Phineas Harper’s article reminded me of how much the Woodcraft Folk influenced my life (Like Jeremy Corbyn and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, I grew up in Woodcraft Folk. Here’s how it changes children’s lives, 16 August). In the early 1950s my parents actively sought a socialist children’s organisation. We lived in Clapham and the nearest Woodcraft group met in a co-op hall in Balham. The group was called Sunrise Elfins and the leader was Ada, the wife of national organiser Henry Fair.
In 1952, aged six, I went on my first of many summer camps. The camp was at Westward Ho! and was hit by a hurricane that was reported on the Daily Mirror’s front page. In 1959 I went to Czechoslovakia in a 10-strong delegation. One of my lasting memories was visiting Lidice, a village razed to the ground in reprisal for the assassination of an SS official, Reinhard Heydrich.
