My dad's dad died soon after returning from the first world war - untreated post traumatic stress led to pneumonia. His wife, my maternal grandmother, had a tough life and was a tough old biddie, but she retained her gentility to the very end. My mum's dad died when I was 4; the only memory I have of him is when he was in bed, but there was a real feeling of love in the room. My Gran, his wife, came to live with us when I was 10, and she's the one I have most memories of. I shared a bedroom with her for a while and she liked to read in bed until midnight. I couldn't sleep with the light on, so my abiding memory is of burying my head in the pillow, praying she would finish reading soon! As I was a good little girl, I never told anyone - I'm sure she would have been mortified if she had known, she was such a lovely lady.
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My memory of my Dear Nana and Papa is LOVE, i felt i was loved and adored and i certainly loved and adored them both. I spent every morning of the summer walking on the beach with my Darling Papa, He loved to watch the horses running on the sand at 7am, we would watch for hours.I even remember my Darling Nana wrapping me in a large tartan blanket and walking the street with me tied to her chest as i was teething and would not allow anyone else to comfort me, her blue chiffon headscarf had a hole where it tied under her chin as i always chewed on it. Oh how i miss them both.
I was too small to remember my granddads when they died.
One 'Grandma' used to take me on holiday to Colwyn Bay to stay at her sisters. I can remember having tea with the thinnest sliced bread with butter. A real treat to EAT in bed.
My other 'Grandma', although she had her own home and a little money was a very careful Yorkshire woman. Instead of a white table cloth, she used sheets of newspaper to cover the table. (the best cloths were in the drawer of the dresser only to be used for special occasions) I had to do her shopping at the weekend, exactly the same each week and call in at the library to change her books. No pocket money, but it saved my lazy Mum for having to care for her !!!!!!
I'd spend hours at the weekend gardening with my granddad.
As an adult, every time I smell fresh tomatoes growing the memories flood back of the two of us in his greenhouse tending to the plants, I was like his shadow as a little girl following him around the garden trying to help and I loved every minute.
My paternal grandparents died before I was born.
Sadly I don't really remember my maternal grandma but I must have loved her because I was apparently always eager to visit her every day; she died when I was four.
I remember my maternal grandpa as an old gentleman sitting in a leather armchair wearing a collarless shirt, a black waistcoat and with a fob watch which I was allowed to look at.
I do remember going to see Grandma and Grandpa's little house after new people had moved in and being most indignant that they had made themselves very much at home in my Granny's house.
grandma had a long garden loved going and picking ruhbarb to eat raw or peas to pod, eating either of them transports me back to being 8 years old
I should add that I have discovered so much about all my grandparents since researching the family history which has helped me to build up stories of their lives and helped me to feel that I really knew them.
My maternal grandparents were Master and Matron of what was now called the Institution locally, but I was actually born in the Workhouse! My Dad was at War, so my Mum lived with her parents at that time. Unfortunately my grandmother died when I was only 2, but I went on to spend an annual holiday with my grandfather after he moved on from that job.
My father was adopted in India, and so my paternal grandmother was not his birth mother. She led a busy life in the days of the Raj as she was married to a Chief Magistrate and she actually won an MBE for her work during the terrible floods in Calcutta. After her husband died she returned to England to live, where her adoptive son married my mum and they moved in with her at the end of the War together with me. We had the top two storeys of the house and gran had the bottom one, so I spent a lot of time with her and we were very close. She spoiled me rotten and paid for me to go to a couple of private schools before taking the 11+ and going on to Grammar School. She died just before I married.
My nieces have done a lot of research into the past and have managed to trace the details of what happened to my Dad's birth parents, which led to his adoption.
Jinky the bread is easier to slice very thinly if it's buttered first
(Tip from both my DM and my MIL!)
My Grannie often used to take my sister and I out on trips when we would walk everywhere. At the end of the day on our way home we would often complain that our feet were sore. She would respond with "Walk on the grass. It is softer." I still miss her.
My mum's mum was very independent and feisty. I remember meeting her in Dickins and Jones two days before my wedding to collect her dress for the wedding. We went for tea and she said in a very loud voice in the restaurant:
Waiter! cakes for my granddaughter who is getting married on Thursday.
Everyone clapped and she actually stood up and took a bow. She was born in 1900 and her claim to fame was that she was as old as the year and the same age as the Queen Mother!
My maternal grandparents played a huge part in our lives after my parents split up when I was about 5 and we went to live with them. They welcomed us "home" with open arms, despite the fact that our arrival probably turned their lives upside down in their retirement.
My granny did fine embroidery and played piano and baked cakes and made bread. My grandad played silly tunes on his fiddle for us to dance to. He read out of the family Bible every evening after supper and said prayers and we'd all sing hymns. When he wasn't tending his chickens or his roses, he would be in his open-air workshop (a"lean-to") repairing things (there was nothing he couldn't fix) or doing carpentry. He always wore a pith helmet under the hot African sun.
He and my granny were a devoted couple, their softly-spoken love for each other is an abiding memory of that time in my life.
I only knew my paternal grandmother, and I loved her to bits. Tiny and determined, she was known by us all as Mother, and nobody crossed her! A true lady, she always wore soft buttoned leather shoes, beautiful silky fitted dresses with lace modesty panels and, when she went out, hat and gloves. She taught me rules of etiquette that I still can't break, such as no jewellery or makeup at breakfast (I'm a scary sight at the hotel buffet!). I loved staying with her in her big terraced house which had an open range, outside toilet, no hot water, a front parlour that I was occasionally allowed into, to sit gingerly reading on a hard chaise longue surrounded by birds and flowers under glass domes. She died unexpectedly, as she was still hale and hearty at 94. When I heard she'd had a fall I was at college. I dashed off to Durham on the train, made my way to her house and knocked, and the door was answered by her next door neighbour, who ushered me in to see her. Relieved, I followed her to Mother's bedroom, to find her laid out on the bed, looking like a porcelain doll.
Sadly I missed out on grandparents as they had all died before I was 6 months old.
I have always loved spending time with the elderly, and have so enjoyed being a Grandma myself.All grandchildren are now in their teens, so I look forward to great grandchildren in a few years time.
We lived with my maternal grandmother. My earliest memory is of playing with my younger brother who would have been about two and I was five, He split his head open and I was blamed for it. While everyone was concerned about him and scowling at me my gran took me in her arms and told me it wasn't my fault and how much she loved me. I can still remember how I felt that day. When I was older I remember telling her to put her teeth in and make me fried onions. She made the best fried onions ever.
My grandparents house was a treasure trove of interesting things. The war years meant they learnt never to throw anything away so I would rummage through drawers full of pencil stubs, elastic bands and odd bits of string. Now I would see it as pointless clutter but when I was 7 it was exciting to discover these little wonders
I was born late in life to my parents and can't remember my maternal grandparents at all. I can remember visiting my paternal grandmother. She had a range which was always clean and she used to let me sit on the rug in front of it and play with her cat.
My Nan getting a taxi to go to KFC for my Grandads birthday. She said you can't do much for each other at this age, but he said he wanted a bargain bucket for his birthday and so I made sure he got one. (They were nearly 90!!!)
Like many children of the 50s my grandparents upped and moved to Canada so I missed their presence in my life. I was always showered with beautiful Christmas and Birthday gifts, but my abiding memory are the bundles of comics regularly sent which were inserts from their newspapers. Eventually I did meet them all when travelling across the Atlantic took off in the 70s. How wonderful that was.
I never knew any of my grandparents. My Mum was fostered from the age of five ( found wandering the streets of Edinburgh trailing a sack of potatoes) My Dad had such an awful childhood he left home at 14 ( evacuated during war but never returned home) The lady who brought my Mum up was called Aunty Mair. My Dad was posted abroad ( Navy) My Mum worked night duty as a nurse. We lived with Aunty Mair and her two sisters whilst Dad was away. My " Aunties" decided to give me a makeover. I was about seven at the time. They decided to cut my hair which was fairly long into a very short style complete with fringe. I'll never forget my Mums horrified face when she came in from work and the " Aunties" proudly showed of their work. I had to be taken to a proper hairdressers to fix it!
! was only 5 when my Granny died but I do remember her coming to take me for a walk and begging a rose from a gentleman tending his garden. I think I got my love of flowers from her .
We lived in a semi-detached house next to my grandparents when we were growing up, & I remember whenever we wanted them we simply banged on the adjoining wall with my Mum's brass ornament. They spent a lot of time with all the grandchildren, teaching us about gardening, & allocating little plots of their garden to each of us to look after. Happy days!
My lovely grandma used to take me on shopping trips with her and I remember going to LONDON - which was HUGE for me a country girl. We went into Selfridges and she bought me a ring - it is the thinnest gold wire with the tiniest of garnets but it is THE biggest most wonderful ring ever to me
i remember my grandpa teaching me how to drive and when my son was born playing football in the back garden with him (he even made him wear a utd shirt)
My favourite memories of grandparents are my nan always wearing a waist pinnie, she was always cleaning her brass ornaments, always baking and every Christmas making her own homemade Advocaat. My grandad was deaf as a post and was always sat in his favourite chair reading the daily paper - oblivious to anything going on around him.
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