Big brothers joined in building farmyard worlds out of the toybox they’d created, possibly out of fast-evaporating hopes I might join them and father as a proud son of the Norfolk soil. Younger siblings giggled or dozed through my range of silly stories or nearly-naughty rhymes.
Sharing shone through most sessions, even when sharper competitive edges came into play for I Spy, Ludo, Snap, Bagatelle, Blow-football, Hunt-the-Thimble and Who Can Keep a Straight Face Longest When Uncle Willie Slurps His Sunday Tea?
Calling the midwife, district nurse or doctor meant regular trips to the big red phone box outside our village shop and post office. Mini-epidemics of measles, mumps, scarlet fever and whooping cough often prompted instant generosity in passing on to other family members.
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