 |
 Ingredients |
|
| 1 | Rowntrees Jelly | |
| water | ||
| milk |
Method
- Use an ordinary Jelly. The recipe will specify a quantity of water.
- Use only half of this to make up the jelly.
- When all the jelly is dissolved allow to cool but not set and make up to the full quantity of liquid by adding milk.
- Leave in a cool place to set.
The first time I remember having a milk jelly was when I was in the Children's Ward of the City General Hospital, Sheffield - a few weeks before the Queen's Coronation.
I had become seriously ill with an absess on my lungs caused by breathing in a small particle of tooth during and extraction. The Dentist's name was Mr Bowler, 6 Victoria Road, Barnsley. Today my parents would have sued, then it was unthinkable. I was living on Lucozade and not much else. I couldn't tollerate noise or daylight so the curtains remained closed. Every morning I vomited back most of the Lucozade up in the form of a yellow liquid. After that I was at home to visitors. I slept day and night downstairs in a make-shift cot of our two comfortable chairs and the fire was kept going round the clock to keep me warm. I think my mother thought I was going to die and looking back I was probably not far from being dead. One or other of my parents would sleep in a chair near me.
I was taken one day to St Helen Hospital, Barnsley and kept in all night. I screamed and cried but no-one came to my rescue. I was abandoned by my parents, though more likely in those days they were not allowed to see me. I must have fallen to sleep or maybe I was given drugs because when I woke up I was in a strange new hospital in Sheffield. There were these strange tubes coming out of my chest to drain the abscess.
A new invention had enabled Doctors to see inside my body - X Ray, and so I was transported off by ambulance. In the next bed to me was a lovely small boy called Dougie, he had been kicked in the stomach by a horse. Whilst I was ill, he was a wreck. We had fun together for a short time. He died while I was in hospital. To this day I just don't understand why humans have to ride these dangerous creatures. I keep well clear of horses.
For years after I had 6 montly X rays. The immortal words "Breathe in, hold your breathe, thank you!" are in printed in my mind to this day.
The windows were always wide open and the birds would swoop down and peck food off our plates. They were most welcome visitors.
Unfortunately these were the days of human visitors not being welcomed into the hospital wards and my mother could only see me twice a week for just 30 minutes. She brought jelly every time for me and Douggie in the next bed who seemed to have no visitors.
When I came to France I was introduced to a man who it turned out was from Barnsley. Fate had been cruel to him also as he had met up with Mr Bowler and had had the same problem after an extraction.Sadly his lungs were more damaged than mine.
I have written this from knowledge I gained in my teens. My parents never told me how ill I was, a friend told me. Apparently at St Paul's Church in Old Town, Barnsley the congregation prayed for me every Sunday. It must have worked because I got better. I was never a very strong child but I got by.
Note Rowntrees Jelly is no longer available but Chivers or Hartleys seem to have taken over the original recipe. In France it is impossible to buy jelly - what do French kids throw at each other at birthday parties?
I hope you and your children enjoy milk jelly as much as Dougie and I did.