Alec to his maternal uncle, Joe Fewings, and Joe’s wife Lydia:

Dear Aunt Lydia and Uncle Joe

Just a line to thank you both very much for the books/handkerchiefs you sent the children for Xmas. They arrived on Xmas morning – just right. I imagine you must have spent your Xmas somewhere near to Pat and her infants also possibly John and his. That being so you can well imagine the activity that went on in this camp. Two lucky girls had outsize Dolls Prams (how they came down the chimney we don’t know) and a number of Dolls and their clothes. Of course it was not long before they were proudly pushing the prams up the hill with their noses stuck up. As usual Xmas was very hectic and we are not sorry it is all over and we can slow down a bit. It is all very nice but takes a bit more energy to stay the course these days (poor old man*).

I hope you managed to steer clear of the floods. I saw something of the Somerset and Devon floods when I visited Plymouth at that time. Also a copy of your local paper found its way up from Clevedon. It must really have been fearsome at the time. We had nothing so severe at this end but on two occasions when out in car I had to divert owing to the road ahead being flooded.

The girls seem to have got over their car sickness now at least so far as local trips go. They have been none too well lately though, in fact we have been having interrupted nights due to Carol having a bad cold. She has bad catarrah and coughs a lot. During the day she seems well enough but the fun starts after she has been asleep for a short while. Susan being a bit older and more able to use her hanky looks a lot better and in fact is less affected by Winter ills. They are both growing rapidly and you would hardly recognise them. Pity you are not nearer so that you could see them, and they see you.

Susan will start school at Easter but has been going to Sunday School for about 18 months. Carol has been going to Sunday School for about 3 months. They have a Sunday School Party to attend on 21st, and that should be a short rest for Mother. Fathers are excluded so I have a rare chance to go and see a football match.

Well I hope Pat and John and families are keeping fit and yourselves, and hope it will not be too long before we meet. I read the Bowling results for the various tournaments this end and wonder if any of you get this far. Why not look us up if you do?

Love from us all, June, Susan, Carol and Alec

[*Alec would have been 38 at this point.]