motorhome travel blog, motorhome-travels.net

Created by KeefH Web Designs, January 14th, 2023, 9.12 AM A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog Not The Motorhome trip No 19 : December 21st 2022 – January 13th 2023 INTRODUCTION Go straight to MENU if you would prefer. Total distance travelled throughout the trip was 16562 miles, quite a way eh? and for us almost septuagenarians a bit of a bigger challenge with the jet lag but hey how nice was that trip and how lovely to spend so much time with our Singaporean family x #missingUalready The last family travel blog I wrote was for our trip to Florida and Disney with Craig & Leanne and family. Read BLOG 183. Coincidentally when we visited the Jewel, the world's largest indoor waterfall at Changi airport for the day they had a celebration of 100 years of Disney, i.e. from Steamboat Willie, our visit last year was for 50 years of the Theme parks. For us this was our first ever trip to Thailand and a great experience it was on every level. you can read in more depth about it here on the travel blog under Thailand. On reflection I think Chiang Mai, the second city was great choice in terms of culture, history, scenery and cuisine. We loved every moment of our fun time with family here. MENU Highlights Calendar Travel Blog Route Singapore Part 1 Chiang Mai, Thailand Singapore Part 2 Audiobook That's all Folks HIGHLIGHTS This video is almost 2 minutes long but gives you a flavour of what KeefH Web Designs can do with the very powerful Clipchamp and a great introductory overview of what leads onto the full highlights in the next video #enjoy This slideshow contains all the "highlight" images for the trip with a textual heading at the bottom of each slide and covers both Singapore, Thailand, Christmas, New Year and Annie's birthday in "heading" terms, a huge highlight of Annie's birthday apart from time at the art market in the morning was the B Sam Cook restaurant Phoenix had cleverly arranged beforehand from Singapore which in our humble opinion should have been Michelin starred. The owner was wonderful, the musician who played lots of Coldplay songs and the food and endless aussie wines were a wonderful experience. I chatted to the owner , "Chef Boy" as he likes to be called, he was not interested in Michelin and stardom, just wanted to carry on doing what he was doing and making people happy. His 91 year old granny's duck recipe was a true highlight, cant fault it. I attach the menu here for all to see. I think Annie had a pretty good birthday so thanks family and friends who sent her cards, pressies and messages of good will #christmas #food #newyear #welcome2023 This video is 7 minutes 50 seconds long but is well worth a watch to get an overview B Sam Cook's restaurant birthday menu. Note the restaurant had feedback left from most countries around the world pinned to the wall, they now have some extra's from Singapore, England and China #tick #michelinstarredorshouldbe If you would like to know more , it is a boutique hotel as well please click HERE, thanks If you want to see much more of our experience there and maybe hear some of the musician's music click HERE. Go to MENU CALENDAR, TIMELINE & MAPS I have created this video using Clipchamp , some of my pictures from the trip and some of my videos, and screen captures from every day of the lovely family holiday in Singapore and Thailand via Google Maps timeline which has clearly captured (as it does) my movements via GPS on my phone, which creates quite a nice visual memory via the maps plus a highlights from Google themselves of the trip on my phone. So here is that video! Its 5 minutes long. Return to MENU ROUTE MAP This video was created using the phone app Travel Boast where I drew out the major places we stopped at on route. It then draws out the route with a car driving to Heathrow then planes to Singapore, Changi and Chiang Mai, Thailand and a van we travelled in in Thailand out to the elephant poo poo park and the Elefin hillside farm to see, feed and ride elephants. I then hooked in its 3 formats I had created into one You Tube video. Landscape, Portrait and night maps. I joined them together with some relevant images and music using Microsoft's Clipchamp. See what you think, i think it brings the journey to life and adds to any travel blog #newfeature The thing I do find out of kilter though is its estimated distance which at 16775 213 miles more than the 16562 miles we recorded on the trip. Close but not close enough in my humble opinion, but way better than blog 71. I am also surprised that altering the dimension from landscape to portrait with the same data alters the mileage by 3 miles, now that is truly weird. PS love the animated transportation, cool. Return to Menu SINGAPORE PART 1 21st-27th DECEMBER 2022 From our travels, this is the full slideshow of images, created by KeefH web Designs in Jan 2023 and features amongst others Christmas wonderland by the bay , light and sound show with knobs on. Visiting Santa. Christmas dinner at Muddy's murphy's in Orchard Road. Shopping. Eating. Paddling at East Coast Park. Friends. Jet lag. Heathrow Terminal 5 meet and greet or rather not meet nor greet #disappointing Let the adventures begin. Our first visit in 4 years to family. Presents, Grandkids, and fun fun fun #tick. Eating premium Durian, being kindly given freeze dried durian from China to transport un-smelly like back to the uk. I hadn't worked out how to use AVS Video editor to rotate incorrectly inversed or 90 degree rotated images by this stage but got it right for all other slideshows of holiday images, sorry about that. So here we go, its 7 minutes 40 seconds long and features some fab music by Be Bop Deluxe, now who remembers them? The talkies video associated with the first half of our stay in Singapore, great to finally meet up again in their homeland, after 4 years mostly because of Covid restrictions and Keef's operation. Anyhow the video is 11 and a half minutes long and covers amongst others a fab Xmas meal cooked by Jona, Christmas wonderland by the bay, carols, a visit to Santa, these fake Santa's (as Charlie tells me) kept having to change due to wearing an outfit in that heat, and their height, accent, hair, glasses etc. also changed, but who cares, its all part of the magic of Xmas time #haha Christmas lunch at Muddy Murphy's in Orchard road, now a bit of a tradition, great food and atmosphere and they now brew their own beer, what more can a fella want, family, friends , food, wine and beer, great times, take a look. Created by KeefH Web Designs. Note this video is not available in Russia because of the Andy Williams song accompanying the light and sound show at Christmas by the bay but as this is the only country You tube excludes, frankly my dear I don't give a damn! #haha Go to MENU THAILAND 28th DECEMBER 2022 to 2nd JANUARY 2023, CHIANG MAI There were some 800+ images of our fab time in Thailand so I have split that into 3 slideshows running respectively for 12, 15 and 12 minutes. Note batches 2 and 3 have no soundtrack done deliberately. The first has Beth Hart covers of Led Zep stuff which I decided just wasn't peaceful enough for this blog but I can thoroughly recommend her album. She is a great guitarist. So to our travel blog image slideshows created by KeefH Web Designs, January 2023, which cover such visits as the night market, with a performance (well weird song and dance routine by the Lady Boys) , 2 riverside restaurants, warm comfortable temperatures, fab mountainside views from both within the town of chiang mai and outside it in countryside to a distance of some 50 kilometers. The Elefin hillside café and Elephant farm for feeding and riding said animals, tropical flowers, Tuk Tuks, modern day fire engine red Tuk Tuks, haggling, street food, fab thai cuisine, spicy thai sausage, garden worms, Yuk! Buddhist temples, art markets, not being able to get a taxi on new years eve back from Nic's restaurant of the city outskirts, having to pay over the odd via the Shangri La hotel to get back, but a very pleasant driver to the rescue plus grab drivers who didn't know their way. Tiger Kingdom, Elephant poo poo paper process and creative work done by the Hellingers #result Oh and listening to Charlie about how cold the hotel pool was and she had a wet suit on, the redeeming factor was the splendid jacuzzi pool side. You cant fault the hotel, it was luxurious and the help your self buffet breakfast a true plus, where they attempted to cater for every nationality which meant ones choice was great. Curry for brekkie was right up my street but don't mention chicken sausage, please. I had now worked out how to use AVS Video editor to rotate incorrectly inversed or 90 degree rotated images by this stage so I sorted that so hardly any transposition happens unless I missed them by accident #fingerscrossed not too many, if there are I most humbly apologise, but in general every photo taken by myself, annie, D&P and Charlie are here. Thai greetings สวัสดี ครับ (sawatdee khrap) Hello (male) สวัสดี ค่ะ (sawatdee kha) Hello (female) or as I pronounced it in Singlish "SAY-WHAT-TEA-CAR" (badly #teehee) Listen here to the greeting plus a bit more on Soundcloud, thanks The talkies, this is a collection of all the video recordings taken during our fun times in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It is about 29 minutes long. #christmas #newyear It contains some slow motion footage. It covers visits to Chiang Mai's night market, its food hall, jacket potatoes with cheese for us, still full from Shangri La hotel lunch, a variety of Thai food for D&P, haggling over prices, travel in Tuk Tuks, eating by the riverside some great Thai food, yummy spicy, bundling into modern day Tuk Tuks those red fire engine types, they have no bus services, and watching in awe as Phoenix argued every driver down to 100 Baht #genius I wouldn't argue with her. Visiting art markets times two. Many street markets, The Elephant Poo Poo paper place outside Chiang Mai , using a lovely large van driver who spoke little English but conversed happily with Phoenix (mandarin or Cantonese I'm not sure which?), he took us to local food markets, temples, the Elefin hillside café an hour and a half outside Chiang Mai to both feed and ride the elephants, and when we were stuck took us back to the airport and our Scoot plane back to Changi. #greatbloke The time in Chiang Mai went very quickly but it was a lovely time, New Years eve fireworks and food out at Nic's with kids playground, sparklers, lit up balloons, and caps. Keef did the classic of asking the Grab taxi lady if she was a student supplementing her studies, oops she said I'm in my 40s #haha then the wonderful birthday meal for Annie (21 again!) at B Sam Cooks over the bridge. The old town walls and views of the mountain ranges are lovely in Chiang Mai and the temperature is nice at this time of year, warm but without the Singapore humidity. Anyhow don't take my word for it, see the video created by KeefH Web Designs below. Go to MENU SINGAPORE PART 2 2nd-13th JANUARY 2023 From our holiday travels Singapore Part 2 Full Image Slideshow, created by KeefH Web Designs, Jan 2023. Includes amongst others Family , friends, fun. The Jewel waterfall at Changi airport. What amazed us about this fabulous piece of engineering as Doug had pointed out was how on earth they got such a large upside down bell of glass (no seams in one piece of heavy glass) into position, it acts as the bottom chamber of the waterfalls recycling systems and we visited it on basement 2 level as well as seeing the waterfall at every level up to the top at level 5, a true experience. It looks different at each level, and the monorail running right next to it as well as the glass walk way must be fab although we didn't do either of those. Avatar 2, great, we had a whole day out here the newest touristy thing we have done in Singapore, we have sadly done many of the others in the past and this trip was about spending time with our family and playing with the grand children which Covid has prevented for quite a while and so glad we were able to spend what's that annoying phrase "quality time" with them all. we used MRT, buses. suffered humidity. amusingly Charlie always tells me she is cold when they visit us, I tell her in response we are always to hot and sweaty, what's the line, Singapore is ideal for 3 showers a day #haha grandkids back to school. BBQs on the beach. ice creams . I12 katong and ice creams, ballet aborted, busted shoes and flip flops. Alfie's 1st day at first steps. Geylang library visit. Great music accompaniment by Al Stewart, sadly Soho needless to say is blocked by You Tube in St Pierre and Mustique but I don't believe I am that worried by that, not sure how many motorhomers are on that island #smile so to the slideshow of images for Singapore part 1 The talkies, this is a collection of all the video recordings taken during our fun times back in Marine Drive 61 near East Coast Park in the Marine Parade area of Singapore and includes family fun with the grandchildren, Thomas brio is a specialty for little Alfie, eating at both restaurants, hawker centres (non air conditions) happy don don kopi food court (non air con) for paratha and BBQs on the beach with Doug & Phoenix's friends. Charlie now back at Ngee Ann Primary school (cycling thru ECP) and we had the pleasure of taking and collecting Alfie at his new nursery First Steps. We had a day out at the Jewel at Changi airport which is new since our last visit to family. An amazing world largest indoor waterfall, impressive and they ad a 100 years of Disney display up and running. We also saw the new Avatar movie, boy Singaporean cinema's are badly over air conditioned #freezing Shopping was mostly Daiso, Fair Price Xtra and Finest, plus the book shop. We used buses and MRT easily now with our own UK credit cards and fairly cheap it is too in comparison to the UK travel. D&P got us taxis and grab as need be #hintsandtips It is about 23 minutes long. Got to try out lots of slow motion stuff in this one which Charlie and I loved, we started it in Thailand, she auditioned for the remake of Chariots of fire for me , ha ha, plus sk8tr gurl. It was so sad to say goodbye to them but we will be back hopefully for Charlie's 9th birthday Go to MENU AUDIOBOOK OR THE TRAVEL BLOG Note if you are using Microsoft Edge browser you can use Ctrl+Shift+U to read aloud, there may be alternatives on other browsers, i must confess I've not found it that great so SoundCloud is the way forward for me as a published audiobook. And now with an image sideshow as well, just for good measure. Go to MENU THE END Thanks for reading folks, that's it for this travel blog featuring fun with the family and our first trip to Thailand, we especially loved that new discovery so huge thanks to Doug, Phoenix and family for a whole new experience, change is the spice of life. Go to MENU

Created by KeefH Web Designs, December 3rd, 2022, 17.10 PM A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog Genealogy Info No 5, 18th August 1897 to 18th January 1898, 5 months 1 day at sea INTRODUCTION This is a very retrospective blog, during the winter months of November and December 2022 I decided to translate most of the handwritten diaries we hold in our Family Tree data to supplement our Genealogy info featured here under the Family tab, good website design, backing up audiobooks, videos and slideshow with text. Enjoy! MENU Diary Audiobook Video with audiobook overlay showing relevant and irrelevant areas of Australia, ships, and images from places visited, created via Clipchamp by KeefH Web Designs Trailer DIARY GERTRUDE WHITEHEAD’s DIARY: (Anne, Brian, and Margaret’s Granny) Voyage to Australia : 18th Aug 1897-18th Jan 1898 It took 154 days, 22 weeks or 5 months 1 day if you prefer, a lengthy time away at sea Wednesday Aug. 18th/97 Mother, Willie, Jeanie, and I joined the Port Stephens at Tyne Dock to go on our voyage to Australia with Father- Annie, Hilda, Bob and Uncle Bob coming to see us away. 6 pm. We left Tyne Dk. 6.45 pm Uncle, Annie, Bob & Hilda bid us good-bye and went on board the tug boat to go on shore. We then steamed away from Shields Bar & shortly afterwards we went to bed thus ending our first day. Thursday Aug 19th/1897 This has been a fine day & we have enjoyed it very much being on deck nearly all day. We passed Lowestoft at 2 o’clock in the afternoon & Dover at 11 o’clock at night. Passed lots of ships & steamers. At night had some music. Friday Aug 20th. Father tells me we passed Dungeness at 1 o’clock this morning. It is a nasty day strong head wind & sea very hazy. Passed the Isle of Wight at 1 o’clock this afternoon. All feeling a little poorly we went to bed early. Saturday Aug. 21st. Strong head wind & heavy sea. Port Stephens tumbling and pitching about & made us all sick. Mother very poorly. We all remain downstairs. Passed Ushant Isld. in the afternoon. Sunday Aug. 22nd. We are now in the Bay of Biscay & rolling and tumbling about. Mother confined to her roam sick. Willie, Jeanie & I have been on deck most of the day. Monday Aug. 23 This is my 11th birthday and such a lovely day. We have got Mother on deck to get the air. We are now across the Bay having passed Cape Finisterre at breakfast time. We have all got splendid appetites with the exception of poor Mother. Jeanie is running about all over the ship. Tuesday 24th. Aug. Very fine weather. Saw nothing today but birds & salt water & a few steamers. Mother is all right now & we are playing at quoits & other things and are quite happy. Wednesday Aug.25th. Lovely weather today but very hot had to get our summer clothes on. Had my music lesson & played about the remainder of the day. Thursday Aug.26th. We have a good fair wind today with high waves, but we are not sick at all. Friday Aug.27th. We arrived at Las Palmas at 7 o'clock this morning to take coal in. We threw some pennies in the water & the boys from the shore dived down & got them. We bought a parrot from a boy & we hope to make it talk before we get home. We got plenty of fruit grapes peaches and bananas which we enjoyed very much. We left Las Palmas at 3 o'clock in the afternoon all very black with coal dust. We did not get on shore because there was not time to go to the town & it was too hot We were up very early this morning so we went to bed soon. Saturday Aug.28th. We had a nice fair wind today & the Stephens went booming along. We played about the decks all day & had music at night. Sunday Aug.29th. Fine weather but very hot we are nearly roasted alive & have to sit under the awning all day. Had some hymns at night. Roast chickens & plum pudding for dinner and cakes for tea. Monday Aug.30th. It is blowing a gale of wind today with heavy sea & the awning was blown all to pieces. Mother is sick & we all stayed downstairs but it was a difficult job to keep Jeanie & Willie down. Tuesday Aug.31st. Strong head wind. Stephens pitching about a good deal. Passed Cape verde at noon. We have been on deck all day & saw the land & some steamers & a lot of birds. Wednesday Sept.1st. This is Father’s birthday & we had a large cake for tea. Fine day but big waves. Saw some flying fish & some porpoises & at night the water was lovely phosphorus it sparkled just like stars in the water. Music lesson in the morning & again at night. Thursday Sept.2nd This is Jeanie’s birthday. Had chickens for dinner & cake for tea. Beautiful fine weather today. Mother making pyjamas for Willie which father helped to cut out. We take our salt water bath every morning now as the weather is very hot. Friday Sept.3rd. Rainy weather in the morning but fine in the afternoon only a little windy. Saw lots of flying fish today. Willie was dressed up as Father Neptune at night & looked very funny with his big belly and whiskers. Willie got his new pyjamas on & was a proud man when he went to bed. Saturday Sept.4th. Very fine weather today but a little windy. We saw a good many flying fish but nothing close. We have been playing at houses & other games during the day. We have just come down from the deck to get bathed and Willie made Father laugh acting Bob Anderson. We had ducks for dinner and beef, tongue & fish for tea which we all did justice to. Sunday Sept.5th. Fine day but very quiet nothing to do except read. Music and singing after tea and then to bed. Monday Sept.6th. Very fine in the morning but raining at night. Cannot sit on deck as everything is overhead with coaldust and have therefore been obliged to play in the messroom. It is gradually getting cooler & is therefore much pleasanter. Tuesday Sept.7th. Strong head wind with a nasty choppy sea which Father says is the usual Weather experienced in the South east trades to make matters worse the men are working the coal off the deck & everything is covered in coal dust and we are obliged to stay downstairs. Wednesday Sept.8th. Very strong head wind with heavy sea. Ship pitching very heavily & taking seas on board we can scarcely keep our feet the way the ship is tossing about. Mother has been washing clothes today but it has been very difficult to work. Mother is now giving us a tune on the piano. We are going to have a game of cards & then to bed. Thursday Sept.9th. Another day with strong head wind & big seas breaking over the ship. Mother has been washing clothes again today & has got them all ready for ironing. Friday Sept.10th. Still very strong head wind & ship pitching fearfully. Mother has got her ironing done & is making me a dressing gown. Saturday Sept.11th. Still rough weather. Mother finished my dressing gown which is very comfortable and pretty. We had a sheep killed also some fowls. We had a good bath & then to bed. Sunday Sept.12th. Weather more moderate. Passed two sailing ships this afternoon which was Quite a treat as we have not seen any since 31st.August. Saw two birds One being a Cape pigeon & the other a Molly hawk. We have had a musical evening & are now going to have supper & then to bed. Monday Sept.13th. Weather finer. We passed another sailing ship. We then had a game of cards & then to bed. Tuesday Sept.14th. Fine weather but very cold. We saw an Albatross with wings about 6 feet long. Mother has made another pair of pyjamas for Willie & is making Jeanie a dressing gown & I am making a shirt for Jeanie. Wednesday 15th.Sept. Fine weather with strong sea ship rolling about. Saw a 1ot of Cape pigeons & Molly hawks. Lessons from ten o’clock till 11.30 then sewing and games until bed time. Thursday Sept.16th. Strong head wind & ship rolling a good dea1. Great number of Cape pigeons Flying about they are very pretty birds with black & white striped wings & are very tame. We had lessons in the morning & sewing in the afternoon & cards at night. Friday Sept. 17th. Very fine weather today but a strong swell causing the ship to roll a little. We were abreast of the cape of Good Hope this morning but were too far off to see it. Saw a lot of Cape pigeons & two albatrosses. Had a music lesson at night. Had a game of hide & seek. Father Jeanie & Willie are now having a game of cards & Mother and I are sewing. Saturday Sept.18th. Fresh wind with heavy seas. Steamer rolling heavily & knocking us all about. Saw a sailing ship & a number of Albatross & Cape pigeons. No lessons today being Saturday we occupied our time by sewing, reading & games. Had our bath at night & after supper went to bed. Mother has just finished a leather key rack for Father. Sunday Sept.19th. Light wind but still very strong sea. Ship lurching heavily. During a heavy lurch Mother rolled on the deck & we all had a good laugh at her. Mother has not got her sea legs yet, but Jeanie can go about like an old sailor in the heaviest of weathers. We saw a lot of birds today. Had music at night & then to bed. Monday Sept.20th. During the night very heavy rain with heavy squalls no sleep for anybody. During the day the weather moderated & we got a fair wind & sailed along more comfortably. A great number of birds following the ship today amongst them being some very large albatross. We had lessons in the morning, sewing in the afternoon & cards at night & we all had a good night’s sleep. Tuesday Sept. 21st. Strong fair wind & heavy sea some of them being like mountains but the good ship Port Stephens glides over them 1ike a duck. It is too cold to get on deck today so we are amusing ourselves in the cabin with our lessons sewing and games. There are none of us sick even in the heaviest of weather & we can always eat our meals with a hearty appetite. We are now in the Southern Ocean & Father tells me this is what they call running the Easting down, that is we are running due East for Australia.Lots of birds still following the ship. Mother is learning me to do a sampler. Heavy shower of hailstones at night. Wednesday Sept.22nd. Moderate wind & showery weather very cold. Had to light the cabin fire. Too cold to get on deck so we did our sewing & lessons. Willie stayed away all amongst the sailors & had to do his lessons at night. Mother has a very bad headache. Had my music lesson & then went to bed. The fowls & sheep were all shifted under the bridge deck as they suffered from the cold. At night light fair wind & moderate sea. Thursday Sept.23rd. Moderate fair wind with overcast sky & showery much warmer weather. Friday Sept.24th. Fine morning but wet during the remainder of the day. Had a game of cards at night & then to bed. Saturday Sept.25th. Heavy gale of wind right astern with mountainous sea but considering the bad weather the ship is going along very dry. We are not able to get on deck much today. The birds still continue to fo1low the ship. Had a game of whist at night then our bath & off to bed. The ship did 250 miles today. Sunday Sept.26th. Moderate weather today but very cold. Ship steamed 240 miles today. We had hymns in the morning & night also Scripture lesson. Ducks & plum pudding for dinner. Monday Sept.27th. Fresh wind & squally with rain & rough sea. Ship steamed 250 miles this day. I got my hair caught in the log line & had to have a piece cut out before we could stop the log. Tuesday Sept.28th. Moderate wind & overcast steamed 235 miles today. A great number of albatross about today, but very few Cape pigeons. Mother is washing today & being bitterly cold we all stayed down below doing our lessons, sewing & playing games. Wednesday Sept.29th. Light wind & fine weather today. Mother is ironing & I am finishing my sampler. Father says he expects we will reach Port Pirie in about 14 days. Thursday Sept.30th. This day commences with dull rainy weather. At night it blew a gale with heavy sea & the ship rocked about very much. We did not get on deck at all today. We occupied our time by doing our lessons, sewing & games.Jeanie & Willie got dressed up as clowns at night & amused us very much. Friday Oct.1st. Light wind but nasty cross sea. Ship still tumbling about a good deal. We were on deck a little today. And at night played cards. Saturday Oct.2nd. Strong gale right astern with very heavy sea. Engines racing very much & shaking the ship terribly. We cannot get on deck today so we are amusing ourselves in the cabin. Willie & Jeanie went on deck & received a cold saltwater bath as the ship happened to ship a sea just when they got on deck which wet them to the skin & frightened them very much. At night we had our usual bath & went to bed. Sunday Oct.3rd. Strong wind & nasty sea with dull gloomy weather we remained below & read scripture lessons in the morning & had hymns & music at night. We are all longing to reach Australia now as it is getting rather monotonous seeing the same things every day. Monday Oct.4th. Strong fair wind & heavy sea with rain & overcast sky. The lamb was killed today. Lessons, sewing & cards at night. Tuesday Oct.5th. Fresh fair wind & showery with rather rough sea. We were on deck a good deal today the weather being much milder. We had lamb & green peas for dinner. Lessons in the morning sewing in the afternoon & whist at night and Mother & I gave Father a proper licking. We are now looking anxiously forward to seeing land once again as we have seen nothing since we passed Cape Verde. In a week more we should be at Port Pirie all going well. Good suppers of homemade bread just like Mother's & now I am off to bed. Wednesday Oct.6th. Fresh fair wind & high sea & showery. Weather too cold to get on deck. Willie got his hair cut. In the morning we did our lessons, in the afternoon we did some sewing, & at night we had a circus entertainment Willie & Jeanie being dressed up as clowns. Thursday Oct.7th Strong wind & heavy squalls with rain & high sea. Mother laid up with a very bad headache. We remained below all day & occupied our time with lessons, sewing & games. Friday Oct.8th. Light wind & fine weather. We were on deck most of the day as the steward was painting the cabin. Mother’s headache is better today. We had the swing quoits & other games. Saturday Oct.9th. Light fair wind & fine weather with smooth sea. We are now crossing the Great Australian Bight. We passed the barque Invercoe of Aberdeen at noon who wished to be reported. Being Saturday we have no lessons we are therefore enjoying ourselves with games & other things. Willie assisted in hoisting the flags to the barque. The weather is much milder & we can now do without a fire. Sunday Oct.10th. Light wind & overcast sky with smooth sea. We had scripture lesson & then we wrote our letters home. In the evening we had hymns. Monday Oct.11th. Calm all day sea like a bit of glass. Sky overcast & showery we have been busy all day cleaning the cabin ready for port. In the evening we had a game of whist & went to bed. Tuesday Oct.12th. Light head wind smooth sea & dull cloudy weather. We had our lessons in the morning & played about the remainder of the day. Everybody are busy getting the ship ready for port. Father says he expects to make the land tonight. Wednesday Oct.l3th. Fine weather with smooth sea. Saw land all day & anchored at night. Thursday Oct.14th. Arrived at P.Pirie this morning. Mother & I were standing in the poop in coming up the creek when the tug which was to have towed us up came astern & went bang into us which gave us such a fright as she nearly capsized & we had then to take another tug but got safe into berth at 10 am. There is a population of 5,000 people in P. Pirie. Friday Oct. 15th. Very dusty, windy & warm. We went to an entertainment at night which was very good indeed. Professor Hertz was very clever with the cards & amused us very much. We had the Dr & his wife on board this afternoon also Capt. Balchin of the S/S Port Elliot. Sunday Oct.17th. Being a lovely fine morning Mother, Willie, Jeanie, & myself went to the Congregational Church also in the evening, Mother & I went again to the same church. There are a good many churches here they are all very small buildings made of wood & corrugated iron. The singing was very good. Monday Oct.18th. Very fine weather but everything is in such a mess with coke dust. Mrs. Warren came down in the afternoon & invited us to go for a drive with her next day. Tuesday Oct.19th. Very windy & dusty had to stay down below nearly all day. We went for a drive in the afternoon with Mrs. Warren & her mother. At night we went to an entertainment, Hudson’s Surprise Party which was very amusing. Wednesday Oct.20th. Fine day. We went to Doctor Stewart’s in the afternoon & they took us for a drive which was very pleasant. Had a game of cards at night & then to bed. Thursday Oct.21st. Very fine day. We went on shore to visit a Lady but she was not in, so we took a walk round the suburbs. Port Pirie is very flat country & sandy. The principal work is the Broken Hill Co. factory where they extract gold silver lead zinc etc from the ore. Friday Oct.22nd. Windy & dusty remained on board all day. Had several Ladies on board visiting Mother. Capt. J. Redford of Blyth came on board to tea & spent the evening with us. Saturday Oct.23rd. A beautiful day. Went on shore in the afternoon did some shopping & came on board. Capt. Redford came on board in the evening. We had our bath & off to bed. Sunday Oct.24th. A most lovely day. Did not go to church as we had our letters. Willie went for a row with the officers to see a model yacht race. Went to church at night. Monday Oct.25th. A lovely day. Mother Jeanie & I went visiting Willie spending the day on board the reliance a four-masted sailing ship having made chums with the chief officer who made him a model of a yacht. Paper adverts appeared on front page on Tuesday Oct.26th. Another lovely day but exceedingly hot. Willie Jeanie & I was at a party this afternoon which we thoroughly enjoyed coming back ten o’clock Jean being the chief attraction. Commenced loading sulphide ore this morning. Wednesday Oct 27th. Very fine in the morning but a little dusty in the afternoon. Mr. Warren Took us & his family out a-picnicking he had his two carriages & drove us out to a small wood where the cloth was spread & a fire kindled. We then sat down & had a good meal. We had chicken ham & egg pie, salad claret & ices scones sponge cake bread & butter strawberries & cream, bananas, oranges, tomatoes & tea & returned in the evening quite dark after enjoying a most pleasant outing. Thursday Oct. 28th. We finished our loading this afternoon & are now all ready to sail for Sydney in the morning tide. We were through the Refinery today & saw the process of extracting the silver & other metals from the ore which was very interesting. We had the Post Master & his wife down in the evening to say goodbye the Post Master Mr. Watson comes from Newcastle on Tyne & very nice people they are. Friday Oct. 29th. We left Port Pirie this morning at 5 o'clock in the good ship Port Stephens for Sydney. We felt it very much cooler after getting to sea. We had fine weather Down the Spencer Gulf & entered the Investigator Strait at midnight Father being on deck the whole night. We felt the movement of the ship & went to bed early. SS Port Stephens 1894 Milburn Line 3554 tons, Hull 310,102853 105.2 metres long, perpendicular to perpendicular, 345 ft., speed of 9 knots, specially designed for Australian coastal service. Saturday Oct. 30th. Fine weather but very heavy swell which caused the Stephens to roll about very much & we had great difficulty in keeping our legs. Still, we managed to get on deck & have a look at the South Australian coast which reminded us very much of the coast about Blyth with its sand hills. We retired early as the ship was tumbling about so much. Sunday Oct. 31st. Strong fair wind with heavy sea but the ship is going much steadier & steaming about 11 miles an hour. Father says we passed Portland at four o’clock this morning this being the place where the first settlers landed in Australia a monument being erected there in memory of their landing. Had hymns at night & then to bed. Saw a lot of porpoises. Monday Nov. 1st. Showery but able to get on deck between showers. Port Stephens doing splendid work today she did 257 miles. We passed several steamers. Tuesday Nov. 2nd. Arrived at Sydney at 8 p.m. We saw Sydney at night with its beautiful lights & ferries running to & fro. Captain Sutherland our harbour pilot met us at the heads & took charge from Father & moored us in Neutral Bay. We came along the New South Wales coast very close in & saw some wonderful caves the scenery was very nice. After an exciting day we went to bed at 9 p.m. Wednesday Nov. 3rd. Went on shore. Met Mrs. Sutherland & drove through the principal streets & out into the suburbs which was very fine indeed. Stayed all night at Mrs. Sutherlands where we had a most hearty reception. Thursday Nov. 4th. A lovely day. Mother & Mrs. Sutherland did some shopping. We children went to see the Gardens where we had lunch & spent a pleasant day. Friday Nov. 5th. Had a good look at the shops. Some of them are very fine buildings & very large.In the afternoon a gentleman lent us his steam launch when Father & Capt. Sutherland took us all round the harbour which is the finest in the world. Landed us on Clark Island where we walked round & gathered most beautiful flowers. Again on board of the launch we went to Mossmans Bay which is very fine. Landed six in the evening & all partook of a good dinner on board of Port Stephens. Saturday 6th. Left Sydney 9.30 for Newcastle where we passed some beautiful scenery we crossed the Hawkesbury river which is a most beautiful piece of scenery. Maggie met us & they were all so pleased to see us. Sunday 7th. Went out to Durramatta & spent the day with Capt. Bird. The country there is beautiful. The oranges & lemons growing all around. He has a horse & trap cow pig & poultry. We got plenty of good milk to drink. Monday 8th. A very warm day. We all went to do some shopping & had a grand ride on the bus out into the suburbs. Had lunch in town met Mrs. Brown at the station & joined Port Stephens. Sailed 6 p.m for Geelong Mrs Brown going the trip with us. All the Sutherland family came down to see us off. Tuesday Nov. 9th. Very fine weather today. Mrs. Brown not very well. Passed Green Cape at 6 p.m. At night we all got dressed up & had a very jolly time. Wednesday Nov. 10th. Had fine weather all day but at night it blew very hard the wind being very hot. We passed Wilson’s Promontory at 4 p.m a very high piece of land. We passed that close you could have thrown a biscuit on shore; we also saw a most wonderful cave. In the evening we had games & music. Thursday 11th. At 2/50 a.m. we took the pilot on board at Port Phillip Head it is blowing a perfect gale of wind at the time. 8 a.m. arrived at Geelong pier. We went on shore in the morning to the Botanical Gardens & remained all day, the Gardens were delightful, but the mosquitoes were very troublesome. At night we had a walk through the town & on our return to the ship had some music & off to bed as Father was very tired having been up nearly all the way from Sydney. Friday Nov. 12th. Raining heavily all the morning but a little finer in the afternoon. Went to do some shopping in the afternoon got our teas on shore & came back at 6 p.m. & then went for a walk with Father. Saw a large funnel there being over 60 carriages. Saturday Nov. 13th. Fine weather today. Went out for a walk in the afternoon. Agent & wife came down in the afternoon. Geelong is a very pretty place. Today is Father & Mothers anniversary of their wedding day being 18 years married. Sunday Nov. 14th. Very fine weather. Went to church in the morning & to a children’s anniversary in the afternoon. There were hundreds of visitors looking over the ship we could not get one place to ourselves the Steward collected 18/- among the visitors for the Aged Seamen’s Home in London. Monday 15th. Most beautiful day. Mother & I visited the Agent & his wife such a beautiful house & grounds & most lovely flowers. Same day we went to see some very fine ferneries & came back to the ship laden with most lovely flowers. Tuesday Nov. 16th. Another hot day. We all went on shore when we met an old gentleman who came from Jesmond & who had been out here for 43 years. He took us for a drive to see a large wool factory & again in the afternoon his daughter brought the carriage to the ship to take us for another drive. We went & had tea with him at his house they all came to see us off. Anchored off Williamstown at night. Wednesday Nov. 17th. Raining in the morning but finer in the afternoon. Went up the River to Melbourne at early morning. We went on shore to have a look at the city. Melbourne is a very beautiful city with a number of splendid buildings & shops. Thursday Nov. 18th. Showery all day took the trem out to the Zoological Gardens which is very extensive with a fine collection of beasts & birds did some shopping & came on board. Friday Nov. 19th. A lovely day. We took tram to south beach passing on our way the government house, a large grammar school & many other places of interest. Came on Board to tea when Mrs. Redford came & had tea with us. After we had a most dreadful storm it was quite a sight to see. Had a little music & then Father saw Mrs. Redford off in a cab. Saturday Nov. 20th. Fine day. Mrs. Brown left us today to go by steamer to Sydney. We left Melbourne at 4 p.m. for Portland. Sunday Nov. 21st. Strong head wind with heavy sea. Mother & I were both sick. Arrived at Portland tonight. We are anchored in the bay. Monday Nov. 22nd. Very squally. Father & Willie went on shore. Willie caught two large fish. Father took Mother & we children on shore in the afternoon to spend the afternoon with the Agents wife where we spent a delightful afternoon their house & grounds are most beautiful with a splendid tennis court. Came on board laden with most lovely flowers & strawberries & sailed 6 p.m for Adelaide. Tuesday Nov. 23rd. Strong wind on the side & heavy sea ship rolling a good deal. Saw a lot of Albatross & other birds. Saw Cape Willoughby Lt. House at 8 p.m. Wednesday Nov. 24th. Arrived at Port Adelaide at 5 a.m. Mother Jeanie Willie & I went up to the City in the afternoon where we first went to a circus & then to the Botanical Gardens which were very good indeed we then went & had some tea & then we got the train & came down to the ship tired out. Thursday Nov. 25th. Very hot weather. We went to the city this morning went to have alook at the shops & then we went to the Zoological Gardens which people say are the first in the world we then went to the Museum where there is a fine collection of stuffed birds beasts & precious stones & other things we then went back to the ship. Friday Nov. 26th. Very windy & rainy. We left Adelaide for home this morning at 8 o’clock the ship being full of wool. At night it was stormy, so we went to bed early. Saturday Nov.27th. Moderate wind with strong sea ship rolling a good deal. Mother very poorly & remained in bed all day. We had several games & saw a number of very large Albatross. At night we had our bath & then to bed. Sunday Nov. 26th. A very fine day. We passed a steamer at 5 o’clock. We were on deck nearly all day. Had music at night & then off to bed. Monday Nov.29th. Strong head wind with heavy sea. Had our lessons again. Tuesday Nov. 30th. Strong wind with big seas had our lessons in the morning & played about until bedtime. Wednesday Dec.1st. Very windy. We passed Albany at 4 o’clock this morning & Cape Leeuwin at 10/30 p.m. this being the last Australian land we will see this voyage & all going well the only land we will see until we reach the Gulf of Aden. We had cards at night & off to bed as the ship was rolling about a good deal. Thursday Dec. 2nd. Fine weather & fair wind. We are now ploughing our way across the Indian Ocean towards home. Had some games at night & then to bed. Friday Dec. 3rd. Light fair wind & fine weather. Had our lessons in the morning sewing in the afternoon & cards at night & then to bed. Saturday Dec.4th. Moderate wind on the side weather very hot. Had a game of cards then our bath & then to bed. Sunday Dec. 5th. Moderate fair wind. Had our scripture lesson in the morning, reading in the afternoon & music at night & then to bed. Monday Dec. 6th. Light fair wind & overcast weather getting warm. Lessons in the morning sewing & reading in the afternoon quoits & cards in the evening. A large number of flying fish were caught on the deck during the night of which the firemen made their breakfast. Tuesday Dec. 7th. Moderate fair wind & cloudy with following sea. Had our lessons as usual in the morning & reading & games during the remainder of the day. No birds to be seen now but a number of flying fish were caught after dark. We are now north of the sun. Wednesday Dec. 8th. Fresh wind & showery with strong sea. Nothing of any consequence transpired today. We passed our time in the usual way, lessons reading etc. Thursday Dec. 9th. Moderate fair wind & sea with fine weather but rather hot. We had flying fish for breakfast. We spent the day as usual had a game of whist at night & then to bed. Friday Dec. 1Oth. Fair winds with heavy showers all day we kept a lot of rainwater with which we all had a bath. It is very hot indeed. We have 9 sheep, 7 were killed on the passage, 3 geese 1 turkey which we are fattening up for Xmas 14 ducks & 8 fowls & we delight in gathering the eggs. Saturday Dec. 11th. Slight showers & very warm, sewing & reading & then a game of cards our bath & then to bed. Sunday Dec. 12th. Scripture lessons in the morning which were frightfully hot. Nearly all the crew sleeping on deck at night & we could not get a cool spot & the water is quite hot what we have to drink. Monday Dec. 13th. Another very hot day. Mother was washing today. The Steward was painting Fathers room. Tuesday 14th Dec. Light head wind & hot weather unable to sleep at night for the heat. Finished painting Fathers room & bathroom. Wednesday Dec.l5th. Fresh head wind & lumpy sea with heavy showers of rain. Father & Mother very busy getting their room put in order again. Weather not quite so hot today, slept better. A lovely dove flew on board today. Thursday Dec.l6th. Strong head wind & sea & heavy rain, ship pitching. Father very poorly. Mother ironing. A very peculiar fish was found on the deck this morning called a squid. Friday Dec. 17th. Fresh head wind & sea but beautiful clear weather. The ship has had a very strong current against her for three days which has stopped us a good deal. Mother has a very bad foot & walks with difficulty. We have passed the time away as usual with games etc. Saturday Dec. l8th. Moderate wind & fine weather. Saw a number of flying fish & some large birds. Today being Saturday we were free from lessons. Had games during the day a bath at night & then to bed. Sunday Dec. 19th. Light wind & very hot weather. Had Scripture lesson in the morning & reading during the rest of the day. Monday Dec. 20th. Moderate wind with heavy showers of rain. Had to stay below most of the day. Passed a steamer at night bound the opposite way. Tuesday Dec. 2lst. Moderate wind & fine weather. Lessons in the morning sewing in the afternoon & reading & games at night. Mother washed today. Wednesday Dec. 22nd. A very hot day. We have all been busy today painting & cleaning our room out Willie & Jeanie being in their hobby with bare feet scrubbing the furniture on deck. Fresh wind & cloudy. Thursday Dec. 23rd. Moderate wind & fine weather. Finished cleaning our room & got back into it today. Friday Dec.24th. 3a.m. passed Cape Guardefui & entered the Gulf of Aden. Light wind & very Hot weather. Saw several porpoises & birds today. Saturday Dec.25th. Christmas day. Had roast goose plum pudding & mince pies for dinner. Passed Aden at 8p.m. Willie & Jean got dressed up as Indians at night & amused every one, we had snapdragon & other games & spent a very pleasant Xmas day. Sunday Dec.26th. Arrived at Perim at 7/30a.m. coaled & left again at 1O/30a.m. Perim is a very barren island in the Red Sea & used simply as a coaling station, the inhabitants being all Arabs & a very funny lot they are most of them having red hair. Passed Mocha at 3p.m. a Mohammedan town principally noted for its coffee. Passed Abuail islands at 9p.m. Monday Dec.27th. Light fair wind &. fine weather. Passed Jebel Tiera a volcanic island at 9a.m. We also passed during the morning two mail boats one from Australia & the other bound to Australia. Mother washing today. Tuesday Dec.28th. Strong head wind & sea. Passed several steamers. Saw a large number of porpoises. Mother ironing today. Father made a coach for Jeanie. Played cards at night. Wednesday Dec.29th. Strong head wind & sea ship pitching heavily. We passed a number of steamers during the day. Weather is now getting much cooler. Thursday Dec.30th. Moderate wind & fine weather. Passed a large troop ship at night beautifully lighted up with the electric light. We also passed the Daedulus light house at 9.21p.m. it being on a small reef in the Red Sea. Friday Dec. 31st. In the morning strong head wind & sea in the evening moderate wind. At noon passed the Brothers Islands. At 10p.m. passed Shadwan island at the entrance of the Gulf of Suez. Saturday Jan. 1st.1893. Moderate wind & fine weather. At breakfast time we saw Mount Sinai which is mentioned in the Bible. We anchored at Suez at 5.45p.m took the Electric light on board & pilot & entered the Suez Canal at 9.15p.m. along with the Mail boat & several other steamers as it was late we could not see much of the Canal. Tonight, we were in trouble by hearing of the death of our Grandfather. Sunday Jan. 2nd. We were up early & had a look at the Canal there is not much to see but sand. Some of the stations had nice gardens. We saw several camels, most of the Canal officials live in house boats moored to the side of the Canal. We arrived at Port Said at noon & after our dinners Father took us on shore & we had a drive round the town but we are not in love with it as it is a dirty place & the people are made up of all nationalities. We left Port Said for home at 6p.m. after taking in 550 tons of coal. We saw a large troop ship at Port Said full of soldiers from home bound for India. Monday Jan.3rd. Light wind & fine weather. We are now in the Mediterranean & the weather is very much colder. Tuesday Jan.4th. Moderate head wind & showery. Mother has a very bad headache. We passed the time by sewing, reading etc. Wednesday Jan.5th. Fresh head wind & sea ship pitching a good deal. Passed the day reading etc. Thursday Jan.6th. Light wind & fine weather. Passed two steamers today. As it was delightfully fine we spent nearly all the day on deck. Father says he expects to see Malta tomorrow morning. Friday Jan.7th. Very light head wind, sea as smooth as glass. Passed Malta harbour at about 7.30a.m. Saw a sailing ship & several steamer. Passed Pantalleria island at 10.23p.m. Saturday Jan.8th. Moderate wind & cloudy. Passed the Dog rocks at 1.20a.m. one of the rocks standing perpendicular 250 feet high & looked just like a large ship under sail, this is on the coast of Tunis. We passed a number of steamers today two of which were in Australia with us. Sunday Jan.9th. Light wind & fine weather. We passed Cape Bengut at 9p.m. The weather has been beautiful & warm today. Had Scripture lesson. Monday Jan.10th. We passed Algiers a French coaling station at 2a.m. Had light wind & fine weather during the day but at night it came away to blow strong but as it was a fair wind, we did not mind it much. Tuesday Jan.11th. Very strong fair wind with heavy sea. The steamers passing going the other way are having a hard time of it & taking the seas right over them. We passed Cape De Gata on the Spanish coast at 6.30a.m. We will pass Gibraltar about midnight & we are sorry we will not have the opportunity of seeing it. We passed Gibraltar at 11.30p.m. & met a very great number of steamers in the Straits. Wednesday Jan.12th. Passed Cape Trafalgar at 4a.m. Fresh beam wind. Passed a perfect lane of steamers, they kept coming all day long. We passed Cape St. Vincent at 10.30p.m. & met with a head sea which caused the ship to pitch a little. Thursday Jan. l3th. We passed Lisbon at 11a.m. We have had a beautiful day. Passed the Berlings at 4p.m. Mother has been packing our clothes today as our voyage is drawing to a close. Friday Jan. 14th. Light variable winds & fine clear weather. Passed Cape Finisterre at 4.35p.m. also Cape Villano at 6.34p.m. Saturday Jan. 15th. Fresh wind & cloudy weather with head sea. Sunday Jan.16th. Light wing & hazy overcast. Passed Ushant at 2p.m. Monday Jan 17th. Light wind & hazy. Passed St. Catherine’s point at 12.30p.m. being a little hazy we could not see much of it. Took the pilot on board at Dungeness passed Dover very foggy. Tuesday Jan.18th. Arrived at Gravesend at 3/30p.m.& made fast to the buoys. Father went on shore to telephone to the office. At 6p.m. Father brought the Pilot off. We unmoored & proceeded up the River & arrived off London Dock entrance at 8p.m. Got into Dock & moored at 10p.m. So ended our voyage to Australia & back, which has been a very pleasant trip. We have steamed all together about 27,000 miles including the coasting in Australia. After discharging the London Cargo, the good ship Port Stephens goes on to Dunkirk & Antwerp with the balance of her cargo. We have bet the Port Elliot home which left Australia a week before us. Wednesday 19th.Jan. Father has arranged for us to go home tomorrow. We have been to Stratford today doing some shopping & we are now all ready for our beds. Note. We passed outwards through the North Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean & the Southern Ocean & on to the Pacific. Homewards we started from the Pacific, crossed the Indian Ocean up the Gulf of Aden & Red Sea, Gulf of Suez, Mediterranean, crossed the Bay of Biscay & up the English Channel & Thames & so finished our voyage. THE END Return to Menu AUDIOBOOK Return to Menu VIDEO Return to Menu THAT'S ALL FOLKs

Created by KeefH Web Designs, December 3rd, 2022, 17.04 PM A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog Genealogy Info No 4, 1925 to 1930 INTRODUCTION This is a very retrospective blog, during the winter months of November and December 2022 I decided to translate most of the handwritten diaries we hold in our Family Tree data to supplement our Genealogy info featured here under the Family tab, good website design, backing up audiobooks, videos and slideshow with text. Enjoy! MENU Diary Audiobook of Indian times Audiobook, Gertie's full diary Video with audiobook overlay showing relevant and irrelevant images of life in the Army and India created via Clipchamp by KeefH Web Designs Trailer DIARY Introduction, real accounts of life in India in a posted British Army family 1925 to 1930 captured by KeefH Web Designs from a diary all handwritten by Annie’s Aunt Gertrude, just invaluable records, captured and turned into an audiobook by KeefH Web Designs in 2022 for prosperity, it would be awful to lose this history. An earlier audio book version of her full diary had been made in 2011 but the quality of text to speech voices has improved dramatically since then, hence the recreation, just so much clearer and less computerised speech on the spoken word. A full updated audiobook of her diary is also now available but it is over 9 and a half hours long, so probably not to be listened to in one go. ARRIVING IN INDIA 1925-1926, Birkenhead to Bombay We set of in March 1925. At that time, I was nine. Ralph was five. Bob was 2½, and Jean seven months. The land was covered in deep snow on the morning we left. All the neighbour's turned out to wish us well. We were all very happy. We sailed from Birkenhead on the "City of Lahore." It was a small ship with only 1st. and 2nd passenger accommodation. Officers and their wives and families travelled 1st. class and 2nd class was for Warrant Officers, wives and families. We had a small, four berthed cabin, so there was very little room and we had to get dressed and undressed one at a time. Meals were taken all together except that the children had high tea while the adults took dinner at night. I was left in charge while mother and father had their evening meal. One evening I was in great difficulties trying to change the baby's nappy when a black steward, a Goanese, looked in. He took the baby from me deftly dealt with her and restored order, and after that he always came to see if we were all right. The white stewardess’s did nothing for us. They only attended to those who had tipped them at the beginning of the voyage. Mother and father had thought that tips were given at the end. A stewardess was supposed to bring mother a glass of milk every night because she was feeding the baby, but it only arrived twice. Mother was constantly anxious in case the baby should suffer, but by drinking father’s coffee at dinner and being supplied with lemonade from the bar she got by. The stewards who cleaned the cabins were black-skinned, mostly Goanese, and they were very pleasant. The dining-room stewards were olive skinned and extremely handsome and smart, Portuguese from Goa. Every morning the baby's cot was lashed to the railings on deck. The lascars who swabbed the deck used to take a great interest in the baby and talked to her and she seemed to like their dark faces and did not mind their moving her to another· part of the deck so that they could do their scrubbing. I was always left in charge of the baby in the early morning like Miriam watching over Baby Moses. The lascar boson used to talk to me pleasantly. I liked and trusted them all. For the first few days it was very cold and we had to be well wrapped up when we were on deck. Beef tea was brought round for our mid-morning drink and it seemed very good. It was rough in the Bay of Biscay and most people were seasick but none of our family were ill. To my great disappointment we passed Gibraltar and Malta in the night and so there was nothing to be seen for several days but the sea. Deck games were started and I learned to play quoits, a big canvas swimming pool was erected and filled with sea water; there were concerts and competitions of all sorts and a fancy dress party for the children. The usual pattern for the day was to take up our positions on deck with the deckchairs which we had brought from home, keeping the same position throughout the voyage. It was a lazy life. People walked round and round the decks for exercise. One day we lost Ralph. We searched everywhere for him and were beginning to get desperate when a beaming stoker led him up from the engine room. "I wanted to see how the ship works,” said Ralph. Every evening we used to watch passengers dancing on the 1st. class deck. I loved watching the ladies’ beautiful evening dresses. This was a new end very luxurious world for me. I had never seen people dressed like that before. Mother was not so keen on 1st. class passengers because the laundry room was always full of nannies washing and ironing their mistresses’ finery when she needed to wash the baby's clothes. Officers could have a free passage for their nannies and many of the young women were not children's nurses at all. They were often friends of their so-called employers having a free trip to India where there was a very good chance of finding husbands. Marriageable girls were scarce in India. At Port Said little boats came alongside and the bumboat men tried to sell their wares to the passengers. And boys dived for pennies thrown from the ship. We went ashore. I was entranced with my first sight of "the mysterious East" but the rest of the family were not at all impressed. Mother thought it was very hot and dirty and was troubled by the crowds of beggar ch1ldren who kept following us begging for alms. Wh1le we were having cold dr1nks at an outside cafe a guli-guli man came along and did his conjuring tricks w1th chicks and cups. The main point of our expedition ashore was to buy topees. In those days it was thought that anyone who went out 1n the tropical sun bareheaded was certain to die of sunstroke. We did not l1ke wearing the heavy topees because they made us very hot. For five years it was one of mother’s many worries to ensure that the family went out suitably hatted. In India there were better topees for children, lighter in weight, shaped like hats and covered in patterned cotton. Mother always had a sunshade and refused to wear a topee. I think that she was very sensible. When we were going through the Suez Canal, I never tired of watching the Arabs with their camels along the banks. They seemed so near and sometimes they waved and called to us. The canal was to narrow for ships to pass unless one of them was right into the shore. It was exciting seeing a ship going back to England when we were manoeuvring to pass. It was very hot in the Red Sea. We saw sharks and flying fish and one day a shoal of dolphins came alongside and followed the ship for some time, enjoying the food that was thrown out to them. Aden was just as I had expected, a hot, barren rock. The ship coaled there. Three weeks after leaving Birkenhead we landed in Bombay. From the ship Bombay looked very grand with its large, white buildings. Bombay to Lahore But when we got ashore, we felt overwhelmed with crowds of people, noise, smells, and the tremendous heat. We went straight to the railway station, how we got there I do not remember and father left us in the ladies' waiting room while he went off to find out where we were to go. He had not been given his posting before we left England. The woman in charge" of the waiting room was a Eurasian. Her three daughters came in end I thought they were the most beautiful girls I had ever seen. After what seemed to us a long time father came back with a car to take us to a transit hostel for service families. There we were given a meal, had a wash, got cooled off and waited until it was time to go for our train to Lahore. I always had my atlas with me so I was able to find out where Lahore was. It had been suggested that we went to a transit camp at Deolali, a British Army transit camp in Maharashtra, India and then decided that we should go straight to Lahore. Later we discovered that we had had a very lucky escape as there had been an outbreak of cholera at Deolali and several people had died. At any time it was notoriously hot and unhealthy. Father had to bribe a railway official to get a compartment to ourselves. The porters who carried the luggage asked for a great many rupees and father meekly paid up. He never learned how to "beat them down" even when he suspected he was being cheated. It was against his principles. Meals on the train had to be ordered in advance and for five people for three days the cost was exorbitant. But nothing could be done. After that we all took our own food on journeys and a primus stove so that we could have tea end plenty of boiled water to drink. But at this stage we were novices with much to learn. The compartment was much bigger than we had expected. There were four long settee which served also as beds and two bunks which let down for the night. Adjoining the compartment was the self contained toilet compartment. There was no corridor. Our meals therefore would be brought to us at stops and the dishes collected at the next station. By this time it was getting dark so we all got ready for bed. I had one of the top bunks. It had a little window so I could look out at all the strange sights outside. To our surprise an Indian gentleman got in just as the train was due to go. He said not a word but made up his bed, put on pyjamas and went to bed. When we woke in the morning he had gone. Nobody had seen him get out a1though I thought I had been awake all night. The train seemed to have frequent stops. Every station was crowded with Indians. They settled to be camping out there. Some slept on the platform, others sat round their fires, cooking and eating their food. The noise and smells were very strange to me. I wondered whether all these peop1e lived permanently in the railway stations. But as soon as the rain started to steam out hordes of them leaped at the handles of the doors and hung on and some climbed on the roof, careless of their lives. Presumably they were having e free ride. There were 1st, 2nd and 3rd class carriages. Father's free warrant was always for 2nd class. There was no racial discrimination in travel by rail. Rich Indians travelled 1st. class but most Indians endured the rigours of the 3rd. class. Here compartments had only narrow wooden seats and the passengers were tightly crowded together. It must have been terrible for them in the heat on long journeys. Our expensive meals were far from satisfactory but we were not at all hungry. But we could not get enough to drink and were extremely thirsty. Father asked the refreshment car for more tea or soft drinks or boiled water. This was refused because it had not been ordered ahead. Even palm-greasing brought no results. Obviously we could not drink the water supplied for washing. There were taps on every station platform and Indians drinking from them. Mother wanted to get out for water but father said it would be full of typhoid and cholera germs and we must never drink unboiled water. She was also tempted to buy tea from the char wallahs on the platform but again father stopped her. Mother was feeding the baby, who was becoming very listless through lack of fluid. We did not understand at the time but, much later, mother said that she had thought that the baby would die on the journey. However the baby soon recovered after we had left the train, and all was well. There were fruit vendors at every station and it was decided that we would risk eating fruit. The oranges were loose-skinned, rather like large tangerines but less juicy and tasty. There were three kinds of bananas, little yellow ones, large greenish ones and red skinned. The two latter were rather tasteless. Then there were sweet lychee with their husky skins, cape gooseberries and, best of all juicy mangoes. There is no neat way of eating a mango. One must have a wash afterwards. I used to clean the stones and brush the hairs so that they looked like little furry animals. The journey to Lahore took three days and nights. It was a long time for children to be cooppd up and Ralph and Bob needed a lot of entertaining. I think I was the only one really to enjoy it. There was a great deal to see. When we were going through the Thar Desert and I tired of looking at nothing but sand I had books to read. The Punjab was much more densely populated and interesting. At last we reached Lahore. We travelled from the station to the Cantonment in tongae which were two-wheeled horse-drawn carriages with seats back to back. Father found out where we were to live and we went on to our bungalow. It was at one end of a block of army quarters. There were four enormous rooms, a smaller one, a big veranda and a bathroom. The bathroom contained a wash-stand, a wooden commode and a zinc bath standing in an area with a little brick wall round it and had a hole in the wall, an essential part of the plumbing. The bath was emptied by tipping it up so that the water ran through the hole into an open drain outside. We learned later to put a brick over the hole because several times we found a snake in the bathroom which had crawled through the hole. Father killed them with a stick. There was no water supply, halfway along the block of houses there was an outside tap and the water had to be carried from there. Water for baths was heated in kerosene tins in the cookhouse about a hundred yards away and carried to the bathroom by a sweeper, an untouchable. He also emptied the commode and swept the bungalow floor carrying bath water twice a day for six people was a tremendous job in itself. I think his few rupees pay was well earned. Sweepers never spoke to us and always kept their eyes down. Probably they know no English except the call of "Sweeper” so we could not communicate with them. I used to feel very sorry for them. The only modern convenience was electricity. There were big electric fans in every room. This was standard equipment in all army quarters on the plains so we never had to employ a punkah wallah. The army supplied the basic furniture, beds, tables and chairs. Soon after we arrived, a furniture wallah came to ask what furniture we wanted to hire. It was the usual practice to hire furniture by the month. So we had wardrobes, cal1ed almirahs, chests of drawers, a desk, bookshelves, small tables and basketwork armchairs all delivered that day. The chairs were designed for army living, with footrests and broad arms to hold a sahib’s chhota peg or burra peg.(2011: from british empire: chhota or chota means miniature jug for holding small alcoholic drink, i.e single scotch & soda or burra peg means double-whiskey) A man came to see if we wanted straw matting for the stone floors. He cleverly carpeted the whole bungalow, wall-to-wall, weaving the matting to fit. It looked very good and was clean and springy. It was only meant to last for a few months and was inexpensive. Each time we moved house we had new matting. We also bought dhurris, cotton carpets, and numnahs, felt rugs embroidered in bright colours. The beds had frames for mosquito nets. The nets were essential but we did not like them because they seemed to make us hotter. When we went to bed mother put down the nets and tucked them in, first making sure that there were no mosquitoes inside. During the night she always did a tour of all the beds, listening for a buzz. If there was, there had to be a thorough search until the intruder was caught and killed. On the way to the bungalow we had discovered a marvellous shop in the cantonment, owned by a Parsee family called Jamset Jee. It was as good a grocer’s shop as any in England. They also sold hardware. Adjoining the shop was a little bazaar, extremely clean because the stalls were let by the Jamset Jees, where one could, buy meat, poultry, fruit and vegetables. So we bought plenty of food, some china and cutlery and a primus stove and had an enjoyable meal in our big empty bungalow. Later on mother and father became very friendly with the Jamset Jee brothers and went to a wedding reception in their garden. Mother enjoyed it tremendously. We were told in detail of the luxurious food, Indian and English, which was offered and the elegance of its presentation. She was charmed with the good manners of the Indian guests. Long afterwards she used to repeat part of the first sermon she had heard in India. The minister had said that British army families should not judge India by camp followers. They were not likely to know Indians who were uncorrupted. They were certainly not likely to understand Indian culture. Mother always said that this was true. She regretted that there was never again an encounter such as that with the Jamset Jees. Our big oak boxes arrived some days later. When they were unpacked it was discovered that the contents of one had been stolen and it was packed with the bulky red petticoats of an Indian mill woman. Almost all of mother’s linen had gone. The box had been full of crocheted and embroidered tablecloths, sheets, pillowcases and towels, work which had taken her more than ten happy years to create. Her lovely wedding presents from her relations and lifelong friends in Blyth had also gone. Mother wept. The day after we arrived we had a cook, or khansama, a bearer, an ayah, a sweeper and a dog. Nanak, an engaging young man with a cheerful grin, turned up first and assured us that he was the best cook in Lahore and had chits to prove it. Most of his testimonials were obvious forgeries. It was common practice to pay babus in the bazaar to write them. We discovered later that Nanak had only worked, as a bobajee for privates’ families before coming to us. However, we had to have a cook. It was physically impossible for a memsahib to do her own cooking in the cookhouse for this was one of a row of cookhouses some distance from the house where Indian men servants worked over open fires, stirring their dokshis and gossiping together. Nanak would do for a while. But as time passed he was still with us. Nanak was engaged at 25 rupees a month and food.(2011: 1 rupee = 1s 4d in 1925 which is £1 13s 3d and at todays rate is £50 for a months pay) He said we must have a bearer, an ayah and a sweeper and could supply them. He went away and came back with all three. The bearer was a tall, thin, young man. His only dut1es seemed to be to wait on us at table and do a little light dusting. He thought he was going to be a gentleman's valet but father would have none of this. So when we moved up to the hills his services were dispensed with. The ayah turned out to be Nanak's aunt. She was a large fat woman who could speak no English. It soon became evident that she had never been an ayah before and knew nothing about babies, English or otherwise. Mother continued to look after the baby and the ayah's only contribution was to watch over her tenderly. So she was soon given her notice. Another ayah was engaged. This one was more efficient, but she nursed the baby constantly and never let her move about. Mother was afraid that the baby would never learn to crawl or walk. Somebody told her tales of ayahs drugging babies to keep them still and quiet, and so after a time this ayah too was dismissed, and thereafter mother looked after the children by herself. Nanak was a terrible cook. He produced his masterpieces with triumph and never knew that they were often thrown out to the kite hawks. Every day he made a cake for afternoon tea and came dashing across from the cookhouse with it steaming hot from the oven. Birthday cakes were his Speciality. These were entirely his own idea. Whenever there was a birthday in the family he would make a cake iced in brilliant red, green, blue and yellow, the bigger and brighter the better. It was horribly sickly, but a kind thought. For my birthday I was given a little gramophone. Nanak proudly presented me with some second hand records he had bought in the bazaar. The favourites were "Light Cavalry", "In a Monastery Garden" and "The Laughing policeman". They were played over and over again and nobody tired of turning the handle. In those days there were no were no record players or television or radio. We entertained ourselves and were never bored. Mother did not dare venture into the cookhouse for some time and when she did pluck up courage to do an inspection she was horrified at the lack of hygiene. So Nanak was given lessons on keeping the cookhouse clean scouring the dekahis (cooking pans) and washing the towels regularly. Sometime later we had a Valor stove sent out from England. It could be kept in the bungalow for mother to do some of the cooking and she gave lessons to the cook. We all thought that everything she made was superb. The cooks had to go every morning to collect the army rations which were bread, meat, vegetables and other basic foods. Every evening before the cook went home he came to say "Take account, memsahib." Then all his expenditure for the day was added up and more money given him for the next day’s purchases together with the orders for the meals. We used to have a cooked meal at midday and again in the evening because meat was much cheaper than in England, only a few annas(pennies) a pound. Apart from that, our food was as nearly as possible what we would have eaten in England, except for more curries and fewer salads. New dishes were stuffed “brinjals” (aubergines) and "humph" which was a cow's hump. It was good, solid, salted beef which we enjoyed very much. When buying a leg of lamb we always chose one with its foot left on because goat was often passed off as lamb or mutton. After the cook had gone and the children had been put to bed mother and father made tea with the Primus and had tea and biscuits on the verandah in the dark. It was cooler by then. After a while I was promoted to stay up for tea with them. It was a great honour! All drinking water had to be boiled ad cooled in a chatti, an earthenware pitcher standing in another pot of cold water. There were no refrigerators then. Butter and milk were similarly kept cool. The butter and milk were similarly kept cool. The butter and milk were bought twice a day from the government dairy and bread was obtained from the government bakery. Our dog Nutty had joined us on our first day in Lahore. He was given to father by a soldier who was going back to England. It was a common practice for soldiers to keep dogs as pets and guard dogs. They were allowed to sleep in the barrack rooms and food was no problem as they could be fed on beef. Nutty was a mongrel, but he was a beautiful dog, much bigger than a retriever, with a smooth, silky, nut-brown coat. He had a furrowed forehead, and so we thought there must be some bloodhound in his ancestry. The first night he was kept tied up on the veranda because he howled mournfully and incessantly, in the morning he was gone leaving a broken rope behind. A little later his previous owner bought him back, and this time Nutty agreed to stay. He gradually settled down and became as fond of us as we were of him. His favourite trick was to pull the ribbons off my plaits and run off with them, with me in hot pursuit. He chose to sleep in my bedroom. One night I was awakened by Nutty’s growling. H1s teeth were bared and the hair on the back of his neck was standing on end. This was a very different beast from the normally gentle Nutty. Then I saw a stick poking through the latch of the door, trying to lift the heavy bar which was the only means of fastening the door. I shouted for father and he ran out at once, but could see nothing. The loose waliahs(2011 wallah) (burglars) had probably reached the cover of nearby trees. These great times were full of wild life. There were tree rats, like squirrels, brilliant parakeets, minah birds, cross end kite hawks. Kite hawks swooped down on any food they could see. Cooks used to run across with the food to avoid them and the children never ate outside for fear of attack. Bob’s hand was badly gashed one day while he was holding some fruit. At night we used to hear the jackals howling, a most eerie sound. They came close in to raid the dustbins. We seldom saw them in the daytime. Animals were no trouble to us but insects certainly were.The bungalow had no ceiling and enormous spiders used to drop down on us. As far as I know, they were harmless but they were most unpleasant. Scorpions had to be given a very wide birth. One day the cook came running to mother with a scorpion hanging on to his hand. He had been wiping the cookhouse table and had not seen the scorpion until it was too late. Mother took him by the arm and rushed him to the hospital at top speed and he was dealt with immediately. He might have died if he had not had medical attention at once. There were black ants, white ants, beetles, flies, mosquitoes and other pests which had to be kept in subjection with insect sprays. When the locusts came it was an incredible sight. The sky suddenly turned black with swarms of them. Then they landed and in a few minutes there was not a trace of vegetation left, not a blade of grass. The attack was over and the ground was covered with dead locusts. After the scorpion episode Nanak brought his wife and two little boys to see us. His wife was a pretty young girl who shyly hung her head and the children were plump and jolly. Poor, incompetent Nanek was very fond of all of us. Especially Bob. "Bobbie is a teak chotah waliah”,(2011 chota wallah, another spelling, is a “little guy") he would say, carrying him about on his shoulder. The children in the family returned his affection. All the Indian servants that we had were affectionate to chl1dren. I think it must be an Indian characteristic. It was marvellous for the children but for parents there could be emotional blackmail if they were soft hearted, as ours were, and incompetent servants quickly became unsackable. Another form of blackmail was that Nanak said that he was a Christian and that Christians were persecuted in the bazaar. We felt sorry for him at first but we later gathered that he had no religion and therefore was free to eat any food, Hindu, Moslem, or ours, especially ours. We learned to accept the minor pilfering of food as a way of life. When we first arrived father had said that we must be polite to the servants, and we all were. But many people were not. They shouted and swore at their servants. I heard them as I passed their quarters. Some even kicked. I saw that too. Some of the privateers, proud of having servants for the first and only time in their lives, were the worst offenders. The cantonment where we lived was an army camp, clean and whitewashed, but unromantic. For a change we sometimes went to the city of Lahore. We travelled by tonga along the Mell, which I remember as a beautiful road with grass, shrubs and roses on either side. The gardens were well maintained by melis, Indian gardeners. We first came to the European part of the city where there were wide streets, good shops of all kinds, hotels, cafes and beautiful bungalows. We continued on to the Anarkali Bazaar, the largest bazaar we saw in India. This we all found very exciting. It was a mass of stalls and was densely populated, it was smelly and noisy and incredibly crowded, but very interesting. What we did not like were the beggars who surrounded us with calls of “Baksheesh, sahib”. Many of them were terribly diseased and mutilated. It was said that some of them, the professional beggars, injured themselves to gain more pity. At first mother and father gave some baksheesh but that was fatal because more and more of them crowded round and followed us, and, although sympathetic, theye had very little money to spare. The poverty and squalor were unbelievable to our English eyes. But there was plenty to see, stalls of all kinds, selling fruit, silks, sticky sweets, brass, carpets, clothes, everything imaginable. It was usual for the stallholder to ask for more for his goods than he expected to get. Then the customer would offer a great deal less. The seller then came down a bit and the customer up a bit, and so it went on until a satisfactory price was agreed. Mother and father could never get accustomed to this system and were never very good at haggling. Beyond the Anarkali Bazaar was the walled city. We always had to turn back when we reached the gate because the city was out of bounds British troops. It looked like a continuation of the bazaar but was even more crowded and exotic. Not very far from where we lived was the Suddah Bazaar. This was the most beautiful of all bazaars. Every stall was stacked and hung with the loveliest of materials for all purposes to suit both British and Indians of all classes. Some stalls specialised in readymade saris of rich colours and patterns in the finest of cottons and silks and gauzes, others specialised in silks alone. Striped silks were favoured at this time by English ladies and were thought to be as cool as cotton. It was a very clean bazaar and mother used to enjoy going there to buy materials. Our clothes were made by dhurzis, native tailors or dressmakers of amazing skill. They had English pattern books but no paper patterns. We looked through the books, chose the style we wanted and it was made up exactly like the pictures. Some dhurzis specialised in children’s clothes. I remember an old man with a beard dyed red who used to come round regularly with a large bundle of dresses, shirts, shorts and underclothes that he had made. These were spread out on the verandah. He sold some and took orders. He always had a tape measure round his neck and needles and pins in his turban. Then there was a very high class dressmaker who made the most exquisite dresses. When I was going off to boarding school he made me several white silk dresses w1th smocking, gauging and picot edges done by hand. Box wallahs came regularly and spread out their wares on the verandah. "You look, memsahib. If you no like, you no buy.” We bought as many Treasures as we could afford. There were brass ornaments, carved wooden Tables, trays and book rests, a carpet and rugs. Many of these were sent home to England as presents. We still have some Indian brass and three carved tables in our house. The carpet was from Baluchistan. It was full of desert and when we got it and it had to be hung on the line and beaten with sticks to get it clean. There were no vacuum cleaners then. It was immensely heavy and it took several people to carry it. It was red and blue, in a traditional pattern, and in one place the blue was slightly different, evidence, if it was needed, that it had been made by hand by skilled tribal workmen. We had our carpet for over forty years. When it was given away to a neighbour it was not worn out, just slightly shabby in the part near the doorway. The carpet wallah was different in appearance from all other box wallahs. He was very fair skinned, wore a tight fitting black coat in the style of superior merchants, but unlike any other we had seen, he wore a fez. We thought that he was a Persian. In the usual fashion, he spread his carpets on the verandah and showed them off, one by one. Mother admired them all but especially the rugs from Bokhara. The carpet from Baluchistan, however, was cheaper and seemed to be very hardwearing, and so it was bought. All his wares had been so beautiful that she wished she could have, there and then, purchased carpets and rugs to furnish her own house and to send home to all her relations, but that was out of the question. The merchant called several times and on each occasion mother said that, of course, a11 his carpets were beautiful but she had spent all she could afford. Still he spread out his wares and always she looked and admired. Then having tried her out, he came to the point; he wanted her to take his carpets to England and sell them for him; they would be partners and share the profits. Mother said that she was no business woma she knew nothing about selling; but she could steal his rugs very easily under this system. He said that he knew that he could trust her. She said that he should try the officers up the hill, who must be better customers. No, he said, he wanted no dealings with them for their children mocked him. They were "budmash".(2011: Indian word meaning a bad character : a worthless person ) Mother did not go into business, but many years later we saw in a connoisseurs' carpet shop our Baluchistan carpet in the window. We went inside and were allowed to see their eastern treasures. Like mother we coveted them all. But the prices made them coverings for the houses of near millionaires. How had they reached such prices? Who made the profit? Certainly not the makers, nor the merchant, travelling afar to buy from the vil1ages and then to sell from door to door. Other box wallahs had sad times for mother. Many memsahib’s stole their wares and the English children too were thieves and very cheeky. Ralph and Bob heard such tales with indignation. "They are stealing thieves” one of them said. Snake charmers came to the bungalows. It was said that the poison fangs of the cobras had been removed. We took no chances and kept well back. Sometimes the snake charmer had a huge python coiled round his body. In the hills there were dancing brown bears. I felt sorry for the the poor , chained animals being made to stand on their hind legs and jog about. Occasionally, we went to the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore. They were really beautiful with flowers and lawns. Elegant young men used to wander about carrying books and chanting. We thought they were students from the university, reciting poetry. Our first stay in Lahore was brief because the hot weather was coming on when wives and families a11 went to the hills. It was too hot for them to stay on the plains, although most. of the soldiers had to remain in the terrific heat. I can remember that father was sometimes with us and sometimes not, but I do not know how his time was divided. He was attached to the Royal Berkshire Regiment at this time. With the help of some non-A.E.C. instructors he educated the men and prepared them for their third, second, first, and special class certificates. Some were barely illiterate and others were preparing to take external degree. He was also in charge of the education of an Indian regiment. He used to visit them periodically but as he did not know their language, he could not teach them. That was left to a ‘havilder' (an Indian sergeant) who often used to come to see father at home to report on his progress and afterwards take tea. He spoke perfect English and was a very pleasant visitor. Father was also in charge of the school for the children of the British regiments and he sometimes taught us. Our first hill station was Dagshai in the foothills of the Himalayas. We travelled overnight by an ordinary train to Kalka, where we changed to the small-gauge railway. It wound round and round the mountain, climbing higher and higher. Often there was a sheer drop on one side but the little train hung on. The vegetation grew more and lusher as we climbed higher. It became cooler and was a great relief from the heat of Lahore. We got off the train at Darempore Station where we had to take tongas for the rest of the journey. The horses went at top speed and we hung on, thinking that we would be over the khud ( steep hillside) at any moment. But we arrive safely with all our "small luggage". The heavy stuff, boxes and trunks, was carried up from Daremore by coolies. They had. bands round their heads to support the load on their backs. They did not look very strong with their thin legs but they could carry tremendously heavy burdens. The, furniture hirer had his godown ( store ) at Darampore and the furniture was all carried up by Coolies. It was a terrible sight. We were told that sometimes they fell down a precipice to their deaths. Our house seemed more English and homely than the bungalow in Lahore. There were wooden floors instead of stone. The rooms were smaller but there were more of them. We used to have wood fires in the cool evenings. There was no electricity but we had oil lamps. Nanek, had come with us, bringing his wife and children. He had been given extra money for the journey but before we had gone far he came to us in great distress saying his family was starving. So mother handed out provisions from her food box. She had learned to take plenty of food and drink on journeys. Dagshai When we arrived at Dagshai. Nanak had to get his family housed in the bazaar and we did not see him again for a week. However, mother did the cooking, to our great satisfaction. It was possible because the cookhouse adjoined the house. It was good to see so many growing things after the dust and glare of the plains. Growing wild everywhere on the hill slopes were great deoder cedars, walnut trees and great sweeps of purple rhododendrons in massive, high clumps. Single, brilliantly coloured and sharply patterned dahlias were universal. How they survived the heavy snows of winter, even here in the foothills of the Himalayas, I have never understood, I often think of it when I am carefully lifting my own English dahlias, drying them, storing them at the right temperature, and dusting them against mould. The boys were always on the lookout for a walnut tree close to the road. The walnuts, however, were never ripe when we were in the hills and all they got for their efforts was darkly stained hands. The whole family longed to leave the roads, quiet though they were. The khud could be dangerous, as all of us knew. The undergrowth was certainly full of snakes, and every child knew about them, not only from hearing about them but from seeing them in their own bathroom or crossing a path. I had once encountered a cobra on the way to school, hissing and with its hood raised. I had immediately gone home and returned with an adult. No-one at all suggested that I was cowardly; it was the correct drill known to all of us. Another snake which was common was the krait, which was a dull blue in colour and very venomous. On the khud theee were also likely to be jackals. These would not attack a human being unless they had rabies and this was a constant fear. They might, however, very well attack a dog. Even on the road it was was always an interesting walk. We saw long-tailed monkeys, although they kept their distance, and twice we saw a leopard. So every evening the whole family walked round the mountain and it could all be seen , including the little bazaar, in an hour or so. After a while father found a wild place for us. It was a very beautiful pool surrounded by rocks, but it was a long walk and so only Ralph, Bob and I went with him. We frolicked in the pool while he stood guard with a stout stick. One evening, as we were going home, an old man on a donkey offered Ralph a ride. He lifted him on the donkey's back and at once the donkey plunged and kicked and threw Ralph off. It lashed out at his hea1d. We were greatly alarmed, but apart from a huge bump he was none the worse. In India there are three seasons, "Cold weather," "Hot Weather," and "Monsoons." It was very hot before the rains came end everybody was longing for the weather to break. Then suddenly it would start to rain, not like rain in England, but pouring down in torrents which continued for several days at a time. Steam rose from the hot earth and it was very humid. Then it became cooler and we were much more comfortable. Father said that in Lahore the whole area suddenly became green in two or three days. The heavy rainfall went on for about two months. Then there was some pleasant weather before we moved down to Lahore again. Winter in Lahore was best of all. It was just like an English summer but without rain. In the evening it turned cool and we had wood fires. They were not always necessary but seemed cheerful. There was hardly any twilight in India. It changed quite suddenly from bright sunshine to darkness. I think it was at this time that we nearly lost Jean. She had been playing on the verandeh and somebody suddenly called out. "Jean as amongst the buffaloes." There she was, a tiny figure in a white dress in the midst of herd of huge, black buffaloes. They were grazing peacefully, and she was going amongst them , patting their legs. We were all aghast. Poor Nanek threw his tea towel over his head and wailed "Chotah Jean Baba will be dead." We did not know what to do. If we went near the buffaloes they might have stampeded and trodden Jean underfoot. Father said 'Keep still and quiet." So we did and hoped. After what seemed like years, Jean decided that buffaloes were not much fun to play with and came wandering back. She must have been about eighteen months at the time. Father and mother were unusual in their now established pattern of walking, and seeing the sights, always in the company or their children. Some couples, confident that there were servants to attend to their Household were always ready for social life. This usually began in the regimental tennis club and in dances in the mess. Neither father nor mother played tennis but we all watched regularly. Father attended mess dances; he liked conversation, he considered it a social duty, and he had taken on the supervision of the bar where he took pleasure in straightening out mess funds and thereafter keeping them immaculately. There had been a suppressed scandal about his predecessor and some misappropriation of funds. Father was confident that he would be more alert than some because he was virtually a teetotaller. So these occasions for father were quite interesting and enjoyable. Mother, however though quite as convivial as father, refused to attend any evening functions. She would trust no-one to guard her brood, espec1ally at night. Then came news of a high spot in the social round. This was the annual Regimental Shoot for Ladies. Officers' wives were particularly enthusiastic. They practised regularly on the regimental rifle range which was periodically cleared for their use. Father, who was a good shot himself, persuaded mother to enter. She agreed. Although she had never in her life held a rifle or any other sort of firearm. As she went into the rifle range she was not worrying about the shooting itself; her secret anxiety was that she might look undignified when lying down to shoot. But all was well, she discovered, for the legs of each competitor were carefully shrouded in a blanket. Mother’s turn came, and father went with her to tell her how to hold the rifle, take aim and fire it, was time someone told her. She turned and saw that the worst had happened: she had scratched her smartest English shoes. At the end it was announced that mother had won the competition end that she was the best Ladles' Shot in the regiment, and she had won two silver gilt serving spoons. We were all bursting with pride. Mother could do anything, if only she put her mind, to it. Nowshera Then father was posted to the Seaforth Highlanders in Nowshera. Nowshera was on the North West Frontier near Peshawar. Consequently we had to pack up again. Nenak came to us in tears, saying that his father would not let him go so far away. It was decided, reluctantly, that it was too long a journey for Nutty, and so he was given to an unmarried sergeant who admired him. Nutty knew him and went peacefully. Ralph and Bob were quite upset at losing both Nanak and Nutty. When we said goodbye to Nanek Bob clung to his legs and cried. It was a long journey to Nowshera but not unpleasant. By now we were seasoned travellers. Father was pleased to be posted to a Scottish regiment and the Seaforth were splendid in every way. They treated us very well and made us fee1 welcome. The schoolmaster in a regiment was often thought of as an outsider. It may have helped that father himself was a scot. Mother became especially friendly with Mrs. Mar the Regimental sergeant Major's wife. Mrs.Mar had come from Scotland as the nanny to the children of the a commanding officer and had been married from his house. When she told mother about her wedding I was listening and found it most romantic. She said that the colonel and his wife had treated her as a daughter. They were still very fond of her and she of them. Mr.Mar was very young to have become a R.S.M and was reputed to have been a very good one. He was a handsome Highlander with golden hair, and their baby Spenser, was exactly like him. They were an extremely pleasant couple. Mrs.Mar was very efficient; she had excellent servants and her house was run like clockwork. She was exceptionally gentle mannered. Mother said she seemed like the wife of a minister. I was asked by Mrs.Mar to sell poppies for Remembrance Sunday and, much against my will, since I was very shy, I agreed. I was to go round the married quarters. At the end of the morning most of my poppies were gone but my collecting box was very light. Several women had given me one anna and taken poppies for the whole family, and some of them had very large families. As I was going, disconsolately home an Indian Ghurka officer stopped me and gave me ten rupees for one poppy. I was overwhelmed. It was about one tenth of fathers weekly pay. Nowshera was a hot and dusty place. It left no lasting impression on me.We found a very superior cook who wore a fez. All went well until an ice-cream machine was bought. It had to have ice put in it and the cook turned the handle until the custard turned into ice-cream. The icecream was so popular that we wore out the cook. He gave in his notice, saying he could do it no more. Then we had Nanoo. He was a delicate looking man with a sad, gentle face. He was a very good cook, perfectly clean, and most satisfactory when he was working, but periodically he disappeared for weeks on end and then returned and resumed his duties without any explanations. It was assumed that he lost himself in the bazaars for long bouts of alcohol and drugs. He had his own dog, Punjera, who stayed outside the cookhouse all day Jean, the baby, was devoted to both of them and she,of course, was Nanoo’s favourite. Punjera was the ugliest parish dog she could ever see, but he was very affable and Nanoo kept him clean and free from fleas. Nanoo’s departure was as sad as that of Nanek. Nanoo was dismissed for stealing from the school. There could be no doubt of his guilt. I heard my parents discussing, very seriously, what they should do. They liked Nanoo, they were sorry for him because there must be something very far wrong with his private life, about which we knew nothinq, and he was going downhill fast. But they concluded, a theft from us could have been overlooked, with a warning, but a theft from the school had to be reported. So he was sent away. Jean ran after him crying. It was very distressing. We had to have a chokidar or night watchman, while we were on the North West Frontier. His job was to guard the house against raiders during the night. He kept his charpoy, a wooden framed bed with webbing, on the verandah, and as soon as it was dark he lay down and snored loudly all night. To make a good show he kept a big axe under his pillow. By paying a chokidar we ensured that his friends and relations did not rob us. He was a tribesman, a Pathan, a tall, handsome man with a fair skin , hooked nose and blue eyes. His beard was dyed red. The pathans were fine looking people, very proud of themselves and fierce fighters. British soldiers had to sleep with their rifles beside them to prevent their being stolen. If a man lost his rifle he was in serious trouble. The raiders were clever thieves and we heard stories of barrack rooms being entirely looted while the men slept. There was sporadic tribal fighting on the North West Frontier but nothing serious whilst we were there. While we were in Nowshera I learnt Scottish dancing. The young private who was caretaker of the gymnasium invited all the children of the regiment for lessons. He played the bagpipes. I enjoyed it and went regularly. It was useful to me years later when I went to school in Scotland and knew the dances already. My teacher, Mrs. Macrae, went with her husband, a sergeant in the regiment, to see the Khyber Pass. They also had splendid holidays on a houseboat in Kashmir and in Simla. I was very envious when she told us about it and showed her photographs. But a family of our size had no money for holidays. I think it must have been the heat and dust that made father think of emigrating to Canada. At that time it was possible to buy land in Canada extremely cheaply. In the less favoured parts lend was given away free to settlers. Father sent for all the information and got lots of books on farming. We decided that we would go to New Brunswick and build a log cabin and be highly successful farmers. We were all very enthusiastic, all, that is except mother. She said nothing, but let us go on with all our talking. She knew father was not really serious about it. But it was good entertainment for several weeks. We got a second dog while we were in Nowshera. An Indian sergeant gave him to father as a present. He had been stolen by an Indian soldier from a camel caravan and was confiscated by the sergeant. They thought this was an exceptional dog. His name was Tiger. He was a big, grey and white dog, strong and fearless, but gentle and tame with the family. We did not know what breed he was, father thought he must be part timber wolf. He certainly looked like a wolf. All other dogs were afraid of him but he only once attacked one and that was not his fault. We were all out walking one evening when we met a young officer with his bull mastiff. As we were passing them he deliberately, with complete contempt for all us as low orders, set his dog onto Tiger. The bull mastiff sprang, but Tiger was too quick for him. In a second the face of the English dog was ripped open and pouring with blood and Tiger was sitting silent and grim amongst us. We were all horrified. Mother in particular grieved for the poor English dog, so beautiful, so well-trained, so basically tame. The young lieutenant, however, felt no shame, and tried to intimidate father, saying that he had not heard the last of this and dogs like ours would be better destroyed. We all stood our ground and father told him that he did not deserve so good a dog. Finally we went our separate ways, Tiger, as ever, walking with us, not on a lead, not at heel, unferocious, returning home with his family. "Sit! Stay! Heel!" Tiger walked with us, not behind us, and never on a lead. I did not know until much later that dogs have only one meal a day. Tiger ate when we did. The cook brought his food after he had served our meal. He enjoyed tea very much. On two occasions it was reported to us that Tiger had been seen chasing leopards in the hills. We were not surprised. One day when we were up in the hills we met an old hill woman with a yoke on her shoulders to carry two pots of wild honey which she had collected to sell. She was wearing unusual pantaloons and had very bandy legs. Those legs were irresistible to Tiger. He darted through them sending the old dame and her honey flying. Then, if dogs can laugh, he did! The old woman was ,naturally, most indignant. We picked her up, dusted her down and paid her for her honey and loss of dignity, and she went off mollified. Jean, who was just a toddler used to roll about on the floor with Tiger and ride on his back, and we were afraid that he would hurt her. The teacher at my school, however, was afraid of him. He always came to school with us and sat quietly at my feet. At playtimes he frolicked with the children and was given titbits from their lunches. The teacher asked for him to be kept at home and so he was, but ten minutes after we had started, there he was in his usual place. This went on for several days, and so she gave up and tolerated the extra pupil. Cherat The hill station for Nowshera was Cherat. It was not far away and not very high and seemed little or no improvement on Nowshera, equally hot and barren. There was a double wedding while we were in Cherat. Two young women came out from Scotland to marry Seaforth sergeants. They had been engaged before the regiment left for India. I thoroughly enjoyed the wedding and the reception which was arranged by Mrs.Mar. It was rare for soldiers to marry while they were in India. They did not get a marriage allowance and quarters until they were twenty-six, and they had to ask the Commanding Officer’s permission to marry. If the girl was Eurasian, the permission would almost certainly be refused. There was little or no chance for ordinary soldiers to meet British girls. Sometimes Eurasian girls attended the regimental dances, but before they could be invited their names had to be submitted to the Commanding Officer and they were carefully investigated to make sure they were respectable. Eurasians were usually referred to as “chee chee” or even worse as “chilli crackers”. We were delighted when we heard that the Seaforths had been posted to Lahore. We had not expected to see it again. For the rest of our time in India we were stationed in Lahore for the winter months and in Dagshai, Sabathu and Kasouli (2011: Kasauli)for the summer. The hill stations were all much the same, but Kasouli was more beautiful than the others. News had somehow reached nanek that we were coming back to Lahore and he came to meet us. He was delighted to see the children, and they to see him. He thought he was bound to be reinstated as our khensama (2011: a male servant who cooks and often is also responsible for taking care of the house and organizing other servants) but we had brought our cook with us and Nanek was working for a private’s family nearby, so it was not possible. He was disappointed, but thereafter he made periodic visits bringing sticky sweets for the chotah wallahs (children, lit. little people). We were very proud to belong to the Seaforth Highlanders. It was a great sight to see them on parade, so smart in their kilts and with the pipe band or regimental band playing. It was mostly the pipe band. The regimental band was often away on engagements. The bandsmen were paid extra for this, and so were much more prosperous than the other men. This caused some ill-feeling in the regiment. Father, however, liked them very much because he found a number who were intelligent and genuinely ambitious to improve their education in preparation for civilian life. They were already skilled musicians. Now, with father’s help and their own correspondence course, they were working for external degrees of London University, usually in Economics. Church parade was compulsory for the men. There were special racks in the pews to hold their rifles. We always went to church. Mother liked being able to attend a Presbyterian church again. The families had to sit at the front and the troops behind them. What we did not like was seeing defaulters doing ‘jerkers’. As a punishment they had to march up and down, in full uniform, with packs on their backs. This was sometimes in tropical temperatures. Father always told us to avert our eyes when passing them to save them embarrassment. Mother, of course , was shocked and indignant. "They are only lads" she would say. "Some day they will kill them." Every New Year's Day there was a big parade in Lahore. All the British and Indian troops of the district took part and the Governor General took the salute. The Indian Cavalry regiments, with their magnificent uniforms and with pennants flying from their lances, rode past on their beautifully groomed horses. Then there were the Camel Corps and the smart little Ghurkas and other picturesque Indian troops. The British soldiers were extremely smart, but plain in comparison, except, of course, for the Scottish regiments. There were military bands playing and tanks rolling along. It was a most splendid occasion. The Seaforths had celebrated Hogmanay the night before but they showed little sign of their carousels. Father said that some of them did not go to bed at all; they continued their jollifications until it was time to be smartened up from the parade. They were kept standing for hours, long before the inspection was due. For spectators it was a magnificent sight, but should a soldier faint on parade it was literally a crime. In the regiment, however, the ordeal was considered a joke because it was assumed that any who fainted had drunk too deep and too long the night before. Father could enjoy all parades because the Seaforths excused him from all strictly military duties. Splendid Christmas parties were given for the children of the regiment. Every child was given an expensive toy or book and a dress or jumper and the ladies had a silk dress length. Mrs. Mar chose the presents with great care and they were always suitable. One Christmas in Lahore stands out in my memory. Grannie wrote to say that a Blyth woman and her Indian army husband were home on leave and had offered to bring us our Christmas presents to save posting them. But they lived somewhere beyond Lahore and we were to meet their train when it stopped at Lahore station. We were later given the time of the train. Mother and I got up very early that morning – it seemed like the middle of the night to me- and went by tonge to the station. It was very dark and cold and I had a rug to keep me warm. It seemed a tremendous adventure. We arrived at the station in good time and when the train pulled in the people were looking out for us. They gave us our parcels and after they had departed mother and I went to a smart restaurant in Lahore and had breakfast. Then we went home with the presents which were bound to be lovely. The rest of the family were just getting up.We were allocated a much better bungalow that our first one. It was detached and stood in its own compound. Father made a garden and grew annual flowers and lettuces. They did very well because he dug irrigation channels which he filled with water. He worked hard on the garden and it gave him great satisfaction. There were some scrubby baobabs around the compound and there lived a mongoose. We were very pleased about this and put out food regularly for it. We would have liked it for a pet but we seldom saw it. It certainly earned its keep because we were not bothered with snakes there at all. We had had snakes in the house before this, some of them cobras. Father kept a big stick ready to deal with them. Schools were provided for the children of British soldiers. Each regiment had an army schoolmistress attached to it as well as an A.E.C (2011: Army Education Corps) Warrant Officer. The small places like Nowshera , where there was only one regiment, it would be a one teacher school with perhaps some assistance from the A.E.C men , and in larger military stations, such as Lahore, the teaching staff gathered together to make a big school. The age range was from five to fourteen. This was the normal pattern in British schools at that time. Children left school at fourteen unless they attended grammar schools. These army schools were just as good as schools in England, better in fact, because theye were so well equipped. Our family all went to them. We were constantly changing schools but it did not seem to do us any harm. Mrs. Macrae was the Seaforth teacher. She was a very strong-minded lady with aloud voice and a habit of calling children, silly little rabbits, bit I got on very well with her and liked and respected her. She was married to a Seaforth sergeant, a gentle, mild, handsome Highlander. He was very fond of children, especially our family, but they had none of their own. After we had left India we heard that at last they had had a baby and we were very glad for them. The army gave scholarships for children to go to boarding schools of their parents’ choice. When I was nearly eleven I took the examination. I had been well prepared for it. Father coached me and Mrs. Macrae gave me extra lessons in the evenings. Mother thought it was too much for me and I was being overpowered by a dominating personality. She could hear Mrs. Macrae in her house next door but she could never hear me. In fact I was having a most enjoyable time. Mrs. Macrae always gave me smart refreshments at half time which made me feel quite adult. The examination was held in Father’s school. I was the only candidate. Father was in attendance to hand out the papers and the invigilator was 2nd. Lieutenant The Viscount Tarbet. He was the education officer for the regiment, which meant he was the liaison officer between the regiment and the A.E.C. I knew him well because he often came to the house to see father. I thought he was the most charming and handsome young man I had ever known. Bonnie Prince Charlie should have been exactly like that. In honour of the occasion he wore his kilt and full dress uniform. Whenever I looked up he smiled encouragingly. It was a pleasant examination. A few weeks later a young soldier from the adjutant’s office came up to me on the veranda. He was carrying a note and smiling broadly. I said “I’ll fetch my father”. “No” he said, this is for you. I opened up my letter. It said that I had been awarded a scholarship of so many rupees a year and that I had come first in the whole of India. I could not believe it at first. The young soldier said it is true, congratulations. I’m very glad for you. That was the first of many congratulations. Shortly afterwards there was a telegram of congratulations from the Governor General. Then the Seaforth’s commanding officer and father’s A.E.C captain and Viscount Tarbet and all sorts of other people came. It was overwhelming but enjoyably so. The first thing to be done was to choose a school. Most of the boarding schools for Northern India were in Simla and so we had all Prospectuses. We were told that convent schools were the best and so, although I was not a Roman Catholic, it was decided that I should go to the Convent of Jesus and Mary. There were two schools on the same campus, the Boarding School and the St. Francis School. My scholarship would have more than covered the keep for the St. Francis school but was not enough for the Boarding school. Mother thought I should have best and decided that she could just manage to pay the difference. After I had been at Simla for a year I took the Punjab Middle school examination and won another scholarship so that my school fees were more than covered. I was glad to feel that I was almost self-supporting for the next two years. The list of school uniform and equipment required was enormous and mother, amazed, supplied everything on the list. I found later that most of the girls did not have so many of each item. But mother was determined that I should be provided with all that the school demanded. I had to have warm gym slips, blouses and dresses for cold weather, cotton gym slips and blouses for warm weather, white silk dresses for best, white silk dresses for Sundays, and colourful dresses for Saturdays. There had to be dozens of underclothes for two kinds of weather, a blazer, a warm coat, a dressing gown, black shoes, brown shoes, white shoes, slippers, tennis shoes, black cotton stockings, brown cotton stockings, white cotton stockings, white silk stockings, black woollen stockings, white cotton gloves, brown leather gloves, bath towels, hand towels, a mattress, pillows, blankets, sheets, pillowcases, white bedcover, serviettes, silver serviette ring, shoe cleaning equipment, mending equipment, hair ribbons, navy, white & mauve, English & French dictionary, mathematics instruments, sponge bag, soap dish, soap, brush and dish and an enamelled mug. We were not allowed to wear socks, and all dresses had to have long sleeves. We could not understand why it was considered immodest for little girls to show their arms. It was very uncomfortable in hot weather. Mother went to the dhurzi’s cotton mills for a great quantity of material which was made up by the ordinary dhurzi. The grand dhurzi made my silk dresses most beautifully. Then I had to have two metal trunks to contain my vast trousseau. Mother’s contribution was to print my name neatly in marking ink on yards and yards of tape. I stitched the names on - a very long job. SIMLA 1926-1930 The school year started on 1st. March and finished on 1st. December. It was too cold for the girls to remain in Simla for the three winter months. There were ten days holiday in the summer for girls whose homes were near Simla. Fortunately my family were in the Simla Hills at that time. Father took me in the train as far as Kalka, the terminus for the mountain railway. There all the girls gathered up in the charge of some teachers, and we all travelled up to Simla together. At Simla there was a fleet of rickshaws waiting and we piled in, two or three to a rickshaw. I had never ridden in a rickshaw before and it was a strange sensation to be jogging along pulled by a coolie. The coolies did not walk, they ran all the time. I was amazed to see deep snow and brilliant sunshine. It was just like Switzerland. I had not seen snow since leaving England. The school was some distance away and we passed through Simla town. Its houses, churches, shops and hotels looked extremely English to me. In the next three years I saw very little of Simla, but I thought it was a beautiful place. It was very fashionable. All the "best" people, including the Viceroy and his staff, spent the summer there. I had read Kipling’s stories of Simla and it was just as I had imagined it. The school was a very long, low building with a veranda running its whole length. There was a big compound and trees and flower beds and a khud with a path leading down to the netball and tennis courts. It looked very attractive. The dormitories had white curtains, which were never drawn, round the beds. They were tied with red, blue, yellow or green bows and the dormitories were called the Red Dormitory, the Blue Dormitory and so on. Apart from being new to a boarding school I had never known nuns before and the girls were different from any I had ever known. I felt very, very strange and suddenly wished I were at home with mother and father and my brothers and sister. I cried myself to sleep that night. In the three years I was there I never really got over my homesickness. Many of the other girls were the same. We used to make calendars and cross off the days till it was time to go home again. "Only another so many days," we would say to each other. The St. Francis School was at one end of the long building and we were near the other. Between the two were classrooms and dining rooms. At our end were the nuns' common room and the "parlours" -sitting rooms for visitors and the music rooms. Beyond them was the church, and, some distance away, a teachers' training college run by the convent and a monastery. We were not allowed to go beyond the church except on special occasions. St. Francis' School was just the same as the Boarding School, so far as I could see, except that they did not have the curtains and bows in their Dormitories and they did not use serviettes. But there was a great deal of snobbery and the girls of my school considered themselves vastly superior to the others. We had lessons together but were not supposed to fraternize in our spare time. We kept to our end and they kept to theirs. Later on my best friend was a St. Francis girl. Her name was Catherine Braganza. She was a Goanese and quite black. I found her intelligent and sensitive and I liked her better than any of the other girls. We used to sit together in the no-man’s land between the two schools. This was not stopped, but I was asked several times by nuns why I was so friendly with Catherine. "Weren't there better girls in my own school?" I said, "No. I like her." And they left it at that. When I started school I was put in a class of girls of my own age. After a short time it was evident that I was wrongly placed and so I was moved up two classes. The other girls were thirteen or fourteen and I was eleven but I seemed to fit in. All the way through I was top of the class. I wish I could say that this was due to my natural brilliance and that it was all effortless but it was not so. I tried very hard and was determined to do well. I felt I owed it to my parents who were sacrificing so much to keep me at what they thought was the best school possible and so I always did my very best. Domestic science was most peculiar. We cooked on a long charcoal stove with holes along the top and little ovens below. There was no way of regulating the heat. Whatever we made was taken away to the big kitchen and what became of it I do not know. We certainly did not have it. In laundry work we sometimes starched and ironed the nuns' collars and caps. The ironing was done with box irons filled with hot charcoal. The caps were corrugated round the front, with a soft cap for the head, and were crimped with goffering irons. Some of the girls used these to wave their hair when they were unobserved. Most of the girls had piano lessons. This was an extra and so I did not have them. The sound of scales being practised and the click of metronomes seemed to go on all the time. The nuns were of various nationalities. English, Eurasian, French, German and one was Spanish. Rumour had it that she had been a Spanish Countess. Those who were not teachers ran the domestic side of the school. The nuns, I think, taught efficiently, but they showed no warmth or affection to us at any time. I, in turn, obeyed them and worked for them; but I did not like them. All the time that I was at Simla I knew that this relationship was unnatural, and I never understood it. Two nuns were quite different from the others. They were Sister Rosie and Sister Lily. They were very pretty Indians and lay sisters. They both worked in the school hospital under the supervision of an old nun. We were expected at all times to stand when a nun passed, and if one was engrossed in a book and happened not to see her one was in trouble. Otherwise the nun always passed without a smile or any sign of recognition. When I was new in Simla I stood for Sister Rosie. She laughed and said that I need not stand for her. Thereafter I always stood for them both with pleasure and always received a warm smile in return. Every morning there was a surgery at the school hospital. There were always a great many candidates for admission. It was most enjoyable to be kept in as a patient. We were looked after by the two lay sisters. We all thought they were the loveliest people we knew, so kind and cheerful and homely. They made us feel very comfortable, tucking thick red blankets round us. My ailments were very minor and so I could enjoy my few hospital visits. Most of the morning queue, however, was returned to duty after a dose of salts or castor oil. We were given the choice! The girls were mostly Anglo-Indians. There were hardly any who had come from England as I had. Army officers and senior Indian Civil Servants usually sent their children home to England when they were of school age. The girls in Simla were the daughters of railway officials, oil men, shop keepers, and merchants. They had always lived in India and expected that they always would. Most of them were Eurasians, although this was never admitted. It was considered shameful. Most British people in India despised Eurasians, as did the Indians, and they themselves had no pride in their ancestry and pretended to be entirely British. I could never understand the British attitude. Many of the girls were strikingly beautiful with their dark hair and olive complexions. But fair hair and fair skin were considered the quintessence of beauty and I was much admired by all. In fact I was a very ordinary looking, healthy girl such as one would have seen by the thousand back home. The girls secretly tried all sorts of creams and lotions to make their skin paler. When the nuns discovered them using talcum powder on their faces they were in serious trouble. One day, when we were being inspected before going on an outing, one girl was called out of line and denounced for wearing rouge on her cheeks. In front of us all her cheeks were vigorously scrubbed with a flannel by the nun. In fact nothing came off on the flannel. She just happened to have particularly nice rosy cheeks. No apology was given. It was very cold when we arrived in Simla and remained so for several weeks. It was very cold again before we went home for the winter holiday. But there was no heating whatsoever in the school. The nuns had a fire in their common room but that was all. We used to be absolutely frozen and wore our overcoats all the time, even to lessons and meals. Some of us put warm water into little bottles which were kept in our pockets to give a few minutes warmth to our cold hands. Bath mornings were worst. My dormitory was a long way from the bathroom. We had to go down some open stairs and along a very long open verandah, dressed in a dressing gown with a coat over it and carrying our bundles of clothes. This was no joke at six o'clock in the morning and with deep snow on the ground. We had only one bath a week. This was quite enough in the Winter, we thought, but not enough in the hot weather. At home we bathed twice a day and would have liked more; only the colossal labour of preparing a bath prevented this. The bathing arrangements were peculiar. There was a huge bathroom with shelves all round on which stood our enamel basins and jugs with our names on them. On ordinary mornings we washed there. On bath days the room was filled with zinc baths. Coolies kept coming in with hot and cold water to fill them and to empty the used ones. Before we left our dormitories we had to put on long robes made of ticking. We got into the baths wearing them and washed ourselves with complete modesty and yet in public. It took great skill to get dried and dressed and to get rid of the wet gown. We were taught how to do it with decorum. The older girls bathed in private in cubicles. I envied them. I found that all the girls in my class had this privilege and so I plucked up courage and asked if I could have a cubicle. I said that I was in Standard VII and by virtue of my seniority in studies I was entitled to it The answer was ,” No. You are only eleven. Not until you are older.” I waited a month and asked again and had the same reply. When I was a week older I repeated my dignified request and this time the nun weakly gave in. I thought it was only fair because I knew that big, fat, stupid girls had cubicles. I was small, admittedly, but I had my dignity. It was a great struggle to wash my long hair and even to plait it. Mother had always done it for me. On one of my holidays I told her of my difficulties and she immediately had it cut. When I went back, to my surprise, all the nuns exclaimed that it was a terrible thing that my long hair was gone. Later I tried for a locker. Only the older girls had bedside lockers to hold their possessions. I put forward my argument that I was in a senior class. It was just as before and I won in the end. But I was told that first I must get a cover for the locker and some ornaments and photographs to stand on it. Of course mother sent something suitable by return of post. Breakfast was always thin, sweetened porridge without milk and dhal( lentils) and rice. The main meal usually consisted of curry, mostly vegetable, and rice, or dhal and rice, followed by semolina or sago or rice pudding. Tea was a cup of tea and one slice of bread with either butter or jam. Supper was cocoa and one slice of bread. We lined up and collected our food which was served out by an old bearer with a red beard and a severe manner. When everybody was served we could go with our plates for a second helping if there was any left. All eyes were on the serving table when the queue was coming to an end. One day there was a near riot. Everybody rushed forward with their plates and spoons, desperate for more. The little French nun who was in charge could do nothing but wring her hands. The old bearer made for the door carrying his dish, hotly pursued by the hungry horde. Then he turned, lifted his dish above his head and said loudly and clearly, "You are supposed to be young ladies, but you are behaving like savages. Sit down! ". We all slunk back to our places, bitterly ashamed. Nobody had ever heard the bearer speak before. One night I was so hungry that I ate a whole jar of vaseline that I had to put on my chapped hands. We used to eat nasturtium seeds and leaves that grew in the garden. Some of the girls had food parcels sent from home. I did not have them because mother naturally thought that I was being well fed and I never told her otherwise. I never complained to mother and father about anything at Simla. Some girls from Karachi became friendly with me and asked me to sit at their table. They often had parcels and they shared their good things with me. I was not a cadger but I was glad to have kind friends. These girls, about ten of them, were all sisters or cousins or close friends. Their fathers worked for the Iranian Oil Company. They all had Irish names and so, although none of them had ever been anywhere but India, their forbears must have come from Ireland. They were good girls, pious Catholics and well thought of by the nuns, but they were not at all academic. One of them was nearly twenty when she left school. She was a very nice girl but she kept coming back to try to pass her examinations and never succeeded. When eventually she did not return after a holiday I asked what she was doing. "She got married last month," said her sister. On Sunday afternoons the tuck shop was open. Our pocket money was kept for us so we did not know how much money we had or if we had any at all. Most of the girls seemed to be very well off and were able to buy sweets and chocolate every time. I was not so affluent. We had to buy our own soap and toothpaste at the shop. It was very hard if, after queuing up in eager anticipation, there was no money or only enough for toothpaste. On Saturdays we had school in the morning and were free in the afternoon after we had done our mending. The mending was in big clothes baskets and as our names were called we went to collect it. The lucky ones who had none could go free. The other's had to mend their clothes and have them inspected before they could go. Nothing was ever condemned as worn out, it had to be mended time and time again and darned properly. Drawing holes together would not do. Mother exclaimed in horror when she saw vests and stockings which were darned all over and said she should have been told that I needed new ones. Some of us had very little playtime on Saturdays. If, to make matters worse, there were no sweets on Sunday, life seemed very hard. We went to church every morning before breakfast and on Sundays in the evening too. The few Protestants had to go to church with the others because there was nobody to take charge of us. There was no pressure on us to be converted to Roman Catholicism but we were made to feel that we were different from the others. A nun once said to me, “You are a good girl in spite of being a Protestant." I am sure that there is more tolerance nowadays on both sides. I always took my Bible to church and read it solidly. There were hymns at the back which I sang silently to myself. One day I got into trouble for letting some girls read my Bible because they were allowed to read it for themselves. I read the Bible from end to end several times in the three years that I was there. On Sunday there was a sermon and I listened to that. At first there was a German priest who spoke very poor English. His sermons were always about what bad girls we were. We thought this was unfair because we were not bad girls. Then there was a young English priest, handsome and charming. He gave good sermons and talked to the girls pleasantly. We all liked him. The Bishop of Simla, came for special occasions. He was a most impressive figure, tall and stately. I had never seen a bishop of any kind before and he was just as I had imagined a bishop would be. The papal legate from the Vatican visited the school once on his tour of India. He was Italian and spoke no English. Later he became Pope Pious XII. During Lent the nuns and girls went into retreat. It seemed to me to be for a long time but it was probably only the week before Easter. They went to church, had religious instruction, read religious books and did not talk. The non-Catholics were given some school work to get on with and told not to speak to the other girls. We could speak to each other of course. The school seemed very silent. When Easter Sunday came there was great rejoicing. We wore our best clothes and had splendid meals. May was a special month. It was the month of Mary and we had to be especially good. If we did anything wrong we were given a black mark and these marks were added up at the end of the month. It was very difficult to avoid them. They were given for being a minute late, for having untidy hair, for not polishing our shoes well enough, for spilling food and many other peccadilloes. On the last day of May, there was a special service taken by the Bishop of Simla. We proceeded to church, wearing our best white dresses and each carrying a candle. There our names were called out, first the girls with no black marks, then those with one, then two, then three, then four. We went forward and kissed the bishop's ring and he put crowns of flowers on our heads, gold for no black marks, silver for one, white for two, blue for three and pink for four. Most of the girls had no crowns. I had a gold crown each time. Although I was always well behaved, it took a great deal of effort to avoid those black marks. After the ceremony in church was over, we lined up outside in order of merit. There we were joined by the monks from the monastery and the students from the college. We walked in procession to the Grotto, carrying our candles and singing hymns. The Grotto was in the grounds but some distance away from the school. It was beautiful. There was a big statue of the Virgin Mary, and in front of it were flower beds and many little paths and rockeries, with holders where we put our candles. There were roses everywhere, mainly creamy buff ones which were possibly Gloire de Dijon. Even now I can remember the scent of the roses and incense and candles. When we had sung some more hymns and the bishop had addressed us and had prayed, it was getting dark. The hundreds of candles were left softly glowing as we walked back. Once a year we had our feast day, the day of Saint Ignatius, our patron saint. After a later start than our usual six o'clock rising we went to church dressed in our best clothes, our hair curled and tied with mauve ribbons, and with bunches of artificial violets pinned to our dresses. There was a special mass and we went back to a splendid breakfast. We then changed into non-uniform dresses and went down the hill to the tennis courts where we played games for the rest of the morning. We were given refreshments of Indian sweets and lemonade. I had never tasted Indian sweets before. They were fried in ghee, boiling butter. Some were sweet and sticky and others were spicy or savoury. Most of them were delicious. For dinner we had chicken curry and trifle, as much as we could eat. Then we changed our dresses yet again, this time into party dresses. One year it was a fancy dress party. I was a Dutch girl. The party went on until bedtime. There was an orchestra from the town and we had dancing and games, non-stop. The Charleston was the popular dance of that time and all the girls did it. But the Black Bottom was banned because it was said to be vulgar. The buffet was marvellous with all sorts of luxurious food and there was claret cup. There surely could not have been any wine in it. We smuggled out some food to our friends of St. Francis' School and when it was their feast day they did the same for us. The day after the orgy we were back to normal, though some girls were rather bilious. Feast or famine. In my first year at the school there was a concert to raise money for the Church. We prepared for it for months ahead. Professional painters came to paint the scenery and a stage was put up with footlights. No expense was spared on the costumes. I was with a group singing Irish songs and dancing. I cannot remember much about the concert but it was a great success. The college students took part as well as the girls. The general public came on the first two nights and each time the hall was packed. The audiences were very enthusiastic. The third night was reserved for Indian ladies. We did not know who they were but thought they must all be princesses. Their saris and jewels were magnificent. They looked as if they had come out of the Arabian Nights. There was a great deal of chattering and giggling as they took their seats. The concert started and the talking and laughing went on and continued throughout the performance. They took no notice whatsoever. The concert went on as usual but everybody was disappointed. There was not even any applause. The Hindu Festival of light, Diwali, was in the autumn. Hindus used to light many little lamps in clay dishes and put them outside their houses. From the wall at the back of the school we could see all the little lights twinkling in the village nearby. The festivities ended with fireworks. We found it very entertaining. There was some trouble about this same wall. Down a slope was the road leading to the town. Some girls were caught talking to soldiers who were on the road. It was the scandal of the century. It was kept very hush hush but of course it leaked out to the rest of us. I could not understand why it was such a criminal offence, nor why anybody should bother to climb onto a wall just to talk to soldiers. I was used to seeing soldiers all the time. We went to the pictures twice while I was there, first to "Ben Hur" and then to "The King of Kings". The whole school went in rickshaws. These were great treats and we talked about them for weeks afterwards. Other outings were for the select few. There was a music festival for Simla schools. I was in the school choir. A party of us went to another convent school to a garden fete. I was amongst them. I was also one of the chosen few who went to the Viceroy's garden party. It seemed to me to be most unfair that I should have the few treats that there were and others had none. I thought that I was preferred partly because I was always well behaved but also because they liked to show off my fair hair and complexion. The garden party was for representatives of all the boarding schools in Simla. We were dressed in our very best, complete with violets and mauve ribbons. The inspection before we set out was even more stringent than usual. Not a hair was out or place. We had to ride two to a rickshaw instead of the usual three so as not to get our dresses crushed. Vice Regal Lodge was palatial, with beautiful grounds and flower beds. There were marquees on the lawn with little tables set for tea. We were entertained by charming, young aides-de-camp who showed us round and then plied us with exquisite refreshments. None of us needed much persuasion to eat! Then there was a film show followed by ice-cream and lemonade. We were disappointed not to see the Viceroy or his wife, but we had been entertained right royally. One morning I was summoned to the parlour. There were the Reverend Mother and, to my amazement, my old teacher, Mrs.Macrae. She was having a short holiday in Simla. I was delighted to see her but felt somewhat inhibited by the presence of the Reverend Mother. Mrs.Macrae asked if she could take me out for the day. 'No, "was the reply, "because her parents have not told me that you were coming. She cannot go without their permission." I was not at all perturbed. I knew Mrs.Macrae would not take "No" for an answer. She would get her own way even if it meant standing up to a Reverend Mother. And she did. I was sent off to get changed and I did it in double quick time. When I got back Mrs.Macrae was alone. She said that she would like to have a quick look at the school. Lessons had started and so we kept well away from classrooms and I took her to see the dormitories, the bathrooms, and the dining room. The next day I was reprimanded for taking her round without permission. It had not occurred to either of us. "And did you even show her the bathrooms and lavatories?" It seemed that this was the worst thing that I had done during my entire stay in the school. I had a splendid day out. We saw the whole of Simla. I had only seen it in passing a few times before. It seemed a most elegant place. We looked at the shops and Mrs.Macrae took me into a bookshop which was just like a shop in England. She said that I was to have some books. I had a good look round and chose one. "You must have some more” she said, and so I came out with four lovely books. We had meals at the hotel where she was staying. It seemed to me the most luxurious place I had ever seen. Of course she plied me with food. I remember that there was a plate of strawberry tarts with cream which seemed to disappear very quickly and she asked for another plateful. But best of all was the talk of home. She spoke of mother and father, and of how the boys were getting on, and of Jean's latest sayings, and of children whom I knew. She even talked about Tiger whom she did not really like. I wished I could have gone back with her. No time limit had been set and so she said that I might as well have as long a day as possible, and not go back until bedtime. When we got back I was carrying my four books, a big box of chocolates, and two large boxes of cakes. Mrs.Macrae embraced me warmly and said ”Keep your pecker up. You are doing all right. I will go to see the family as soon as I get back.” After she had gone I had a nice warm feeling inside me which was not just a full stomach. A nun who was standing by said “Was that your mother or your aunt?" "No, she used to be my teacher”. “But she has given you all these things, and she kissed you," she said in surprised tones. "Yes," I said, "She likes me." That night I could be Lady Bountiful with my cakes and chocolates. In the summer we had ten days holiday. I was lucky that Dagshai, Sabathu, and then Kasauli were near enough for me to go home. It was lovely to be home and the holiday seemed much too short. But we had three months holiday in the winter. That was the best time of all. The checking and packing of clothes had to be started several weeks ahead. It was a great thrill to be summoned to the linen room to pack. Excitement mounted as the day of our release grew nearer. Most of us hardly slept at all the night before. When we looked out in the early morning darkness there were the lights of hundreds of rickshaws waiting for us. After church and breakfast we were given sandwiches and our own money for the journey. Then we were off. A few nuns came to the station to see us safely on the train. Probably they were glad to see us go. We were all together on the first lap of the journey on the mountain railway down to Kalka. It was traditional to sing all the way in the little train. We used to sing to the tune of “Riding down to Bangor" Riding down to Kalka, On the homebound train, No more awful lessons, Isn't it a shame. No more watery porridge, No more rice and Dhal, After this long journey, We'll be home again. There were numerous verses which I do not remember. The nuns would have been horrified if they had heard us. At Kalka we went our several ways. Some of the girls had very long journeys to Southern India. My journey to Lahore took only part of a day and one night. There were quite a number of girls who lived in Lahore and one teacher, and so my travelling was no trouble. At Lahore Station I was handed over to mother and father and three months of happiness started. When I went back on 1st. March the homesickness began all over again. Home to Kasauli then England We had had five years in India and were due to go back home in the spring of 1930. So 1929 was to be my last year at Simla. Soon after my fourteenth birthday in November I was sent for one day and the Reverend Mother said that I had to go home to Kasauli at once. She said that my mother was in hospital and I was needed to look after my brothers and sister. I was most alarmed and asked what was wrong with mother. All she would say was that I would be told when I got home. I was to go and pack and then go for a meal, and a rickshaw would be waiting to take me to the station. I got ready in a daze. There was no time to say goodbye to my friends. The more time elapsed the deeper grew my panic. Before I got home I was really afraid. I was accustomed to mother having babies. That was something pleasant. I was sure that the mystery meant she was desperately ill of some illness that the nuns could not mention. The truth of it was that mother was having a baby, but this time as she was over forty they wanted her to have a longer time in hospital. I was to help at home until the baby was born and as soon as mother was fit to travel, we were all going back to England again. Nearly everybody had left Kasauli by now and gone down to the plains. Father had been granted leave to stay on until the baby was born. It was strange living in such a deserted place. There were not even many stalls left in the bazaar. The only people living near us were the barrack warden and his wife who stayed in Kasauli permanently. She had not known mother before, but kindly visited her every day in hospital. We all went to the hospital every afternoon. There was no school for Ralph, Bob and Jean, of course. I would get them all washed and in clean clothes to face mother's inspection and before I had finished off the third one the other two would be outside and dirty again. I found it was best to get Jean done first, as she was less insubordinate than the boys and more likely to stay put, and then the other two simultaneously so that they could not escape. Another of my duties was to give the cook his orders and "take account, miss-sahib”. I found this very difficult. I was not good at planning menus and often had to appeal to the cook for suggestions. There was a great deal of washing and ironing, not only for the tribe at home, but for mother and later for the baby. Washing was no trouble but ironing with flat irons heated on a primus stove took me hours and hours of toil as everything had to be perfect. The domestic science I had learned at school did not seem to be of much use to me. I asked father if he could iron and he just said, "Why bother. Just give them a bit of a smooth down." I cannot imagine what he was doing while I was struggling with my chores. Perhaps he was packing. One day a letter came from the Reverend Mother in Simla. She asked if I could be left to finish any schooling there and then go on to their teachers' training college. I could stay with them throughout the time at no charge and they would take good care of me. Father wrote straight back declining the kind offer. There was no need for consultation. The idea of abandoning me was unthinkable. Besides, their qualifications would not count in England and I would have been there for ever. I knew that there could be no question of my being left behind but at the same time the letter was a shock. Before we left India the Reverend Mother wrote again to wish us a safe journey and gave a most glowing account of my work and character. I felt rather confused. It seemed that I had not understood the nuns at all. Anne was born on 23rd. November 1929. She was a beautiful baby weighing 8½ lbs. We all thought she was lovely. Mother was the only patient in the hospital. The staff consisted of two army sisters and an ayah. They were glad to have a patient and enjoyed the baby. There were always a great many monkeys in the hill stations and they became very bold when there were so few people about. Mother said they scampered about on the roof and came on the veranda. She was afraid that they would harm the baby when the door was left open and she was confined to bed. Their chattering was very disturbing. Soon after the baby was born father was recalled to duty in Lahore. The Seaforth’s had been very generous in granting him so much leave. Mother and Anne had to be left until mother was fit to travel. Father and I unpacked only the essentials as it was going to be for such a short time. We went to Lahore and bought a cot and a bath for the baby, and some thick tweed for a coat for me. The cot folded up and it had a white muslin valance and canopy. It was very pretty. The bath had a lid so that it could contain the baby's clothes for travelling. Mother was pleased and surprised at our purchases. It was unusual to find warm material in India. My coat was warm enough for Scottish winters and I wore it for several years. When it was time for mother to come home father tried to get a few more days leave to go to Kasauli to collect her, but it could not be granted as he had already had so much. So she was escorted on the journey by a young Royal Army Medical Corps orderly. Mother said that he was most kind and helpful. He held the baby throughout the journey. She was amused that a young unmarried man should be so experienced with a new baby. Father went with a car to meet them at the station. I got the family spruced up for her arrival. They insisted on going to the end of the road to watch for the car. When it came along they ran behind it and got covered in clouds of dust, so that when mother saw them they were filthy. I do not think she was convinced that they had been perfectly clean and tidy a few minutes before. There was not much time to get ready for embarkation. We were to sail in January. Mother could have delayed going as the baby was so young but she wanted to get home. Before the baby was born mother had been informed about this embarkation. "Tell them I will be on the ship," she said. The nurses pulled comical faces behind her back, but she met her deadline. The serious preparation for this trip was to get us all kitted up for the rigours of a Scottish winter. Fortunately Kasauli, by now, was quite cold and so the change was not as abrupt as might have been. The Seaforths sometimes legitimately sold surplus kilts and mother bought one. There were many yards of material in it, enough to make skirts for the girls and trousers for the boys. When families were going home, the army gave them so many yards of cream flannel for each child. As there were five of us there was a vast amount. The clever dhurzi made vests and pants for the boys, combinations for Jean and me, his own invention, and pyjamas for all. It was very comical because it was not thought seemly for the dhurzi to see us in a state of undress and so mother measured us and tried the garments on all the children in the bedroom, stepping out onto the verandah to report her findings to the old dhurzi. I can remember one day, when he came for a fitting, mother was holding the baby who was crying. Without a word he took the baby from mother. She stopped crying immediately and mother was free to take us into the house for the trying on of the underclothes. One of mother’s friends knitted all the baby’s clothes. She was kept in jumpers and pants instead of the usual fancy dresses and petticoats for ease in travelling. We were all very sad that Tiger had to be left behind. He was given to a soldier, but not until the night before we left because we thought that he might come home again. Just as the train was pulling out of Lahore station, Tiger dashed onto the platform. He ran alongside the train at tremendous speed, dragging a great chain behind him, while the cook, who had come to see us off, ran in pursuit, trying, in vain, to catch him. We hung out of the windows, afraid that he would be run over by another train. He ran until he was exhausted and dropped out of sight. It was harrowing for all of us. How our clever Tiger knew that we were at the station and on that particular train is a mystery. But we all knew that there would never be another dog like Tiger. We were to sail from Karachi on the troopship “Devonshire." It was a long train journey from Lahore, two days and nights, but it took three days and nights to Bombay, and so it could have been worse. We were now such seasoned travellers that the journey was easy and quite pleasant, The picnic basket with all its contents and the Primus stove were given to coolies on the quay as we embarked. The “Devonshire” was a much bigger ship than the one on which we had set out for India. There was third class as well as first and second. Sergeants and other ranks travelled third. Father thought that it was unfair that sergeants travelled in inferior accommodation from ours, and he was particularly embarrassed since he knew a number of sergeants socially, having belonged to the same mess. I do not think that third class accommodation was bad but it was crowded. The men had P. E. sessions to break the day and father and other A. E. C. men offered light weight courses as entertainment. But for the most part, from their deck came the interminable chant of housey-housey and crown and anchor. We had to get to our deck through theirs. Men always spoke to father. If I went alone they spoke to me, kindly and pleasantly. I did not know what to say. Once I dropped mother's button box and buttons rolled all over the deck. Immediately men were scrambling to pick them up. I was so embarrassed that I wished I could have vanished into thin air. There were social graces that I had not learned at Simla and I knew it. However, it was a perfectly comfortable voyage and we all enjoyed it. Mother, Jean, Anne and I had a cabin to ourselves and father and the boys shared a cabin with one man. Everything was most smoothly organised for our comfort and entertainment. The children had their meals separately from the adults and were supervised only by the stewards. I was fourteen and so ,to my delight, I was classed as grown up. I used to put on a party dress for dinner. The boys ate tremendously. With no parents to check them, instead of choosing from the menu, they went right through it regularly. The stewards must have been very indulgent to them. Nobody was seasick or bilious. When we left Port Said we all threw our topees into the sea. We were told that this was always done as a final farewell to India. It was a strange sight to see them all bobbing about in the water. We were always demanding to be measured on birthdays and other important occasions to see who had grown most. I am certain that there would be no pencil marks on cabin walls from our parents. But I can record that we landed at Southampton in February 1930 when I was fourteen, Ralph ten, Bob seven and a half, Jean five and a half years and Anne two months. It was bitterly cold, but the sun shone brilliantly. It was good to be home. THE END Return to MENU AUDIOBOOK of INDIA Return to MENU AUNT GERTIES FULL DIARY Return to MENU VIDEO Return to MENU That's all Folks

WELCOME TO MOTORHOME TRAVELS BLOG Mostly in our lovely "Wendy House",site started 2012 when we bought our Autosleeper To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key. Highlighted here are some of the Travel Blog 's that are available on the site if you want to see all available blogs click on the Travel BLOG tab, we also feature a lot of hints and tips for motorhomers as well as our big trips away in hired motorhomes, else just click on each of the travel blog write-ups below, you can tab through them at your leisure, thanks for looking. The image shown here on every travel blog site page background is of Wagtail Country Park #recommended Blog 192, A Travel Blog, Singapore and Thailand for Xmas and New Year with Family ratings-display.rating-aria-label (1) Created by KeefH Web Designs, January 14th, 2023, 9.12 AM A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog Not The Motorhome trip No 19 : December 21st... Blog 185, Our Cake Tour of Norfolk & Suffolk in Total Sunshine for October, #amazing #onHoliday Created by KeefH Web Designs, October 18th, 2022, 11.28 AM A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog Motorhome trip No52: October 5th - 17th 2022... Blog 184 - Kessingland and Southwold, Suffolk with Pals, 15th to 18th September 2022, Van Trip 51 Created by KeefH Web Designs, September 19th, 2022, 8.18 AM A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog Motorhome trip No51: Sept 15th- 18th 2022... Travel Blog Intro Major Holidays Welcome to motorhome-travels.co.uk a travel blog for motorhoming, recreational vehicle and campervan enthusiast. We are a member of motorhome travel blog blogger UK group. We show all our motorhome trips in our lovely auto sleeper VW campervan (whom we have nick named Wendy after a Wendy house for obvious reasons). Each of our motorhome travel blog trips are pictorially represented via an extensive set of slideshows plus some videos and we write about each and every one of them in the travel blog. You can use our index page(s) to peruse them and then chose one you are interested in or if you prefer use the Site Search to look for a particular topic or word you may be interested in or use the A-Z Index to find things alphabetically, the choice is yours. Besides talking about our numerous travels we also have a selection of travel blogs to help other "homers" with hints and tips and suggestions to maybe stop you having to experience first hand some of the pitfalls we have experienced. Forewarned is fore armed!. We also have a selection of our major travels featured on our other holiday travel blog websites and you can select them from the images below just by clicking on the images. We have a social page where you can hook up with us on all the social media sites. You can also go to our You Tube channel or use the Playlists to see an extensive set of motorhome travel photo slideshows & videos. Please leave us feedback, many thanks Keef & Annie at motorhome-travel blog, Note each Blog tells you how long it will take to read All our travel blog show average read times, comments, views and the year written. You can also search by year , month or tag (keyword). Enjoy Our Big Motorhome Travel Blog Holidays Contact CONTACT keef.hellinger@ntlworld.com +44 07843962729 ​ NOTE Our travel blog site covers motor homing in Europe, motorhoming in the UK and motor homing in other parts of the world, especially the Antipodes . Want to read the latest AUTO-SLEEPER Club site newsletter? Click HERE , thanks Site Created by KeefH Web Designs , Sandiacre, Derbyshire, UK Help by taking the KHWD Survey (less than 1 min) Thanks in advance Mail Campsite Ideas TRAVEL BLOG CAMPSITE IDEAS BRITSTOPS Maybe use these. Either very cheap or free. Similar to the French Aires book. The Brit stops guide is a professional publication and a lot of effort has gone into making it easy to use. Great Britain is divided into 9 areas: Southwest England, Southeast England, East Anglia, Wales, West Midlands, East Midlands, Northwest England, Northeast England, Scotland. The island of Ireland / Eire is divided into 4 areas: Ulster, Leinster, Munster, Connacht. Each section starts with a clear map showing the approximate location of each of the stopovers. Stopovers are listed four to a page, with clear symbols indicating the number of places, whether large motorhomes are accepted, any facilities available such as water or waste disposal, etc. The address, post code and phone number of each location is given, there is a paragraph of information about the hosts, and clear directions to the location. Another great travel blog idea. To go to their site please click HERE Its £28 per annum P&P, use it twice and you have covered the cost ACSI Maybe use these. Very useful and cheap within Europe (as and when post Covid we can travel) There are a few in the UK, mostly in the south around the coast, we have used quite a few. The book, map and additional ACSI members card help. That card in Europe can be left as security when booking into the site rather than leaving your somewhat precious Passport, just a thought. Roughly €14 per annum and €4 for the card. Another great travel blog idea. To go to their site please click HERE CARAVAN & MOTORHOME CLUB SITES (C&MC) Maybe use these. Very plentiful and of a consistent good standard within the UK, split between main sites and Certified Locations (CL) where upto 5 pitches are available per field, often in farmers fields but not exclusively so. Main sites ae generally about £28 per night for 2 and a van, CLs much much cheaper. You get a book and a map, we have stayed in loads. Love them, wish there were more, indeed friends of ours are wardens. PS they own the Alan Rogers guides. Another great travel blog idea. To go to their site please click HERE AIRES (Europe) Maybe use these. Good night stops of various sizes, quanity and quality. A great place for Motorhomers to get these is Vicarious Books here in the UK, based in Kent and very nice helpful people. Another great travel blog idea. To go to their site please click HERE TRANQUIL PARKS You may like these, "Adult Only" and quiet and peaceful. There is a book listing each of these parks (some of which cross over with those types of campsites already listed but not all. Often the are also in the Best of British Book. We have stayed at quite a few and never had any issues. Depends what you want, peace and quiet or a rave. Another great travel blog idea. To go to their site please click HERE NATIONAL TRUST (NT) Don't believe they have many campsites (mostly cottages) but we have stayed at the Houghton Mill one and very nice it was to. Just an extra idea. Guaranteed to be lovely settings. Another great travel blog idea. To go to their site please click HERE CAMPING AND CARAVAN CLUB SITES (C&CC) We aren't members but have stayed at quite a few. The friendly club. Often there is a shared responsibility with the Caravan and Motorhome club. I note when name-dropping that Julia Bradbury is President. Another great travel blog idea. To go to their site please click HERE ​ All our travel blog content held here on the site, especially the travel blog on the Blog pages which by December 2022 were over 200 recounts our travel blog fun. Some Site we stayed at on travels Featured Blogs Our Featured Blogs Keef Hellinger Jan 14 10 min 2023 Blogs Blog 192, A Travel Blog, Singapore and Thailand for Xmas and New Year with Family ratings-display.rating-aria-label (1) Created by KeefH Web Designs, January 14th, 2023, 9.12 AM A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog Not The Motorhome trip No 19 : December 21st... 198 views 9 comments 4 likes. Post not marked as liked 4 Keef Hellinger Oct 18, 2022 22 min 2022 Blogs Blog 185, Our Cake Tour of Norfolk & Suffolk in Total Sunshine for October, #amazing #onHoliday Created by KeefH Web Designs, October 18th, 2022, 11.28 AM A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog Motorhome trip No52: October 5th - 17th 2022... 167 views 1 comment 9 likes. Post not marked as liked 9 Keef Hellinger Sep 19, 2022 7 min 2022 Blogs Blog 184 - Kessingland and Southwold, Suffolk with Pals, 15th to 18th September 2022, Van Trip 51 Created by KeefH Web Designs, September 19th, 2022, 8.18 AM A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog Motorhome trip No51: Sept 15th- 18th 2022... 108 views 2 comments 9 likes. Post not marked as liked 9 1 2 3 4 Home Page Buttons 1995 2007-8 2010 2013 2014 2016 2017 2018 2019 2022 All the trips in our Autosleeper Clubman Anniversary Motorhome, a Classic if I say it myself UK Site List Motorhome definition for Travel Blog Definition Motorhome noun. 1.a motor vehicle built on a van, truck or bus chassis and designed to serve as self-contained living quarters for recreational travel. 2.a van or truck like vehicle outfitted as living quarters for camping or extended motor trips 3.a motorized wheeled vehicle used for camping or other recreational activities 4.a camper equipped with living quarters 5.a campervan (or camper van), sometimes referred to as a camper, or a caravanette, is a self-propelled vehicle that provides both transport and sleeping accommodation. The term mainly describes vans 6.a recreational vehicle (RV) used to house its occupants on extended road trips 7.can some times be what is called a 5th wheeler attached to a ute (utility vehicle) 8.sometimes known as a motor caravan used for domestic recreation 9.a vehicle with the physical characteristics of a caravan (it provides living accommodation), and the visual characteristics of a commercial vehicle (size, colour, make, and model) Relaunch RELAUNCH - Official Migration from Moonfruit Dec 2021 of our Travel Blog Since being forced by a company level decision by Yell who own both Moonfruit & WIX to recreate my motorhome travel blog (both .co.uk & .net versions of motorhome-travels) as Moonfruit is closed (7/12/21) as a business and the old travel blog editor is no more I have taken the opportunity to both rebuild my motorhome-travels travel blog site using the significantly improved functionality of travel blog on WIX and merge the 2 disparate parts of my old travel blog into one. ​ I have also used this opportunity to rework my separate BIG TRIP travel blog holiday sites , namely HOLIDAY 2007-8 travel blog, HOLIDAY 2010 travel blog, HOLIDAY 2013 travel blog & HOLIDAY 2017 travel blog by recreating them as travel Blog with Menu's and incorporating them into this site as well as remaking them. You can see all of these HERE , but principally its Blog 162 - 168 . If you would like to see those full reworked travel blog sites in full see the trailer. Visitors Motorhome Travel Blog - we love you visitors Big Trips Timeline Travel blog big trip timelines, use either of these travel blog timelines to go to any of the associated travel blog details. Its easy to use and travel blog timelines give a great visual on all our big trip travel blog experiences. Subscribe to Motorhome-Travels Travel Blog Site First Name Last Name Email I want to subscribe to your travel blog mailing list. Submit Enjoy a travel Blog, thanks for submitting! Subscribe Trailer

TRAVEL BLOG ROUTES WELCOME TO MOTORHOME TRAVELS BLOG ROUTE MAPs - INTRODUCTION These video were created using the phone app Travel Boast where I drew out all the places we stopped at on route in order down to in many cases the smallest villages. It then draws out the route with a motorhome (and / or any other animated transportation icon i.e. plane, car, bus, van etc etc.) driving to show where we went. I have then hooked its 4 formats I had created into one You Tube video. Landscape, Portrait and square maps which are further altered to be on a map of 5 possible formats i.e.. Day, Night, soft blue, soft grey and one with enhanced road definition just for added effect. It is easy in the phone app to alter these map backgrounds and the orientation of the screen. You can also express the distances travelled in either kilometers or miles. For the purposes of this website and because I work in UK old money all my travel blog routes will be in miles. I have also (where necessary and desired) joined them together with some relevant images and textual overlays using Microsoft's Clipchamp. See what you think, i think it brings the journey to life and adds to any travel blog #newfeature The thing I do find out of kilter though is its estimated distance when compared to the actual distance we have recorded via other means, for example via our motorhome's speedometer which we know are accurate, even more surprising is the fact that between portrait and landscape using the same map data it comes up with different distances travels #wellweird ​ This page shows all our holiday and motorhome travels but by implication as I only discovered this app in 2023 is a Work in Progress (WIP) It will take a while. Thanks for reading. Intro TICK LIST This is an overall list of the motorhome-travel blogs that currently have travel blog route maps, it is for obvious reasons work in progress NOTE some where the travel route videos are repeated are not expanded in detail here to conserve space on this page but are available embedded within the blog itself. Just click on the blog titles to view, thanks. If I didn't do that this page will be too long ALSO NOTE On a mobile phone it is neccessary to scroll across this table to enable clicking on the Blog Title to go directly to that blog to see the travel route videos Blog Number Photo Date Blog Written Blog Title, Click to Read 1 22/02/2012 Our very first blog, this covers our 1st big holiday in Wendy House, but 1st was Clumber park 12 11/03/2012 Travelling in Ireland / Eire? some Motorhome Travels Hints & Tips, see this very useful site 37 28/05/2012 Linton, Cambridgeshire, Dorset and North Devon trip, 1st holiday 60 12/08/2013 Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire, Try out post purchase of Van (retrospective) 63 25/08/2013 Our Gap Year, 2007-8 Down Under, Pacific Islands, Australia, New Zealand 71 24/08/2014 Our Big 3 Month French Trip plus Italy, Monaco & Switzerland 97 11/03/2016 Australia in a motorhome, a retrospective blog, Carnarvon to Cook Town 102 15/07/2016 New Zealand in a motorhome, a retrospective blog, Cape Reinga to Stewart Island 106 01/08/2016 Our Southern Hemisphere Trip 2007-8 Revisited, Motorhome Magic 107 06/08/2016 Map of all the places we have visited, not all in a motorhome I might add 129 08/07/2018 3 weeks in Eire or Ireland, via South Wales , Fishguard to Wexford 130 14/07/2018 Recommended Campsites, this one at Strand Camping Doonbeg county Clare Ireland 162 01/12/2021 2007-8 website Pacific Islands, NZ, Oz, Singapore & Hong Kong recreated 2021 as a duplicate blog 192 25/01/2023 A Travel Blog, Singapore and Thailand for Xmas and New Year with Family Tick List BLOG 37 - 2012 Trip 2 "Down South" Read Blog 37 Blog 37 Blog 60 BLOG 60 - 2012 Trip 1 Clumber Park Read Blog 60 BLOG 71 - Our French Trip Travel Route Read Blog 71 Blog 71 BLOG 129 - Our Irish Trip Travel Route Read Blog 129 Blog 129 Blog 162 BLOG 162 - Holiday 2007-8 Travel Route Read Blog 162 Blog 192 BLOG 192 - Family Holiday to Singapore & Thailand Travel Route Read Blog 192 Trailer

Genealogy - FAMILY TREE stuff plus Travel Blog WELCOME TO MOTORHOME TRAVELS BLOG Intro Genealogy I have finally managed to repair my old DVD player, the only one that will play these c 2010 constructed family DVDs and used some software (honestech) to capture them onto my laptop. Needless to say, all I have done is captured the "chapter" screens as they are quite long. There are 9 DVDs starting back in 1987 the last of which is a "genealogy" one showing various immediate ancestor generations. The full underlying videos and slideshows are available in the Family Tree database, yes, all 44GBs as at Jan 2021. I also show highlighted slideshows by person mainly immediate family, i.e., our descendants, parents and in some cases grandparents and great grandparents, especially if there has been a road trip / sea voyage undertaken by them, where I will have a video with audiobook overlay and / or a SoundCloud audible track. These have been created by my alter ego KeefH Web Designs and I am learning all the time to improve the professionalism of what is created, especially true type voices from about 2020, which replace the older computerised voices of 2011. Plus old family Travel Blog stuff, Enjoy! Old DVD Covers & Menus Keef My Genelines to all my Ancestors showing "Events" over time Keef's fan geneline as intro to other geneline charts keef's hellinger geneline with events Hellingers keef's wardley geneline with events Wardley Keef's fan geneline as intro to other geneline charts 1/9 My direct link to Harald Bluetooth (a Viking hero of mine) harald bluetooth my rellie harald king of denmark & norway comparison to Harald Bluetooth a rellie 1st cuz 34xremoved Related to Harald Bluetooth, 1st cuz 34xremoved page 6 harald bluetooth my rellie harald king of denmark & norway 1/8 Annie Annie's Genelines to all her Ancestors showing "Events" over time Anne's fan geneline as intro to other geneline charts anne's jones geneline with events anne's wood geneline with events Anne's fan geneline as intro to other geneline charts 1/9 Anne's direct link to King James 2nd and Royalty James 2nd of England, Annies rellie Annie's rellie #fact Page 1 Related to James 2nd, husband of 1st cousin 1x removed of wife of step greatgrandson of 12th greatuncle Page 3 Related to James 2nd, husband of 1st cousin 1x removed of wife of step greatgrandson of 12th greatuncle James 2nd of England, Annies rellie Annie's rellie #fact 1/4 Craig Doug Charlie Edie Tate Alfie Dad H Mum H Mum J Dad J Anne's Aunt 1924 Take care, please note that Auntie Gertie's audiobook of her diary is 9.5 hours long, so you may want to listen in stages #hint This is just the India part of Aunty Gertie's diary set to Army images and those of around India and life there. It is 130 minutes long Read Blog 190 alongside this for textual write up Audio Diaries 1967 Sea Trip This is an account of Annie's family journey to Australia in 1967 transcribed from Mum Jones diary, either listen to the audiobook on SoundCloud or view the sympathetic video constructed in Clipchamp by KeefH Web Designs or read the Blog, thx Read Blog 187 alongside this for textual write up 1969 Roadtrip Read Blog 188 alongside this for textual write up 1970 Roadtrip Read Blog 189 alongside this for textual write up Anne's Granny 1897 Read Blog 191 alongside this for textual write up Read all the Genealogical Travel Blog 's here, they are our older family records updated in 2022 by KeefH Web Designs Genealogy Blogs Blog 191, Gertrude Whiteheads dairy of Trip to Australia, 18th Aug 1897-18th Jan 1898, Retrospective ratings-display.rating-aria-label (1) Blog 190 - Gertrude Littlejohn's account of Army family life in India 1925 to 1930, Retrospective Blog 189 - Jones Family Labour Day Weekend Road Trip to Kiama, 4th-6th October 1970, a retrospective 1 2 Cuz Raph's Book Trailer