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(509 Posts)
CariGransnet (GNHQ) Sat 01-Oct-16 13:12:01

Running throughout October, we're offering you the chance to win this amazing prize (all details HERE

To be entered into the draw simply leave a memory of your own grandparents on this thread. Usual terms and conditions apply.

trisher Sat 01-Oct-16 23:52:52

My dad's mum (Nanna B) liked a bet and always had the paper open on the kitchen table to the racing page. If you had a cup of tea she would read your tea leaves for you. She made Yorkshire curd cheescakes, when we dropped in on a Saturday she would be standing, baking.
My mum's mum (Nanna M)lived in a prefab, when I stayed the night I slept in her bed. She couldn't share a bedroom with Grandad because he was ill- he had TB. I used to pretend to be asleep when she came to bed and listen as she sighed and scratched when she took off her corsets.

cherylann2461 Sun 02-Oct-16 00:22:32

My Nan brought me up so she was everything to me. The age gap made no difference to us, we both giggled like teenagers.

Rebecca23 Sun 02-Oct-16 00:46:49

My Nana would always insist I had a boiled ham sandwich and a cup of tea. I never did like boiled ham, but it was her way of making sure my belly was full. She would always make me treacle toffee on the weekend. The smell was amazing!

alabaster Sun 02-Oct-16 06:36:14

Lavender perfume; corned beef and pickle sandwiches; a two-up two-down town house with a rarely-used "front room"; a chocolate Easter egg in a simple mug; unconditional love from two (seemingly at the time) very old people. I am close to their age now!

Dannydog1 Sun 02-Oct-16 08:22:51

My one Granny was known as Granny with the bag, as she always carried a large shopping bag and always produced a surprise for me from it. She also always produced a bag of threepenny bits from it that she had saved for me. We used to met her in the church grounds in central Birmingham and she always had a bag of pigeon food for me to feed the birds.

Purpledaffodil Sun 02-Oct-16 08:26:24

Nana had brought up 11 children and still loved babies. My parents were living with her and Pop when I was born so I was her "last baby".i remember my grandfather Pop giving me the crusts off the loaf spread with dripping and sprinkled with salt and my Nana playing feather blowing games in her lovely soft feather bed. Such loving people.

Greenfinch Sun 02-Oct-16 08:42:35

I can only remember one granny and I only visited her 3 times because of the distance. She lived in a miners house in Holding Colliery.I had difficulty understanding her lovely Geordie accent but I remember her little house always had an open front door and people would drift in and out all day and be given a cup of tea or a little tipple.
Should be Bolden.

emmfurn Sun 02-Oct-16 08:59:31

My grandma was a lovely lady but she lived up north miles away so we didnt see her often but when we did she always bought sweets with her which was a real treat for us. We used to get her to play "cheat" with us with playing cards but she refused to cheat so we would always win ;)

NanaandGrampy Sun 02-Oct-16 09:01:48

My Nana was the best (apologies to everyone smile) She worked until she was nearly 80. She was the lynchpin of our family, wise, kind ,warm and funny. A typical cockney of the time.

One of my most vivid memories is staying at her house in Islington. She lived on the top 2 floors of a 4 story house with my Grandad who was a coalman. They had no garden obviously so on sunny days she would open the landing window and put me out to play on the walled roof of the bathroom on the floor below.

So there I was 5 years old, 2 floors up playing on a roof. No-one thought anything of it !!

On Saturdays I would go with my granddad , and Blossom the horse pulling the coal cart and collecting the money for the weeks coal. Then Grandad would go in the pub to 'do his books' leaving me outside with a glass of squash and a cone of winkles and a pin !!

Happy days and so much more simple. I miss them endlessly.

lizd31 Sun 02-Oct-16 09:03:20

I always remember watching Watch with Mother with my Nana as my Mum owner her own hairdressing salon so my sister & I used to call it Watch with Nana

vee Sun 02-Oct-16 09:38:48

I only knew one grandparent and that was my beloved grandma (aka little grandma as she was tiny) who always lived with us. She always wore a wrap-over pinny and I remember clearly reaching up into her pocket where she kept a never-ending supply of peanuts with red skins on. She had a permanent 'dew-drop' fixed on the end of her nose which defied gravity! Always a source of wonder! She never missed the wrestling on TV on Saturdays and I can see her now, sat waving her little fists and shouting at the 'baddy'. Come Sunday, you'd always find her in the same chair, hat on, hymn book on her knee, joining in the singing on Hymns of Praise. A wonderful, funny, lovely & loving lady, and all I wanted to be when I was small was a grandma like her. And now I'm a Nana to two most beautiful little girls - although without the 'dew-drop'. I still love red-skinned peanuts though.

obag Sun 02-Oct-16 09:55:27

My Grandmother had a whistling kettle, but she was quite deaf so when the kettle whistled my Grandfather would shout BOILING BETTY and my Grandmother would go and make the tea. How times have changed nowadays one would be tempted to say well you know what to do make the dam tea yourself.
I now have a whisting kettle and every time it boils I think of this and it puts a smile on my face.

rizlett Sun 02-Oct-16 11:21:00

My nanny used to make me (age 8) a cup of tea in a proper cup and saucer in a hawthorn pattern (we weren't allowed to drink tea at home...) with a bourbon biscuit to dip in. I later found a matching jug at a boot fair and use it to remind me of lovely memories and to keep hair bands in. :D

rocketstop Sun 02-Oct-16 12:27:47

My maternal Grandma bathed me in love and light, she was there when I was born.She righted the wrongs in my young life, she was a safe haven.Her cakes were the best, her bread, magnificent ! She took on my two teenage cousins when their parents died, raising them when she was almost in her seventies.
She had no money but she was generous with time, always teaching me things, french knitting, cards, tricks, and I spent many hours watching her bake.She died many years ago but I am still wrapped in her love.Paternal Grandma was also lovely, but she 'Belonged' to my older sister !!

lee8000 Sun 02-Oct-16 12:29:37

Used to spend school holidays at my grandparents. My grandma was a wonderful cook and every Sunday she took us to a local farm to see the animals followed by a toastie back home.

CGORST Sun 02-Oct-16 12:56:12

I didn't see my nan-nan very often because she lived in Sheffield and we lived in Manchester but whenever she came over she would always read Mrs Pepperpot books to me. It is my greatest memory of her. I loved the stories but reading them myself was never as good as listening to my nan-nan!

happysouls Sun 02-Oct-16 13:05:01

We stayed with my grandparents in Wales every year when we were children. We always had a day trip to Butlins and my Grandad would brave whatever fairground ride we wanted to go on! He even braved the rollercoaster when my sister's french exchange friend wanted a ride! We always had banana butties for lunch and fish and chips at the seaside on the way home!

Juggernaut Sun 02-Oct-16 13:07:25

I never knew my paternal grandparents, they were both dead long before I was born.
My mum's parents, however, were a huge influence in my life.
Nana taught me the practical stuff, cooking, baking etc and I also learned from her to make sure I'm up, showered, dressed, hair done and make up on before 8-00 every day. I still do it now, well, most days!
Grandad was just wonderful, he and I would sit for hours with books piled high around us. He encouraged the natural curiosity of a child, and taught me so much, if I asked about anything, where, when, why, how, Grandad would be sure to find out and relay the answer to me.
He also instilled in me a sense of justice and fairness, to do as I would be done by and to never, ever look down on anyone!
No-one else has ever influenced my lfe in the way that Grandad did, he was the kindest, most loving and gentle man imaginable and I loved him to bits!

Auntieflo Sun 02-Oct-16 13:36:25

I never knew my maternal gran, as she died when Mum was only 8. I seem to remember my paternal gran only as a small figure in a London house with an old fashioned grated fire in the kitchen. On the other hand, Mum's dad lived with us until I was about 10. He was a great doer, mending shoes, growing veg, raising chickens and generally being my brother's best friend, and owner of a comfy lap. It is lovely hearing all the memories of people lucky enough to have known and loved their grans.

bubbleybooboo Sun 02-Oct-16 14:08:57

i remember as a little girl going to the sand dunes at st annes to have a picnic. We played in the sand and at the end of the day before it was time to leave we started having races along the sand dunes. My nana was getting a bit cold and she tied a neck scarf round her neck. It was getting more windy as the tide came in and my nanas scarf blew off. We all looked for it but couldnt find it anywhere. Every time we go back even to this day with my own children we all talk about the neck scarf and if we would ever find it!

marpau Sun 02-Oct-16 15:00:06

I didn't really know my dad's parents as they died when I was very young. My mums mum taught me to knit sew and crotchet and I have loved these crafts all my life she was a very active member of the local church non drinker yet had a guilty secret on Saturday afternoons she would watch wrestling on the TV and get quite carried away shouting for her favourites. Grandad always came home for his main meal at lunchtime we had to be very quiet while he listened to the archers! When he was not at work he would take us on great adventures walks in the woods or along the riverbank he always carried a penknife and would cut giant leaves which we used as parasols great carefree days.

frananddora Sun 02-Oct-16 15:25:18

My step grandad was every bit a real grandad to me. He lost three children to measles before WW1 and his youngest son, a rear gunner, died over Germany on his 21st birthday. Grandad Hunt made toys for us, meals for us, looked after our dog when we were on holiday and, in his gruff way, loved us.

moleswife Sun 02-Oct-16 15:48:30

I have my Nan to thank for my early start to reading and love of books. She used to sit and read and write simple words with me when I was very young but it was only much later in life that I found out that she could hardly read and write herself (I thought her sight was her problem), because when she went to school in the 1890s her teacher found out that she was very good at sewing so asked her to sew pillow cases and petticoats for her rather than bother with the the literacy lessons that she found so hard!

rubysong Sun 02-Oct-16 16:05:52

I didn't know any of my grandparents, both my grandfather's died young and all I know of my grandmother's is what i have between told. My maternal GM was a young widow with ten children and a farm to run so must have been a strong character. Paternal GM loved auctions, bought several houses and most of our 'family heirlooms' came from her. I also love auctions and get some amazing bargains; it must be genetic. She also had a cataract operation at the age of ninety and after that was able to knit again. I also love to knit.

JanT8 Sun 02-Oct-16 16:06:07

Weekends with my Nana were totally grandchild focussed. Walking around her local park at 6.30am on a Sunday morning to get 'an appetite for breakfast' (my sister and I were always awake very early!
Pikelets for tea, which had been toasted on the brass toasting fork in front of a coal fire;these were served dripping with real butter (my mum used to mix butter with marg., to make it go further).
Going with Grandad to the local news shop to get his Sports Mercury, knowing we would get a packet of sweet cigarettes.
Clomping around in Nana's heels with cheeks reddened with her Bourjois rouge which came in a dinky little cardboard pot.
Then sleeping in a feather bed, with a feather eiderdown and a stone hot water bottle wrapped in one of Nana's wyncyette nighties.
Never much money, but oh! such happy memories!