Just an old book?

A few weeks ago a cousin of my Dad's said to me 'I've left a few old bits from Aunty Elsie for you with you Dad - chuck them if you don't want them.'

I was intrigued.  Aunty Elsie was my Grandma's sister, I never knew my Grandma but I was very close to Great Aunty Elsie, (I've blogged about her before).

The next weekend Dad gave me the bits which included this book:

It doesn't look very exciting does it.

But, on opening it, I discovered it was meticulously kept accounts from Dec 1954 to March 1964, all recorded my her husband, Uncle Cyril (I know it was him who wrote it and not her as there are many entries referring to 'wife's wages').

Most of their income was from the sale of the fruit and flowers that they grew, on quite a large scale, and from selling eggs - all seasonal of course, rhubarb featuring in May.

Today, whilst I was reading more of it, I found an entry showing that they'd paid my Grandma, Mrs Harris, for casual fruit labour work, in July 1957.

 He also bought a new summer suit in August 1959 from Joshua Taylor for  £17 and 8 shillings.

Joshua Taylor's was a shop in Cambridge that I remember from my childhood, I think it was on the corner where Monsoon is now.

Why did it stop in March 1964?  Because they retired - the last entry of income is the first payment of their pensions in February 1964

It's a truly fascinating piece of my family's history; I can see where they went on holiday, when they built their new house (and who built it and for how much), and the fact that they had an insurance claim for some damage to some gates.

This is them, Aunty Elsie and Uncle Cyril, the man who hand wrote every single entry in the book.  It was taken in the 1930s and is from a book called 'Cottenham in Focus'. They are with their 'Clara Butt' tulips.

One day, I will try and find out some of the answers to the questions that I have about the entries - for example, who or what is 'Soar' - it seems to be a company they sold to but I've never heard them mentioned before.  But for now I'll just enjoy as it reveals more insights into their lives.

Autumn Walking

You might have realised that I love walking.  Sadly at this time of year walking opportunities are fewer due to dark evenings but I have had a couple of lovely walks recently.

A few Saturdays ago I went over to one of my favourite places, Marks Hall Arboretum.  I walked up towards the lake,

and then around on the Millennium walk, along the bottom edge of the lake,

up to the memorial site where I'd heard the autumn colour was especially good.

The memorial site is a memorial to the serviceman who were stationed at Marks Hall during the 2nd world war - the colours in the acers were stunning.

This is acer rubrum 'October Glory'.  And it was living up to its name!

Then I walked back through the woods to the walled garden.

From the walled garden the views over the lake were lovely.

Later that same week my cousin and his wife, who now live in America, came to visit.  They wanted to walk on the Sudbury water meadows and we had a glorious day for a 4.5 mile circular route.

We walked along the river Stour, across the meadows the the Salmon Leap (no salmon in the river nowadays as far as I know!),

with time for a quick selfie

before walking back home along the river.  

Two great walks, hopefully to be repeated again very soon!

A Cambridgeshire Feast!

My Dad was born and brought up in a village just north of Cambridge, Cottenham, which is part of the Fen Edge villages.  Every year, on the first Sunday after October 11th, they hold their annual Feast.  On the Sunday there's a parade that starts by the church and processes down the High Street, ending up at the green.  The first parade was held in 1894, so it's been going a while!  When I was little we used to go there every year for it, this is me, my little sister, my Dad and my Grandad in 1969, standing on the front step of my Grandad's house, eagerly waiting for the parade to go past.

Dad hasn't been for years but really wanted to go again, so yesterday we went.  We listened to the brass band play while we waited for the parade.

Then the parade came past - lots of excited children, some of whom had walked a long way, eagerly collecting money for local causes.

Aren't those jellyfish costumes clever!

There were a variety of vehicles towing trailers full of people - Dad was really thrilled to see this one, driven by an old friend of his!

After the parade had passed we all made our way onto the green.  Originally there was a service on the green once the parade arrived and somewhere I have a copy of a very long speech that my Great Grandad made during it sometime in the early 1900s (but I can't locate it at the moment!). There was no Salvation Army band playing like there used to be when I was little, so no hymn singing like we used to do, but lots of people milling about.  

Dad had a long chat with his old mate.

We also managed to find the people who now live in his old house and were thrilled to hear that the small holding behind it, in which my grandparents used to grow fruit for Chiver's and flowers for Covent Garden is still there! Although it's not used as a small holding anymore they still have a productive fruit and veg patch.

We all had a great day out!

More Treasures from Mum's Loft!

Yesterday, whilst putting Mum and Dad's Christmas stuff back into the loft for them, Mum suggested that we brought her Mum's jewellery boxes down and had a look. I'd been waiting for her to suggest that since I first realised they were there in the summer.

We found lots of brooches:

My granny loved flowers but this brooch, made from china, doesn't look as though it's ever been worn.

More flowers, this time in a white metal posy holder (I'd spied this one when I had a little peek in the box in the summer).

I love this filigree butterfly

and this enamelled brooch.  At one time during the afternoon I was wearing most of them at the same time!

We found lots of necklaces - most of which I tried on, not all at the same time though!  The glass test tube we think must have belonged to my Mum's brother, who died in his 40s, and who had various chemistry sets as a child.

We also found earrings (all clip on) and buckles and more brooches.  Mum remembers her Mum wearing one of these on a black hat - she must have looked very stylish.

We also found this lovely silver bracelet, hallmarked from 1937 and Granny's engagement ring.

I suggested that Mum should keep the jewellery boxes downstairs and wear some of the pieces, but she didn't want to so we packed them all away again.  But before we did that she said I could have one piece - what a hard decision.  I almost chose the filigree butterfly brooch, but in the end I decided on this 1950's plastic necklace.

I know I will wear it lots and lots.

Granny's Dresser

When my granny died 23 years ago I was desperate to have her dresser but didn't have a house big enough so it was put into Dad's shed.  About 12 years ago Dad told me they were chucking it out and as I still didn't have a house it would fit into I couldn't really insist they kept it so I assumed it they had indeed chucked it.  But, this summer, whilst moving the swing-boats out of the same shed I found something covered up with a dust sheet and asked dad what it was - it was granny's dresser!

First of all I brought the base home.  In the cold light of my kitchen it looked quite a mess, 22 years of living in the shed as well as many many years of nicotine from her cigarettes had to be cleaned off.

It cleaned up quite well and I could start to see the real 1930's style and shape.

Then I brought the top home.

I stripped off the nicotine stained 1970s wallpaper that my grandpa must have put on the back and discovered some really pretty paper, possibly 1950s, underneath it, but it was too torn to keep so it all came off.

After more cleaning I painted the back boards.

Putting the top onto the base was quite easy as my highly organised Dad had put the original screws (and the key) into the drawer of the base.

Today I put some treasures in it.  Some of my great granny's china,

some Royal Tara china that I bought with the money that granny left me in her will,

and some other bits I've acquired over the years (mainly from charity shops).

It's a little tatty well loved in places, but I'm so pleased to have it :-)

My Unconventional Dad

If I were to tell you that my Dad:

• took us camping on Clapham Common when we were kids, because his friend owned a circus that was pitched there for the week,
• took us to Longleat, where another friend was the estate manager, and we bottle fed lion and tiger cubs in his house,
• took me, aged 5, to the London Palladium where another friend was the stage manager, so we got in for free and I sat on the steps in the stalls and watched Cinderella with Ronnie Corbett as Buttons,
• made a lion out of artex and hung it on the wall in the dining room (I think it's still there),

then you might not be surprised when I tell you that in his shed, amongst quite a lot of other stuff, he has a full size set of swing boats.

He used to take the swing boats to fetes but has decided that now, as he's nearly 83, that he wants to sell them.

Slight problem; he needed a photo of them in order to sell them and they couldn't find one.  'Never mind' said I, 'I'll help you put them up and we'll take another photo'.

This wasn't quite as easy as it sounded as

a:  Dad couldn't remember exactly how they went together and 

b:  on our first attempt we discovered that several of the nuts were missing.

Dad was dispatched to buy more nuts and this weekend we had a 2nd attempt at putting them up.

Not easy, but I love a bit of problem solving, and we got there.

I'm immensely proud of my unconventional Dad, and the slightly wacky childhood that him and my mum gave us.  Love you both.

A Very Very Special Day

On Wednesday I walked to the cashpoint - nothing really unusual in that, I often walk into Sudbury, but it is a very lovely walk.

I walked along the river edged with froths of cow parsley, to get some cash for a very special day.

Back in December Mum had told us she'd had a special invitation but it wasn't straight forwards as she was also going into hospital in February for a hip replacement operation. Cue master planner (me).  On my weekly visits to North Norfolk to visit them (amongst taking them home cooked meals and cakes, doing the  cleaning, gardening and a miriad of other little things that become big worries when you're elderly) we:

• bought a dress and I altered it
• bought a jacket
• bought a bag and I altered it
• bought shoes
• bought a necklace and I altered it
• hired a suit for Dad and the shop altered it
• booked a hotel and altered the booking
• booked a restaurant

Why?

Because Mum had been invited by the Queen to a garden party at Buckingham Palace as an acknowledgement of her 20 plus years of volunteering at a local museum, True's Yard (I've never been, must alter that!).

From 6pm I was standing outside the front gates of Buckingham Palace waiting for them.  Dad had been worried I wouldn't find them but I knew I would. 

I spotted them immediately they came out and was so proud - proud of Mum for her volunteering and so proud that she'd been totally determined to recover from the op in order to get there and enjoy it pain free.  

We went for a meal afterwards - a perfect end to a wonderful day, they look so happy :-)