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 it’s in the east coast seaside town of
Sharpington where our story takes place.
Sharpington-by-Sea is a traditional seaside resort complete with a
Victorian Pier, seafront hotels, crazy golf, the Palladium ballroom, well
maintained gardens, promenade, theatre and illuminations, all the usual things
to have a great time by the seaside, as well as amusement arcades and of course
the Sharpington Fun Park.
The Fun was the first purpose built amusement park to open in Britain,
which had an assortment of rides, like the Rotor and the Wild Mouse, The
Cyclone and the Morehouse Galloper, and in the dull and austere post war years
of the late 1940’s and 1950’s it was like a glimmering jewel.
In the summer of 1949
best friends Jean Fitzsimons and June Gough were travelling to Sharpington
for a well-earned break.
Both girls were 24
years old, as well as being natives of Abbottsford. Although they had never met
before they joined the Women's Land Army and were assigned to Mereside Farm in
Mornington but they became instant friends.
And the friendship that
resulted from that first meeting, considering they were on the face of it, two
very different characters had lasted for six years and as they got on so well
they stayed together long after the war had ended.
This was in part because they didn’t have anyone else, Jean was an
only child and her parents were killed in an air raid in 1941 while June lost
her parents when she was 12 and was raised by her two older brothers but they
had both been killed in action, Tommy at Dunkirk and George in North Africa so
they pledged that they would be each other’s family.
Of all the other land girls she had known, Jean found herself drawn to
June from the first moment they met.
Their closeness was mainly because they got each other, they shared a
sense of humour, a strong faith, a love of music, and going to the pictures.
When the war was over
they were both loath to leave Mornington-By-Mere, which they had fallen in love
with, but it wasn’t just a quaint chocolate box English Village, it was more
than that to them, and it was the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale.
And although the
village was the hub it was the surrounding farms and hamlets that were its life
blood.
One such Farm was
Mereside on the Southern side of the village where the girls were posted.
The Hoddinott family
had farmed the land at Mereside Farm for several generation and with fair seas
and following winds they would do so for at least several more.
But the war had
depleted the labour force so they were over the moon that their best two girls
wanted to stay on indefinitely.
Because Jean and June
were both such hard working girls and because they rarely took time off Mrs
Hoddinott suggested they take themselves off to Sharpington for a couple of
days, and because the country had experienced the worst winter in a generation,
and the girls were instrumental in ensuring the farm lost no livestock, old man
Hoddinott told then he could borrow his pride and joy, a 1929 Austin 7.
After one of Mrs
Hoddinott’s substantial breakfasts they were later leaving Mornington than they
wanted,
but the fact they were an hour late leaving didn’t hamper them in any way, in
fact because the weather was clear and the roads were empty they got to the
seaside only ten minutes later than they had originally planned.
June parked the Austin on the promenade opposite the Ocean Vista guest
house run by a very amiable lady by the name of Morwenna Penhale.
They had booked the largest room in the house, which they shared in
order to save money, it wasn’t the grandest establishment but it was clean and
their room did indeed have a sea view.
There was only one other room on their floor with whom they shared a
bathroom, but as the other room was unoccupied they the luxury of a bathroom to
themselves.
The girls both stood
five foot two and were both 24 years old but that was where the similarities
ended.
Jean Fitzsimons
was brunette and had luscious thick curls tumbling down onto her shoulders and
soulful brown eyes, with a lovely figure, curvaceous and perfectly proportioned
and was a quiet cautious girl who lacked confidence in herself.
June Gough on the
other hand was smaller framed, with delicate features and shorter strawberry
blonde hair and more than enough confidence for the two of them.
Once they had unpacked
they spent the rest of Saturday on the promenade and the pier before returning
to the guest house where they ate dinner and found Mrs Penhale to be an
excellent cook.
Because they had a
bathroom to themselves, which was a luxury they would have paid dearly for because back at Mereside
farm they had one between eight people and they could never dwell as long as
they would have liked so after dinner they decided to have a bath before they
went out dancing at the Palladium Ballroom.
Jean was lying on the
bed reading a magazine, while June took first turn in the bath, and she was
waiting impatiently for her to finish so she could have her go.
She didn’t see June
vacate the bathroom as she had to go and spend a penny, but when she left the
toilet she could see the bathroom was empty so she went in.
Washed, perfumed and
powdered Jean went back into the bedroom where she found June sitting on the
bed loosely wearing a dressing gown, which gaped from neck to thigh as she
listened to the radio and painted her nails.
Jean’s mouth fell open
when she saw her friend in her semi nakedness, not that she hadn’t seen her in
various stages of undress over the previous six years.
She had never been a
shy girl like Jean was, but she had never been so brazen before.
Suddenly June turned
to the side to reach for her varnish and in that action she exposed even more
flesh.
June seemed to be
oblivious to her presence as she was listening intently to the radio, Jean
couldn’t really hear anything because to be honest her attention was drawn to
her semi naked friend rather than what was coming out of the radio.
Jean was rooted to the
spot while June was still sitting on the bed but she paused her nail painting
and glanced towards June and smiled.
“You’d better get a
move on” she said but Jean didn’t move
“Are you listening?”
she asked and then smiled as Jean got flustered after being caught watching
her.
About an hour after
June caught Jean staring at her semi naked form they left the guest house and
headed towards the Palladium Ballroom and when they got there they found it
much quieter than they were expecting and there were three girls to every man
so they spent a lot of time dancing with each other, which Jean preferred as
she felt uneasy when men asked June to dance, and even more so when they asked
her.
At the end of the
evening they were in high spirits as they walked arm in arm along the promenade
and they laughed like schoolchildren when they had to run the fifty yards so
they wouldn’t be locked out.
The next morning Mrs
Penhale served up a breakfast that rivalled Mrs H back at Mereside.
June polished hers off
in double quick time and then ate half of Jeans as well as she didn’t have much
of an appetite.
She hadn’t slept well
as her night had been punctuated by disturbing dreams about her best friend,
dreams which were made all the more disturbing by the fact that she was sharing
a bed with the subject of those dreams and June was a very cuddlesome bed mate.
After breakfast they
washed and dressed then they walked the short distance to St Lucy’s church for
the morning service which was very well attended, June really enjoyed it and
when her mind wasn’t wandering into sinful territory so did Jean.
After the service they
walked along the promenade and paid a visit to Bizzoni’s Ice Cream Parlour,
which was a must, it just wasn’t possible to go to Sharpington and not sample
their homemade ices.
And following a very
indulgent ice cream their next port of call was The Sharpington Fun Park which
was also a must for the two girls it was after all the first purpose built
amusement park to open in Britain, which was a very proud boast for the locals.
The Fun Park had an
assortment of rides, like the Rotor and the Wild Mouse, The Cyclone and the
Morehouse Galloper, something for everyone and the park was popular with
visitors and locals a like.
They were in high
spirits from the moment they walked through the gates and Jean seemed to have
put her uneasy dreams behind her right up until the moment they climbed aboard
the Caterpillar Ride.
Jean got in the car
first and sat down and as June climbed in and began to take her seat the wind
lifted her skirts and gave a tantalizing view of her stocking tops and
underwear which triggered a kaleidoscope of salacious images of her friend in
Jeans mind.
June was still
giggling as the Caterpillar started moving and Jean couldn’t take her eyes off
of her as they gathered speed and they followed the rides undulations and June
continued to giggle and Jean continued to watch her and then after several
circuits the canopy began to rise and after another circuit they were completely
covered which was when it happened.
In the safety of the
darkness and out of sight of prying eyes as the Caterpillar wiggled its way
around the track, pretty, shy and cautious Jean Fitzsimons leant over and
kissed June Gough passionately on the mouth and when she was finished June
smiled.
“It’s about time” she
said “I was beginning to wonder what I had to do to get your attention”
And then she kissed
her back and that night as they shared a bed at the guest house neither of them
slept very well.
