Memories of Royston
kept in jam jars, the water being changed regularly until the fish died, as they invariably did after a week or two. Another favourite pastime was to go down to the old London and North Eastern Railway Line which ran from Notton Station to Barnsley. A coin like a farthing placed on the line became the size of a half-penny after the train had passed over it. There was a wooden fence running along either side of this railway line and one of our games was to see how far we could walk on top of the fence without falling off. Sometimes we could get quite close to the signal box on Lee Lane, but not too close, in case the signal man recognized us! Jumping over bushes and across ditches was a popular dare - even barbed wire fences on occasion. I remember tearing my trousers badly on one such occasion, much to the distress of my mother. On another occasion, I had been climbing oak trees and came home covered with ants or some form of creepy-crawlers. All this was a long time ago. Fields, fences, railway-tracks, have all disappeared. So has our closely guarded secret pathway to Abbledy. Only with an effort can I grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind. Yet I think how truly lucky we were, too!
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