Sunday Lunch

There was a time when Sunday lunch in the Haylett household was an occasion, whether at my mother's or at our house. This picture, taken in late 1988, shows our family with my cousin Susan and her husband Bobby at my parents' home in Fambridge Road, Maldon. There are three absentees from the picture - Katy, who took the picture, Rachael, who was born in 1989, and my father, who had just died. Despite this, the Christmas decorations are up.

My mother had a limited range of recipes for the main course on Sundays. Usually we had a roast - chicken, lamb or beef - but we were also presented with salt beef - not so popular - and curry. The curry was served with a number of side dishes including dried coconut, banana, chutneys, roasted cashews and peanuts, cucumber and diced dates.

It was common to ask others to join us for the Sunday meal. A guest I well remember was my 'Cousin Bay'. Helen (Bay) Liddell, my mother's cousin, a fearsomely intelligent and sharp lady who had been on the staff of the Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House, where she had been their expert on German affairs. Bay, who had very different political views from my father, thoroughly enjoyed a good argument, its intensity being fuelled by a glass or two of sherry and wine with the meal. Bay was a fairly frequent guest, driving over from Lewes when my parents lived in Hastings. In later years the meal was often delayed as Bay was late: she had dementia and increasingly frequently became lost along the road. This continued until, finally, she could drive no more.

While there were times when we wished that we weren't quite so tied to this weekly event, in general I have very happy memories of those meals. Despite the occasional argument, they brought the family together, something which cannot happen these days with the family so far apart.