8: The Parish PicnicThe annual picnic was the highlight of the Catholic diocesan year. Everyone in the surrounding parishes: parents and children, nuns, priests and teachers, old and young, rich and – more usually – poor, went on foot or took the new horse trams from the city centre, carrying baskets of food and wearing their Sunday best. Their destination was the downland above the city at Clifton.
Jack, as a member of the teaching community, was expected to assist with the supervision of the children as they participated in sprints, sack races and ran with the egg and spoon. Eliza was relegated to serving the refreshments as well as keeping an eye on the smaller children. The whole community was in high spirits and the sun had emerged from behind the clouds that had blanketed the city f
