Autobiography

I also didn’t expect a life-threatening drama at
a charity open day we hosted in the grounds of
our home in Caterham. To promote it we had
thousands of leaflets delivered to local homes
in the area, plus I did a number of radio and
newspaper interviews to let people know about
our special day.
When we woke at seven a.m. on Sunday it was
overcast and pouring with rain. We were due
to open the gates at eleven a.m., and our
army of helpers began to arrive, with the rain
still cascading down.
Lesley, who had done no publicity for her open
day in Hurstpierpoint and whose garden would
have fitted snugly into my hall, had had twelve
people waiting at her gate when she opened
her garden to the public. At eleven a.m. on
the debut Charity Open Day at The Chalet, we
had none. There was not a soul in sight as the
rain continued.
What a disaster. Jacqueline and Ralph were
due to arrive to do some book signings of their
autobiographies, but there was not a single
person there to greet them. Thankfully, the
skies lightened and the rain began to abate,
and by midday we had people arriving.
Because of the bad weather we’d set up seats
and tables in the indoor swimming pool area
and I’d closed the electric pool cover. As I was
sitting talking to Kevin Black, the photographer
from the local newspaper, a woman walked
straight on to it and immediately sank up to
her ankles. I couldn’t understand it as I
thought the cover was so obvious, but even so
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