Why have you never moved from Westbury? <\/i><\/p>\n
I have never had occasion to <\/i><\/p>\n
You have travelled far <\/i><\/p>\n
Were you never tempted?<\/i><\/p>\n
Often but Westbury is my home <\/i><\/p>\n
I am sad that my health does not allow me to fly <\/i><\/p>\n
Often I look at the sea and think that this sea runs into other seas and those seas run in rivers and the rivers run into the English counties <\/i><\/p>\n
I often travel and look at the sea and think of you <\/i><\/p>\n
I miss our tree is it still there? <\/i><\/p>\n
No it was damaged after the collision and stood for a few more years before a storm finally blew it down <\/i><\/p>\n
What a lovely tree it was<\/i><\/p>\n
I often walk my dog through the Angela Field and think of our childhood years watching the bombers <\/i><\/p>\n
And in the years before the war climbing up to the White Horse <\/i><\/p>\n
Is it well? <\/i><\/p>\n
Very<\/i><\/p>\n
It is much loved <\/i><\/p>\n
As with many things it was neglected for a while and then restored <\/i><\/p>\n
Mr Paul spread his daughter\u2019s ashes up there a few years ago <\/i><\/p>\n
Do you remember Gladys Paul?<\/i><\/p>\n
Yes she was a small fat girl who found it difficult climbing up to the horse <\/i><\/p>\n
She died quite suddenly in a grocers shop in the town <\/i><\/p>\n
It was a hot day and she told Mrs Greaves that she felt a little dizzy <\/i><\/p>\n
They offered a her a chair to recover in the back parlour and when they returned poor Gladys had passed on<\/i><\/p>\n
It was typical of Gladys she did not want to burden anyone <\/i><\/p>\n
Poor Gladys <\/i><\/p>\n
Do you see many of our childhood pals?<\/i><\/p>\n
A few but most have moved on<\/i><\/p>\n
As I should have done <\/i><\/p>\n
But the view of the horse and the plains seduces me each time I return to Westbury <\/i><\/p>\n
I wish I could return with you and walk the fields of our home town <\/i><\/p>\n
The Old Town Hall is now a run-down Pizza shop\u00a0 <\/i><\/p>\n
Is the town dying?<\/i><\/p>\n
Yes and no <\/i><\/p>\n
Parts of it are decrepit but there is so much life elsewhere <\/i><\/p>\n
Do you often go to the library?<\/i><\/p>\n
Frequently <\/i><\/p>\n
And is the railway station still as far from the town as it always was? <\/i><\/p>\n
Yes nobody has thought to bring it nearer <\/i><\/p>\n
Is the early May light still as luxurious on the hills as it was when we were children?<\/i><\/p>\n
Probably better <\/i><\/p>\n
And the field <\/i><\/p>\n
With the exception of the tree it is very much the same <\/i><\/p>\n
If you look carefully you can still see the scars of the accident <\/i><\/p>\n
Occasionally where I am there I meet Canadians who lost fathers and sons on that dreadful day <\/i><\/p>\n
They speak to me and take great interest when I tell them of our tree <\/i><\/p>\n
I tell them that you witnessed the accident and for some reason this brings them a sense of peace <\/i><\/p>\n
I cannot really explain the emotion but because you were there and survived it brings closure to these people\u00a0 <\/i><\/p>\n
It is a pity that I will never see Westbury again <\/i><\/p>\n
But my lungs would not tolerate air travel <\/i><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Last one to the tree is a pudding
\nBe careful Angela
\nDo not fall
\nDo not be a Gladys
\nRoger show some spirit
\nWhere do you think the bombers are going?
\nTo Germany <\/i><\/p>\n
I hope they all return <\/i><\/p>\n
They will as they will want to see you again <\/i><\/p>\n
Waving to them <\/i><\/p>\n
From the Angela Tree <\/i><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Why have you never moved from Westbury? I have never had occasion to You have travelled far Were you never tempted? Often but Westbury is my home I am sad that my health does not allow me to fly Often I look at the sea and think that this sea runs into other seas and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3434"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3434\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}