The Raids Ease

The virtual cessation of bombing raids brought with it a more relaxed atmosphere to the town. Air raid warnings were still frequent for a time but by now my mother, along with everyone else had become quite blase about them and she no longer sat shivering with cold in an air raid shelter. She now had two part time jobs, the Food Office and the Maypole grocery store in Evesham Street. In spite of wartime constraints, we were occasionally able to indulge ourselves a little with a meal at the Kingfisher Restaurant for one shilling and nine pence or, indulge in my mother's weakness, jam tarts from the Wimbush bakery. The bakery, owned, by two plump and rather dour sisters struggled to provide delicacies throughout the war. They had "platted bun" hairstyles that made them look as if they were wearing headphones and the eldest one intrigued me as she had a moustache and pronounced facial warts and my mother was always chastising me for giggling about her when we were in the shop.

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