Some names have been redacted for privacy reasons.

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Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire was a village and had a village feel, even though it was on the main A41 and between Aylesbury and Tring. This was my first real taste of ‘community’, perhaps because by this time I was at home with a baby. I don’t remember my immediate neighbours, although we did say hello over the garden fence. I think there was a middle-aged couple on the left and an older single lady on the right as you faced the house. I did however get to know quite a few other young mums in the neighbourhood. There was a corner shop a few doors up the road from the house in Green End Street. This was useful but had the disadvantage that most people had just got to our house when they were ready to discard their litter. It sold lovely Swiss rolls. There was a post office and hardware store on the main road but John did the food shopping on the way home from work in Aylesbury. The lady in the post office, who had only one arm, could only cope with one transaction per customer. Woe betide anyone who wanted their family allowance and a stamp! Her inability to deal with more than one request was unrelated to her disability.

 

Not having a car, we didn’t leave the village much, occasionally going to Aylesbury for the shops. I wasn’t a great shopper, so this was infrequent, although I did go to monthly family history meetings in Aylesbury. Aylesbury really just resembled many other large towns in the Home Counties, with similar chain stores, a station and a particularly depressing bus station. I occasionally went to the Record Office and the Library in the centre of town. A famous landmark was ‘The Blue Leany’ a large, blue glass building that was constructed on a slant. I liked the old part of town near the church but there were no real attractions. I preferred Tring, to the east, which was just about walkable and had more independent shops, including many antique shops.

 

Mums with babies went to weekly meetings in a church hall in the neighbouring village of Buckland, a short walk away. Shortly after I moved in, ‘Meet a Mum’ club was started in the local non-conformist church hall in Aston Clinton. When there was no toddler group, we would go to each other’s houses. I primarily joined up with * or *, as it was easier to have company with small children. Towards the end of my time in Aston Clinton, * and I tended to make do with our own company more often.

 

Playgroup was in a dark building on the far side of the main road, near the Anglican church. After much initial reluctance, * went here for just over a term. I was the paid secretary for the playgroup for a time. When * was three, one of the playgroup helpers, surprised by her fluent reading and thinking she should be in school, asked * when she would be five. *’s response was, ‘After I am four’! The local school was round the corner but we left before * was old enough to attend. I did visit a few times to help with reading, which allowed * to benefit as well. If we had stayed in Buckinghamshire, she would not have started school until the September after she was five. Moving back to the Isle of Wight brought this forward by two terms and in the end, she started an additional half a term before she was officially due to begin.

 

Initially, the doctor’s was a bus ride away but then Dr * opened up in Aston Clinton itself; he was a lovely doctor. The dentist was in Wendover, so appointments had to be made to coincide with those of a car-owning friend. When * was about eighteen months old, I had to have my wisdom teeth out. An overnight stay in hospital was recommended but I didn’t want to leave her. To avoid having to organise two dental appointments and against advice, I ended up having all four teeth out on the same day, in the surgery, with * sat on my lap. I then had to do a good job of convincing her what jolly fun going to the dentist was, whilst undergoing thirteen injections and four extractions.

 

Other community activities in Aston Clinton consisted of Tupperware and Toy parties and a brief spell at a dance/exercise class. * and I did make plans to use her converted garage to jointly mind children and I registered as a childminder but moved away before I actually minded any children.

 

‘The country’ was in walking distance and we would walk to the reservoir, or into Weston Turville, where there was a huge garden centre. Mother and toddler group outings were to places such as Ashridge Forest, Beaconsfield Model Village or Chilton Open Air Museum.