Reg was born in 1902.  He had 8 brothers and sisters and they lived in a 3-bedroomed house in The Gore.  Reg started Rayne School aged four or five where the children were taught the three-Rs, geography, history and art, but no gardening then.  Reg. considered that the school gave a good education as many of the children went on to have a good life.  Some children passed the exam to the High School each year.  After leaving Rayne School in 1915 Reg worked in Mr Barnard's bakery where he started at 6.30am, then went home to breakfast when the first batch of bread was in the oven, he then went back to work when it came out.  He cleaned up and learned how to mould bread.  Reg would go out with Mr Barnard to deliver the bread - at first it was in the pony and trap and then in a model T Ford.  Reg carried a basket of bread round the village and Willows Green.  He delivered bread three days a week to Braintree.

After working with Mr Barnard for a year Reg then went to Crittalls in Manor Street for two years making window frames because the pay was better - his first pay packet at Crittall's was 5 shillings and 9 pence.  If he worked overtime during the evening he earned an extra shilling.   His next job was with a pattern maker, but the business folded up so he became a butcher boy in Braintree.

His next job was with Fuller's, the butcher's and slaughterhouse in Rayne.  They obtained their animals from Dunmow and sometimes had to share a beast with a Stebbing butcher where they took turns to do the slaughtering during World War I as meat was rationed.  Pork was not rationed as quite a few people in the village kept pigs in their back garden.  After rationing ceased they were able to buy animals where they chose; the animals had to be driven from Dunmow Market back to Rayne which was quite difficult as they would keep wandering off the road and the bullocks had to keep being chased back on to the road.  Most bullocks were quartered in the slaughterhouse then carved up in the butcher's shop.

It was always cold in the shop, but they kept warm by working hard.  When it snowed, they put straw on the floor.  Sometimes Reg. used to go to farms to collect animals where they were kept in a small yard so that they did not run off the fat, but most animals were bought from the markets at auction.  Most butchers who did their own slaughtering became very adept at gauging the weight of the animals to within 8 1bs.

Occasionally they would buy a beast at Dunmow Market then it would be put on the train to Rayne and Reg would have to collect it at Rayne Station and drive it to the slaughterhouse.  Once they lost a beast for 4 days until a local farmer found it wandering round his yard.  Reg used to deliver meat by pony and cart to Rayne, Willows Green and Bannister Green.

The slaughterhouse ceased to operate soon after the outbreak of World War II because rationing had started and most slaughterhouses had to close down as there was no meat available.  Deliveries of meat included imported meat for the first time and butchers had no control over what meat was going to be delivered.  The ration per person was 8 pence worth of fresh meat and 2 pence worth of corned beef per person per week.

By this time Reg had bought the lease from Mr Fuller and the freehold when Mrs Fuller died.  Because there was so little meat available during rationing he had to lay off staff, but when rationing ceased in 1954 Reg could start up the rounds again.  He tried to give people what they wanted but it was not always possible.  At the Christmas before rationing finished they were allowed to go to Chelmsford market and buy a bullock, but it had to last them for 2 weeks.  Poultry was never on ration and there were always plenty of rabbits to eat.