Memories of a Kentish Village - A childhood in more simpler times
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Description
This is a book about my childhood growing up in a small rural community in England. It reflects the simplistic way of life around that era in the early 1960s. The lack of the technology we have available today, made for a peaceful and uncomplicated upbringing. It explains in detail the adventures and sense of freedom I experienced in and around the local villages. The community was based all around farming, with the last of the traditional horses recently exchanged for tractors, and complex harvesting machines towards the end of the 1950's.My home move into the centre of the village gave me access to more children of my age who came with me on my journey through life, with the usual ups and downs all youngsters' encounter. The fun and harsh reality of life are contained within these pages. Life lessons and mistakes made are all included in this heartfelt book.Come with me on the day I ‘hypnotised a pig' ‘learnt how to fly fish' and helped the men from the telephone company erect a new pole in the garden. Histories like this are rare, I have written it as best I can from fading memories, it has been a journey of ups and downs, my father always wanted to write his experiences of childhood in this lovely village but was never able to do so. Thank goodness for laptops and word processors, I commend this book to my readers, make yourself a cup of tea, grab a few biscuits and settle in under your blanket for a trip back in time. So many people of my age (64) will have empathy for and stir their own thoughts and memories.
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About the Author
I am a reluctant writer, having not written anything until 2016, three years into retirement. Stories about my family were commonplace during my childhood and eventually I came into possession of the family archives, including papers, letters and photographs. There was also letters and documents relating to the correspondence between a father and son who eventually was killed in Crete in 1941. This now is a work in progress and will be entitled 'The letters', a very thought provoking story seen through the eyes of a man, who himself suffered undiagnosed PTSD from the first world war, in his compulsion to track down the resting place of his first born son. I have published my observations on the first lockdown, its an irreverent look at life, through hours of watching the world and neighbours go by! Other books are awaiting publishing, the 'Memories of a Kentish Childhood' is about my childhood growing up in a rural community in more simpler times. This will be out early next year, Sir Michael Morpurgo OBE has written the foreword! I write travel blogs, having visited the Caribbean many times in the last ten years, and Europe over the last forty years. I have a facebook page for those who follow social media, please take a look https://www.facebook.com/johnbennettauthorandblogger/?modal=admin_todo_tour I have a claim to fame, in 1977 I was the world champion for keeping two ferrets down my trousers, a record I held for over three years......what did I get? Free beer at the local pub for a year!
I sat so merry in my abode
Loving hands around me
I dreamt of such glorious days
One day i would see
I remember the day I left
My room
I closed the door behind me
One quick look again
Then walked away
The room which would always remind me
The glorious days I had dreamt
I did merrily spent
How little did I then know
Life turns on a dime
My room is now not as it was
When I closed the door
Behind me
My room now is a prison
But not how one would invision
It is one of sorrow and grief
Sadness burns into the bare walls
I catch my breath
And weep
Why did thou'st doth betray?
The room which once embraced me
I ask with riddled heart
Jagged and torn
Which wicked riddles have I thus sought?
I sit still
I am now my room
No dreams as once before
I age before my open door
In my room long ago
I sat merrily in my loving abode
Loving hands did hold me
All gone
My room and myself
Now one
Two thrust to be together
Forever
Alone