John & Rachael's children

John was born on 8 August 1945.  The war was over but times were still hard.  The family lived in a large house in Pampisford Road, Croydon, which had been divided into separate dwellings,  John had appendicitis when he was 2 years old and was taken to hospital for emergency surgery.  Parents were not allowed to visit their children in hospital for fear of upsetting them!  It would take John time to get over the loss of confidence caused by this enforced separation.

Carol was born on 4 December 1946. As a second baby she was born at home in the flat at Pampisford Road, in line with normal practice.  It was not the thing in those days to talk about pregnancy and John was taken aback by this intrusion into his life.  He slipped in beside his mother and refused to move for a few days.  John Snr was fascinated by his daughter's tiny feet and nicknamed her Toots.

Robert was born on 2 July 1948.  At the time of his birth the family were still living in Pampisford Road where Rachael would normally park Robert's pram on the in-out drive to sleep in the fresh air.   Milk at that time was delivered by horse drawn cart, on one particular day when Rachael decided not to put the pram on the drive, the milkman’s horse ran amok and stampeded through where the pram normally stood.    Robert excelled at school and was the first one of the family to go to university  He studied Food Technology at Weybridge a satellite of Reading University.  

 Christine was born on 23 November 1950.  By this  the family had moved to a 3-bedroomed end of terrace house in Cranbrook Road, Thornton Heath.  When Christine was very small she contracted pneumonia and for a few weeks slept in a deep drawer to keep her away from draughts.

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