Hartshorne village, Derbyshire, England. All about the village of Hartshorne!

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Joe Harford Page No.4

Back to the future

I will never know the reason to bring us back to this hell, it put us in great danger.One night in the early hours an air raid was in progress and the family had to make its way to the public air raid shelter which was about 300yds from the house and in the dark I was left behind, I found myself wandering towards the shelter when there was a mighty explosion the ground shook violently, it was with luck that I had just turned a corner and the houses took all the blast it was quite a large bomb and caused extensive damage. I Iost a little friend that night. (Pic 19) the bomb landed in Argyle St and we went to see the damage the next morning so I could be on the photo. It blew all the windows out of our house most of it landed on the beds.

It can be seen why I didn’t want to leave the tranquil of Hartshorne. The years went by, I left school served a part apprenticeship in upholstery, joined the army trained as a wireless operator, joined the airborne and did a tour of Egypt in the Suez campaign, left the army got married to Mary and we had two children. I didn’t pursue the upholstery trade. It was the open road that beckoned to me, I passed my driving test and got a job as a lorry driver.

This and fate brought me back to Hartshorne. I had a load to deliver to the Swadlincote area and the chap that helped to unload the truck saw me take a drink of water from a tap with cupped hands, he asked me if I had lived in the country I said I had and after a short conversation it turned out that he knew Mr and Mrs Spencer and they lived in the bungalow on the corner of Camps Lane.

So I ventured back and knocked on the door, Mr Spencer answered the door; I asked him did he once have a little evacuee stay with them during the war. He was quite taken aback, Mrs Spencer had gone to her Mothers and so we waited for her return, we watched as she walked to the gate wondering why this truck was parked there.

This is where the rolls were reversed because it was Mr Spencer who said “ Look who I have here Mother do you know who this is “? .She stood there silent, Mr Spencer said “ It’s our little Joe he’s come back “ she did no more than burst into tears and gave me a hug. It had been 20 yrs since we last saw each other, so we rolled back the years for an hour so, making a few ‘Mashes’ on the way.

The year was 1962 and we have been back every year since, we took the children when they were quite young and Mr and Mrs Spencer doted over them. I remained a driver until 1971 then changed employment to work in vehicle maintenance. This company had preserved some old carts and had a selection of horses including two shire horses, which I eventually had in my charge, so I think my stay in Hartshorne years ago helped me care for these giants, I seemed to take to the task quite easily, my one shire was called Prince.

The years rolled by and as we know in life sad times are not far away. So through the years we lost all those lovely people, Hilda was the last two years ago, but the memories never go away. There is only Eric left who is 90 years old in October, We have grown quite close over the years, we visited two weeks ago had a good natter and a lovely meal at the Lakeside Restaurant. I was quite surprised when Eric told he had built nine properties in Hartshorne including Camps Lane, His own in Manchester Lane, and Graham Hill’s, so there will always be a reminder of the Spencers in Hartshorne.

Eric had two daughters Pauline and Janet, Eric and Doris sold Manchester Lane and moved to Ilkeston to be near Janet who had a pub there, sadly Doris passed away and Eric moved back to Hartshorne and now lives in Repton Rd. just past the Chesterfield Pub.

Pauline married John Nicholls who lived in Ticknall (Pic 13) they live in Buxton now where her husband John’s job as a fireman took him, he eventually rose in the ranks and finally retired. We do visit them when we are holidaying in the area.

I feel by visiting Hartshorne through the years I repaid their kindness by never forgetting what they did for us. And may I say that I am sure that many evacuees will never forget the foster parents who cared for us Townies and maybe saved some lives, but we will never know. So to all younger generations of Hartshorne be proud of your village and all those lovely people that cared for us. I suppose they were one of the Civilian Forgotten Armies.

I dedicate this to all those wonderful people. God Bless.

Joe Harford

Click on the Picture List to See Joe's photo memories