Book description
In a remote corner of rural Essex, when ploughs were drawn by heavy
horses and children walked shoeless to school, young Spike Mays lived
with his family in a two-up, two-down cottage, where there was no
electricity, no bathroom, no running water and just a shared privy in
the back yard. Beset by poverty, this was an England in the shadow of
the Great War.
In this bittersweet memoir Mays recreates the village, its travelling
parson, local poacher and even the local drunkard. And in the bustling
backstairs world of the squire's house where Spike served his
apprenticeship we see a more privileged side to life. This warm and
nostalgic portrait of a very different Essex opens a door to a distant
past. Spike Mays wrote several other memoirs detailing his life in
Essex.
