I was born to wonderful parents on 23rd November 1942, at 29 Main Street, Woodnewton. My mother Kathleen was born in 1918 and lived at Nassington, before her marriage to my father, Ruben Reginald, known as Jack. He was born in 1911 at Crowland in Lincolnshire and I think he came to Woodnewton when he was two or three years old, where he spent nearly all his life
I had a brother Peter, and a sister Jane. Both my parents worked hard to rear us three children. Mother was a brilliant cook and able to mend and ‘make do’ with repairing clothes. Many a time there was a call at the door with a request to Kath “could you repair these trousers by morning, so my son can go to school”, or a call at the door “could mother borrow a cup of sugar”. This was an era after the war, when everybody helped each other. The cottage we lived in had no running water – water was obtained from the well down the garden. The toilet was an outside one in a shed, also down the garden, and the soil cart called every Wednesday to empty it. This always seemed to be at lunch time, when we youngsters were going back to school. This made us run by and we were never late for school on a Wednesday!
I started school at Woodnewton, at the age of four. The teachers were Miss Black and Mrs Hughes. One of the main 
subjects was always to do your multiplication tables. To encourage us, Miss Black used to promise us a ride on Dobbin once you could recite each table within a week. Dobbin was a rocking horse at the back of the classroom! I moved to Nassington School at nine years of age and cycled there each day. I left school at 15 years of age with no ‘O’ levels. No one sat for ‘O’ levels at Nassington School, but some went on to technical college for further education. However, many pupils I met at school went on in life to make good. The best ‘O’ levels they could take were ‘getting on with people and hard work’. John Sutton, with his business between Nassington and Apethorpe is a prime example.
Money was very short in the late 40’s and 50’s, so holidays were very few. We did have one week at Hunstanton in a caravan, in 1948. To get there we cycled to Nassington and left our bicycles at Granny Black’s, who lived down by the station, caught the train to Peterborough and then onto Hunstanton via the Kings Lynn line. At odd times at Easter we had a weekend at Leicester where we stayed at a Great Aunt’s, once again, going by train. This time, we went from Nassington via Kings Cliffe, Seaton, Harringworth, and Barrowden to Market Harborough where we changed onto the main line to Leicester.
Mr and Mrs Pike from Willowbrook Farm, held a jumble sale and fete once a year and with the proceeds hired three coaches to take most of the villagers on a day trip to Hunstanton, Skegness or Mablethorpe. Mrs Pike used to come to see us off at 8.00 in the morning. She gave all the children an envelope with half a crown in it for pocket money. This they did for a few years – approximately between 1949and to 1956. Nassington School organised two holidays in Jersey in 1957 and 1958. My parents paid for my holiday, but I had to earn pocket money for myself. When I was thirteen, I managed to get a job working for Mr Pike – washing both cars, feeding chickens, cutting lawns each weekend.
In the holidays, the schoolboys played cricket and football on the playfield, known as the “Horse and Jockey field”. Our other interests were to go to the woods at the back of the village where we spent many, many happy hours, and down at the Willow Brook where quite a few of us learn to swim. I was a choir boy from the age of about ten and we went to church twice a day on a 
Sunday, morning and evening. The choir at that time consisted of about 22 and the congregation was a similar number.
Arthur Whittaker was one of my best mates from a very young age. He lived at Conegar Farm. He started school at Woodnewton at the same time as me and we have stayed friends for 75 years. In 1960, as two seventeen year-olds, his parents drove us to Butlin’s holiday camp at Clacton, where they left us for a week’s holiday. Every evening we went dancing and made a bee line for the red coat girls, and despite having three meals a day, which were included in the holiday and paid for, at midnight we went off to the steak bar – and had steak and chips for supper!
In Woodnewton we were blessed with two Public Houses – the Horse and Jockey and the White Swan, a great greengrocer’s shop run by Mr Walker, a general stores and post office run by Mr Gilbert, and I also remember, at the age of five, visiting Harry Wade’s the bakers with my mother, which was in the Main Street.
Soccer was my favourite sport and I joined Oundle Football Club in 1960. I unfortunately sustained an arm injury as a result of attending judo clases and had to give this up for 12 months during which time I had an operation on my arm. When I was fit again, I joined Nassington Football Club. It was great. I was back with all my school mates and at that time I was fit as a flea! Within a week I went to keep fit classes, swimming, judo and then played football every weekend. After 10 years I had to give up football as I was married, and had two children and a mortgage to look after – a responsible job too, and could not afford to get a broken leg!
My working life, once I left school, was for 6 months on Willow Brook Farm, which I really enjoyed. The farm employed approximately 12 local villagers who were all great characters. This was six months of my life that I really enjoyed. In 1958 I joined the corn merchants, Curtis and Co. in Oundle as an office boy. Amongst my duties was to check grain samples and at the age of 17 and a half I passed my driving test, and I was given the job as a Rep., going around farms, mainly in the Huntingdonshire area. At 19 years of age the two grain traders left the company, and I was given the job of grain trader. This meant I attended Mark Lane, the main corn exchange in the country in London on a Monday, where I had the duty of selling wheat to mills like Rank, Hovis McDougall and Spillers. Barley was sold to shippers for export from the east Coast Ports – Boston, Kings Lynn and Colchester.
In 1974 I formed my own business. I received wonderful support from my farmer friends. Suppliers on the consumer side were also very good to me, which helped me get my business off the ground and up and running. I traded grain to Liverpool, Manchester, Cheshire and North Wales. At this moment in time we have completed 47 years as a Company.
I had an allotment at the age of 14 years and began exhibiting in Woodnewton flower show pretty soon after, along with one of my other mates –Len Reed. In approximately 1966 the show was about to close as their secretary was retiring and no one wanted the job. I took on the task and kept it going for about 30 years until I eventually retired form showing, approximately at the time the village school closed.
The village playing field was kick-started by two great village chaps: James Chambers and Charles Gilbert. A committee was formed and I was pleased to become a member. After the site was bulldozed level, I was able to borrow a tractor, cultivators and rolls from my Whittaker friends at Conegar Farm to get the area into a suitable condition to plant grass seeds. With the help of Geoff Rawding we spent quite a few hours planting the grass seed with an old-fashioned wheelbarrow type of drill, again borrowed from Conegar Farm. The playing field is now a fantastic area for children to enjoy. It is a credit to subsequent committees who have worked hard to make it what it is.
Charles Gilbert was a great sportsman and captain of Woodnewton cricket team with matches being held in the Horse and Jockey field which, of course, has now fallen foul of the builders’ trowel. The team members were very good to us young boys and often took us on trips to away games.
At Apethorpe in 1953, to celebrate the Coronation year when Woodnewton was playing there, William Tompkins, the local farmer, roasted a beef animal on a spit in a field close to the edge of the village. It was served to everyone who cared to sample it. There was always great rivalry between Woodnewton and Apethorpe cricket teams. Unfortunately, Apethorpe had the edge as they had a great fast bowler by the name of Peter Coxhead, who served in the Second World War. He retired to Woodnewton and died at the age of 94. He was a true gentleman and a great character.
I consider myself to have been born, lived and worked in Woodnewton which is a great area of England. I have many, many fond memories of wonderful village people. At the age of 78 I am hoping to stay lucky for a few more years. My thanks go out to all the people who were kind to me over the years.
2021
Robert is now the only person who was born in the village and still resides there.