Pettaugh

History

Society

In history, as in life, truth is everything.

A traditional Christmas in wartime England

One of our members has kindly shared the memories of her childhood Christmas in Pettaugh during the early years of the Second World War.

 The Dixey family lived in the cottage next to the shop and Post Office and Beryl recalls the Christmas celebrations.  It should be noted that there was no electricity in Pettaugh and so food had to be cooked in an oven heated by wood.  In the dark mornings and evenings, light was provided by candles.  A few families in the village had large valve radios which were powered by large lead accumulators and these required regular charging.

Beryl hung her sock (probably one of her father’s) out on Christmas Eve and woke to find that it had been filled with some peanuts, a few sweets, an orange, a book and a woollen jumper that her mother had knitted.   These were the days of rationing and so sweets and an orange were a rare luxury.  Beryl’s best present was a doll which came from a family in Canada who had sent the present via the Sunday School Association. The family was entertained by table games such a ludo and snakes and ladders.  Christmas decorations of paper chains were made by the family.

There was a service in the parish church in the morning which was followed by the Christmas lunch at 12.30 pm with a roast cockerel which had been reared in the back garden by her father, together with Brussels sprouts and roast potatoes, again home grown.  The dessert was a traditional Christmas pudding made by her mother, served with custard.  After lunch the children attended the Sunday School party in the Mission Room with games and cake with tea.  The evening meal at 5 pm was a light meal consisting of sandwiches, sausage rolls, mince pies and jelly, all made by Mrs Dixey.

A very young Beryl with her parents, brother and the family dog during wartime and below, with her brother Derek