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My parents gave me little in terms of material possessions or stability of family home. But they did give me their love and the benefit of their experience which was considerable. They always treated me as an equal which gave me tremendous personal confidence later on. My childhood was difficult but then I was a [...] Some time after we had been living in Battersea, Mum started visiting every other Saturday. At first she came to the house to pick us up for the day. Daphne would get us ready and send us down to her at the front door of the house. One time when she came, I was ill [...] In September 1969 my sister and I arrived for our first term at boarding school in the North of England. I was eight and Sarah just six years old. Compared with the years spent in Battersea, my school days were relatively happy. The Sneep was a natural choice, my cousin Sue having just left the [...] The court cases were costing the Hares a fortune because the costs were awarded against my father. After six years of legal proceedings they offered Jo a divorce settlement, which allowed her to finally buy a house. She bought a semi-detached house close to her friend Jenny in the small village of Kingsclere in the [...] We were frequent travellers up and down the A1 or ‘The Great North Road’ as Dad called it. The journey between London and Durham was just under 300 miles and took us at least five hours to do. Carsickness was always a problem for me until teenage years. We played games to pass the time [...] The prime diversion while we were staying with Granny was to visit Aunty Barbara’s house, The Grove, about five miles away at Plawsworth. Usually Dad would drive us over to visit for the day or for a few hours. Our cousin Sue, who was five years older than me, grew up helping out in the [...] Dad rarely talked about family. His loyalties were clear from an often quoted saying “You can’t choose your family but (thank God!) you can choose your friends!” I have his cousin George Caldwell and his sister Barbara to thank for later providing an account of the family history. For the most part their memories of [...] In the summer of 1972 when I eleven and still qualified for a child airfare, Dad took Sarah and me out to the Far East. During the long flight I observed how easily my father talked to strangers, both the flight attendants and fellow passengers. My father was a good conversationalist and got on especially [...] A private education allows adults to provide a greater level of attention to each child and I thrived in this new social environment. Although I still felt deprived of a home and contact with my mother, I had more of a sense that I was valued in some way. I also discovered the fantasy world [...] I started at Queen Anne’s School in September 1973 when I was twelve years old. The school uniform was a blue tweed skirt and blouse worn with nylon tights in winter, which made me feel very grown up. At the Sneep we had worn woollen tights in winter and long socks in summer. Senior school [...] |
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