Mabel’s formative years were spent in and around Bramshaw on the edge of the New Forest. School life, complete with rhymes and riddles, country life and ways, and her surroundings are described in detail. Life in service with Mr Bonham Carter, Sir George Thursby and the Earl of Radnor, among others, gives a glimpse of life in a bygone age. From 1965 to 1989 Mabel kept a daily diary. It is from these diaries that her reflections on life in the Itchen Valley, close by Winchester, are taken. The price of bus fares, the effects of the moon landings, the first colour televisions, and involvement on archaeological digs along the route of the M3 are all mentioned. There are also many amusing anecdotes. Mabel’s keen love of the countryside, and the animals and plants around her, are an ever present part of her thoughts, observations and writing. Her practical pursuits, such as bell-ringing and tapestry, are also represented.