I have busy collecting my stories together for the final ‘Made in Chertsey’ book. It’s taking longer than I thought. I saw this snippet of my virtual walk around St Annes Hill, and in my mind, I come across one of the long-lost summer houses that were thoughtfully placed to be within easy reach to shelter whenever a cloudburst threatened. Or on one of those very hot days when the tar on the side of the roads would melt and bubble. A hot day seemed to be really hot in days gone by, or maybe I am just remembering the drama of them.
We never hear of a ‘Cloudburst’ these days, but then, they seemed to always follow one of these very hot days, generally after a bank holiday or more likely during one. Being able to shelter in one of these summer houses, was a delight, thunder and lightning and the torrential rain that fell in such huge drops that it made the dry sand dance a foot high and make dusty bubbles float away down the path. Normally it only lasted a short while before the sun came out again, brighter than ever. I loved the sweet smell of freshly washed roads and the steaming leaf mould after one of these storms. From what I remember the summers were very hot for just a day or two and it was unusual to have a whole week of nice weather and you would hear people say.
“We were lucky to have that hot week in July for our holidays”.
Madeinchertsey 