Alice & her Onions!

We have received this picture from Alice Yeandle after bunches 

of onions stirred Milford memories for her.

Alice is from Milford on Sea, and is the former parson's daughter. 60 odd years later, she is living in France and following in the steps of 'Johnny the Onion Man'?

Alice recalls how 'Johnny the Onion Man' used to travel on the ferry from St Malo to Southampton, complete with a beret on his head, his onions on the handle bars, and then cycled to Milford on Sea to sell his wares.

Alice asks: Does anyone else remembers this event in Carrington Lane? And, indeed, does anyone remember Alice?

Please enter a comment below if you do.

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On pressing Alice for some recollections of her time in Milford on Sea, she has sent a colourful description of times and village characters from time gone by. She is obviously a girl that loves to reminisce!

Here goes: "The family arrived in Milford at the request of Alderman Mrs Trokes for my father to be minister of the then Evangelical Free Church, next to Bell's the baker's, opposite Telfords, the book shop and police station. Mrs Trokes had a marvellous shop full of just everything and drove a sleek, black car, one the few in Milford.

I started school in Milford when Mr 'Skip' Austen was headmaster, Miss Woods and Mrs Griffiths were two of the teachers I remember, Miss Woods because she rapped my knuckles too often with a ruler as I was not her brightest of pupils. For some reason, one year, a maypole was erected in the playground and I was chosen to be Maid Marion and lead the whole school out to dance in front of all the parents, I cannot remember my partner but I loved the dancing, a thing my father did not agree with! The caretaker and his wife of the school, who lived on the premises, had a super grey husky dog that played with us all in the playground.

Some people made a deep impression on me, Methusela, as we called him, from Gollege's farm, with a long, grey beard, smartly dressed, walking behind two well groomed cart horses with their gleaming brasses adorning their necks ready for a days work ploughing, reaping the two acre field at the top of Carrington Lane. On his return he would sometimes be seated side sadlle, wearied from his day of walking in the hot sun that we always had in those days.

I also recall; Carrington Grange where we were invited to play tennis, Montigue Dawson with his paintings of the scenes from his house, the Isle of Wight, rough or calm seas. Mr Mogg with his veg shop, I would go in the van delivering and always we stopped at the White House Sanitoruium. Miss Capron who rode into the village from Kivernals Road on her 'sit up and beg bike' singing hymns at the top of her voice. She and her brother had a beautiful house with a well manicured garden, little box trees around the veg patch, a thing I have developed here. Miss Baker, sitting in a bath chair in the front room of her cottage opposite the pub, withered with rheumatism, watching the world go by and always appreciated a little wave from passers-by, and Mrs day who gave me her scrapbook with old fashioned pop-up pictures that I value still.

Miss Marchand with her long, jewelled pieced earrings making her ear lobes drag, putting me off for life to have the same! Mrs Pitt, cycling up and down caring for the Barnes Lane Baptist Church, always making marvellous flower arrangements in a beautiful pink vase which she gave me on our departure which I treasure still. The families of Hobby's, one with a saw mill at the bottom of his garden which caught alight one night and the excitement of the fire engine coming up the lane, the fireman sitting on the front, hand ringing the shinning brass bell. Edgar Hobby, Arthur Hobby. Mr Meffin who rowed us over to Hurst Castle , no speedy machines in those days. The Knights with their sweet/gift shop, one of the first to have a television, Betty the shopkeeper. Smithy gift shop with the very softly spoken lady where I bought my mother many present, black vases by Knash which I have inherited! My great school pal Marion Munden. Oh, so many more!

Off down Long Lane at the early hours of the morning with a group of youngsters to have a swim after cooking sausages and baked bean on the beach for breakfast. Heaving bikes onto the roofs of the beach huts at the end of Sea Road and cycling along a row until some kill joy had up turned nails hammered into the tar covering! Racing home from school at 4pm and all meeting up on the beach to swim to the sand bank that appeared at that time of day. No life guards or flags in those days. Building dams in the Pleasure Gardens, picking primroses from fields near Pennington to decorated the church for Easter. I left Ashley Secondary Modern school at the age of 15 and worked in Milford hospital as Matron's maid. From a very early age I joined the St John's Ambulance brigade knowing I wanted to be a nurse.

My days in Milford unfortunately ended when my parents chose for their retirement Weston Super Mare. I went to Bristol Royal Infirmary to train to be a nurse and met up with many Uni students, one being who was to become my better half. We both qualified, he as a Chartered Accountant, and I was then Sister for the students of the Bristol Uni after having worked as senior scrub nurse in ENT and night sister in Weston. We tied the knot in 1970, had a lovely house on the outskirts of Bristol when my husband, in 71 accepted a post in Paris, to become the liaison partner for Paris and Bristol but after 2 years a client asked for help to set up a business in Normandy. When finalized, he was then offered the post of Financial Director which he accepted for a stint of a year or two! And here we still are now in our retirement!

Life has been good, our three boys are well placed after having done their schooling both in France and luckily in England, Bristol, London and altho' dispersed, wish that their parents stay put where they were brought up. One day we might return to England! My choice would be Milford on Sea.

Well, Mr David, you may well regret asking for a little more, once started I could go on and on and..............when one's nearing 70 the past becomes such a delight to remember!"