There were lots of smiles and even a few tears when former residents of Helston Children’s Home reunited to share stories and memories of their time living there.

Seven of them joined members of the Baden and Martin History Group for the event last Wednesday, held at Helston Methodist Church hall.

They included siblings Christine James and David Caunter, and their brother Arthur Caunter, who were the inspiration behind the reunion.

Also attending were Pauline Harvey (known as Sheila Mugford during her time at the home), Shirley Butson (nee Tucker), Alistair Cock and Keith Palmer.

Shirley Butson (nee Tucker), went in the home with her sisters Ruth and Vera in 1964.

She remembers the children walking to school hand in hand, in a line, and buying sweets for the younger ones.

Mrs Butson said: “We had to do what we were told, but it was nice.”

On Saturdays a farmer called Mr Parker would collect the children and take them to Trevease Farm, near Constantine, where they would ride the horses and tractors.

However, he had to stop in the end after finding it too upsetting taking them back.

Violet Broadhurst (nee Meadland) who used to own a taxi in Helston, took chocolate, fruit and toys to the home at Christmas.

Keith Palmer was only at the home for three years, between 1959 and 1962, while his mother waited to be allocated a house in his home town of Falmouth.

He and his eight other siblings were separated around the county in different children’s homes.

He believes the experience “left scars,” explaining: “The family never gelled again after that.”

Mr Palmer, who was there between eight and 11, remembers the home at that time as being “very disciplinarian”, describing it as “almost like a barracks.”

He said: “We had to make the beds or strip the beds, move carpets and sweep the rooms, all before we went to school. When we came in we had to clean down everywhere and polish the floors with wax.

“The whole thing was a bit alien to me; it seemed a bit strict really. It was easier than a workhouse, but they weren’t going to make it easy for you.

“We were a burden on the state and they let you know it. But they put a roof over your head.”

Pauline Harvey (Sheila Mugford), now living in Truro, was four when she went into the home in 1939 and doesn’t remember her parents, although she has since discovered a brother.

She remembers an upstairs “mother” and a downstairs “mother”.

She became particularly close to the upstairs care worker, Kathleen Northcott, who attended her wedding and that of her two children, and they kept in touch until Miss Northcott died.

Mrs Harvey was allowed to stay at the home an extra six months longer than she should have, until a nursing place became available.

She said she had good friends at the home and got on well with the teachers, and remembers being able to dance on Flora Day.

Also at the reunion was James Henry Beard, from Helston, who was unsure whether he stayed at the home as a child.

His mother was at the workhouse in Helston and he hopes to find records at County Hall that will tell him more about his background.

The children’s home opened in 1936, originally called the Cornwall Public Assistance House.

It was to combat the amount of children living in the orphanage section of Helston’s workhouse, with at least 20 there in 1920.

Built on the Green Downs by Trethowan’s Builders of Constantine, it cost nearly £3,000. It was opened by Henry Toy, ten times mayor of Helston, who was knighted two years later. Rumour is he was born in the workhouse himself and rose from these disadvantaged beginnings to become a knight.

Originally the home only accepted girls, aged between three and 16 years, with boys not joining until later.

It was run by social services in the 1950s and in the 1960s or 70s it became part of the National Children’s Home; the date of its closure is not known, but could be as late as the early 1980s.

It was able to cater for 24 children in total, with the home split in half – 12 on each side and around six in each dormitory.

The idea for a reunion first arose following a talk on the children’s home Vyvyan House in Casterills Road during the history group’s meeting last November.

Such was the interest that Christine James and David Caunter were invited to the December meeting and as a result an appeal went into the Helston Packet calling for former residents to get in touch – the result being last week’s reunion.

Many members of the history group brought food, which was also provided by Helston Tesco thanks to community liaison officer Nikki Walker.

The history group, led by Baden Christophers and Martin Matthews, meets at the Methodist hall on the second Wednesday of each month, with the next meeting taking place on Wednesday, October 8 between 10am and noon.