MEGI Rychlikova’s splendid column (“Respect rules of rural life”, The Press, April 14) brings back childhood memories.

During the 1940s within the Acomb district as children we were free to roam the fields and woodlands, providing one did not incur the wrath of the farmers.

It was a healthy upbringing.

However, I do recollect that on one occasion, along with my fellow conscripts, straying from the straight and narrow.

Retribution by the farmer resulted in being herded along with his herd of cows into his milking shed and, wearing short pants, possible hypothermia from the freezing interior became evident.

However, instead of sour milk during my teens, a glowing character reference on my application to join York City Police Cadets by said farmer ensured I became a saint and not a sinner.

Kenneth Bowker, Vesper Walk, Huntington, York