstock Hills National Park.

The Park stretched from the bare, and often barren crags of Oxley Ridge in the North to the dense wooded southern slopes on the fringe of the Finchbottom Vale and from Quarry Hill, and the Pits in the West to Pepperstock Bay in the East.

It is an area of stark contrasts and attracted a variety of visitors.

The quarry hill side of the park to the west, as the name suggests, was heavily Quarried over several hundred years, though more extensively during the industrial revolution, the Quarries had been un-worked for over fifty years and nature had reclaimed them and former pits had become lakes and were very popular with anglers and the sparse shrubbery and woodland made it popular spot with courting couples whereas the northern crags and fells were popular with climbers and more hardy folk.

To the south and east was an extensive tract of magnificent mixed forestry and was rivalled only by the ancient woodland of the Dancingdean Forest.

 

Cheryl Vermeulen lived in the village of Springwater in the home she had once shared with her ex-husband Bijs and at the age of 29 she was facing her first Christmas on her own for 8 years and she wasn’t looking forward to it.

She wasn’t lonely per se, she had friends aplenty, and she even had a romantic interest or at least she had someone she was interested in romantically she just needed to close the deal, which was proving to be more difficult than she had hoped.

 

Cheryl woke early in the depths of winters to find it was snowing lightly but it was 4am, so she went to the bathroom and then went back to bed.

She awoke for the second time at six o’clock but after looking at the clock she went back to sleep again.

The next time she woke to the sound of machinery, a repetitive whining sound, and when she realized it was not part of her dream, she jumped from her bed and rushed to the window.

Across the cul-de-sac and through the naked black branches of the trees, she could see one of her neighbour's driveways and his son's car stuck in the snow.

Then she glanced to the bedside table and the clock radio which screamed in her face its “eight o'clock!!!”

“You’re kidding me” she snapped “Where did the time go?”

Well, what happened was she kept going back to sleep and at some point she had even switched the alarm off and then made the fatal error of wanting to stay cosy for a few more minutes, but those few more minutes turned into an hour.

As a result she was in a panic, so she threw on anything that would keep her warm and ran wild-eyed down the stairs.

Her first stop was to the coat cupboard where she searched out her wellington boot's, then she turned them upside down and banged them against each other to wake up any sleeping insects and encourage them to vacate the premises, as their cosy abode was about to be invaded by wool clad size three feet.

Once she had her boots on, her coat was next followed by a hat and scarf and finally she put on her thickest gloves.

It took her several attempts to open the door with her thick gloves on and she had to take one off to open the garage door and it seemed that everything was conspiring to frustrate her just when she was in such a hurry.

 

She wriggled her way to the back of the garage in search of the snow shovel, she knew they had one, her ex-husband Bijs had bought one when they first moved to the village but they had never used it, he drove a 4x4 and he drove her to work when there was snow on the ground, and it never lay for long anyway so there was never any need for it.

Once she had the shovel she wriggled back to the door again this time with the shovel above her head.

Shovel in hand she stood on the threshold and looked down the drive at the task ahead.

The small granular flakes were falling fast, and the wind was blowing it in drifts across her drive.

After a few moments she looked beyond her drive and wondered why she was the only one outside when the men of the neighbourhood were normally out flexing their muscles but then she remembered, it was still only 8.15 on Sunday morning, and they were not expected at the church by 9:30 for a preservice choir practise ahead of a full program of church events on the third Sunday of advent.

As she looked from the garage door out to the street, along the 40 foot length drive covered by a foot of virgin snow, Cheryl sighed and asked herself
“Where on earth do I begin?”

In the end she went straight to the middle and began to shovel a narrow path to the street and she initially moved along at a fairly steady pace, but when she had reached the road she stopped and looked at her watch and felt deflated.

She realised she had a choice to make she could either shovel like a mad woman and go to church unkempt and un-showered and dressed like a bag lady or she could make a phone call.

Cheryl went back to the house and picked up her phone and dialled a number

“Hello?” a voice said
“Hello Kay, sorry for calling so early, is Owen there? I can’t get the car out” Cheryl said “I’m never going to make it to church on time”
Owen and Kay were in the choir as well and also lived in Springwater and before she could continue Kay interrupted her and said

“Don't worry Cheryl we’ll pick you up on the way”

“Oh bless you Kay” she said “I’ll be ready”

Owen and Kay came along right on cue and Cheryl made her way through the snow to the car.

It was still snowing as they approached St Bartholomew’s Church when Owen said

“I hope the rest of the choir can make it”

“I just hope there will be someone there to listen” Kay added

“Even if it’s just the three of us and no congregation we can still sing for God” Cheryl said
“Yes we can” they agreed

 

Only three choir members failed to make the rehearsal but they all arrived in time for the performances and despite the weather there were plenty of congregants there to listen.

Once they finished the rehearsal Cheryl used the time before the first service to enjoy a cup of coffee at the church Café, Bart’s, where she spent 20 minutes laughing and chatting with fellow choristers, and among them was Dave Torrison, who was on her romantic radar.

 

The church was full by 10.30 and the choir was well warmed up for their rendition of “Carol of the Bells” and Cheryl was in particularly good voice and nailed all of solos.

The second service was equally well received judging by the emotion filled faces of those who had just been blessed by the music.

After the service was complete, they shared the peace and the congregation had dispersed, some of the choristers went for a late lunch.

One of them was Dave Torrison and after Owen and Kay related the tale about her not being able to get her car out of the garage Dave said

“Well I don’t mind coming round to help”

“Really?” she asked

“Absolutely” Dave said

“Well in that case I’ll make us dinner” Cheryl said

“Great” he said “But I’ll need to go home first and change”

 

Owen and Kay dropped her off in front of her house.

“Have fun” Kay said and winked

As she walked up the little path she’d cleared earlier that morning it already had two inches of fresh snow on it and she looked across at her neighbour’s drives in the failing light and could see that all the men had been out and cleared their driveways and were safely tucked up warm inside.

Cheryl’s first act was to rush inside and change into something that would make the best of what she had and then when she was perfumed and made up she put on her snow shovelling gear on top of her outfit and waited for him.

 

When he arrived, Dave thought she looked rather cute in her wellies, puffer jacket, woolly hat, scarf and gloves, but as the snow shovel stood two foot taller than she did, he suggested she leave the drive to him.

Cheryl didn’t argue because it meant she could make a start on dinner and perfect her appearance.

“I hope this is ok” she said as she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

She needn’t have worried, after all he thought she was cute in a puffer jacket and wellies he would be putty in her hands when he saw her in a figure hugging wool dress.

Suffice is to say she did make an impression and they both had a great Christmas.

Downshire Diary – (97) Sultry Summer Love

 

Paul Biggerstaff and Liz Bradshaw were staying on a camp site in the Finchbottom Vale that was once a working railway station before it fell afoul of Dr Beeching and his cuts, in a place called Sharpinghead.

The two of them were staying in the converted railway station, as part of a family gathering, as they did for a month every summer.

Among those drawn back to Sharpinghead each year were the four Walker girls, sister’s Jane, Kathy, Margaret and the baby of the family, Liz.

And over the years the numbers grew with the addition of boyfriends, husbands and then for the older two girls, children.

And it was on the whole a very loving family and among their number were Paul Biggerstaff and Liz Bradshaw but they felt love of a very different kind.

The problem was they were not a couple, they were married however, just not to each other, and they were in fact brother and sister in law.

Paul had been married to Liz’s sister Margaret for over four years and they had been in love with each other for all of those and their mutual attraction was obvious to them both from the first moment they were introduced, but they knew instinctively that they could never act on it.

And for over four years they kept their feelings in check, at least until Christmas in 1970 when with the aid of mulled wine and mistletoe they kissed.

When they reflected on it later the nature of the kiss had surprised them both, once they started they didn’t want to stop, but stop they did, it was not just a perfect Christmas kiss, it was perfect on every level, and having broken the ice with a kiss, they wanted to repeat it.

But the next morning in the cold, sober, light of day, they felt guilty, really, really guilty, but not just for weakening, the guilt came because the kiss revealed that they were not just attracted by naked lust, after the kiss they realised it was love, so they avoided each other for the rest of the week.

They had both decided they would not get drunk in case they let their guard down on New Year’s Eve and kissed again.

 

In the New Year being in close proximity to each other was torture being close enough that they could smell each other was both a blessing and a curse, and being so close to one another that they could touch was agony, but there were occasional opportunities when they succumbed to the temptation.

 

But they had mixed feelings when the time came around again to go to Sharpinghead for the summer family gathering.

It was always fun at Sharpinghead and there was always plenty to do,

The campsite was attached to Maxlin’s Holiday Camp and although the campgrounds and the old railway buildings were nothing to do with Maxlin’s, all those who stayed there automatically qualified for day passes to use some of the amenities.

Unfortunately doing family stuff together brought them into each other’s orbits time after time every single day and it was driving them to distraction.

After that first surrender to their love at Christmas Liz felt alive and tingling all over and she wanted more of the same.

There had been the occasional repeat of their perfect kissing but they were few and far between and relied mainly on chance.

Paul for one was desperate to try and engineer something a little more prolonged.

So Paul separated himself and Liz from the group and took her over to Mornington where they spent a very pleasant afternoon together and enjoyed it so much so that they felt like a couple and they both wanted more of that and over the next couple of weeks there was more but it was on their last weekend at Sharpinghead when things came to a head.

 

Paul woke up on Sunday morning in an empty bed and he noticed that Margaret’s clothes were not strewn all over the bedroom floor as was her habit and shoes were not standing sentry by the door as they would have been had she been in.

He got up and walked bleary eyed down the hall to the bathroom to relieve himself and when he returned, equally bleary eyed he opened the bedroom door and climbed back into bed and was delighted to discover there was a warm body beneath the duvet and he guessed that Margaret must have got back into bed while he was in the bathroom.

Paul snuggled up to her and she murmured softly in her sleep but as he kissed the skin of her shoulder, she woke up and rolled onto her back, but it wasn’t Margaret he was looking at but the smiling face of  her younger sister Liz and then he kissed her smiling mouth.

“I’d better go” he said

“No don’t” she implored

“Where’s Bob?” he asked

“Fishing” she replied and he rose up on one elbow and looked through a gap in the bedroom curtain where he could see his wife, Margaret, through the window talking to Auntie Vi.

“Which one of us is in the wrong bed?” he asked

“Do you care?” Liz replied

“No not really” he answered and kissed her and after a few minutes he paused to look through the window again and could see Margaret and Aunty Vi disappearing in the distance.

So they did what they had been longing to do for five years and made love. 

 

That sultry Sunday morning marked a turning point in their lives as it brought their relationship to a head and by Christmas they had separated from the respective partners and the following summer they were starting a new life together in Australia and they never saw the family again, but they were truly happy for the first time in their lives.

Downshire Diary – (96) Tears fall like Snowflakes

 

It was early morning on Christmas Eve in Abbottsford and just as dawn was breaking snowflakes started to softly fall.
Downshire’s metropolis was a noisy city, all hustle and bustle, where at Christmas it always tended to rain.

But as the city came alive the snow fell thicker and faster, and a quiet hush descended as the large white snowflakes fell.
As the winter continued to make its presence felt the holiday rush seemed to slow down and shoppers took a pause to appreciate the beauty of winter’s gifts.

In the warmth of her flat, Arabella looked out as the snow dressed the town in its winter gown.

She looked upon it with joy initially but the joy subsided as tears started to flow from deep within as she remembered the white Christmas’ of her childhood when she lived in Tipton, where her family still lived in the north of the county.
The tears born of loneliness filled her eyes because she would be spending Christmas alone and lonely.

An ache swelled inside her chest and its pains are radiating, a choked cry, that won't pass her lips, filled her throat as the touch of sadness showed on her wrinkled face.
Arabella was a nurse at the Winston Churchill Hospital and she was working over Christmas so she would not be seeing her family and as if that wasn’t bad enough her boyfriend Frank left Abbottsford that morning to spend Christmas Day and Boxing Day with his parents in Sharpington.

So that was why she was feeling so blue, so lonely and isolated, as she was stuck inside her lonely flat for Christmas Eve.
Her only company was her cat Oscar and she cuddled him for comfort but felt no peace and was resigned to the fact that it wouldn’t come that day.
As the snow continued to fall the purring of Oscar had been replaced by the computers comforting hum yet that too turned out to be an empty comfort.
She was alone with her thoughts all day and found then uncomfortable companions and lamented the passing of the days of Christmas carolling, present wrapping, sending and receiving cards, and enjoying the season with friends.  
She stared out the window watching the flakes of snow fall and said a silent prayer to help her survive the joyless day and for someone to give her a much needed lift and make her smile.
Then the tears flowed again as the feelings of worthlessness came again and she felt so very blue.
As she looked out the window she found herself thinking that somewhere out there, there were other lonely people feeling as she did, and some who needed company far more than her, just some human contact.
It was a basic need to be wanted, for some loving care, a smile, a hug or just a card, especially during the joyful season.

And just then the phone rang and when she looked at the caller ID a smile spread across her face.

“Hi mum, it’s so nice to hear your voice”

 

Talking to her Mum for over an hour cheered her up and got her into a better frame of mind to face the next four hours before she left for work.

Her mum was wonderful, she always helped get her head straight, and she couldn’t wait to see her at New Year’s.

 

She got herself showered and dressed in her uniform and was just preparing to leave for work, she was going to leave half an hour earlier than normal because of the snow and she was just getting her shoes on when there was a knock at the door and she tutted because whoever it was going to make her late.

But when she opened the door she couldn’t believe her eyes

“You’re here” she said “Why are you here?”

But her visitor couldn’t reply because she was kissing him.

 

“So why are you here?” she asked when she got Frank inside her flat.

“They closed the Pepperstock Express Way because of the snow” He replied “So I’m spending Christmas with you”

“Why didn’t you call me?” she asked and kissed him again

“My phone died” Frank said “So I couldn’t even call to say I missed you and I love you”

Downshire Diary – (95) Escape to the Summer Fête

 

Paul Biggerstaff and Liz Bradshaw were staying on a camp site in the Finchbottom Vale that was once a working railway station before it fell afoul of Dr Beeching and his cuts, in a place called Sharpinghead.

The two of them were staying in the converted railway station, as part of a family gathering, as they did for a month every summer.

Among those drawn back to Sharpinghead each year were the four Walker girls, sister’s Jane, Kathy, Margaret and the baby of the family, Liz.

And over the years the numbers grew with the addition of boyfriends, husbands and then for the older two girls, children.

And it was on the whole a very loving family and among their number were Paul Biggerstaff and Liz Bradshaw but they felt love of a very different kind.

The problem was they were not a couple, they were married however, just not to each other, and they were in fact brother and sister in law.

Paul had been married to Liz’s sister Margaret for over four years and they had been in love with each other for all of those and their mutual attraction was obvious to them both from the first moment they were introduced, but they knew instinctively that they could never act on it.

And for over four years they kept their feelings in check, at least until Christmas in 1970 when with the aid of mulled wine and mistletoe they kissed.

When they reflected on it later the nature of the kiss had surprised them both, once they started they didn’t want to stop, but stop they did, it was not just a perfect Christmas kiss, it was perfect on every level, and having broken the ice with a kiss, they wanted to repeat it.

But the next morning in the cold, sober, light of day, they felt guilty, really, really guilty, but not just for weakening, the guilt came because the kiss revealed that they were not just attracted by naked lust, after the kiss they realised it was love, so they avoided each other for the rest of the week.

They had both decided they would not get drunk in case they let their guard down on New Year’s Eve and kissed again.

 

In the New Year being in close proximity to each other was torture being close enough that they could smell each other was both a blessing and a curse, and being so close to one another that they could touch was agony, but there were occasional opportunities when they succumbed to the temptation.

 

But they had mixed feelings when the time came around again to go to Sharpinghead for the summer family gathering.

It was always fun at Sharpinghead and there was always plenty to do,

The campsite was attached to Maxlin’s Holiday Camp and although the campgrounds and the old railway buildings were nothing to do with Maxlin’s, all those who stayed there automatically qualified for day passes to use some of the amenities.

Unfortunately doing family stuff together brought them into each other’s orbits time after time every single day and it was driving them to distraction.

After that first surrender to their love at Christmas Liz felt alive and tingling all over and she wanted more of the same.

There had been the occasional repeat of their perfect kissing but they were few and far between and relied mainly on chance.

Paul for one was desperate to try and engineer something a little more prolonged.

 

The first week at Sharpinghead was wet with heavy thundery showers and totally lacking opportunities and when they storms passed it left the Vale hot and humid which was their first bit of luck.

The older generation found it too hot to even move so chose to stay put in Sharpinghead

The rest of the group were split the majority wanted to drive to Sharpington and spend the day on the beach, including Paul’s wife Margaret who was a sun worshiper, Paul had auburn hair and fair skin so wasn’t keen on sunbathing and Liz said

“I think the heat will be too much for me, I think I’ll just stay here”

Liz had been out of sorts all week so no one objected so Paul said

“I thought I might take a drive over to Mornington, I read in the Clarion that the Summer Fête is on at the Manor”

“Boring” Margaret said

“Well you go to Sharpington and I’ll go to the Fête, and if Liz is feeling better in an hour I’ll take her with me” he suggested and everyone made positive noises. 

Which was how Paul and Liz came to be in Mornington-By-Mere in the middle of July on the day of the Summer Fête.

 

As had been the long standing tradition the Fête was held in the Mornington Manor grounds and also in keeping with tradition it was extremely well attended, in fact it was heaving.

They had hoped to find a quiet corner for a bit of a kiss and a cuddle.

In the week before the Fête Liz had been a bit out of sorts which turned to be as a result of her monthly and after the unwelcome visitor had departed she was very needy and tactile.

So when Paul parked the car in Mornington, he had barely applied the handbrake before Liz started nibbling his earlobe.

“I need a kiss and a cuddle” she said in whinny tones

“That’s the reason we’re here,” he said weakly

“But I need a kiss now” she whined as she licked his ear like a Labrador.

“But…” he protested

“Please” she begged

“This isn’t the best place for that” he said as he looked around, but that was the sum total of his resistance as moments later she was sitting on his lap and they were kissing

However it all came to an abrupt end as a rather loud rotund family went past the car and bent one of the mirrors back.

Fortunately they were too busy feeding their faces to notice what was going on in Paul’s car but Liz had been spooked by the chubster’s so she said

“Let’s go then” with a sigh and Paul opened the driver’s door and went around to the passenger side and opened the door and took the hand of his sister in law and said

“Let’s go and find somewhere we can kiss in private”

“Yes please” she pleaded

Unfortunately the Fête was so well attended it was difficult to imagine where he might fulfil her request.

All the stall were swarming with punters and all the tents and marquees were occupied.

So Paul thought they could chance their luck in the Manor itself, after all there were countless rooms in there suitable for a private kiss, even a cupboard would have sufficed.

Unluckily however the house was off limits and there was security on every entrance.

 

It was when they were on the way to check for a back way in to the Manor that Paul spotted the catering van parked about thirty yards from the house.

And as they passed by it he unceremoniously bundled Liz through the side door in amongst the empty wine glass boxes and then Paul climbed in after her and closed the door behind him.

Although taken by surprise it was with an excited giggle that she threw herself into his arms and she finally got her long leisurely snog.

 

“That was so lovely” Liz said as Paul opened the door to check the coast was clear and then reached into the van and grabbed Liz’s hand and pulled her out before she had chance to get her shoes on.

“Come on” he shouted “we need to run”

As she was pulled from the van she glanced towards the house to see one of the security men running towards them shouting.

He had obviously been alerted by Paul getting out of the van.

Hand in hand they ran headlong across the grass towards the hubbub of the Fête, Paul carrying her handbag and Liz holding her shoes and they were laughing all the way and once they were lost in the crowd they relaxed and Paul said

“I’m starving, how about you?”

“Oh yes I’d like a hot dog” she said

 

After eating their lunch they wandered around the attractions for the next couple of hours and enjoyed the other entertainments on offer and then headed back toward the car.

“Let’s go for a walk in the woods” he suggested

“Ok but I’m very hot and tired” Liz said

 “You won’t need to expend any energy for what I have in mind” he replied and held her hand “it’s very cool and secluded in the wood”

“Oh goody more snoggage” she replied with a giggle

Downshire Diary – (94) Christmas in 1962

 

Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the north but our story takes place in the southern town off Abbottsford which was the biggest in Downshire, its administrative capital and the seat of the Downshire government.

It was also a place of learning thanks to the Downshire University, a Cathedral City and was home to Abbottsford Town football club.

 

It was a cold and bitter winter in 1962, and one of the hardest Downshire winters in living memory and eighteen year old Luke Osbourne found himself far from home in Abbottsford that Christmas, a trainee in the restaurant at the Regents Hotel, and he was penniless and alone.

He had spent most of his money on presents for his family in Northchapel and the remainder on postage to have them delivered in time for Christmas.

But on the day before Christmas Eve, he got paid and the restaurant manager, Stefanos Calavittis, told him

“Take the rest of the evening off, we are booked solid tomorrow and Christmas Day and we are very busy so there will be no time off for the next two day”

He was a very strict manager but his bark was worse than his bite and he treated all the staff firmly yet fairly.

“So go home and get some rest” He added.

Luke trudged home through the winding streets of the town towards his digs, where he had a room on the top floor of a Victorian terraced house in Castleview Road, but he decided to spend an hour at the Castle Pub.

It was run by Bob Dalimore, ex Abbottsford Town center forward, and he would regularly regale die-hard fans like Luke with stories of his glory days in the black and white quarters, he also overlooked the fact he was under age.  

The Castle soon became his local as it was on his way home and the stocky, bald former football hero always made him and fellow Knights fans welcome.

 

After nursing his pint for an hour he wandered through the deserted winding back streets of the Castle district, slipping and slithering on the icy pavements and his breath rose in dense clouds in the sub-zero temperatures.

But suddenly two menacing figures appeared out of the darkness and he was knocked violently to the floor and after a sustained beating they left him bruised, bloody, cold and wet, minus his watch, his signet ring and his pay packet.

After an indeterminate period of time he struggled to his feet, brushing melted snow from his sodden clothes and groggily set off to complete his journey home.

He could have gone back to the pub where everyone would have rallied round but he was too ashamed.

His head ached from the beating and his hands had lost all sensation but he rubbed them vigorously together to restore circulation regardless.

As he stumbled along he peered through the frosted dimly lit windows and saw families, gaily preparing for the upcoming celebrations and he found himself wondering how things were at home.

He had received a letter from his mother only that morning and though it was intended to cheer him up it had the opposite effect because in truth it held sadness between every line.

“We will miss you, on your first Christmas away from home” she wrote and he missed home even more.

 

Luke ached from the cold and huddled deeper into his duffel coat as a black cab sped by, full of drunken revelers, its windows steamed up.

The Christmas lights twinkled from the windows in Castle View Road, and he looked up to his own darkened window of his tiny attic apartment high above.

“Not far to go now” he said to himself as number 85 Castle View Road was in view.

He struggled up the narrow staircases up to his tiny attic apartment on the fourth floor of the old Victorian building.

Once he got into his room he spread his soaked clothing on the lukewarm radiator and crawled into bed as outside the snow began to fall heavily and little drops of moisture trickled down the frozen windowpane.

 

When he arrived downstairs for breakfast the next morning, his landlady, Mrs. Oliver, took one look at him and ordered him back to bed.

Fortunately he was not the only member of the Regents Hotel staff to have rooms at Mrs. Oliver’s, so they were able to let Mr. Calavittis what had happened to Luke and to testify that he wasn’t malingering.

   

He spent much of the day in his room under the covers until he suddenly heard a chorus of voices as they wafted up on the crisp afternoon air.

So he crawled out of his bed and wrenched the dormer window open and he saw far below in their back garden his next door neighbours children running around and having fun in the snow, his first reaction to the view of the Cooper family enjoying the weather was one of sadness, but he quickly shook off those feelings and leant far out and scooped up handfuls of snow from the slates and the Cooper children shrieked and ran for cover as his snowballs found their mark.

“Merry Christmas Luke” Sally Cooper called up to him and smiled “Come down and join us”

He liked Sally, she was a few months younger than him and he had a crush on her.

“Yes please come” her younger siblings chorused

 

Luke donned his duffel coat and woolen hat and went downstairs and via the back garden of 85 and joined the Coopers and was greeted by a volley of snowballs.

But when Sally saw the cuts and abrasions on his face she was shocked by their severity and called off her siblings attack.

“My goodness” she said “Mrs. O said you were robbed, but I didn’t know they hurt you so badly”

And then to her brother John she said

“Go and get mum”

 

When Mrs. Cooper appeared and saw his injuries she went all mother hen over him

“You poor boy, look what they did to you, you’re spending Christmas with us” she announced “and I want no argument”

“I’m working all day tomorrow” he said meekly

“Well you’re not working tonight” Mrs. Cooper said “so you’re staying for dinner, George has made Punch and we are having roast Goose tonight”

“He’d love to” Sally said “Wouldn’t you?”

“Yes very much, thank you” he said and Sally took his arm

“Come into the warm then” Mrs. Cooper said “it’s getting chilly”

“We don’t just have Punch and Goose this evening” Sally said as they followed the other inside

“What else could there be?” he asked

“Mistletoe” Sally replied and smiled so despite everything it turned out to be a wonderful Christmas in 1962 after all.

Downshire Diary – (93) On Drake’s Farm

He tried to drive daintily through the potholed unmade road but failed miserably, but despite the hard going he eventually emerged into what looked like a poorly maintained Industrial Estate but was actually a ram shackled farm.

With an equally ram shackled farmyard littered with clutter including the rusty metal bits of tractors and the like.

As he drove into the yard he gave a wave to an old-man driving past in his car to go out the way he came in, the old man was Neville Drake and he was the former owner of Drakes Farm.

Anthony Menezes pulled into a second yard with outbuildings on three sides, all of which had seen better days.

He got out of his car and walked across the yard and turned the corner to the farmhouse and that was the first time that he saw the new owner, Jessica Quail, who he found to be haughty and aloof.

 

That was twelve months earlier, now as he drove along, the unmade road was pothole free and tarmac’d and the formerly ram shackled farm was now a very neat and tidy one.

Which was in stark contrast to how it had looked when he was there the first time, all the clutter that had littered the yard was gone, the mud that caked the cobbles had been washed away and the flaked and peeling paintwork had been completely replaced with gleaming white gloss, guttering had been repaired or replaced and had he not been a regular visitor to the farm he might have thought it was a different farm.

The reason for this transformation was the tall skinny Jessica Quail who was crossing the yard to greet him as he got out of the car.

She was just 32, with straw coloured hair, which was short and unruly.

As she strode toward him she was wearing a baggy tee shirt and overalls, and she looked like a proper tomboy.

“Hello Mr Menezes” she said with a smile and no hint of the haughty aloofness of their first meeting.

But then that was because during the twelve months that had elapsed they had been working at the farm together they had fallen in love.

“Hi Jess, are you busy?” he asked

“I’m never too busy for you” she said flirtily and embraced him

“Good because I want to ask you something” he said

“Ok you can ask me something on one condition” Jess said

“What condition?”

“That you ask me to marry you” she said and giggled

“What?”

“You have to ask me to marry you” she said

“What makes you think I’m going to ask you to marry me?” he asked

“Because you’ve been carrying the ring around in your jacket pocket for over a week” Jess said

“What makes you think it’s for you?” Anthony asked

“It had better be” she snapped and turned to face him

“Ok I admit it, the ring is for you” he confessed

“And so I should think” she said and after a pause she added

“Well?”

“Well what?” he retorted

“You still have to ask me” she pointed out

“Oh yes” he said and laughed and then asked “Will you marry me?”

“I’ll think about it” Jessica said and turned on her heels and headed towards the house

“What do you mean you’ll think about it?” he asked and trotted after her and then she stopped dead and turned around to face him

“Ok I’ve thought about it,” she said and launched herself at him “Of course I’ll marry you” 

Downshire Diary – (92) Alison and the Massage Guy

 

She bumped into Eric Jespersen, in the park one night and they ended up having a rather prolonged kiss up against an old oak tree.

Eric was on his way back to his block after having been swimming and Alison had been to the library.

Afterwards Eric walked her to her block and they kissed in the shadows

“I hope we can do that again sometime,” she said

“I hope we can too” he replied

“You’re all muddy” Amy said as Alison entered the house

“I know I slipped over in the park” she replied

“You went through the park after dark?” Carole asked horrified

“You could have been attacked” Amy added

Alison said nothing, she just smiled, and went to have a bath.

She wasn’t sure if that kiss in the park would indeed lead to anything but she had hopes.but if nothing came of it she had at least snogged the gorgeous Dane in the woods.

And as the weeks went by it veryy much looked like that would be the full extent of it until fate took a hand again.

 

Her most regular partner, Eric Jespersen, she met by chance after bumping into him in the park one night and they ended up bumping uglies up against an old oak tree.

Eric was on his way back to his block after having been swimming and so he met Alisons criteria however serendipidously.

It turned out to be the first of many such encounters and one of their favourite venues was the Leisure Centre Swimming pool.

Though the first occasion happened again quite by chance.

Eric was a regular swimmer and he was at the pool almost every day but for Alison it was a rarity as she wasn’t really sure how hygienic a public pool could be.

Nonetheless they met after his swim by chance and had sex in the cubicle and after that they became regulars.

 

She bumped into Eric Jespersen, in the park one night and they ended up having a rather prolonged kiss up against an old oak tree.

Eric was on his way back to his block after having been swimming and Alison had been to the library.

Afterwards Eric walked her to her block and they kissed in the shadows

“I hope we can do that again sometime,” she said

“I hope we can too” he replied

“You’re all muddy” Amy said as Alison entered the house

“I know I slipped over in the park” she replied

“You went through the park after dark?” Carole asked horrified

“You could have been attacked” Amy added

Alison said nothing, she just smiled, and went to have a bath.

She wasn’t sure if that kiss in the park would indeed lead to anything but she had hopes.but if nothing came of it she had at least snogged the gorgeous Dane in the woods.

And as the weeks went by it veryy much looked like that would be the full extent of it until fate took a hand again when they bumped into each other in the changing rooms at the University swimming pool and kissed again in one of the cubicles.

After the first time they met at the swimming pool and met there regularly for two weeks until they finally progressed to an actual date which was only the first of many.

For Alison’s 20th birthday Eric took her to the Dancingdean Spa Hotel in Childean and she was in paradise, there were so many ways for someone with OCD to get clean.

Equally as their relationship had progressed there were also many places for them to get dirty and for three days there was a lot of both.

But that long weekend break to celebrate her birthday was in fact quite momentous because in between the treatments and intimacies their relationship had turned to true love, and because of that they became regular guests at the Spa.

 

Most of their time was spent in the water in some shape or form or in the steam rooms or their room but one afternoon as he exited the pool Eric said

“Do you want a massage?”

“Oh no” she replied vehemently not wanting someone else’s hands on her

“Are you sure?” Eric said

“Definitely” she said “I’d like a sauna though”

“Ok” he replied

 

“I could do it” Eric said as they sat in the sauna

“Do what darling?”

“A massage” he replied

“I can do it if you like”

“Ok” she agreed

 

“Lie down on the bed while I warm the oil” Eric instructed and as he watched Alison she let the towel fall from her shoulders and kicked it aside once it hit the floor and then she slipped her costume off her shoulders.

Alison completed her undress and climbed onto the bed and lay face down on the towel Eric had prepared and as soon as she was settled Eric applied the oil and began to rub it into her soft skin

“That feels nice” she said

“Only nice?” he asked

“I was hoping my wife to be would think it was better than nice” Eric said

“Hmmm, it does feel nice” she responded as he applied more pressure

“Hang on, what did you say?”

“I said that the hot oil and my light touch should be better than nice”

“No you said “my wife to be”” Alison said and raised herself up on one elbow and looked around at him

“Did I?” Eric asked “I don’t remember that”

“You did, you did” she exclaimed and rolled onto her back

“Ok” he confessed “I did, so what do you think?”

“Well you haven’t asked me anything yet” she said coyly

“Oh it’s like that is it” he said “Will you marry me?”

“I’ll think about it” she replied and rolled back onto her stomach

“Really? Well you can think about this while you’re at it” he retorted and began to tickle her mercilessly

“Ok, ok, I’ll marry you” she squealed and he rolled her onto her back and kissed her.

Downshire Diary – (91) The Babysitter

 

Eleanor Saunders was a 29 year old divorcee with two young children who still lived in the marital home in Dulcet Green, the village where she was born and she concidered herself very lucky to be living in the place that she loved.

But she was still an attractive woman, very attractive most would say, and although she loved her children dearly she had needs outside of the family which wernt being met, so she started dating again, blind dates mainly, which were usually disasterous.

On the occasions when she did go out, she had a number of local girl who baby sat for her, they varied in ages from 16 to 18 but there was one older girl, Christine Murch, who was her first choice to babysit for her.

Chrissie was a pretty blonde student who was in her third year at Abbottsford University and was a quiet studious girl who was always grateful of the extra money, and could study just as well in Ellie’s house as at home, but Chrissie had a secret.

 

It came to light after one particularly disasterous date when Eleanor arrived home early and found Chrissie laying on the sofa behaving a little out of character, she was agitated and flustered, and  Ellie suspected she might have been on drugs.

She suspected she was a bit too noisy as she opened the front door which gave the girl a chance to hide the evidence and Ellie found herself feeling a little dissapointed in the girl, she thought she was better than that.

But Ellie was certain sure she was up to something and found herself wishing she’d been a bit quieter with the front door.

 

The next day, after she’d taken the children to school she sat on the sofa drinking her coffee and made an interesting discovery.

One of her silk blouses was stuffed down the back of the cushion, which she was certain she had put in the wash the previous morning.

Eleanor imediately thought the previous nights nearmiss and the unearthing of her dirty blouse had to be connected, she held it to her face and she could still smell her perfume on it, and then she put two and two together and she realised why Chrissie was so flustered the previous evening, and Ellie had some very salacious images in her head and found herself really turned on.

 

Eleanor spent the afternoon wearing a very smug expression on her face and harbouring a salacious plan in her head.

And the first part of the plan was to bait the trap which she did by reapplying perfume to her silk blouse and putting it in her wash bin.

The second part was to phone Chrissie and ask if she could babysit that evening.

And once the kids were safely tucked up in bed she would bring out the artillery, her best and hottest black silk ensemble and black stockings all beneath a black designer dress and victory would be hers.

 

Once the kids were safely tucked up in bed she brought out the artillery, her best and hottest black silk ensemble and black stockings all beneath a black designer dress.

She also took extra care with her hair and makeup so she could optimise the impact, so that when she appeared downstairs Chrissie would be blown away.

“How do I look?” she asked almost casually    

“Wow, you look stunning” Chrissie said

“Are you doing something special?”

“I do hope so” Ellie thought to herself but out loud she said

“No just dinner”

“Well he’s a very lucky man” she said

Eleanor spent longer than usual getting out the door as she wanted to give Chrissie every oportunity to drink in the vision of her in her finery and crossing and recrossing the lounge also wafted her expensive perfume arround the room, although she wasn’t sure that was the way Chrissie liked to smell her perfume.

Ellie also did a lot of bending over, much more than usual, and she even lifted the hem of her dress and adjusted her stocking right infront of her to great effect, and the pleasure on her face was palpable.

 

When Ellie was quite sure she’d tempted and teased her babysitter enough she picked up her bag and keys and said goodbye.

“Have a nice time” Chrissie said

Eleanor slammed the front door behind her but instead of getting in the car she crept around the side of the house and reentered via the kitchen door.

She put her bag down and slipped off her shoes and tiptoed across the kitchen and quietly into the dining room to the half open door that led to the lounge and waited for the show to start and after the very noticable effect she had on the baby sitter she didn’t think it would be long.

And sure enough as she peered through the crack in the door, Chrissie was just returning from the wash bin with Eleanors silk blouse, and a pair of leggings, also from the wash bin.

But then much to Ellie’s surprise she didn’t make her self comfortable on the sofa, instead she slipped off her jeans and replaced them with Ellies leggings, then she removed her top and put Ellies blouse on and buttoned it up and then she closed her eyes and hugged her self as she  breathed in Eleanors exotic perfume.

Then she watched as Chrissie sat on the sofa still hugging herself and smiling which was when Ellie decided to make her move. 

 

So she slipped out of her black designer dress and stepped silently into the lounge wearing only hottest black silk ensemble and black stockings that Chrissie enjoyed so much earlier.

Eleanor stopped beside the sofa and looked down on her babysitter.  

“Is there anything else of mine you’d like to wear?” she said holding out her black dress and Chrissie opened her eyes and gasped, and all the colour drained from her face.

Firstly because she had been discovered wearing Ellies clothes and then again when she noticed Eleanor was in her underwear.

“Oh wow” she exclaimed

 

Eleanor rarely went out after that night but when Chrissie was home from University she still babysat two or three times aweek so Ellie didn’t need to go out anymore to have her needs met.

Downshire Diary – (90) Sunday Service

 

On his journey home from Church, William Grant found it quite remarkable just how many women of the village were wandering the streets and lanes of Dulcet St Mary long after the service had ended, despite the inclement weather.

But for 50 year old Brian, these ladies of mixed ages and physical dimensions all dressed in their Sunday best were all in his opinion second best to the lady he was on the way to see.

But as he passed the ladies, every one of them smiled pleasantly at him and he thought to himself as he returned their smiles

“You would not be smiling so politely at me if you knew how you failed to measure up”

When he reached his destination he opened the front door and went straight through to lounge where he found his widowed lover, Gillian Townsend, lying alluringly on the couch.

“Hello Darling” she said “Good service?”

“Yes very good” he replied

“Excellent” she said “now I would like a good Sunday service”

Downshire Diary – (89) Alison and the Spa Guy

 

Alison Holmes went to the University of Downshire where she studied English at Abbottsford and it was for her, like many girls of her age, a life defining time.

She was in halls for the first year and she shared with three other girls Amy Coates, a tall big busted girl, Carole Bean a tall, beautiful and kindly girl and Claire Jarvis a quiet busty brunette.

All four of the girls were studying English in one form or another and apart from their studies they also had in common the fact they were all natives of the Finchbottom Vale.

Claire was from Purplemere, Carole from Childean, Alison from   Finchbottom and Amy from Shallowfield.

The friendship that resulted from, on the face of it, 4 very different characters coming together, lasted for their lifetimes and as they got on so well the four of them decided very early on to rent a house between them for the second and third years.

 

Alison was a little bit on the OCD side of normal but she was a nice girl.

She was, by her own admission, a rather stick thin and plain looking girl with in her opinion three redeeming features, the most stunning eyes, good legs, she liked her legs, and straight shoulder length blonde hair.

Alison didn’t have a boyfriend when she went to university partly because of her OCD but mainly because she hadn’t met the right person until one night she met someone quite by chance.

 

She bumped into Eric Jespersen, in the park one night and they ended up having a rather prolonged kiss up against an old oak tree.

Eric was on his way back to his block after having been swimming and Alison had been to the library.

Afterwards Eric walked her to her block and they kissed in the shadows

“I hope we can do that again sometime,” she said

“I hope we can too” he replied

“You’re all muddy” Amy said as Alison entered the house

“I know I slipped over in the park” she replied

“You went through the park after dark?” Carole asked horrified

“You could have been attacked” Amy added

Alison said nothing, she just smiled, and went to have a bath.

She wasn’t sure if that kiss in the park would indeed lead to anything but she had hopes.but if nothing came of it she had at least snogged the gorgeous Dane in the woods.

And as the weeks went by it veryy much looked like that would be the full extent of it until fate took a hand again when they bumped into each other in the changing rooms at the University swimming pool and kissed again in one of the cubicles.

After that first time they met there regularly for two weeks until they finally progressed to an actual date which was only the first of many.

 

For Alison’s 20th birthday Eric took her to the Dancingdean Spa Hotel in Childean and she was in paradise, there were so many ways for someone with OCD to get clean.

Equally as their relationship had progressed there were also many places for them to get dirty and for three days there was a lot of both.

But that long weekend break to celebrate her birthday was in fact quite momentous because in between the treatments and intimacies their relationship had turned to true love.

Downshire Diary – (88) Naughty on any Level

 

Apart from her normal duties as district nurse Shannon Pond took it upon herself to provide additional services, partly to make sure they regained their self-worth, but on occasions it was more than that but only once did it go beyond the professional.

One of her all too familiar haunts was Shaftsbury Towers in Finchbottom, a rundown modern day slum tenement.

When she got there she found, not for the first time, that the lifts weren’t working and so she had to yomp up 15 flights of stairs up a stairwell that stank of urine.

She was more than a little flushed when she reached her destination, short of breath and short of patience.

Her first patient was Dakota Hogan, a pretty terminally ill 19 year old girl, who was quite naturally depressed.

Shannon was almost 35 and very experienced in her field and she had watched many young people dying before their time.  

Shannon knocked on the door and a moment or so later Mrs Hogan, the patient’s mother answered the door.

“Hello dear” she said

“Hello Mrs Hogan” Shannon said “How’s the patient today?”

“The same” she said blankly “I don’t know how to help her”

“Just be supportive” she said

“It’s hard though dear” she said putting on her coat and going to the foot of the stairs.

“Dakota! The nurse is here” she shouted up the stairs “the pretty one with the blonde hair”

Shannon smiled and Mrs Hogan said

“You can go up when you’re ready, I need to do some shopping”

 

On that day Dakota was in a very positive mood and Shannon had the easiest visit she had had with her, which improved her own mood, but she knew from experience that it was likely to be a false dawn and that there would doubles be darker days ahead.

 

When she reached the stairwell the lift opened and Mrs Hogan got out.

“Oh wonderful, they’re working again” Shannon said

“Yes dear, thank god” she said “How’s the girl?”

“You know, I think she’s a bit brighter” she replied

“Oh I do hope so dear” Mrs Hogan said

 

She was thankful that the lift was working again as she was feeling a bit leg weary.

Shannon said her goodbyes to Mrs Hogan and stepped in and when she turned around she saw Tom Hughes jogging towards the lift.

 

Although she was often willing to go the extra mile for her patients she always drew a line at crossing the line with family or friends of the patient.

But Tom’s mum wasn’t her patient anymore, and as she fancied him like mad, she pressed the hold button.

“Thanks” he said

“No problem, how are you? How’s your mum?” she asked as the lift began to descend

“Good” he replied

“I bet you are” she thought and began flirting with him but her flirtations were abruptly halted when the lift started rattling and shaking and threw the pair of them into one corner.

“I don’t mind if I do” she said and kissed him.
“I’ve wanted to do that for so long” he said

“Me too” she concurred and the lift started moving again.

By the time they had reached the ground floor and emerged into the lobby she was the picture of respectability again and they had a dinner date for that evening.

Downshire Diary – (87) In the Club

 

Brian Myers was a thrice married and thrice divorced retired gentleman of leisure, 55 years of age and everything still in full working order, and he divided his time equally between the Lily Green Hollows Golf Club and the Sharpington Head Yacht Club.

Whichever venue it was he could normally be found in the bar or the restaurant and he was seldom alone, because he was a social animal.

 

Maureen Godfrey was in her late 40s and was a hardworking waitress at the Golf Club and was well aware of Brian’s foibles as she had been on the receiving end of his wit and charm on more than one occasion.

“Good afternoon ladies” she said addressing the two 50 somethings, Helen Cork and Katrina Last, sitting either side of him.

“And gentleman” she added in a tone that made it perfectly clear that she didn’t thing he was one.

“It’s nice to see you keeping such respectable company for a change” she continued then to the ladies again she added

“I hope he’s not leading you astray, he has such a lot of bad habits”

Helen blushed and Katrina gave him a knowing smile.

Maureen then gave him a look that said just stick with the old birds and behave yourself until I get off duty.

What she didn’t know of course was just how badly the two respectable old birds would have liked to behave with him had he given them and encouragement.

Katrina was at that very moment playing footsie with him underneath the table and Helen was fidgeting uncomfortably in her seat as she wondered what she had to do to catch her man.

What neither of them were aware of however was that Brian had eyes only for Maureen so after a very nice lunch in very pleasant company he decided to head for home to Highfinch and had a long afternoon nap to recharge the batteries before he got ready to spend the evening with the lovely Maureen when he intended to ask her to be the fourth Mrs. Myers.

Downshire Diary – (86) Are You Wearing Stockings?

 

Carl Daniels was in Beiderbecke’s, a moody Jazz Club in a seedy corner of Finchbottom.

It was just approaching 11 pm when he arrived and he already had several drinks under his belt and he had just ordered another drink at the bar when he spied her in the gloom, and their eyes met across the room.

He did a double take because he wasn’t expecting to see her there in the club.

 

Sarah Hammond had seen him come in, she had been there for an hour waiting for him, and she was beginning to think she had dressed up for nothing.

 

Carl liked what he saw and was surprised by it, she was so different from “Frumpy” Sarah who he saw in the library every day, but she had caught his eye even as a frump but Sarah didn’t know he was hooked already.

She thought she had to dress like a vamp to get his attention.

 

“Are you wearing stockings?” he asked himself as she got up and walked towards him.

Sarah had to weave in between tables and as she moved slalom like, and she shuffled sideways through narrow gaps.

But stockings or not, Carl very much liked what he saw as she got closer.

“Do you like what you see?” she asked

“I liked what I saw before” he replied

“Really?”

“I’ve always liked what I saw” he said and without speaking she took hold of his hand and led him from the club and when they got back to his flat he got the answer to the question

“Are you wearing stockings?”