Back in the 1950's, 60's we spent the summers in a rented thatched cottage in Hope Cove, Devon (Norfolk reed) on a hill overlooking the sea. There was two sets of stairs to go upstairs so great for fun & games (servants staircase). Up to my first visit there I had only eaten Vanilla ice cream and at Hope Cove there was a choice of some 20 flavours. Dad used to sometimes being us down from Andover, Hampshire, spend a week with us, then return to his building construction business (we didn't need a car in Hope Cove) and then pick us up at the end of summer when we spent another week together before returning. At 5 or 6 I met my 1st girlfriend on the beach at Hope Cove and we became inseparable in the years to come. Her name was Carol Lockhart and her parents became Uncle John and Uncle Pat, they lived in Manchester. Unfortunately Uncle John died relatively young of a heart attack and our families drifted apart. I recall that Carol often wore a mustard crinkly yellow bathing suit and we loved to explore the rock pools and the creatures trapped in them when the tide went out. Carol became an air stewardess and we once visited their family and stayed overnight in Manchester when we were returning from a holiday in the Lake District. I believe Carol was a couple of years older than myself and perhaps the romantic "fantasy" was likely more on my part than hers, as years had passed and we had both grown up. I still think about her though, any those times of young innocent "love".
It would have indeed been my fantasy, up a creek without a paddle, I do wonder what became of Carl though, likely 72 now, a seasoned thoroughbred now! What are the chances of her still living in Manchester? A United or City fan? We never discussed football.
