My mother has been telling me stories from her childhood and other family-related incidents. It is always so interesting to hear about the 'old days' and the things they could get up to - there weren't the social dangers of modern times, and they got up to things we would never dream of doing with all the ease of transport and modern technology now.
Mom lived in Plumstead all her life, except for a few years in Kalk Bay in the 1930s - her father loved to go fishing and Granny decided to move the whole household to Kalk Bay, opposite Woolley's Pool, for a year or three so that he could fish after work. Who would even think of that now? While living in Plumstead, the four girls were not allowed out of the gate without Granny's permission, but in Kalk Bay they ran free, and she seldom even knew where they were! They were mostly down at the harbour, watching all the comings and goings, but mainly to join the youngsters who were always invited to go for a sail around False Bay in a boat belonging to an old man. He was Sir Abe Bailey, and his boat was called Felicity. He was in a wheelchair and there was a special place in the harbour where he could be wheeled onto his boat via a kind of slipway. When the local kids saw the boat drawing up to the jetty, they knew a ride was in the offing and would rush over to watch Sir Abe and his posh guests embark. Once they were all settled, he would turn around and call to the kids to jump aboard and off they would go.
My Granny had no idea that her children were sailing around the bay on Sir Abe's boat, but I doubt whether they ever got into trouble. What a marvellous childhood!
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