World Photography Day

 

Its ‪#‎WorldPhotographyDay‬ (apparently) so I thought I'd blog some of my Dad's photos. When we were young he was a keen photographer and developed his films in the bathroom - we were forbidden to enter when he was in there in the dark with his strange paraphernalia, spooky red lightbulb and those weird chemical smells. His photographs were often imperfect but I love them all, especially those he took of us when we weren't looking. Here we are on the beach - I think at Butlins Pwllheli circa 1956.

Here's another Butlins photo probably taken in 1954 - I swear it never rained when we were at our most favourite place in the world at that time. We so looked forward to our week at Butlins. I think I dreamed about it for weeks beforehand!

Its the moments in time caught forever that I love about these un-posed photos. Most Sundays we went for trips into the countryside - either just for a walk or a picnic in good weather.

Here we'd been given fishing nets and messing about near the water was always irresistible. This is the River Dwyfor near Trawsfynydd where our Uncle and Aunt lived.

Another of my sister and I - there were four of us but by the time my youngest sister came along in 1956 Dad had stopped developing his films himself so there are fewer photos - much to my baby sister's disgust. She is still put out that there aren't many pictures of her!

Here we are with Mum playing a game of chase in a daisy strewn field long ago.

And this was a birthday party in the garden - we'll never know what everyone was so interested in on the grass.

There are lots taken in the back garden. This is us with my Mother's friend Bessie's newly adopted son Peter - a much longed for child for her and her husband.

And another game in the garden - this time with Hazel from next door. We were always outside even in the winter - warmly wrapped up of course!

And with my cheeky cousin Dafydd - Mum says he was always a naughty boy.... something he vehemently denies now!!

And finally a much later picture of all of us with Mum. My sister will only moan if I leave her out! By this time (about 1958) Dad's pictures came as coloured slides which we viewed on a big white plastic screen through a slide projector. Some time ago I got the chance to borrow a slide scanner and scanned them all into the computer.  It took an age but I'm so glad I did.

A Great Age Reached

Its a very long time since I made a special card, let alone blogged about one, but this week I had to create something for my Mum's 90th birthday - which is today!  In our local shops the "90 today" cards were uninspiring or just plain unsuitable so I got out my favourite Fresh Cut Floral sets from Wplus9 and came up with this.

At 90 my Mum's interests in life are few as she in not in the best of health but she does like flowers.  I suspect today the house will be rather short of vases to hold birthday bouquets - two large boxes of blooms have already arrived from distant relations.  I just had to have 90 on the card but as I don't have any number stamps or dies I printed out large numbers in a suitable font on plain paper, cut them out, traced round the shapes onto masking paper, cut those numbers out and arranged them on my card base.  Then all I had to do was fill the front with stamped images.  I love the layering opportunities of the Fresh Cut Florals sets and spent a happy hour stamping away before carefully peeling off the mask.  I'm pleased with the result.

Here's the birthday girl at her party in another age.  Mum's the little girl shading her eyes from the sun in the middle of her friends.  Probably 6 or 7 years of age in her back garden in Knighton in Mid-Wales.

And another photo includes her Mum (in the centre), the midwife that brought her into the world (left) and their little "mother's help" dressed in her lacy maid's cap for the occasion - I understand quite ordinary folks had a "treasure" to help in the house in those far off days.

Remembering Dad on Father's day

We all love this photo of my Dad taken in the 1970s by the River Dwyfor at Llanystumdwy near Criccieth.  Dad towed our little caravan to the Lleyn Peninsular every year and the four of us - Dad, Mum, me and my young son, hoped for good weather.  I remember lots of rain but the photographs prove there was lots of sunshine too.  

I love too this poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox as it sums up my Dad very nicely - though he didn't have boys he was always "chum and comrade" to his four daughters.  He was often a comedian too and then we would exclaim "Oh Father!"

Father

He never made a fortune, or a noise
In the world where men are seeking after fame;
But he had a healthy brood of girls and boys
Who loved the very ground on which he trod.
They thought him just little short of God;
Oh you should have heard the way they said his name –
‘Father.’

There seemed to be a loving little prayer
In their voices, even when they called him ‘Dad.’
Though the man was never heard of anywhere,
As a hero, yet somehow understood
He was doing well his part and making good;
And you knew it, by the way his children had
Of saying ‘Father.’

He gave them neither eminence nor wealth,
But he gave them blood untainted with a vice,
And opulence of undiluted health.
He was honest, and unpurchable and kind;
He was clean in heart, and body, and in mind.
So he made them heirs to riches without price –
This father.

He never preached or scolded; and the rod –
Well, he used it as a turning pole in play.
But he showed the tender sympathy of God.
To his children in their troubles, and their joys.
He was always chum and comrade with his boys,
And his daughters – oh, you ought to hear them say
‘Father.’


Now I think of all achievements ‘tis the least
To perpetuate the species; it is done
By the insect and the serpent, and the beast.
But the man who keeps his body, and his thought,
Worth bestowing on an offspring love-begot,
Then the highest earthly glory he was won,
When in pride a grown-up daughter or a son
Says ‘That’s Father.’

Coronation Day

Its a long long time since I've posted a scrapbook page.  Here's one I created for the Queen's jubilee last year.  That darkened room in our house in Rhyl, filled with our parents' friends, is an image imprinted on my brain....... they say it rained on the day, 2nd June 1953, so I expect we didn't want to play outside.  And of course after that we had a television set and could watch Andy Pandy, The Flowerpot Men, Rag Tag and Bobtail and The Woodentops in our own house!

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant Hapus Pawb!

Well I may have said this last month, but really! can someone tell me where February went??  I know its a short month but this is ridiculous!  Anyway, Happy St David's Day to all my fellow countrymen whether at home or abroad.  As children I remember we made and wore paper leeks at school but the daffodil is much prettier and now its the emblem of the Marie Curie charity as well, I wear my latest daffodil pin on St David's Day.  Each year they are slightly different in design and as I never throw them away I now have quite a little collection.

I'm always on the lookout for anything with a Welsh theme when I'm browsing the charity and vintage shops and this sweet little daffodil brooch is my latest acquisition, found last weekend at  Becnicks Wonder Emporium in Chester.  Its plastic or Bakelite and I can't make up my mind whether its 50s or 30s.  I love it anyway.  The Welsh lady in trousers vase is a curiosity I've had for some time.  It looks like a lady but it may be a man I suppose - I've not seen anything like it anywhere else!

However, these are definitely ladies..... my Nain (grandmother) is 8th from the left in the middle row.


And finally......

To be born in Wales,
Not with a silver spoon in your mouth,
But, with music in your blood
And with poetry in your soul,
Is a privilege indeed. 

                                                                                                 In Passing, Brian Harris

Remembering Frank

This Remembrance Sunday I'm remembering Frank Beckett Hayes, my Dad's older brother.  I don't know much about him as I never met him.  Mum says he was the 'black sheep' of the family - I don't know why, perhaps because he never settled down nor had much to do with his family - except when he wanted to borrow money - which I'm led to believe was too often!  I wish I had known him.... however I did carry out some research into his experiences in the First World War some years ago as my Dad had told me Frank had been awarded the Military Cross - an award for bravery.  I found he had been attached to the Machine Gun Corps (you can see the crossed gun badge on his uniform) and found the award listed in the London Gazette, the official newspaper of Parliament.  The Gazette published the dispatches of the Commanders-in-Chief, listed officers promotions and appointments, gallantry awards and much else that is useful to the WW1 researcher.  You can search it one line for free.

After Frank died I asked Dad if he knew what had happened to his medal - Dad didn't know but thought Frank had probably sold it!  I wish I could find that medal and bring it back into the family.  

And when I think of what Frank must have lived through in those years as a soldier..... a young man whose life up until then had been spent in a small peaceful country market town in North Wales...... it is not surprising that he found it hard to settle down to normal family life after four years of war.

So today I'm especially remembering Frank, as well as my Dad, my Grandfather, and all the other members of my family that experienced the deprivations and horrors of war. 

Fathers Day

Father

He never made a fortune, or a noise
In the world where men are seeking after fame;
But he had a healthy brood of girls and boys
Who loved the very ground on which he trod.
They thought him just little short of God;
Oh you should have heard the way they said his name –
‘Father.’


There seemed to be a loving little prayer
In their voices, even when they called him ‘Dad.’
Though the man was never heard of anywhere,
As a hero, yet somehow understood
He was doing well his part and making good;
And you knew it, by the way his children had
Of saying ‘Father.’


He gave them neither eminence nor wealth,
But he gave them blood untainted with a vice,
And opulence of undiluted health.
He was honest, and unpurchable and kind;
He was clean in heart, and body, and in mind.
So he made them heirs to riches without price –
This father.


Now I think of all achievements ‘tis the least
To perpetuate the species; it is done
By the insect and the serpent, and the beast.
But the man who keeps his body, and his thought,
Worth bestowing on an offspring love-begot,
Then the highest earthly glory he was won,
When in pride a grown-up daughter or a son
Says ‘That’s Father.’

I love this poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, especially the first verse.  It makes me smile as I well remember us saying "Oh Father!" whenever Dad said or did something silly - and he often did!  When we would ask him what he wanted for Fathers Day, birthdays, or Christmas he always replied "peace and quiet".  As the father of four girls he probably meant it!  We'll all be thinking of him today.  

Note: I edited the poem a bit to fit my post.  You can find it in its entirety here.

Jubilee

I do remember 2 June 1953 - vaguely.  I was 5 years old and I remember a flickering screen in a darkened room where friends and neighbours of my parents were gathered.  Like many other families we acquired our first television set for the occasion.  My Mum said she was not impressed when Dad brought the set home.  She said "why would I want to watch that - I won't have the time!"  But my sister and I loved Watch With Mother - Andy Pandy, The Flowerpot Men, and all the other puppets.

As well as the Coronation, 1953 was the year the National Eisteddfod came to Rhyl.  Dad was involved with the preparations on The Maes (the field) as he worked for the electricity board MANWEB.  I found this photo amongst his negatives - its The Queen arriving at the Eisteddfod.  She was on her Coronation Tour of Wales.  I remember her car was to drive past our house and we all stood in the front garden to wave.

Our family had another celebration in 1953 - it was the year we became five instead of four.  My sister Elizabeth Jane was born in December. 

If you are celebrating this weekend I hope the sun shines for you.  I'm sure we'll be watching The Queen on television at some time over the next few days - just like we did 60 years ago.  Oh, and Mum did eventually change her mind about the TV!

I missed out posting my vintage children for June yesterday so here they are - hmmm..... not sure about that rhyme!

Remembering GI Jim

Another day of remembering and today its my Mum's wartime story I've been thinking about. I've recalled here before her romance with an American GI Jim Campbell, but I don't think I've pictured him. When I inherited my Grandmother's photograph collection I found she had kept a number of photographs of Jim and now I keep them safe.

Mum was only 15 years old in 1939, living with her parents and going to secretarial school in Chester. When war broke out her Dad, my Grandfather, was working at De Havillands Aircraft Factory but was soon moved to the Burtonwood RAF base near Warrington. Then in January 1942 Burtonwood was transferred to the United States Army Airforces and the GIs came to town! By this time Mum was 17 and she and her girlfriends were in great demand by off duty servicemen who virtually took over Warrington town centre. Mum was soon "going steady" with Jim and they became engaged.  They were together for 4 years but eventually Jim left the UK for a base in Germany and Mum realised she was not destined to become a GI bride and didn't want to leave her home and family - in her own words "it was just a wartime romance".

I heard a radio programme this week recalling the experiences of over 70,000 women who sailed across the Atlantic in the 1940s to begin a new life with the American and Canadian husbands they had met and married during the war.  Today there are over a million descendants in America and Canada of the women who followed their hearts and took a leap of faith all those years ago. Funny to think I could have been one of those decendants - but I wouldn't have been me!

Jim did survive the war and returned home to Staten Island, New York.  And he did marry and have a family, so if any one 'over the pond' recognises his face I'd love to hear from you - and so would Mum!


Supplies: Centerpieces Vol 1 digital elements by Joanne Briseboise at Oscraps

Remembrance

I've a passion for our family history and have become the keeper of the family album, albeit in digital form. My Mother's cousin Ieuan recently lent me his mother's old Victorian family album which contained many photographs I hadn't seen before and faces I didn't recognise.  But with a bit of detective work I was able to put names to the faces in this family portrait and turned it from just another anonymous Edwardian family photograph into a vital record of real people who I can now claim as members of "my" family.  I already knew that this little girl was a cousin of my Grandmother's and recognised also the face of her mother.  Then a search of the census records on line produced details of the whole family, which in turn enabled me to identify them all.

Today is Armistice Day - a day when we remember all those who have suffered and died in war, and of course I think of my Father and Grandfather who did not die but certainly suffered.  Their wartime experiences affected the rest of their lives.  But this year I want to remember also Thomas Glyn Owen, the young man in these photographs. He was killed on the Somme on 21st March 1918 aged 38. He left behind his grieving wife, parents, sister and brothers. He has no known grave and is remembered on the Poizeres Memorial in France, just one of over 14,300 soldiers who simply disappeared there between March and August 1918. I can't imagine the anguish of the families who had to sit at home waiting for news that never came.


Supplies: Haute Couture Embellishment digital kit from Design by Anita at Two Peas in a Bucket

Indian Summer

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky;

I left my shoes and socks there - I wonder if they're dry?

Spike Milligan

I nearly did leave my shoes there as I got a bit stuck in some muddy sand!  Due to work and lack of transport at the weekend, I knew Wednesday would be my only chance to walk by the sea before the end of this heat wave, so off I went to our nearest beach.  Its 18 miles away in Rhyl, North Wales - the seaside town where I was born. Much of the "Sunny Rhyl" I knew as a child has disappeared, removed by the local council (misguidedly in my opinion).  But this far end of the beach has thankfully been left alone, apart from some storm defence boulders and the wind farm out to sea. 

As children we loved to spend time on the beach, most often here in Rhyl (that's me and my sister in the 1953 photo), at Criccieth - my Mother's birthplace and at Butlins Holiday Camp in Pwllheli on our much anticipated summer holidays.

This part of the North Wales coast is mostly ignored both by holidaymakers who prefer the more remote beaches of Gwynedd - which of course I absolutely love too - and by day trippers who want a traditional day out at the seaside with all the trimmings - amusement arcades, cafes, candy floss and fish and chips - though sadly no Fun Fair, which closed in 2007.

And I like that too on occasion, but I prefer my beaches mostly uninhabited. And Splash Point is almost always that. Its just that bit too far from the centre of Rhyl for most people.  Even on this beautiful day there were no more than a dozen or so people enjoying the sun, sea and sand.

Happy Birthday Mum

Its Mum's 87th birthday today - we celebrated last week when it was half term and my sister was able to visit. I love this photo of Mum aged about 9 as on the back in her own best handwriting she has written "This is a picture of Gwenora Thomas" with her full address and "This is her at school."
And here she is at Knighton school in 1935. Mum's not in the best of health right now and I wonder how many of these little girls are around to recognise themselves in this photo. Mum always remembers the years she spent in Knighton, a small market town in mid-Wales, as the happiest of her childhood and often says how sad she and her mother were when they had to leave - my grandfather worked in a bank and in those days clerks were often moved from branch to branch.

And this is where they lived - Rhianfa - rented for £1 a week and home to Mum, her parents and Fluffy their little dog. Happy days long ago.

My Father's birthday

Dad would have been 100 today - 13th April. If the weather is fine we'll have a day out to Llanrwst in the Conwy Valley - Dad's birthplace and childhood home - to celebrate the occasion.

Dad's early years were happy, though he experienced great family tragedies during the long years of WWII. But once he met Mum and settled down he was able to enjoy family life again. We, his four daughters, came along between 1948 and 1956 and in 1957 a musical comedy film about a troupe of dancers was released and ever after we became "Les Girls" to Mum and Dad's friends - Dad was known as Les to all except my Grandmother, who always used his full name, Leslie!

Having watched the trailer for this film on YouTube I'm not sure it was a very suitable name for four small girls and their young mother! But Mum was and still is a great fan of musicals - and I do love Gene Kelly films.

I created these two digital pages using templates from Designs by Anita at TwoPeasinaBucket.

Census Day 2011

Today is Census Day in the UK and for the first time we have been able to fill in the census form on line. I wonder if family historians 100 years from now will find this census as fascinating as the one that took place on Sunday 2nd April 1911. As a keen family historian myself I was excited when the census records were partly released early last year. However when I found out the exact date of the census I was just a bit disappointed as I had been hoping to see my Father listed with his family in Llanrwst - Dad was born just 11 days later, on 13th April. Here he is with his parents (aged about 4 and dressed in his Sunday best) on a day out at Llandudno.

You can search for your own family on the 1911 Census website and download images of the actual document filled in by a member of your family 100 years ago. Today we take this service entirely for granted but I don't know how I would explain this amazing resource to my Father, let alone to the Grandfather I never met but whose handwriting I'm so delighted to see today.

A 1950s Christmas

As I what I've been up to recently is mostly Christmas 'top secret' stuff and can't be shown here, I thought I would do a scrapbook page to at least have something new for you to see. This time of year always makes me think of the past and the happy times we had as children. Here we are circa 1956 posing for our Dad with some of our new toys - Dad made the school desk for us and we played with it for years after. I just love these doodled Christmas lights from Jenni Dipzinski at 2Peas in a Bucket. They remind me so much of the lights we had on our Christmas tree at that time and are perfect for this page. Do you remember how exciting it was when the tree arrived and at last Christmas really was nearly here? Of course in those days we didn't start Christmas in September as it seems we do now, and the tree and decorations didn't go up until a couple of days before Christmas Day. Here we are again a year later with our tree and me in the nurse uniform Father Christmas kindly brought me!

Birthday Girl!

This little girl has a significant birthday today but a daren't reveal which one! Although my sister doesn't have internet access someone is bound to snitch on me and then I'll be in trouble. So my lips are sealed and I'm just going to reveal what I made for her to mark the occasion.

Cathe Holden is a brilliant designer and crafter and I love everything she does. When I saw her peapod pendant I thought it would be a perfectly sweet birthday gift but little did I think it would pose me with such a problem. I searched high and low, in charity shops, bargain bins, and pound stores for anything made from green leather without success. I almost gave up, until I thought of my Pea Green Copic marker pen. A lightbulb went off in my head and after scrabbling under my bed I found an old beige fake suede slipper that had seen much better days and, hey presto, my peapod! The five "peas" represent my sister's five grandchildren. My little pod is not a neat as Cathe's but I'm very pleased with how it turned out and hope my sister likes it.

However I'm not quite as pleased with how my Almond Cherry Financiers, the birthday cakes, turned out. They don't look exactly like expert baker Sarah Jane's as my cherries have sunk to the bottom of each cake for some reason, and you can only see the stalks sticking out! But never mind - they tasted lovely!

Anyway HAPPY BIRTHDAY HELEN! Hope you have a great one.

My first Blog Award

The wonderful Steph has given me this yummy award - my very first - and as I've never done this before, I hope I'm doing it right. The rules for receiving this award are:

1. Thank the person that passed it to you - thank you so much Steph - you always boost my confidence with your lovely comments.

2. Copy award to your blog - done that.

3. List three things you love about yourself - mmm not easy! I seem to have fairly green fingers; I've been creative for almost 60 years, and I strive to be thrifty now I'm a hard up pensioner - though its hard to resist adding to my every growing crafty stash!

4. Post a picture that you love to your blog - easy to do though not so easy to choose but, at the risk of being boring, I love this photo of my Mum and Dad taken either just before or just after their marriage in 1947. Mum looks so glamorous with her long red hair and Dad so handsome. A year later I came along and then three more sisters so they weren't that carefree young couple for long!5. Pass the award onto 5 others - there are so many lovely bloggers out there that its quite hard to choose but I hope these 5 lovely ladies will not mind me passing it on to them: Anja (for beautiful photography plus inspiring sewing and crochet); Lin (a prolific creator of gorgeous cards, a glimpse of Ohio and just look at those quilted flower pins this week); Linby (for some managing to create some lovely craftiness whilst at the same time studying for her MBA - don't know how you managed it Lynn!); Baukje (beautiful needlecrafts and wonderful images of rural France); and Emma (a fellow Welsh crafter - there aren't many of us Emma and you are one of the best!).

Steph also passed on this award where I have to name 10 things I like - this will be easier! My family and friends, crafting, gardening, reading, cooking, Wales, history, photography, my one remaining cat, and the beauty of Mother Nature.

I have to say this image couldn't be further from my own image of myself! I hate high heels, never wear makeup, and hardly ever dress up! Love that little bird stamp though.