Valentine Tron and her son Fred live at 14 Pound Green, Lt. Thurlow. She has lived in Thurlow for most of her life, and her parents and both maternal and paternal grandparents also lived in the village. Val has three other children who have left the village, the eldest John works as a chartered accountant in a managerial position in the prison service, Sybil is at Addis Brush Factory in Haverhill and Ruby worked for the Post Office.

Val is a housewife and spends a lot of time doing voluntary work with Mencap, Gateway Club, Lamp H and riding for the disabled. Son Fred enjoys riding, swimming, darts, golf, snooker and athletics.

They both enjoy their large garden. They like the quiet peaceful area in which they live with good neighbours and a feeling of security. Lack of transport is the down-side of living here.

Changes noticed by Val are the bridge by the Church being changed from the wooden structured one with the ford beside it to the tarmac one with just the wooden rails. “This is over the part of the river we used to walk through in the summer time. Heavy vehicles also had to use the ford as the bridge was unsafe for them. The old bridge was nearer the church side and in the winter it was frightening to walk over it when the water was high and the slats were a bit rickety”. She regrets the loss of the local village shop, the post office, the Red Lion public house and Edgar Baynes shoe menders and saddlery. She remembers warming herself at the blacksmiths which stood on the site of the bus shelter.

In her younger days everyone kept chickens and pigs in the back garden; rabbits and ferrets were also kept, and their dog was used as a guard, kept tied outside with a chain leading to its kennel.