��ѿ��ý

Available for over a year

Frank, who now lives in Bagnall, lived in Chesterton during the war. He was 11-years-old on VE Day and mainly remembers regular broadcasts on the radio about what was happening. There was a collection of money from people in the street and the woman who lived behind the local shop put on a huge street party. “I can remember her now,” says Frank; ”She walked around with her clipboard collecting money to put on this street party.” Frank described what he remembers about VE Day itself: “I can remember the spread they put on, where the stuff came from – I will never know. And then we had a bonfire in the field at the end of the cul-de-sac, which was of course a novelty as you weren’t allowed to have fires during the war. He remembered the good times, mainly, and doesn’t really recall the worries. Most of the food was homemade. His mum made rice crispy cakes for the party. “We never used to eat chocolate as a bar. We used to make it go further by using the chocolate to make rice crispies, and there were just all these goodies.” Image: Frank as a child