Camborne Parish Church

I was born and brought up in Prestwich, a small town 5 miles north of Manchester. I had just started school when World War 2 broke out, and I have vague memories of blackout curtains, sirens, a little cardboard box containing a gas mask and a big iron indoor shelter in the living room which served as a table (my friend and I used to tap dance on it!) and under which we slept when the bombing of Manchester was at its worst. I always attended Sunday School and then church at St. Mary’s Parish Church, lovely and very old, and incidentally often used now in the filming of “Coronation Street”. I was baptised, confirmed and married there.

My husband Peter was in the Fleet Air Arm for 22 years and we moved to various air stations all over the country. They were interesting & happy times, and I am still in touch with friends made in our “Navy days”.
After years of rented flats and married quarters, we decided that wherever his final posting was, we would start to buy our own house; that turned out to be Culdrose and we settled in Camborne. Our eldest, Janet, then aged 5, went to the Church schools here, followed later by Christine & Jennifer. The youngest two were baptised in Camborne Church and the eldest two married here.

On leaving the Navy, Peter decided to turn a keen hobby into a profession and became a local photographer. He never forgot the first wedding he photographed out in the country. It was a low key wedding and the bride’s mother arrived at the chapel in a battered old van, straight from the farm, wearing country jacket, headscarf and boots (not the stylish sort). Later he took photos for the West Briton and The Packet, and enjoyed attending the various shows & events. People still remember him from then, and he took a lot of photos for Camborne Church.

Sadly he died in 2000, a few years short of our Golden Wedding in 2006. That was a big adjustment, being alone after always being together, but life has to go on. I have a lovely family for support, three married daughters and nine grandchildren of assorted ages (eldest 23, youngest 2!). Luckily I also have many friends, not least of whom from church dating back 43 years. I joined the Church Wives (then called the Young Wives) when it started, and what fun we had over the years. Giving concerts to old folks homes and clubs (Fringe & Tassel still going strong of course!) and dressing up on floats for Camborne Carnivals, much to our children’s embarrassment.

I suppose my faith is rather quiet and private, but it goes deep and has sustained me through the ups and downs of life. I need it now especially: one of my grandsons, aged 20, is in the Army and out in Afghanistan for 6 months. Pray he keeps safe.

Enid Hughes