Page 75 - BR-May-2018

May 2018 May 2018

OBITUARIES BERE REGIS BOOK GROUP

word ‘Gentleman’ it will read, see John England.”
'The Clothes on their Backs' by Linda
“John has been the mainstay of our ringing group for more years than Grant
I can remember. His contributions to the Church and to the Village have been
enormous, from Churchwarden to the Post Office to historian to visitor to Orange Prize winner and shortlisted for the Man
countless people who were sick and needed “a bit of something from the Booker Prize 2008, the book tells the story of Vivien
allotment” to cheer them up. It is pretty difficult to think of any aspect of Bere Kovacs. She is the child of Hungarian Jewish
Regis life that he was not in some way involved”. refugee parents who, in her words, 'live like mice',
never talking about their families or their past,
And of course, all the while, he was helping Mary to continue to participate in sealing themselves off from the world. Vivien
and enjoy many activities that are part of our community. He took her out discovers the family history via Uncle Sandor, her fathers brother - a character
nearly every day for ‘a cup of tea’ at one of the many beautiful Dorset loosely based on Peter Rachman, the infamous Polish-born slum landlord of Fifties
locations they both loved, including Weymouth, Swanage, Wareham and and Sixties London. Both suffered horribly during the war and turned to
Lulworth.” profiteering after.
Sandor is ebullient, seemingly full of life and
hedonistic (the opposite of her parents, who
Tony Shave
want nothing to do with Sandor and are terrified
Let’s begin by listening to Tony in his own words and this is an extract from the of anyone finding out their connection to him,
book Bere Regis a Step Back in Time: particularly after he serves a prison
sentence).Vivien recognises Sandors personality

is reflected in herself, as she tries to find her
‘Tony Shave A Farmers boy’
identity through early widowhood, abortion, an
I was born in April 1938 at Rye Hill Farm, the main use of the farm in them days ill-judged affair, and the different clothes she
was dairy cows, milking, rearing Pigs and growing Corn we had about sixty wears during these periods. Clothes, and the
acres there. way they affect ones judgement of others, are a
recurring theme throughout the book. Other
In the 1950 there were approx. Twenty Four Farms in and around Bere. themes include survival and betrayal, trauma,
hypocrisy, the postwar experience of childhood,
I hope my memory serves me right and if I have made an error I apologies but it
gives an idea just how many working farms were in the Parish. also ethics and racism.
In the early days all the ploughing, sowing, reaping and mowing was All agreed the book is sensitively and well
undertaken by the horse and they were a vital part of the farm, later this was written, occasionally funny,and almost all
taken over by vehicles such as the Standard Fordson and the Little Fergi thought worth a read. It would be fair to say that
(Massey Ferguson) they were kitted out with all the it did not rank among our very favourite books,
appropriate implements for the jobs and as we or have that elusive quality of staying in the
became more mechanised life did get a little easier in memory over time.
some ways.

I never imagined back then, and it is still quite
frightening to think that we have computerised
combine harvesters that market at an approx. Quarter
of a million pounds.
You see back in our day we had to be up crack of

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