5th April 1941

Penelope Belfield drove in today, and put up at Port Lane. The little grey [pony] looks very well indeed. We spent the afternoon sorting out old stuff to give her in the way of a curry comber, bits of harness, etc. She looked lovely, in a green tweed coat, with a green bandeau round her hair, still stammering delightfully. I long to comment on it, and compare notes, but I just daren’t yet. I had hoped to give her tea, but we stayed too late so she had to drive away soon after 6. Tremendously heavy rain, which cleared up just before P.B. left. Harry Day gave me six eggs in exchange for a bundle of straw. Called at the Seymours’ tonight and hear that Jeff. Saunders is due to join the army on Monday. He is lucky that he is only going to Shotley, so I suppose will be able to get home fairly frequently. Poor Jeffrey, but I believe he is keen to go.

EJR spoke with a stammer and his journal must have been an important outlet for him to express his thoughts.


Jeffrey Saunders was a schoolfriend of EJR's and they had both had registered for National Service in the same week in 1940. CP

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