Residents and staff at Hargrave House care home in Stansted Mountfitchet enjoyed a sumptuous tea party to celebrate VE Day 80 and were entertained by a ukelele band, who played hits from the 1940s.
Some shared their memories of the wartime years. Paula Glennard, who was born in 1931, remembered celebrating VE Day at home in Reading: “My mother prepared food for the party (all the mums prepared and shared food, which was a miracle when rationing was still in effect). The party was held in a street where there were no vehicles. I had to babysit my brother most of the time but I remember all the various characters. After the party we all sat together with tea and cake, chatting.”
Sandra Matthams, who was born in 1942, said the songs played at the Hargrave House celebrations brought back a lot of memories. “I was born in a little Scottish village called Inchinnan, near Glasgow, close to the river Clyde which used to be a big shipbuilding centre. Inchinnan itself had a tyre factory and the workers were bussed in from Glasgow every day. If the air-raid sirens sounded, all the men had to seek shelter in nearby fields. The funny thing was that they were more frightened of the cows than the bombing, as they’d never seen cows before!”
Many families were still in deep mourning when the war ended. Teresa Alson, who was born in 1931, remembered that her family didn’t celebrate VE Day: “My brother had been killed by a German bomb while serving as a fire watcher on a roof and we were still very sad.”
Others, like Norah Selwyn, born in 1927, only just missed being called up for service: “I remember the feelings of jubilation knowing the war was over,” she said. “If it had continued for another six months, I would have been expected to support the war effort.”
Part of the AgeCare Care Homes portfolio, Hargrave House has 58 ensuite bedrooms and elegant interiors with period features, high ceilings and wood panelling, famously showcased in the popular ‘Lovejoy’ television series.
