My sister and brother are ten and eleven years older than me, so I am almost an only child. In August my aunt and uncle would come to stay at Barmeath for two weeks with their children, my cousins, Richard and Caroline. This was the highlight of the year for me.
I really looked forward to seeing Caroline (my age) again after a gap of a year – my aunt and uncle lived in England. We used to go to the greenhouse and make ourselves sick eating nectarines; Richard put both of us in the bath with the hot tap on – “first one out’s a sissy”. I forget which of us was the sissy, probably me, but we both looked like lobsters. We had wheel-barrow races on the landing. We went for picnics and rock climbing at Clogher Head. It was very Enid Blyton. When I was about seven my uncle took us to Donegal to stay in a rented cottage. The awful weather and my car sickness led him not to immediately repeat the experiment. However, wounds heal and two years later we went to Connemarra to stay in a cottage on the shore of Lough Corrib.
My sister came too with her boyfriend, Simon. My brother was stuck in the Irish Guards. Simon had a red two-seater sports car – what bliss! On Sunday morning Caroline and I perched on the back of Simon’s little car to go with him and Angela to buy the Sunday papers. The newsagent had them all laid out. At the same time, all of us realised that the front page picture was of Angela and Simon. Caroline and I were amazed, the newsagent rather thrilled and – I guess – Simon and Angela deeply embarrassed.
We went water skiing on the lough. An obliging local had a speed boat and said that he would send for skis. It wasn’t quite what Uncle Henty expected. He found an old door and nailed on a pair of bedroom slippers. It was a great ride for a nine year old like me (who didn’t know even how to swim) but not quite what my cosmopolitan uncle expected.
To be fair, in case I have again embarrassed Angela and Simon, I have dished it out to myself. The picture at the top of this post is of me and Aunt Cicely. The caption is incorrect. I remember teaching her the steps for the Lettuce Leaf Hop. I still remember the moves.
Now that I do remember, along with the biting wild donkeys in Donegal, the stilt walking competitions, rowing on the lake, roller skating down the passage in the Old Nurseries, and driving all over Ireland to replace the spirit level which Richard broke whilst talking to the builders repairing the pier at Salterstown. They were very happy holidays – and I’ve never found another nectarine as good!