Dennis sent in this memory from his childhood

My grandparents home, named Snave cottage(some know it has 'Old Thatch')it was
set within a few acres of good productive ground, cottage was a bit mis-description
as it was large enough to house eleven children and two adults, it had a thatched roof and
whitewashed exterior walls and when the thatch had been renewed it could have
been shown on the proverbial Chocolate Box, contemporary photos show it to good advantage

Now for the down side! The water supply was from a pond in the corner of the field near the road, it contained many
species of weeds and pond life,(Bulrushes and other associated kinds, Duckweed, Frogs, Beetles and all their offspring's).
Grandfather had built in this pond a tall wooden structure with a ladder to the side and sitting
on top of this was a large galvanized tank with a semi rotary pump fixed on
the side which was used to raise water into this tank', it was then filtered through a
device containing stones of various sizes and finally through sand. The resulting
liquid was fed by pipe to the solitary tap in the Scullery, it looked
clear enough but it was always boiled before use and a good job
too, otherwise the whole family would have perished.

During our school holidays at Snave one of our delights was to be allowed
to climb the ladder and pump like crazy to fill the tank with
water, tadpoles,beetles,weeds,etc.: There was no other supply, it could be called "Snave Choice" after "Hobsons Choice", it
was an ingenious setup but would have today's Health Bods tearing their hair out.

I have been amazed how people of that era survived and prospered by
producing foodstuffs, it is a difficult industry because the public at large want cheap food and
today's supermarkets carry on the tradition, however, survive they
did, my grandparents raised eleven children, bought
their own property and a few acres of ground, they must have worked unceasingly and they
were not alone, many thousands of families of similar determination did the same.