In 1918 I was a child of 7 years and my parents had a business in High Street Merton - S.W. London and we lived behind and over the shop. We had a yard where Dad kept chickens and beyond the yard were the stables and sheds. The High Street was very busy with traffic, particularly trams and buses.

One day we went to Dad’s small farm in Sutton Surrey to see some newly arrived piglets. They were cute and very busy suckling from their huge mother. One little pig seemed squeezed out by his brothers and sisters and looked very sad and forlorn. He was smaller than the others and seemed most unlikely to survive.

My eldest sister Beatrice wanted to take him home and look after him and after much persuasion my father agreed.

So Charlie became a family pet. As he grew larger and larger it was obvious that he would have to go, but my sister was reluctant and was determined to keep him as long as she could.

One day as I was returning from school I came into the top end of the High Street and saw ahead of me a large crowd of people who were completely blocking the traffic and trams were lined up on either side of the crowd. There was much laughter and movement in the crowd and I asked a friend what was going on.

“Oh it is so funny,” she said. “A huge pig is lying across the tram lines refusing to move. Several men have tried to drag it off but it is too heavy for them. The pig lies and grunts and seems to be enjoying all their efforts. They are trying to find the woman who owns it because it is said that the pig is a pet and will move if the woman tells it to.” I knew the pig was Charlie and wondered how he had managed to get out of the shed.

It was obvious that the crowd were enjoying the situation immensely. The police arrived but couldn’t move Charlie and stood discussing what they could use to get Charlie to stand up so that they could push him off the tram lines. Then my sister arrived and Charlie reluctantly got up and she took him home.

This incident sealed Charlie’s fate and he was taken back to the farm. My sister was most upset but the police insisted that he go. I can’t remember what happened to Charlie after that.