Page 14 - Demo

10in a little cotton tent. In those days you could usually camp where you like although you were supposed to ask a farmer if you could pitch in a corner of a field. You were often given some milk whilst doing so. Based on this trip the next year we went abroad. We got as far as Germany in 10 days or so traveling through France, Belgium, Luxembourg,and the Netherlands. The weather was poor the whole time and we were probably not eating enough for the work involved moving three speed bikes with heavy panniers. To get home we caught a ferry at Calais. Ferries in those days were very small and would only carry a few cars. Sitting in the lounge out of money and tired we must have looked wacked. A steward came up to us and we told him our story. Remember any foreign travel was unusual then, certainly by unaccompanied boys. He took pity on us and told us to go on deck and wait at the side of the galley door. We did so and were presented with a large plate of eggs, bacon, sausages, and chips. Wonderful. I was so excited that I had an immediate nosebleed. Bill left school after that so the next Easter I hitched up to Scotland with Roger Lovell and we camped on Ben Nevis and later Glencoe before hitching home. We got to the top of Ben Nevis in white out conditions with plenty of snow and got trapped for a time on the Glencoe ridge. We had no ropes or proper equipment and no one knew where we were. Frankly, we did not realise it was dangerous. One night in a pub we chatted to an old chap who proudly told us he could read and write. He proved this by showing us a certificate to that effect from his old regiment saying that on that day he had successfully read and copied the Regimental orders for the day. Times have changed. In the lower 6thPat Brownrigg and I often hitched over to Exeter to see Jill who was at university there. The various lads we met in her digs were always good for a cigarette or a glass of beer. We never had any problem hitching about and always got back in time. Eventually some younger boys