Epping Forest
Waltham Abby Epping The town is named and renowned for its former abbey, the last in England to be dissolved, now the Abbey Church of Waltham Holy Cross and St Lawrence a scheduled ancient monument and the town's parish church.
Waltham Abbey
Our family moved to Waltham Abbey, a town famous for its ancient abbey β the last in England to be dissolved β now known as the Abbey Church of Waltham Holy Cross and St Lawrence. The town, steeped in history, lay on the edge of Epping Forest, a vast woodland alive with deer, foxes, and birds. Even during the war, it offered a strange sense of sanctuary, though the presence of army bases, convoys of military trucks, and young Land Girls working the fields served as constant reminders that life was far from normal.
I was only an infant at the time, so most of my memories of Waltham Abbey are vague. One incident, however, has stayed with me all these years. By all accounts, it unfolded very quickly.
A couple of Land Girls, amused by my youth, lifted me onto the back of a bicycle as they strolled along a forest path. It must have been quite a sight β carefree, innocent, and entirely unaware of what was about to happen.
The peace of the forest was suddenly broken by the rumble of an army convoy. The girls waved and smiled at the passing soldiers, unaware of the danger ahead. A hidden iron girder protruding from one of the trucks struck my head.
What followed was chaos β confusion, fear, and urgency. I was fortunate to survive, though a faint scar on my scalp remains to this day, a quiet reminder of how fragile life can be. My father pursued legal action on my behalf, and a compensation award was secured and held in trust until my twenty-first birthday β the beginning of another story, for another time.
After I recovered from this early brush with danger, our next significant move came in 1947, when our family relocated to Dover, opening the door to a new chapter of my life.