Rural Station

"Andrew and Brenda, we veterans and the current servicemen at the USAAF base have a wedding present for you. It was left at the base by an airman who didn't return but has now been renovated for you to use."

He held up the keys of the Standard 8.

"We know how difficult it can be now in England to acquire and run a car but we thought Andrew ought to be able to get around despite the injuries he received saving American and French troops during the First World War. Not only has this car been renovated at the base's motor transport workshop but they will have access to the base's petrol supply for five years. They won't need to be restricted by British fuel rationing. It is insured for the Groom and Bride to drive as I know they both can."

I don't know what I said in reply. Brenda assures me that I was suitably grateful and said the right things. I was still celebrating our marriage and having a car was a wonderful wedding gift.

The band played a slow dance as I took to the floor with Brenda. She was holding me up as we danced. After that she danced with John Rogers and Joan held me in her arms for that dance. Their two daughters also insisted on propping me up together as Brenda danced with Elmer, my best man. I danced once more with my wife before I protested that it was enough, please.

After that Brenda led me to an armchair as general dancing began, much more vigorous than anything I could attempt. She danced with Elmer a couple more times and with some of the other veterans. The Rogers daughters kept me supplied with food and drink. One of them, or Brenda, was beside me all the time as the dancing became more animated.

At five o'clock Brenda and I left to walk the short distance to her house. We had decided that was preferable as the dancing at the reception was likely to continue until the departure of the last special train and might disturb us in the Station Master's house.

We were grateful to sit down in her kitchen for a quiet cup of tea. Although Brenda is much younger than me, it had been a tiring day for both of us.

About eight o'clock with the sounds of the band in the distance we went to bed. Brenda had to help me to undress as my leg was painful. In bed I used my lips to arouse her before she straddled me and took my erection inside her. We made love slowly and steadily before I went to sleep with my bride's head resting on my shoulder. I slept so soundly, cuddled by her, that I was unaware of the special train leaving nor the Sunday morning scheduled service.

Brenda and I were beside Albert and the Rogers family to see the veterans leave with our grateful thanks. The veterans hadn't wanted a full evening meal because they were still eating the wedding buffet but they had had a full English breakfast and they were clutching their packed lunches. Both had been prepared by the Rogers family assisted by James.

After the veterans had gone I drove Brenda to church in the Standard 8. It was much more comfortable than walking five miles, even helped by the stick Brenda insisted I use.

The next week, while Albert was still running the station, we used our wedding present car to go touring each day to places we hadn't been to since before the war.

At the end of the week we resumed the normal routine at Kilndown Road station but the camping coaches were almost fully booked for the summer and the 'hostel' in the Officers' Mess was heavily used too. The takings at the Station rose significantly to about fifteen pounds a week but I was still worried about the future of the line.

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Epilogue

I was right to be worried. The railway asked that I should stay on as Station Master a couple of years after I should have finally retired. I suspected the reason was that the station and the line was threatened. In 1955 the expected line closure notice was issued by British Railways. The service would be replaced by buses, routed to the former stations and calling at the villages that had never had a railway line.

I was able to buy the station buildings and surroundings, including the camping coaches. The local council bought the track bed and made it into a cycle and walking path. I leased them access past the station buildings. We moved into Brenda's house. We turned the station and the station master's house into a hotel, with the hostel in the woods and the camping coaches run by the hotel managers -- the Rogers daughters and their husbands. Brenda and I, and my son's family, were sleeping partners.

Elmer and a few other of the veterans visited and stayed in the hotel but we were all getting really too old. I didn't feel as old as I actually was because Brenda was looking after me and ensuring I didn't overexert myself. I'm grateful for her love and still delighted she turned Elmer down for me. Every morning when I wake beside her I am still amazed that she chose, and loves me.

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Author's Note: "Kilndown Road station is based on Goudhurst (formerly Hope Mill) station on the Paddock Wood to Hawkhurst branch line which actually closed in 1961. That station was the first terminus of the line and built to a higher standard and capacity than was ever needed. The station was closer to the village of Kilndown than Goudhurst. The line saw many hop-pickers specials up to the mid-1950s. Freight traffic of farm and market garden produce was a significant part of the line's income until lorries became more available in the 1950s. The church and shop is in Goudhurst actually one mile and 250 feet up from Goudhurst station, not 'five hilly miles'. The "terminus market town" is Cranbrook. The junction station and town is Paddock Wood (or Maidstone). The Youth Hostel is Twyssenden Manor (now closed). The USAAF base is at Headcorn. The railway builders intended to extend the line through Tenterden and other Kent villages to Rye.

But as with most of my stories I have taken liberties with the geography and history. The proposed walking and cycling route is still just a proposal in 2019.