I have some treasured heirlooms

Mine, my fathers, his fathers, my god father and his brother and their father’s medals. Almost complete service to the country for well over a century, and a century when Britain seemed almost always at war with someone. Really makes me think. They are mounted and hang at the top of the stairs and I cannot pass them without thinking of those five dear dear men mostly well known to me in youth.

This is hardworking great grandma Rosanna sat outside of her cottage which was rented from the quarry owner. See the tin bath hung on the wall?

I have a wind up clock that my father removed from a vintage ( years ago) Jaguar. My Grandfather made an oak case for it and it used to sit on our Kitchen mantle piece and I learnt to tell the time using it.
Kitty our spooky- ness continues, I have a large box of Motto Ware waiting to go to the charity shop!

Photos are the best I think.

I do have some and I’m not not sure who they are. It is a lesson though to write on the back of all of them.

I have some but, sadly, nothing from my maternal grandparents as that all went to Mum's sisters and brothers as Mum was away at the time! Presumably anything from the other side of the family went to Dad's sister.
I do feel rather sad about that.
No photos, nothing.
Will my children treasure any of these things? I hope they will.

I have a large volume of bound copies of a ladies magazine from the nineteenth century. It has stories, fashion, household tips, much like today’s magazines, but the print is tiny, you got a lot for your buck in those days. The fashions are very elaborate, featuring crinolines, the stories all have a moral, and the household tips involve domestic staff rather than the lady of the House. The advertisements are probably my favourite, with one small pot promising remarkable cures for a multitude of ailments. It belonged to my great grandmother who was born in the 1840s.

I have letters from 1959 from my dad to my mum when she had to stay in hospital for 6 weeks when I was 5 ,the hospital was about in Buxton and we lived in Manchester ,he didn't drive so could only visit once a week due to working night's and looking after 3 children under 12.
The letters were full of love and the mundane things of what he had bought for our teas ,they were all written in his beautiful handwriting and when I read them I can hear his voice and it brings back wonderful memories of a very happy childhood as they had a very happy marriage.

This is posh great grandmas best silver teapot. Needs cleaning?

These are the cups and saucers. The blue one is from posh great grandma, who owned the black silk taffeta, and the white one is from my hard working great grandma.

They were born in the 1850s

I have a cake slice given to me by my Husband’s Granny when I was 19. It has a mother of Pearl handle and she told me it was a win on the bingo. It’s beautiful and I love it. Happy memories when we cut a cake. Lovely thread Whitewave.

Sadly I dont have anything.

Just 2 items, apart from heirloom jewellery and both from my father's childhood. One is a very fragile blue egg cup of a policeman. His arm is out to the left and when you blow up his hand, it's a tiny whistle. The other is a rather tatty little framed plaque of a little dog with words about the importance of kindness to those beneath you - including dogs. They're of no monetary value at all but both very precious.

I have an antique clock in a glass dome which had been bought by my grandmother at an auction at some time. It never worked during my childhood and it is a bit chipped and the dome had been repaired with sellotape (many years ago). It was really left to DS1 but he is in the US permanently and I don't think it would survive the journey. It has been in our home since 1996 and has never run despite me having it cleaned and overhauled. Two years ago we moved here and a couple of weeks ago, when dusting, I set the spinning thing going. It is still going and keeping good time.

We were just talking about this yesterday evening. A neighbour showed us her new kitchen as we are getting ours done and she gave us good advice.

She is very house proud and everything is perfect. She likes to shop and everything is new. As I look around I have things with memories and they don't really 'match'. They are all precious to me so it doesn't matter.

This is my best heirloom, carved by my dad. The sails are paper. That's a penny next to it.

I have a letter written by my father to his mother on the day WW2 broke out. He had trained to be a fighter pilot and told her not to worry as he had had the proper training but that future pilots would not.

He did survive the Battle of Britain shooting down or damaging several enemy planes. When my mother died my husband (also RAF) organised for my father's medals to be mounted on an air force blue background and framed.

Talking about changing values, we found some Mottoware when we cleared DH's parent's house.

I got carried away buying fabulous sayings and unusual pots. It's worth absolutely nothing now and I've gone off it!!

I have a poem my Grandfather wrote about the nurses who looked after him when he had a serious mining accident. It’s very poignant in fact I should probably look for it as I’m not sure where it is.

What I think is interesting are the changing values and attitudes that are evident.

My fathers family are Cornish ancestry, and staunch Methodist. My grandfather was a member of a choir and went all over Cornwall performing. I have his hymn book annotated in his writing.

I also have a set of large books used to be read by the head of the household on Sundays. They are all stories of good deeds etc. Stultifyingly boring to my ears though.

It's the small things I cherish. A silver match book cover with my initials of my father's aunt. A very pretty seconds coffee pot that was my nan's pride and joy.

Not so small is the 'grandfather clock' which was in my granny's house, then my parent's and now mine. It's actually a grandmother clock and very plain but the tick and the chimes are really homely. We just had it cleaned and refurbished which cost in the hundred's of pounds and when we asked the clock man how much it was worth, he said about what you just paid.

We also have letters from fil to mil and from my Poppa to my nan during WW1.

Sadly I have nothing at all, but am interested to read about the things that others have.....I wonder how far back in history posters are able to go?

I too have treasured items. They are letter and birthday cards my dear mother received many years ago. One is a letter in the form of a Happy New Year Card containing a pressed flower from her wartime penpal. I cant remember the country it came from at the moment but it was from abroad. There is also a signed photo of Humprey Bogart.