Downstream

family, who lived on a
council estate in Hersham,
had just enough money to get
the bus to Walton Bridge for
a picnic and a swim. Fifty or
so others were already there,
shirtless men with knotted
handkerchiefs on their heads,
women sitting on old army
blankets cutting bread for
watercress sandwiches. ‘It
cost nothing and was a day
off from the factory, or
cooking and washing