Would and used to - In the old days

When I was 14, we [?] (move) to London and my life [?] (change) for ever. Before that, we [?] (live) in a small house with a big garden at the edge of the village.

The village was busier than it is today. There [?] (be) two shops, a post office, a school and a pub. They’ve all gone now.

I remember we [?] (not / have) much money. One day I [?] (lose) $20 and my mum was very angry. To cut costs, we [?] (grow) a lot of our own food in the garden. We kept chickens too, and every morning I [?] (have to / go) out to the henhouse and collect the eggs for breakfast. I [?] (hate) this chore, especially in the cold weather.

There was a wood* near the house – it’s still there - and in the winter I [?] (go) there with my dad and my sister to look for firewood. We [?] (bring) this home and my dad [?] (chop) it up and put it in the open fire that we [?] (have) in the sitting room.

About a mile from the house there [?] (be) a railway line**. That’s gone now too. We [?] (often / go) there at the weekend to watch the trains. But we [?] (get) into trouble if my mum found out. We [?] (send) to bed early and not allowed out the next day.

We [?] (not / have) a TV– we couldn’t afford one. So in the evenings we [?] (read) or play games together and before we went to bed, my dad [?] (tell) us stories about when he was young.


Glossary
henhouse - small building where chickens are kept
chore - job that you have to do and don't like doing
wood - small forest
railway line - track for trains