Strong Women
Great-Grandma’s recipe book
My great aunts recipe books have long fascinated me so when today I was sorting boxes to try and kick-start my research into their father’s life I allowed myself to distracted by one. To call it a recipe book is rather misleading as the pages have long since detached themselves from the cover. It … Continue reading
Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain – a review
The red flower for this Valentine’s Day piece is the scarlet poppy on the front of the Virago anniversary edition of Testament of Youth. First published in 1933 by Victor Gollancz, it became a great success both in the UK and the USA, and familiar to a later generation when reissued in 1978 and a … Continue reading
Ammonites and Leaping Fish, by Penelope Lively
Published by Penguin/Fig Tree in 2013, this memoir is sub-titled ‘A life in Time’ by its distinguished author. She describes it as not exactly a memoir, ‘Rather, it is the view from old age.’ As well as being a fascinating read for anyone who is familiar with the writer’s work, it would also be helpful … Continue reading
Sussex Land Girls – from 1917
Conference organised by the Wolfson Centre for Life Writing, held at Wolfson College, Oxford, 20-22 September 2013. The Land Army – Girls with backbone and breeches by Annie Hedrington. Amy de la Haye curated an exhibition on the Sussex Land Girls in Brighton, in 2009, telling their story through their uniform. I wish I had seen it. … Continue reading
Memories of the Aunts
Born in the 1880s my great-aunts were already well into their sixties by the time me and my brother arrived but to us they seemed ageless. They had recently moved from Croydon to a colonial style bungalow in The Byeway, Little Common on Aunty Glad’s retirement and it was there we sent many sunny Saturdays (Sundays being … Continue reading
Summer holidays in Scotland – Edwardian Style
As the surprisingly hot summer days seem to be drawing to an end I was reminded that my great-grandfather used to decamp his family to Scotland to escape the London heat. One of his daughters, my great aunt Gladys, was an enthusiastic photographer and I have some of her albums from those summers. The family … Continue reading
Great Grandpa and the Education of Women
Or rather the education of his daughters in particular. This account is based on what I remember of their stories and my mother’s memories. I have two books, elegantly bound in leather embossed in gold, that were presented to my great-aunt Ethel Liversedge as school prizes. The first for English presented to her in 1898, … Continue reading
What makes you Scottish?
With the date for the referendum on Scottish independence now set for 14th September 2014 I thought I would explore my family’s own links with Scotland My great-aunts believed they were Scottish; their favourite family story was that we were descended from Robert the Bruce and for a time I believed that. A favourite story … Continue reading