The Top Corridor

The top corridor

The bedrooms for family and guests were here

When the house had been home to the wealthy

Now the grand mansion was in decline

A widow and four children lived in the west wing

Far away from the corridor on the top floor

Which became the play area for the young minds

Whose adventures had left traces on the scene

Linen chests raided as they dressed as ghosts

Friends from the village would creep up back stairs

Past the servants’ quarters long since abandoned

To the top corridor with its long red carpet

At one end there appeared the fading wicket

Chalked upon the plaster that was crumbling away

A tennis ball and a bat discarded on a chair

Here young Humphrey had made a century not out

If the ball hit the wall it counted for four

The threadbare carpet ran from end to end

Where Alice and Sue had raced with their trikes

The State Room with its great bed piled with clothes

They played kings and queens in make-believe robes

Knotted sheets hung down from the four-poster

Where pirates had swung from their ship

Plastic cutlasses held between their teeth

Battles had been fought from room to room

A broken rocking horse stood by a door

On which Herbert had won at Royal Ascot twice

There had been life on this corridor in those days

With laughter and giggles and shouts of joy

Now all that remained for visitors to see

As they walk the corridor with a guide

Wondering why it had been left in such a mess

Were memories of Humphrey Herbert Alice and Sue

Copyright: David Hopcroft August 2025