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This story has been written by Jean Pointer

My family had a big garden in Padstow, and during the war years were fortunate that we had basic food, most people had a small “allotment”, we had a fair size garden and orchard. I can remember my mother “bottling” the fruit so it would last for the winter, and we grew lots of vegetables.

We also kept chickens and ducks, I can remember going to Plymouth with my mother, Anita Puddephatt and sister Sheila Puddephatt. My sister had to go to hospital, at the hospital there were all these “barrage balloons” on the outside, big silver balloons that were anchored to the ground. I think they were some kind of defence.

After the visit to the hospital we went to a market, and that was where we ordered “day old chicks”, and they would send them to Padstow on the train for us. I’m not sure where the ducks came from, perhaps my uncle, Harry Tucker, started us off with some as he had a small farm.

The local hotels were taken over by the Military, and we would supply them with vegetables for which we got a few pennies. If the hens were laying well we would sell the eggs to friends and neighbours for 1d (old money) each. In fact it was quite funny, as we used to get scraps from the hotels to feed the chickens with, and some people with pigs would pick up the food leftovers and use it as pigs swill. Eventually the eggs & bacon would be sold back to the hotel — so the food went a full circle!

We had German prisoners of war billeted at Padstow also, they were put to work on the farms, there was one prisoner named Bruno, everyone seem to like him, he was the only young POW and he was a nice kid. He stayed a little while after the war, but he was recalled back to Germany, and although people wrote to him, he was never heard of again.

My dad, Stewart Puddephatt, was also caretaker of the DRILL HALL. I Iearnt to clean a rifle at a early age, the Americans put on dances at the drill hall, and that’s when we first heard of jive, and big band music. It was a bit more interesting growing up in the war as a kid in Padstow! I often say to people that I’m glad that I grew up in the time that I did.

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