APRIL 1941
It was time for exploration, in depth, of my new environment. Weekends and holidays were my time for exploring the land. Although I was severely reprimanded for staying out at the bombed house that evening, my mother did actually give me a lot of trust and freedom to do as I wanted. Somehow I worked out quickly how to re-assure her early on to get greater freedom later. She was still pressing me to stick firmly to side roads and not cross main roads; not to talk to strangers; not to stay out more than half an hour at a time. At first I obeyed the rules exactly and was back within thirty minutes of each trip for the initial four times out alone. Then I began to extend my wandering periods gradually but making it a bit more every time so that a full hour soon became an accepted s
