When we were fourteen year olds, myself and Mally Barnes, used to attend Staindrop Comprehensive School, but quite a lot of the time, we didn’t!

‘Playing the Nick’ (truancy) from school was, a regular occurrence for us two. Quite often, if we got there in the morning, we would ‘leg it’ at lunchtime! We would head for North Wood, or Cockfield Fell, after a quick call to one of our houses for supplies, usually some bacon, eggs and those tins of beans with the sausages in.

On one such occasion, we had escaped school at about 12-30, and were walking towards Cockfield along Staindrop Road. As we rounded the top bend, we ran smack bang into Frankie Barns, (Mally’s dad) who was out walking the dog.

“Where are you two buggers going?” snaps Frankie.

“Oh err, we’re on a sponsored walk” says I.

“Sponsored bloody walk!” says Frankie, “who for?”

Quick as a flash Mally retorts “Church of England father!”

I don’t know how, but we seemed to get away with it, and proceeded to nip round his house and raid the fridge!

One of our favourite hangouts was a small cave near swallow bend, down the beck. (The beck is actually the river Gaunless, at the bottom of Cockfield Fell).

We would build a dam, go trout tickling, and then set up a camp fire and have a spot of lunch.

After our ‘Royal Feast’ of mostly burnt bacon and scorched beans, we’d go looking for Alan Dent’s horse. (Alan, who sadly died a couple of years ago, was a great mate, and I’ve a couple of tales about him in future blogs!) Mally always had a bit of bailer twine with him, and we would ‘lasso’ the poor unfortunate animal, and the two of us would ride it up and down the fell. (Well, chase it more like!).

In those days, money was quite tight, and we never had much in the way of trendy clothes, but my ‘pride and joy’ was a ‘Bush Hat’.

I know, I know, it seems silly now, but in those days it was the thing to wear! It went everywhere with me, a bit like Dolly’s baseball cap does today!

We were walking back home from the fell one day, when I realised to my absolute horror, I’d left my bush hat behind.

“I’ll nip back for it!” says Mally.

I remember thinking what a great friend he is, going all the way back down to the beck, just to get my bush hat!

Awhile passed, and Mally returned, but NO bush hat.

“Where is it then?” say I, in a state of panic.

“WELL!” says Mally with a grin.

“When I got down there, I was desperate for a cr*p, and when I’d finished your bush hat looked a far better proposition than a dock leaf, so I used that!”

I was devastated, and to be fair, I’ve never quite forgiven him, until last week!

I was sat in the Bottom House, and in walked Mally with his partner Suzanne.

“Got a present for you Dowsey” he says, “I know it’s a bit overdue, but it’s something I’ve felt guilty about for over thirty years” (Liar!).

IT WAS A BUSH HAT!

And so, after all these years, HARMONY has been restored, but I think I’ve just about grown out of wearing a bush hat now!!