My Christmas Memories – Part One: Anticipation.
As we entered the kitchen from outside, the four of us would remove our wellingtons and line them up on newspaper just inside the door.
The room had three doors; the one we had come in by, one into the dining room and a door in the corner leading to the scullery, where the fuel was stored for the log fire. In the right-hand corner of the scullery, a door opened on to a narrow flight of stairs leading to the attic, which we used for storage. As the stairs were narrow and spiralled, they were not very safe, so we were only allowed up if accompanied by our parents. These times were special occasions and caused a lot of excitement.
It was very dark and dingy, with a solitary naked bulb to light the way. The delicate threads of the spiders’ webs brushed our faces as we entered, showing the lapse of time between our visits. There were several attractions to this room, not least, I’m sure, was because we were rarely permitted to go up there; but also because all our old toys were kept in boxes and it became like an Aladdin’s cavern to discover them again. There would be old teddies, rattles and wooden bricks and old forgotten books that had seen better days. If we had been given half a chance, we’d have emptied all the boxes there and then, to discover the treasures beneath. We were rarely allowed to remove them, but I’m sure I smuggled some things out under my jumper on occasion!
However, by far the most exciting things kept up there, were the Christmas decorations. It would put a twinkle in our eyes at the prospect of seeing all the familiar baubles and trinkets that went on the tree; especially if the main purpose was to collect the boxes. 😊