I sat on the top deck of the bus, near Britannia Pier in Yarmouth, and watched them fire rockets into the sky.” This was not a recollection of a bonfire night or of some grand royal occasion. No, Ted was remembering the Second World War, when men with white helmets marked “ARP” needed to see through the thick fog off the Norfolk coast just in case the Germans were coming to invade!

Ted Barham had four brothers, and the two older ones, Reggie and Jim, served in the Royal Navy as cadets. Unfortunately, you did not have to join the Armed Forces to be on the front line, and you had the Morrison shelter under the table and the Anderson shelter in the garden to prove it.

Ted recalls that there were several evacuee children from Gravesend who took up lodging near the War Memorial in Wymondham, including two boys who stayed with his Aunt Edie. They were warmly welcomed by the community in which they both worked and studied hard.

The War coincided with Ted’s school days, and he always had his gas mask on him when he went about his studies. His teacher, Mr. Clark, ensured that there was a vital supply of locally grown vegetables.

Mr. Clark taught Ted to recognise a plant called Fat Hen; a weed which is poisonous to cattle. Ted had to gather up the fat hen without staining his hands with the toxic berry juice and arrange for it to be burned. This way he protected cows and he did his bit to win the War.

It may be tempting to think of dividing our rubbish into black, green, and brown bins as just modern environmentalism. We can easily forget that, before the age of mass consumer goods, there was a time when second-hand rubber boots were treasured. Ted watched the people of Wymondham bring their ‘rubbish’ to the “Stray Ground” and saw volunteers carefully sort it into categories so that nothing was wasted.

Next time, Ted will tell you about his days as a teenage farm worker.