Dick Crowe (seen here aged 12) visited Walsingham at the end of May 2008 for the first time since he left in 1945. He was in the original party of children who arrived in Walsingham from Fr Bernard Walke's parish in St Hilary, Cornwall, in 1939. This was the nucleus of what we have always known as our St Hilary's. Six weeks earlier his daughters had written to say that they wanted to bring him to revisit his old haunts, as an 81st birthday treat. Neither they nor the rest of the family knew anything about Walsingham, nor the story behind St Hilary's. Pages telling that story, and Dick's, with photographs and his reminiscences, link from this page. Click here for his reminiscences and here for the story of St Hilary's. They spent two very packed and at times emotional days in Walsingham - visiting old haunts, with Dick giving us all a fascinating non-stop running commentary throughout. He met Fr Philip and many others within the Shrine, and probably gave out to us much more than we gave him.

Dick explaining to the Senior Sacristan how things were done in the 1940s

Above - Dick at the kitchen window of Fr Patten's Vicarage. The children lived with Fr Patten for the first few years of their stay. The vicarage was at the time of Dick’s visit being converted into houses and apartments, and needless to say the kitchen did not look like this in the 1940s.

this photograph of the children from St Hilary was printed in Our Lady's Mirror: Miss Treby, the matron, (second from right in the back row) came from Corwall with them and stayed as matron until 1941

Dick and his granddaughter Scarlett with Fr Philip in the Refectory

top of page