Monochrome Monday - 23rd March

This is the Quoits team down in Suffolk 1933 - pictured here is the grandfather of my wife -Herbert Taylor.

The photo is scanned from an old newspaper cutting by the look of it.

They looked pretty pleased - I assume they have won the league or a competition.

Quoits is a game in which rings are thrown at a peg. I have not heard of it being played in the area in which I live - I do not know if it is popular in other parts of the country.

.

Monochrome Monday - 16th March

For Monochrome Monday yet another relative of my mother - Bert Brundritt.

Again not sure who he was ...

He looks very serious - sitting for a photograph was it seems a very serious affair.

.

Monochrome Monday - 9th March

School Play - around 1963 

I have no intention in revealing which one is me other than to say I'm somewhat fatter and greyer now ...

This was a  boys only school - hence some strange looking " girls "

The plays were a great success and well attended by family and friends.

.

Monochrome Monday - 2nd February

Cousin Willie 

A relative of my mother but other than that I have no information.

It's possible that he is the son of James Francis and I imagine that this photograph was taken around 1914/1915 and he would be aged about 18.

My grandfather and his brother James joined a Scots regiment in Glasgow on the outbreak of World War 1 ( so I'm led to believe - but family stories are not always true ). It would seem a strange thing for people of Welsh origin and living in England to do ! They would be in their late thirties and I assume William went along also ..

.

Monochrome Monday - 19th January

Uncle Jim

A fine looking fellow with his moustache and bow tie - perhaps a little fierce looking ??

This is my mothers uncle - James Francis who was born around 1877 in Ardwick Manchester.The family originally came from north Wales and they often went back there on visits hence the photograph being taken in Denbigh.

I would imagine that this photo was taken between 1900 - 1910.

.

Monochrome Monday - 5th January

This old photograph was taken on the Isle of Man about a hundred years ago - in the early 1900's.

Sorry about the quality - a bit of tear and wear and coffee stains by the look of it.

One of the ladies is my grandfather's first wife and her sister. Not grand people - I assume the clothes were provided in those days by the photographer and used only for the posing of the photograph.

.

Monochrome Monday - 29th December

Another old photo - again of my mother - and I would imagine mid/late 1930's.

Rowing on a lake somewhere - possibly Platt Fields or Heaton Park in Manchester.

.

Monochrome Monday - 10th November

During WW II the troops had to be fed and this is where the NAAFI came to the fore. They ran the canteens that fed the troops.

NAAFI stands for Navy, Army, Air Force Institute.

Like members of the armed forces the staff also wore a uniform. This is my mother around 1940/41.

She was employed by the NAAFI at their site in Heaton Park, Manchester.

Not only were there British troops here but also members of the Free French Army and a considerable number of Poles who trained for the Parachute Regiment at Ringway Airport, Manchester.

.

Monochrome Monday - 2nd November

Here we have a really old photo of my grandfather possibly taken any time from 1910 to 1930 - it's so difficult to say when ..

Sorry the quality is so bad.

As you can see he was a printer ..

.

Monochrome Monday - 20th October

Off to the seaside early 1950's complete with bucket and spade and it's me .. places to go and things to do.

Looks like Llandudno in North Wales.

I look like I'm going to cry - and I did hate the curly hair which I spent hours trying to comb straight ..

.

Monochrome Monday - 13th October

Another Monochrome Monday and another blast from the past.

This is my aunt Lily in her Girl Guides uniform and I would guess that the picture was taken in Chorlton, Manchester in the early 1950's.

She was a Girl Guide leader and a Sunday School teacher for many years and I would imagine that she's about forty years of age in this photo.

I do think the uniform design has changed quite a bit since those days !!! 

Monochrome Monday - 29th September

My great-great-grandfather - Charles Thomas Bullivant 1825-1893. He lived in Alwalton in Huntingdonshire and worked on the land.

I would guess that this picture was taken around the 1870' 1880's 

He's with his wife and sister - but which is which ( I've no idea )  Any guesses ? 

Monochrome Monday - 22nd September

Day out at the seaside resort of Southport early 1950's - just look at the cars parked up on the sands !

This was before the  days of motorways and journey took hours - the cars seemed to always stink of petrol.

And me - wearing the  cap ( just in case it was cold )

The lads were neighbours from what I can remember - they left our area some time later and moved to Sale I think.

Hard times !!

Why are all the hills I climb so steep .. ?

This was a struggle to get to the top - Knowl Moor near Rochdale. 

Best foot forward and head down - grit teeth and take a deep breath.

It was worth it - the view is grand as they say in Rochdale.

Caravan - 2

Yes it's me again - with spade ( no bucket ?? ) lots of curly hair plus  father and maternal grandfather

Early 1950's - North Wales ( from where my grandfather's people originated after arriving from Cornwall sometime in the 1850's )

The toilet would be in a hut down the end of the garden - lights were gas lights and the water would come from a stand pipe !

Somewhat different now on a caravan site - most new caravans have central heating ..

Caravan time - 1950's

A caravan holiday in North Wales - early 1950's

Caravans have certainly changed - this looks like a converted lorry !

Me with mother and maternal grandfather..

Seaside visit - 1930's Llandudno

This photo was taken I would imagine in the early 1930's 

Taken by " Happy Snaps " on the pier Llandudno, North Wales it shows my grandparents and their daughters

Fashions have certainly changed ...... !

1902

Somewhere down this main street in 1902 my great-grandfather overturned the carriage he was driving and killed himself.

Rumour was he met a motor car ( unusual in those days ) and the horses bolted !

The town in question is Stamford and a very pretty town indeed !

He worked for the Burghley Estate whose offices were just a few yards away from where this photo was taken