We cubs had an orienteering competition there. I remember the restrained but distressed weeping of our Akela when our group turned out to have done really badly in the contest. I also remember the excitement of using mud and pebbles to dam a small stream in the same park with a friend. And getting a piece of paper, wrapping it round some dried leaves, and smoking a mock cigarette. Absolutely horrible!
Auntie Dora never married. At a certain point, she decided to leave London, and go back to her town of origin, Ashby de la Zouch, near Leicester. This was unhappy for us, since it was like losing a family member, but our reaction was not just a selfish one. We were anxious whether after so many years away she would be able to reestablish herself in her home town. She did. And she continued as a loved and respected primary school teacher in a school just up the road from where she lived.
