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They were at the school for three years, before being moved up to Scotland to live with their godfather who was a Seaforth Highlander with the army and had two children, Philippa and James. They had a governess called Miss Murow who arrived each day to teach them. “I learnt pretty much everything I know today from her. I was so pleased that we didn’t have to go to school and could play outside for ages. Those were four of my happiest years.” But it came to an end when Beryl was 12 and her parents sent her to a boarding school in Sherborne, Dorset where they stayed until they were 16. “It was very big, I got lost many times. I enjoyed tennis
and was actually pretty good and I received coaching but other than that I disliked the whole experience as I was permanently homesick for Scotland and my godfather. It wasn’t unusual in those days for parents to work away and pack their children off to relatives. Many children didn’t really know their parents that well but they still loved them dearly.” After Beryl’s important role in the war she went to live
in Camberley with a cousin and worked in her market garden business. Not long after she met her husband, Frank, at a polo dance, they got married and moved to Buckinghamshire. “I became a housewife which was
REGISTERED
CHIROPODIST PODIATRIST Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
Victoria Tolchard BSc. (Hons),
M.Ch.S. For friendly and professional treatment, call
Tel: 01803 839 562 Ground Floor, The Anzac Club Limited Collaford Lane, Dartmouth TQ6 9DJ
–
the norm for so many women back then. It was peculiar after having such an active role during the war but I wasn’t resentful. I soon became a mum – I had Tessa first, then Mark two years later.” Frank was an export manager but, after a couple of years, he decided, out of the blue that he wanted to run a farm! So they upped sticks and moved to Liskeard in Cornwall and bought a small pig farm. “The place was pretty run down and overgrown and I
remember waking up really early for the first few weeks, putting my big gloves and wellies on and cutting back the weeds and bushes. I would feed and weigh the pigs whilst running a guesthouse at the same time.” The children went to a local school and Beryl said they all generally enjoyed life down there. But when Tessa was 12, Frank got ill so they had to sell up and they bought the White House Hotel at Chillington. Frank couldn’t work so Beryl did most of the jobs helped by two members of staff. They stayed for about eight years, by then the children were grown up and had moved away so they decided to retire to Dartmouth. “We had a small house at first but then Frank bought
a boat and he wanted to keep an eye on it so we moved closer to the water. I must say retirement has been so much fun. In the early stages I played tennis as much as I wanted and we went on many boat picnics with friends, it was wonderful.” But Frank died when Beryl was 73 and, like so many other widows, she says she carried on living a life which was the same but different. “I had many friends to help me through and Tessa who lives in the town. Now I go to lectures at the Flavel and get involved in U3A events. If I was a young person today I think I would have trained to be an osteopath. My husband went to see one and she taught me a little about how to help with his aches and pains and I thought it was very interesting. But all in all I can’t complain. I’ve had a pretty interesting life!”
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