My mother soon realised she would have to sell her house in the country as Rosie was getting married and all her sons were travelling abroad. She sold ‘Myrtle Bank’ - now known as ‘Saltwood’. All she got for the property - a detached freehold house with a hundred and ninety foot frontage - was nine hundred pounds.

After seven years, or perhaps more, the house was offered to me for twelve thousand pounds. I did not dream of even renting it but, out of curiosity, I had written to Hampdens in Trafalgar Square who were the sole agents for it.

My mother left Rosie and myself at Brasted Chart and went to Croydon to stay for a week with her sister Harriet. She had not been successful in finding a house to buy, so she rented a small detached house for one year at St James Road, Croydon. She arranged with Egberts of Croydon to collect the furniture and then, on her return to Brasted, she took a lovely, double fronted cottage, called Woodbine Cottage, and let it furnished. This would give her an income so that with a small pension - which she got from the ‘Coachbuilders Benevolent Fund’ as her husband had been the editor of the coachbuilders journal - she was able to manage.

She was successful in getting a permanent tenant for the cottage which was a very pretty place with a long garden laden with flowers and bee hives which the tenant, Mr Foster, was pleased to have.

On a certain date my sister and I had to walk from Brasted Chart to Westerham in order to get a conveyance to Oxted where we could take a train to Croydon. We started off early in the morning and passed along the beautiful avenue which led to Cut Mill. Up hill then down hill, through woods of pine and fern, saturated with bluebells and hairbells and foxgloves and thousand of wild berries and flowers.

We knew there was a thing called a bus which really consisted of a broken down brougham having belonged to some nobleman in the year one. We caught it at Westerham by the skin of our teeth. The coach had a musty smell and old lining which had once been cream-coloured. The straps were broken and two horses dragged it along. Oh! Those horses were so old! This conveyance went to and fro - twice a day - at 10.30 in the morning and 4.30 in the afternoon. The fare was one shilling each.

There were two other passengers who looked like gypsies and were probably fruit pickers. They smoked woodbines and spat on the floor of the vehicle and rubbed the spit in with their hobnailed boots. We were so glad when they got off at Limpsfield.

My sister and I each had a case to carry but these were not very heavy and we had one umbrella between us.

We were both delighted when we got to Croydon because of the shops which were really splendid. Rosie was collecting all sorts of things for her wedding and, of course, now we had a  

great opportunity to see the new and fashionable things; pretty underwear, charming hats and veils.

We dilly-dangled in the shops for so long that I thought we would never be in time to open the door for the furniture men. We took a hasty meal at an A.B.C shop and then made for the house where we took considerable time arranging in our minds where each piece of furniture would go.

Time passed and we commenced to feel hungry again and we realised that it would not be too far to walk to our friends, the Chapmans. - to whom we were most attached. Landsdowne Road, where they lived, was only about half an hours’ walk away but we were afraid the furniture men might arrive at our new house, find no one there, and go away again. So, at a small shop nearby, we got a bag of buns and some candles as we found that the gas had not been turned on from its source.

After eating the buns and washing them down with water, I kept worrying my sister that we should go down to the Chapmans and let the furniture do what it liked, but my sister was obstinate that we should stay.

Soon it became quite dark and it was obvious that the furniture would not come that night.

I was tired of being on my feet all day and so was Rosie. I went round the house to try and find a place to rest. I opened the lavatory door, closed the window and let down the great mahogany lid of the lavatory seat. It made a big, square box-like top. I sat with my back against the wall and my feet drawn up under me, put up the umbrella to keep the draught off, and went to sleep.

It was four in the morning when I roused myself. My poor sister was sitting on the bottom of the stairs with her head resting on her doubled up jacket. I was angry and blamed her for us not going to Mrs Chapman’s. We argued it out and, at about five o’clock, we made it towards Landsdowne Road.

That darling lady was the kindest and most loveliest creature one could ever meet. Her husband was a good man and Dora and Ethel, my school mates, have been friends to me through my life.

When we got there, we felt that it was too early to raise the family, so we walked up and down till six o’clock. Then Mrs Chapman, drawing back the curtain and uncovering the bird - a canary - saw us from the windows and beckoned us in.

I’ll never forget it! The beautiful hot coffee for breakfast, the toast and then a rest on the sofa for three hours. Everybody was so kind and the jacketing we got for not going there and sleeping the night! I really think Mrs Chapman was thoroughly upset.

When we arrived at the house in St James Park Road, the furniture van was standing outside. The man said it had been such a long journey that the horses had to be rested and watered and they had not been able to continue the journey - so all was well that ends well!