Red House to Exodus: Growing up in Harpenden in the 1950s and 1960s

Di Castle was born at Harpenden Memorial Hospital (known as the Red House) The memoir, set in Harpenden, spans the 1950s and 1960s - a time of great social change following the Second World War. It includes her home experience, early schooldays. Subsequently, transition to grammar school was followed by secretarial training at St Albans College of Further Education. She then worked as a medical secretary at Luton and Dunstable Hospital and later at St Albans City Hospital.

A The author has used research of the 1950s and 1960s to place her life in context. From starting school, Festival of Britain in 1951, the Coronation in 1953, milk and coal delivered by horse and cart, moving house, numerous pets such as rabbits, a tortoise, budgies, and even a mouse! She and her sister entertained themselves with skipping ropes, Jokari, hopscotch, a den made from runner bean canes and hessian sacks that brought our coal for our open fire and growing flowers and vegetables in our own dedicated gardens.

Red House to Exodus is a humorous yet informative memoir that combines historical research of the time and area and will appeal to anyone born in the post-war period.