February 2021

February 2021
63
February
by Jean Medcalf
February: lipchap nipnose dripnose
Frostbite chilblains and boys’ mauve knees;
February: steam breath ice crack hoarfrost
Fern windows leaf rime and falling silent snow.
February: crunchgrass snowcreak stiffmud
Stonesong on iceponds; sheets rigid on the line;
February: hot toast warm slippers muffins
Coalfires scorched legs and pictures in the flames.
February: hotmitts earmuffs greatcoats
Balaclava helmets and warm woolly vests;
February: snowdrops primrose crocus
Blacktwigged almond blossom, pink before the leaf.
February: candlemas purify expiate
Barebranch stripbare nothing to hide;
Daffodils greenspear upthrust through the earth
Trees deciduous decide to bud again.
The Nightingale pub was run by a landlord
called Jock. The corner door of the pub was
for off-sales; it led through to a tiny woodpanelled
corridor, where there was a jar of
arrowroot biscuits, a penny each. The landlord
kept white doves in a dovecote in the little
garden behind the pub.
There was B. Forster the builder further down,
and at the bottom of Elmcroft Avenue was a
rag and bone yard with a horse and cart. The
horse was called George and the children
used to give him apples.
Going up Nightingale Lane, on the right-hand
side was a junkyard called Cardy’s run by an
elderly chap, and on summer days, he would
often close early and hang up a sign to say
‘GONE FISHING’!
Further up, near the top of the road, was
S.E. Bamforth, the clock and watch mender,
a little, venerable white-haired man with
a collarless shirt, who peered over the top
of gold-rimmed specs. The shop was tiny
– filled with ticking clocks – and very dark,
illuminated only by a hissing gaslight.
So, we could get most of our shopping just
around the corner. Once a week I would push
my heavy pram up Nightingale Lane to the big
High Street shops. I will tell you about them
next time.
Jean’s book To Everything There is a Season
is available in paperback (£4.75). Visit
wnstd.com/jean
Please mention the Wanstead Village Directory when responding to adverts