I had some great friends as a kid! Natalie, Becca, Kelly, Amy, Leanne & Sam were the ones I would hang out with the most, but there was LOADS of us! All lived on the 3 estates together – Albany, Parkhurst & Camphill. We would all meet at either the Middle Garages – a block of garages in the middle of our estate or ‘On the Log’ which was the little forest area near us, between two of the estates, which had a huge fallen tree in the entrance & that was ‘The Log’ If we weren’t there, we just had to ride round on our bikes & see who’s front garden was full of bikes & that’s where the tribe would be!
The middle garages had concrete ramps on them, we would use them as bike or rollerblade ramps to get speed and fly round. We would climb onto the wall and see who could climb the highest.
The forest was great! Not huge, but big enough for us to play man hunt, build den’s and climb tree’s. One year, in the 6 week holidays, Kelly climbed a tree SO high! Then fell down. The got a thick stick right through the back of her knee… oh it was gross!!
We went to Puckpool park with Nat, Becca & her parents. Nat & I were on the seesaw. She was giving me the bumps & I couldn’t do it back, so Julian, her Dad helped me out by pushing my end hard to the floor, to give Nat the bumps. She went FLYING, hit the ground hard & broke her jaw. As awful as it was for her, I thought it was great 😂 She couldn’t move her mouth to talk for a while, (I think she may have had an operation?) she was always bossy & told me what to do, I had to call her ‘My Master’ Anyway, there was peace for a long while!
We really had the best times!
By this time, my sister Charlotte had two children of her own – Danielle & Katie. We all did tons together! Sleepovers, Soft play, Dog walks, Loads! They had a white Ford Escort convertible. The roof leaked really bad. We went to watch the Cowes week fireworks one year in the pouring rain. In came the rain… Mark told me to take my trousers off & plug the holes with the trouser legs, so the kids didn’t get wet 😂 Soft play, one day in Shanklin, Mark got stuck in one of the tube slides, with me and Danni behind him. More kids started backing up behind us, but he couldn’t move! We drove home in hysterics, the roof down and shouting at everyone as we drove past.
The time came for Mum & Dad to put the house on the market, and we moved to Carisbrooke, It was miles away from the life I knew! (It wasn’t, it was two miles away, less ten a 10 minuet drive, but in Isle of Wight terms, its miles away)
I started losing touch with all the estate friends, as it was too far to walk or ride my bike, along the busy main road, at such a young age. But I found myself finding kids near my new house. I was soon to go to high school & find loads of friends, I thought!!
My life! 