About the Author

Paddy Staplehurst is the daughter of Rhaune LaslettOBrien, the founder of Notting Hill Carnival. She and her
two sisters were placed in St Etheldredas Home for girls in
1944. Paddy had been beaten very badly over a number of
years, so the Norfolk Social Services Department felt that
she and her younger sister Bille should be moved to a safe
place. Her elder sister Dawn had been in living in London
and she had been placed at St Etheldredas a few months
before. Paddy is married to Michael Staplehurst and
between her and Michael they have 13 grandchildren. Her
mother was Native American and her father Danish.
Paddys grandparents were Russian migrs and the family
is still living in London. She left school at 15, desperately
wanting to teach, but in those days it was the norm that
girls placed in a Home should leave school at 15 and a job
and lodgings would be found for them, although they were
still expected to earn their own keep. At 30 she gained a
Teaching Cert. and enjoyed teaching for 25 years. When
she had to leave teaching early due to the damage to her
back, she served nine years as a Magistrate. She is now
retired and grows and sells plants on Bedford market as
well as lecturing on Native Americans and teaching infant
school children to grow seeds.

Dedication
This book is dedicated to my sister Dawn, my husband and
friend Michael, my daughter Jeanette, my dear son Peb, his
wife Tarnya, my lovely granddaughters, Yasmin and
Danielle, and my grandsons, Callum, Marc and Vincent.

Paddy Staplehurst

BACK TO MY
BEGINNINGS

Copyright Paddy Staplehurst (2015)

The right of Paddy Staplehurst to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the
publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims
for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British
Library.
ISBN 978 1 78455 521 4 (Paperback)
ISBN 978 1 78455 522 1 (Hardback)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2015)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LB

Printed and bound in Great Britain

Acknowledgments
My sincere and heartfelt thanks to my friend and mentor
Roger M. Allen, without whom this book would have never
been finished.

Paddy Staplehurst

There is no universal truth! There is only the truth each of us

holds in our heart. Sometimes my truth may touch anothers
heart, sometimes another may recognise my truth, but each
one holds their truth in their heart.

This is my memoir recounting my memories which will not

be the same as anyone elses memories. If others saw
things differently, it is not a case of right or wrong; it is
rather how we remembered events at that time. We are all
different, thank God.
This is a true story, but some names have been changed to
ensure privacy.

St. Etheldredas Home

The Sisters Front Door

10

The Chapel

11

Contents
Chapter 1: Back to My Beginnings
15
Chapter 2: Crime and Punishment
18
Chapter 3: Lost and Found
26
Chapter 4: Buttercups and Daisies
33
Chapter 5: Christmas Is Coming
39
Chapter 6: Locked Doors and Closed Shutters
50
Chapter 7: And Christ Is Born
59
Chapter 8: Traditional Times
67
Chapter 9: A New Beginning
72
Chapter 10: Several Invitations and a Stranger
84
Chapter 11: The Great Escape
91
Chapter 12: Murder, Escape, Gifts and a Stranger
98
Chapter 13: A Friend at Last
109
Chapter 14: Ghosties and Ghoulies and Long Legged Beasties
117
Chapter 15: A Gentle Death
124
Chapter 16: Home from Home
127
Chapter 17: News from Another World
136
Chapter 18: A Holiday by the Sea
141
Chapter 19: Climbing to the Heights and Depths
148
Chapter 20: Away Again To The Seaside
151
Chapter 21: A Visit From God and Another Weapon in her
Armoury Against Bullies
157
Chapter 22: Auntie Mary Plays Detective
162
Chapter 23: A Prolonged Stay in Hospital
167
Chapter 24: Another New Start and Learning to Fly
171
Chapter 25: Introduction to a New Sport
176
Chapter 26: The Variety of Routine
181
Chapter 27: White Socks and into the Pit!
185
Chapter 28: Steeple Jacks and Barred Windows
195
Chapter 29: At Last...A Mystery Solved? Well Almost!
198
Chapter 30: There are More Things in Heaven and Earth... 202
Chapter 31: A Near Drowning?
205
Chapter 32: A Moral Dilemma and an Unanswerable Question
209
Chapter 33: Ballet Lessons and a New Skill
214
Chapter 34: The Birds and the Bees
217
13

Chapter 35: The End of an Era and Marlene Learning to Walk

Again!
221
Chapter 36: Criminals All? A Taste of Teaching
224
Chapter 37: A Taste of Heaven...Then Reality and Then There
Were Two!
227
Chapter 38: Marlene in Real Trouble and Rosies Sudden
Disappearance
232
Chapter 39: Marlene Broadens Her Activities
236
Chapter 40: Another Battle and Bille to the Rescue!
239
Chapter 41: Prefect Duties and That Nightmare Again!
242
Chapter 42: A Surprising Gift and Actually Shopping for a New
Dress
245
Chapter 43: Shopping For More Clothes and a Decision Made248
Chapter 44: Schools Out for Summer and an End of Childhood
251
Chapter 45: Another Invitation and a Reality Check
255
Chapter 46: Alone!
260

List of Photographs
Paddy Staplehurst
St. Etheldredas Home
The Chapel
The Plane Tree in the Front Garden of the St.
Etheldredas Home
The Home 1946
Paddy aged 7, 1948
The Home 1949
Playing with snow January 1950
Bille at The Home, January 1950
Paddling in the pond at the house of Lord Simon
MARYPORT 1950
Dawn in the Garden at Maryport
The Home 1952
Guide Camp 1954
School Photo 1956

14

8
10
11
17
17
82
83
106
107
108
140
146
147
150
194
254

Chapter 1:
Back to My Beginnings

She closed the door behind her and walked slowly into the
summer sunshine, hampered by her new suitcase. She felt
unreal; surely this wasnt the end, just this! Walking away
after twelve years, the good-byes and good lucks still
ringing in her ears, and she just walking away. She struggled
down the imposing front steps, which were wide, white and
curving to embrace and enfold the front door. Well one of
them anyway. Although the other door wasnt really the front
door, merely a small, modest exit or entrance which
happened to be sited at the front of the large house, the sort of
door every other house had. The Front Door had a brass, shiny
letter box and a large impressive brass knocker which
resounded echoingly through the Sisters hall. This was a
huge, barn-like, though very grand, front hall reserved
exclusively for the nuns who ran St Etheldredas or The
Home with the bleak efficiency which seemed to rule out
love; human or Gods. She remembered one night, but..
She passed the arid flower beds where the snowdrops
clustered thickly on dark January days, but which lay barren
for the rest of the year, shaded as they were by the bushes and
shrubs which gave this part of the front garden a dark,
forbidding air even in the bright summer sunshine, but that
was yesterday, last week, last month, last year, last decade,
last She remembered but that too was yesterday. Now

15