Today’s Saturday Snapshots are from our visit last week to Polkommet Country Park, West Lothian in Scotland. The Park has some lovely woodland walks alongside the River Almond:
Our granddaughter couldn’t resist getting her feet wet:
For more Saturday Snapshots see Melinda’s blog West Metro Mommy Reads.
Happy Easter!
I’ve been looking back at family photos and came across this one today – an Easter photo from the past. I’m not saying how old this is, but our son, opening his Easter Eggs, now has his own children. Also in the photo are my sister-in-law and my nephew:
For more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.
Another photo from the family snapshots. I actually quite like this one of me, taken years ago. I’m not sure of the date but it must have been a hot day, or I wouldn’t have been wearing a little strappy top. And it must have been a long time ago because our son is all grown up now, with three children of his own! I think he must have been about 12 years old (is that right P?).
Click on the photo to enlarge.
I like it too because it’s not a posed photo – I’m smiling naturally – and you can see our son casually walking into the picture. I’m holding our next-door neighbour’s new puppy, introducing it to our two dogs. Ben, our black, tan and white border collie/cross is interested and wants to play, but Zoe, our golden retriever isn’t bothered about it and instead wants to go to the photographer – my husband – so you can only see the top of her head. And I do like my Scholls. I used to wear them all the time, so comfortable. That reminds me I need to get another pair.
For more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.
I’ve been going through family photos again:
When I was a child of five (living in Cheshire) my grandparents came from Wales to live with us. They had the front room in our house and on the mantelpiece were two miniature framed photos of my Taid’s (grandfather’s) parents. He was immensely proud of them and it’s a great shame that those photos have gone missing, so I was delighted to find this one of my great grandparents. It shows my great grandfather, Isaac Owens and my great grandmother, Elizabeth Owens, the lady wearing glasses. I have no idea who the other lady was (the one wearing the white blouse). Nor do I know when or where it was taken.
I know very little about them.
Isaac was born on 7 August 1848 (August 7 is also my birthday) in Bryn-y-Baal, a small hamlet near Mold in Flintshire, Wales. His father, George was a coal miner. Isaac’s occupation is described in the census returns as a Brickworks Labourer, an Agricultural Labourer and a Tin Plate Worker. He married Elizabeth Hughes in 1877 and they had five children, my Taid was their second child. Two of their children died, aged 17 months and 11 months, with a third, John dying when he was 19.
I have the family Bible in which he recorded the family births, marriages and deaths.
From the census returns I’ve discovered that he moved around the local area, presumably to get work and on some of the censuses he is not living with the rest of the family. He and Elizabeth spoke both Welsh and English. Isaac died aged 79 in 1928 at my grandparents’ home.
I’ve posted photos previously of my great grandmother, Elizabeth and also of the sampler that she stitched in 1867, when she was twelve.
For more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.
D took this photo of Marlow Bridge in Buckinghamshire several years ago. Marlow Bridge crosses the River Thames between Marlow and Bisham in Berkshire. There has been a bridge here since the 14th century, but this suspension bridge was erected in 1829 -1832.
We used to live in Buckinghamshire and often visited Marlow. I took the photo shown below when the grandchildren were younger, playing in Higginson Park.
Marlow is also the home of Sir Steve Redgrave, the Olympic Rowing Champion who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. His statue stands in Higginson Park – in the background of my photo. For a better photo of his statue see Wikipedia – I was taking a photo of the grandchildren, not Sir Steve’s statue. 🙂
For more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.
I didn’t do a Saturday Snapshots post last weekend because I was away from home for most of it, celebrating D’s birthday. We had a lovely time with the family. I made a cake and the grandchildren all had a hand in decorating it – E did the writing and the hearts! M & G added the smiley faces and other decorations.
We put a few candles on it – no room for all of them!!!
M gave him a big hug and G gave him the required number (66!) of thumps – pats – on his back.
For more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.
Last Saturday I posted photos of the coronation procession I took part in in 1953. Irene asked if I would post photos of what was happening in my area for the celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Well, it was relatively quiet where we live, nearly 350 miles from London. We watched some of the River Pageant on television:
I liked the aerial views and the close-up shots of the Queen and Royal Family, but it was different from actually being there:
The next day our son and his family came to stay and we had a barbecue on the decking, decorated with our daughter-in-law’s hand knitted bunting:
Food was eaten, drinks were drunk and games were played:
Then in the evening we went to one of the 4,200 Diamond Jubilee Beacons that were lit all over the UK and the Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Commonwealth and Overseas UK Territories. Ours was at Watchlaw Farm in Northumberland, where there are magnificent views of the Cheviots and the Tweed Valley:
The beacon was lit just after 10pm:
and soon it was blazing away:
Click on the photos to enlarge them.
D took a video which is on YouTube – watch out for the rocket towards the end of the video!
For more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.
Today’s Saturday Snapshots were taken on a local walk near home over two years ago. It was a few days after Christmas and the ground was still covered in snow, when we walked down to the River Tweed:
We walked through the woodland above the Tweed back home climbing over the ladder style from the woodland into the adjoining field. The photo below shows our grandson climbing the style:
And this one is on the footpath in the field :
For more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.
Here’s another old photo from my family photos. This is my Great Aunty Emily, who was born in 1886 and died in 1935. On the back of this small photo, mounted on card, my Mother wrote ‘Aunty Emily Miss Taylor at Blackpool’. You can enlarge the photo by clicking on it.
I doubt she was actually sat on the beach at Blackpool when this photo was taken, that deck chair looks remarkably near the waves and the sand looks very solid. I suppose she was on holiday there, but as the photo isn’t dated I don’t know when this was.
She was my Grandmother’s younger sister and I’ve found out from the Census Returns that she was born at Lostock Junction, Bolton in Lancashire. My Great Grandfather, her father was Thomas Taylor, a domestic gardener, born in 1856 at Bulwick, Northamptonshire. He had another daughter, Florrie, born in 1901 and a son Thomas William born in 1892. All his children were born in different places, as he moved from Northamptonshire, to Lancashire and then to Cheshire.
Emily never married, but stayed at home acting as Housekeeper for her father after her mother died in 1911. I have a copy of her death certificate 1935, which records that she was aged 51 and died at 94 Victoria Road, Hale, Cheshire of a cerebral haemorrhage. Her occupation was described as ‘Housekeeper (domestic) Daughter of Thomas Taylor a Gardener (domestic) (deceased) of 6 Oak Road, Hale’. My Granny, Evelyn Owens, was present at her death. Had my Granny come to stay with her because she wasn’t well – at that time Granny lived in Pen-y-fford, in Wales?
I knew Florrie because when I was a child she lived in the next road and I used to visit her each week with my Mother. She was lovely and looked very like Emily does in the photo (only older).
I also have a vague memory of Thomas William – Uncle Tom, because when his daughter, Joyce, her husband and their daughter Jennifer (who was born just over a year later than me) emigrated to Australia there was a family party before they left. I don’t know how old I was at the time, probably about 5. I remember Uncle Tom as a very large old man, who was very upset about his daughter emigrating! As usual I’m left wishing I knew more about these people.
See more Saturday Snapshots on Alyce’s blog, At Home With Books.
I’ve been spending time doing some family history these last few days and looking at old photos. I came across this one of my father as a baby, with his brother Jack and sister Mary. He was born in 1914. How children’s clothes have changed! And none of them look too happy – click on photo to enlarge and see their expressions.
And here is a more cheerful one of Dad with his brother-in-law – I think this was taken at Mum and Dad’s wedding in 1938.
Finally, here’s a photo of Mum and Dad, which I really like. It was taken in Llandudno, probably on their honeymoon.
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books.
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