Sunday 26th November 1939
Starshine 1939
The two days leave at home with the family (Father in naval uniform!) made me feel refreshed and no longer fed-up. Caught the 3p.m. train at St. Pancras with about ten minutes to spare and found a seat in a not-too-crowded Pullman coach. Later on I walked down the train to the tea wagon. There were many soldiers on the train and quite a few, like myself, wore breeches, puttees and spurs (now an unusual sight). The train was going towards the Cavalry concentration area!
Reached Trent at 6 o’clock, changed and reached Nottingham at 6:30p.m. Two hours to wait, so I went out into the town and was directed to a café for supper. Nice to be in Nottingham streets again, familiar yet strange, bathed in the brilliant moon’s light. Found the Hi Hat Café in Pelham Street. A snug little place, where I had egg, chips, bread and butter, and coffee whilst I read a book. Oh yes! The Richard Keverne mystery thriller I’d brought (something about Fleet Hall, a weird mansion on the East Coast) contributed greatly to the pleasantness of the journey.
After a slow journey in a crowded train I got out at Fiskerton – a station seemingly miles from anywhere in a desert of moonlit fields – at 9 o’clock and walked the two miles to Southwell. I was with four soldiers. (During the weekend I’d met many khaki travelling companions – ships that passed in the night…) A pleasant walk through a very silent countryside, our boots ringing on the hard road. A rough wind; and that great moon. Everything seemed unreal and deserted, as though it were terribly late at night. Yet I was back at billets by 10 o’clock!
So! Starshine begins with moonlight!
The two days leave at home with the family (Father in naval uniform!) made me feel refreshed and no longer fed-up. Caught the 3p.m. train at St. Pancras with about ten minutes to spare and found a seat in a not-too-crowded Pullman coach. Later on I walked down the train to the tea wagon. There were many soldiers on the train and quite a few, like myself, wore breeches, puttees and spurs (now an unusual sight). The train was going towards the Cavalry concentration area!
Reached Trent at 6 o’clock, changed and reached Nottingham at 6:30p.m. Two hours to wait, so I went out into the town and was directed to a café for supper. Nice to be in Nottingham streets again, familiar yet strange, bathed in the brilliant moon’s light. Found the Hi Hat Café in Pelham Street. A snug little place, where I had egg, chips, bread and butter, and coffee whilst I read a book. Oh yes! The Richard Keverne mystery thriller I’d brought (something about Fleet Hall, a weird mansion on the East Coast) contributed greatly to the pleasantness of the journey.
After a slow journey in a crowded train I got out at Fiskerton – a station seemingly miles from anywhere in a desert of moonlit fields – at 9 o’clock and walked the two miles to Southwell. I was with four soldiers. (During the weekend I’d met many khaki travelling companions – ships that passed in the night…) A pleasant walk through a very silent countryside, our boots ringing on the hard road. A rough wind; and that great moon. Everything seemed unreal and deserted, as though it were terribly late at night. Yet I was back at billets by 10 o’clock!
So! Starshine begins with moonlight!
posted by Paul Wilson at 7:43 pm
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