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my memory of my grandad was seeing him complete walking the south downs way when he was well into his eighties - so proud!

I'm a little jealous of some of these lovely memories, as I never knew any of my grandparents. My grandfather was from Orkney and my grandmother, from Keith, lived in Aberdeen. At first I thought he was a scoundrel because he got my grandmother pregnant and didn't marry her - this was in 1920 - and after she died in childbirth he didn't raise my mother. Through family history research, I met a distant relative who had known my grandfather, and who told me about him. I realized that he did visit and keep in touch with my mother, and that perhaps he became a nicer person as he got older. I think I would have loved him and I certainly love Orkney and am proud of my connection to the place - although I am American. (My grandfather "made his fortune" for 30 years in America and returned to Orkney, bought a hotel, and finally get married at the age of 55!) I am my grandchildren's only gran, so I do my best to make special memories for them and hope they will remember me as fondly as some of you gransnetters do your grandparents.

Going with my Nan and Grandad to a door at the end of the garden thinking it was fairy door and it went straight on to their allotment and helping pick our vegetables for dinner.

When I was young, I stayed with my grandmother whilst my mother was having my brother. After lunch she always wanted to play the same game with me, it did not have a name, but to play it we both had to sit in an armchair, then she used to say' let's see who can keep their eyes shut the longest'. Needless to say, I fell asleep. Whether she did I don't know, but I do know that when I woke up she was always up and doing something like cooking or cleaning.

I remember when I was little and would insist my grandparents take me everywhere with them, so much so that I would lie across the front door so they can't sneak out without me. Little did I know they would sneak out round the back to get out.

Both my Grandfathers 'died in harness' so I only knew my Granny and my Gran. They were like chalk and cheese. Granny (Mum's Mum) wash posh. A semi-invalid she was always immaculately dressed, with snow white permed curls, shampooed and set by my Mum at least twice a week. My spinster Aunt who lived with Granny and my Mum both worked full time but between them they waited on Granny hand and foot, while my Dad did her garden, painting and decorating etc. She only went out if taken by car, sitting in the back seat in a fur coat and hat with a travelling rug and a stone hot water jar at her feet, waving to anyone she passed like the Queen. We were expected to be 'seen and not heard' in her presence and behave in a ladylike fashion.

On reflection, I believe she was the only person I ever knew who did not like my lovely, kind, helpful Dad.

My Gran (Dad's Mother) never seemed to sit down, always busying about her room and kitchen, chatting away, in broad Doric, while stoking the range, baking and cooking, making jam, ironing on the kitchen table with an iron heated on the fire, taking meals to sick or elderly neighbours, washing clothes by hand and running downstairs to hang them out in the back yard. She was always telling my sister and me that she had no idea what to do with girls (having only had three sons) so she would just treat us like boys, So we were sent on errands to the shop ('and there should be enough change to get you each an icecream'), given our Dads Meccano set or a football to play with, and most importantly given the job of sorting out the jar where she put her Co-op 'flimsies' which had to be put on a metal spike and counting the loose change which had also been flung in the jar. Once counted we had to do the sum, in our heads, of dividing the total by 2 and if correct we would be rewarded with half of the money each as "the jar was getting too full". Every time we went through this ritual, Gran would express her amazement that 2 girls could complete what was really a boy's job. This from the woman who had taught all three of her sons to cook, clean, sew and iron. She used to call us random names like Toots or Teenybash and when asked why mysteriously explained that it was only safe to use proper names on Sundays. She used nicknames for her sons and husband too.

I loved her to bits.

My nan was a cook at Windsor castle, and my grandad a gardener there, thats how they met. I would spend time with nan in the kitchen learning how to bake cakes as she boiled the kettle on the hob. She could knit at bionic speed while watching the tv and tried to teach me to no avail. My grandad was always in the garden growing veggies, and in his shed as he was also a printer with his own printing press. So I would go to his shed and help him, and he always gave me a mint humbug which he kept in a glass jar.

My granny never left the house without a hat, and, when I was very little, I used to watch in total awe and wonder as she secured it by sticking a hat pin right through her head. Or at least that was what I thought she was doing!

My maternal Nanny had such a hard life, having been left on her own bringing 9 children up - and she always seemed to be washing in an old twin tub, whenever we went round. She loved babies though and her face would light up whenever she held one of her grandchildren. (Didn't really know my Granddad, as obviously he'd left her).
My paternal Grandad died before I was born but my Nanny was a lovely lady - our favourite part of her house was her 'sweets & treats drawer' which she'd always dip into at some point during our visit and find something nice for us. She liked a secret bet and would sneak off on a Saturday afternoon to back a horse or two!

I only remember one , my maternal grandmother born in the Victorian times but was a domestic science teacher and had travelled to New Zealand for a holiday before marriage.I like to think that we all have her spirit for adventure and hope her great great granddaughters continue in this way.

Old Granny and racy Nan. My grandmother had my father late in life so she was always ' old ' in my eye. Every Christmas I would get a vest and a pink sugar mouse for Christmas - right up to when she died when I was 13. She also gave my parents a jar of honey with the instructions of giving me a spoonful every day in the winter to ward of winter lurgy !
Racy Nan had already left my grandad before I was born ( I was born in 1961 ) for another man and didn't live in my hometown. We saw her a few times a year. She wore a fur coat with red high heels always had her poodle with her and I would often hear her say s**t ! In my eyes as a child very racy ! !

I only knew one of my grandparents, my lovely nan would collect me from school once a week and take me to Brownies, we'd get chip shop chips for tea and watch her beloved Emmerdale, ooh she'd be shocked to see it now ! Sadly we lost her to ovarian cancer just as I hit my teens, she came to live with us for awhile but spent her last days with a Macmillan Hospice, they were a great help through some of the darkest days, I remember her smile most, she was a very kind lady, a warm and gentle soul.

Everytime I see and smell the scent of geraniums, it reminds me of my grandparents. Attached to their living room, they had a conservatory filled with geranium plants. They were my grandparent's pride and joy. I always have the plants in my garden during the summer as a constant reminder of my lovely grandparents.

Dad from Belfast, Mam from Southern Ireland. I loved my Nannie in Belfast so much, I was her little bird; she sadly died when I was 8. I had met my grandfather from the south when he visited his children in England, but I had never my grandmother until I was 10. What a disaster that was. She hated my father because he was from Belfast, even though she had never met him and she spent the whole month, out of earshot of my mother calling me by my surname. I remember correcting her and she said "Your father is a black north b*****d, so I won't be calling you by your first name ever. She died the following year, so I never had to see her again. I told my mam many years later and she was horrified. I am 60 now and still so glad she died early on in my life. We have a mind-set of how grandparents should be and sadly that's not always the case. Because of my earlier experiences, I strive to be that loving, firm but fair grandparent.

Unfortunately both my grandfathers had died before I was born and by the age of 11 both my grandmothers had passed away. The only memory I have of my maternal grandmother is being at a family wedding and sleeping in the same room as her. We lived too far away to see her regularly as in those days nobody had a car. However, I have lovely memories of my husbands maternal grandmother and loved to hear her tell us the same stories over and over and she would always laugh at them herself. She always wore a pinny and kept a bag of mint imperials in the pocket and whenever I see mint imperials now I always think of her.

My grandad used to go to town, by bus, every Saturday while I stayed with nan. One day he came home with a gorgeous Barbie doll and some clothes as I had said I would like one. I had fun playing and while looking at the leaflet of clothes/outfits available I must have shown nan and grandad some of the things I wanted to get. Grandad got out his bike and went back to town just to get me a Barbie wedding outfit. I still remember that being done for me and how nan knitted all sorts of dolls clothes. I miss all my grandparents greatly.

My mum's dad died when she was 13. My gran was wonderful and she and my great aunt Liz taught me so much. I learnt how to play cards, Jack Change It and Twentyfive, with sweets for the winner, which they frequently let me win. They were crossword fanatics and Gran would pester me with clues, challenging me to think, which I secretly enjoyed. When I was stuck on a maths homework Gran would always be able to explain it to me in a way that was easier to understand. Poor mum wouldnt have had the time or patience with a brood of seven. Great aunt Liz was a keen gardener and her love of that has rubbed off on me. Being the oldest of 7 I loved going to Gran & Aunt Liz's for an overnight. It was great to have all that individual attention. A real treat was going on the bus into Bangor and while they had their coffee and fruit scones I had fizzy orange with my scone - seems a revolting mixure now, but aged 8 - 12 I thought it the height of sophistication. Occasionally I would have a few days holiday with the and was never bored and always spoilt with their attention. They had great warmth, patience and humour. I was so fortunate to have them in my life.

My Dad's parents were very old (as I thought then) they used to sit either side of the fireplace, Pop had a massive dictionary by his side and liked to read the definitions of words. No tv only a radio tuned to the Home Service. Table under the window with a green chenille cloth. They raised six children my Dad being the youngest by some years. I was expected to sit quietly and was given a Jacob's cracker with butter (possibly margarine) and home made blackcurrant jam and told to eat it quietly. They already had grown up grandchildren. When I think back they must have been in their middle seventies when I was born. My Mum's Mum was much younger and more active and taught me to skip.

I remember eating leftover fat from cooking meat spread onto bread at my grandparents house, and they always had the most wonderful jellies in the shape of bunny rabbits that I simply adored!

My Nanna was a farmers wife and I remember so many happy hours spent at the kitchen table making delicious cakes and puddings - she made all her own jams and chutneys and showed me how easy it was to do, I am ashamed to say, although I still bake I don't find the time to make jam anymore. Whenever I bake I think of Nanna, she was a brilliant cook and I miss her very much.

I was adopted and never knew either my parents or my real grandparents. My adoptive parents were older when they adopted me and both my adoptive grandmothers had passed on. I have few memories of my two grandfathers: my mother's father lost his legs in a railway accident and would sit me on his wooden knees to sing 'The animals came in two by two' and 'Here comes an old woman upon a white horse', bouncing me somewhat uncomfortably up and down in time to the words! He had a large moustache that drooped over his top lip and when drinking tea, he would noisily suck the moustache after each swig of tea! My paternal grandfather used to be a baker, in the days when bread was taken to customers' homes in a horse-drawn van. My parents were devout Plymouth Brethren and on Sundays we attended chapel. Services were dull for a small child but always enlivened for me by my granddad who would fall asleep, only to jerk awake in a quiet moment and shout out "Baker! Fresh bread!"

My lovely nana would always walk for almost an hour to visit and bring us 1 Mars bar to share between 3 of us or some butterkist popcorn. She always smelled of Tunes cough sweets and the smell now takes me straight back

I remember my grandma doing the laundry with a dolly tub and mangle, using dolly blue. She also used to stand in front of the fire with her skirt up, warming her bottom. During the war, she had worked in a munitions factory and her skin always had a yellow tinge. My grandad, who was blind, used to sing "Knees up mother Brown" and "Little brown jug", and he would go into the road with a shovel, to collect horse droppings for his roses. I remember them eating meals of tripe and bread. After grandma died, mum used to send me round there each Sunday morning, to dust and tidy for grandad. As a reward he would give me threepence, which I would always spend on Uncle Joe's mint balls. One day, I had the shock of my life when I looked into a cup by the kitchen sink and saw grandad's glass eye staring up at me.

I only really knew my paternal Grandma. She and her sister lived in the same village as us and I used to go there to play. A big treat was her egg custard, and if I was good she would give me a Nuttall's Mintoe out of her bag. I have a lot of good memories of my Grandma and Great Aunt.

Grandma had 6 children & most lived close by with their own families.Weekends & holidays would often find us round at gran's house,always made welcome,always fed when hungry. I never remember her being angry or shouting at us.
Lots of lovely memories!