As the Haynings had no central heating, the winters always seemed extremely cold. The kitchen stayed warm with an anthracite stove, which also heated the water. The drawingroom fire was only lit on special occasions, so that the main room in the house was the diningroom, warmed by a Baxi fire with doors which would open to give out a wonderfully warm glow. Two other rooms had fires, the surgery, looked after by Ruth the cleaner, and the little room behind the kitchen, which doubled as a maid's room or a playroom. The waiting room had only a paraffin stove.
The diningroom was the hub of the house. It was large enough to take an 8 seating square oak table, a big dresser sideboard and old brown leather suite in front of the fire. After morning surgery, Dan would have his cup of tea and plan his visits. Lunch was a proper meal in those days, and after school the children would come in for high tea. We never ate in the kitchen. Sometimes we had a maid and we took it in turn to ring the bell, which was circular and set into the wooden panelling. The rooms upstairs were positively freezing - stone hot-water-bottles, bed socks and double layers of clothing made it bearable, but the beds still felt damp climbing into them. In the morning there would be a cold draught coming down the open chimneys and ice would be present on the inside of the windows. For a treat, you would be allowed a single bar of an electrical fire to dress by. The only time the fires were lit was if someone was ill. Then it would be really cosy.
In winter the river, running through marshy land, close by Framlingham Castle, floods over the surrounding meadows causing a mere to form. I think it must have been the cold winter of 1947 that we went down to play on the ice. By the time we arrived home, I was frozen - so cold, in fact, that my feet and hands had to be put in cold water, which was gradually warmed to thaw me out.
Christmas was always an exciting time. We spent many hours making utility paper-chains to loop around the room with what remained of the sophisticated, prewar decorations. We were allowed our first present on Christmas Eve, just one from the pile under the tree. The Christmas tree would stand in the corner of the diningroom, lights would be turned out, and the real candles, in little flower shaped holders, would be lit. The stockings were hung in our parents room over the fireplace. Christmas morning, all would gather in the big double bed - the 2 little boys at the top, the older 3 children at the bottom, clutching stockings, firmly tied with string so as not to be opened until all gathered together. Stockings were simple affairs, pencils and sharpeners, small tin toys and little books and always tangerines in the toes. Presents too, were small by today’s standards, but given in such a loving atmosphere seemed to be just what we wanted. Only once was there a real disappointment, but that was when I was 12 and had asked for a handbag, meaning a ‘horseshoe shaped fashionable shoulderbag’. What I unwrapped was a child’s bag with two handles. I was lost for words, but probably my face showed it all. After stockings, breakfast and then church. I remember singing “It came upon a midnight clear...” and “Hark the herald angels sing...” at the Methodist Church in Wellclose Square, Framlingham. Following this, more presents were opened around the fire, and Christmas dinner was served on the best china in the evening.