Favourite memories with your grandparents

My maternal grandfather used to travel 5 miles on the bus every day to come fer lunch. He always brought cakes, usually cream doughnuts or similar, carried in his pockets! Naturally, they were squashed, but oh, so yummy. He'd then do word puzzles with me. My paternal grandfather showed me how to " roll his own" cigarettes. I thought at the time it was great fun . Then he'd give me 6d to get a 'pokey hat' (ice cream cone, in Glasgow) I loved visiting him

I didn't know mine but hope my grandchildren will look back with happy memories of all the things and places I took them too

Thank you so much for all of your replies it's been such a pleasure reading them. 🙏

I only knew my maternal grandmother, the others had all died long before I was born. My DM's two younger sisters had emigrated as £10 poms, so my DM & DGM were very close. My parents owned a pub & Nan lived with us. She had a little bed sitting room upstairs, she never left the house, but sat in a chair looking out of the window where she had a good view of the pubs front door & could watch all the comings & goings . She smoked woodbines & had a miniature bottle of Courvoiser brandy every day.She gave me the money to buy an outfit & told me to buy a one of those nice mini skirts, much to DF's disapproval She had a massive stroke when I was 13, and went to hospital. I vividly remember my DM getting the call to say she had died. I loved her so much & hope my DGS's feel the same way about me.

My maternal gran had had hard life. She was widowed young and worked hard to keep both of her children with her. We saw a lot of her but she always seemed quite stern to me, not especially loving and always moaning about something or other or starting a quarrel. My mum worked hard at maintaining a relationship with her. She died when I was in my early twenties aged 78.
With hindsight I think she was probably clinically depressed, never having got over the death of her husband.
My paternal grandparents where a different ballgame! Much wealthier and living in a house they had built themselves. We didn't see so much of them because they lived 150 miles away. When we did it was to stay for a weekend and without fail, every time, one of the first things I was asked on arrival was if I wanted a drink of Ribena? The other memory I have is of being allowed to ring a little bell to announce mealtimes. I'm pretty sure this didn't happen when we weren't there but I was fascinated by a little brass bell in the shape of a tudor lady on a shelf in the hallway. Sadly Nan died suddenly and unexpectedly when I was six.
We continued our visiting routine with Grandad though and he would come to stay with us as well. I remember him taking me and a friend to see 'The Sound of Music'. He would also come on holiday with us, staying in a B&B whilst we camped nearby. He died when I was in my early twenties aged 82.

Wow ! Highly interesting ..

My Maternal French Grandparents: Basically, the fondest memory I have is that my Grandmother was a terrific baker.

My Paternal Grandparents, were a mixture of French and Italian. Also an exemplary skilled cook ..

I do not recall much more as they are all gone quite a long time.

I was so lucky, being the eldest grandchild on both sides. All my grandparents were still in their fifties, and although they all lived far away, when we visited, I always felt loved and wanted ( not quite the case with my parents). The cherished memories I have are ordinary but special to me.
Sitting with my maternal grandmother in her beloved garden, on a sunny day in July, podding peas for the evening meal, and talking about anything and everything.Going to the park to feed the ducks; or walking to the local bakery with my paternal grandmother, and being allowed to choose which little cakes to take back for everybody.
Going on winter walks, and collecting holly, ivy and mistletoe for home made Christmas decorations.
Later, sharing my love of books with my
maternal grandfather. My grandmother could never understand how we could be happy in a room together for hours away from other people without saying a word to each other...

My paternal grandparents died before I was born, my maternal grandfather was a miner and had emphysema but smoked heavily and had nicotine strained fingers, I remember sitting on his knee and he used to stick paper to his fingertips and do a trick “here comes Peter here comes Paul” and make the paper disappear. He died of lung cancer when I was 6.
My maternal grandmother I loved to bits, she had all the family about 16 of us for tea on Sundays we had fish cakes, bread and butter and jelly or cake. Her Boxing Day parties were legendary.
My favourite memory was, she loved the Eurovision Song Concert and every year I stayed with her and she bought sweets for me, had hot chocolate before bed and she let me stay up until the end. This was in the late 50s and 60s when we were successful the Kathy Kirby, Lulu, Sandy Shaw, Cliff Richard era.

I only knew one set of grandparents (maternal) and they were both lovely. Nanna died when I was 6 in the 'flu epidemic but I remember sitting on her lap and playing with her tea caddy. Puppa came to live with us when he was ill and he was a lovely comforting presence but died shortly after - lung cancer from being gassed in WW.

\my maternal grandmother and my paternal grandfather died long before I was born and my paternal grandmother when I was only 3 so my maternal grandpa was the only one I really knew, along with his second wife. I adored my Grandpa and I think most people did. He was immensely kind and generous and lived to a ripe old age. He ran a small corner shop and off licence and gave away sweets and ice creams to many of the local customers' children so my mum always said he'd always be poor as he gave everything away! He was also a driving instructor and taught me to drive as soon as I was old enough. He lived long enough to meet my youngest as a baby and my daughter just remembers his as she was 3 when he died.

It is nice to hear of fond memories of grandparents. There was only one alive by the time I was born, and unfortunately he died 6 months before we went back to the 'old country' when I was 12, so I never had the opportunity to meet him.

I strive to be the best granny I can; loving my 5 GC near and far. Spending quality time together, baking, reading, playing legos or dollies with them.

These are lovely.

Grandad R would empty the new cereal packet so I could have the toy inside. He would spend hours playing with cut out dolls with me. Whenever we were brought a stick of rock from someone's holiday, Grandad would get his penknife out and cut it into pieces so we could share it between us and our cousins. It's amazing how a 1 inch piece or Blackpool rock could bring such joy to each of us.
Nan R always gave us a few smarties before bed. Very naughty of her but she got away with it because she was our Nan. I used to help her pick the chrysanthemums Grandad grew especially for her.
Nan Y died when I was just 5. She used to knit the most wonderful skirt and top sets with flowers, butterflies or maybe boats around the hem for me. Grandad Y found an old dolls house for me and fitted lights as well as making some furniture for it. After Nan died he would come to stay with us and always brought us treats, some quite unusual. I still have his old tobacco tin which he painted for me. He brought us a bag of old golf balls once, with which we played all sorts of games.
I am lucky to have spent so much time with my grandparents when I was young.
It is so sad that my grandchildren are being denied the same by the actions of my children. I will say that they have been unduly influenced by their father who could convince you that black is white. I am making up boxes for all of my grandchildren which they will be given either if they seek me out or after I die, so they will know their Nanna loved them.

Never knew mine, they passed away before I was born except for maternal granddad and I was 3 when he passed. So no memories of mine.

Sadly, never met my maternal grandparents, deceased before my arrival. My paternal grandmother died when I was 3, she was 91. Only met my parernal grandfather for a few years, he was born in 1877. Having served in the Boer War and WW1 he made potatoes how he had learned either in his youth or the wars, and I loved them. Small potatoes, boiled whole on the iron range, butter melted on them then tossed in fine oatmeal. I've tried but they're just are not the same. My one and only favourite memory of a grandparent.

I remember my French teacher in primary school telling me off because I insisted that I had cinq grandparents. This was in the early 1960s so blended families were not really a thing.
She apologised when I explained that I had 2 grandmothers, 2 grandfathers plus a great grandmother. I didn’t know my great grandmother well as I only saw her once a year or so . She died a week before my 18th birthday .
I knew my other grandparents very well . My two grand fathers and my paternal grandmother died while I was 19 , not a good year but my maternal grandmother lived till I was 35 so at the time my 3 teenage children were close to her as well. I was very lucky to have had all of them .

pop was born 1888 so i did not get he very long but i was his namesake first born girl in the middle of june grew strawberries as my birth gift we would sit on his big porch
eating them with cream and sugar
he was riverman built tugboats
spent most sundays with him miss him

Kate1949

I never met any of mine. They were in Ireland. I have no idea of their names.

Oh, Kate1949, that's such a shame!

You should try the 14-day free trial of ancestry.co.uk - I did (years ago), am still hooked, and have found my way back to the 1600's in one line.

It's so much more than just names and dates - you can find out where people lived, what they did for a living, weep over the infants who didn't survive, marvel over those who lived into their 90's even 2 or 3 centuries ago.

The internet has some fascinating articles and sometimes old photographs of places our ancestors lived and how they might have been affected by events at the time. Give it a whirl!

My maternal grandparents died before I was born and my paternal grandfather was killed in WW1. I lived in Australia for some of my childhood and only remember visiting my maternal grandmother once so I have no real memories. I used to feel angry that war robbed me of my grandfather and him not only of his grandchildren but also of his daughter who was born six months after his death.

My maternal grandmother was an ogre with the tongue of a viper. She drove away her husband and was legally separated from him. The family including me were forbidden to see him. I never knew my paternal grandmother as she died when my father was 14. He could never talk of her which saddens me because when I look at the only photo we have of her I see a likenesss of myself in her. I tracked down her grave about 15 years ago and found it very moving. I missed out on relationships with my grandparents and to my shame I feel I have not been a good grandmother myself living over 400 miles away and not always making sufficient effort to visit regularly.

Mine is a long time ago - I was born in 1956, my sister in 1961.
Grandad took me while Mam got settled with the new baby. I remember Grandma saying my prayers with me at bedtime, she also had a garden (we didn’t) with a lovely rockery.

Grandad took me, on his shoulders, to the beach (they lived on the North East coast) and when he gave me sixpences for the ice cream man coming and I lost them down the sofa, I thought that I would get into trouble, but he gave me more.

My Mother and aunts remembered him as a stern father, but, for some reason, he loved me.

We are very involved with our 3 grandchildren, as is their, Dad’s family’s - but they don’t know anything different.

My fathers mother was a widow and ran a small farm. She was my role model and I loved being there as much as possible. Feeding animals , enjoying her garden, helping in the orchard or anything she was doing. She was a great cook and was the person people turned to for help. Generous with her time for other people. and very kind . Sadly she was killed in a car accident when I was a teenager, but still was important in my life. If there was ever a situation when I was not sure what I should do I would always think "what would granny say?" and especially in my teens and early adulthood , it was those situations which were not clearly wrong but those debatable situations which helped me thinking like that

My maternal Nan was the best possible! We lived with her for several years when I was a child in her cottage. Loved her garden full of vegetables, herbs & some plants. Pear & apple trees in the back garden too. She was often unwell but worked at the school we went to so saw a lot of her. She lived into her 80’s, long enough to see the son we waited a long time for & spoil him! Still miss her!

My Dad’s parents were wonderful,nearly every time I went to their house,in Scotland,we made tablet,they adored my brother & I ,we didn’t see them often as we lived in the South of England.I wrote to them & they would send parcels of Harrogate toffee,after I left home I made a point of visiting them as often as I could.Now a Grandmother of 7 I know how they adored us both.My other Grandpa was very grumpy,that Grandma died before I was born,but apparently she was lovely,I wear her ring.

Very good memories with grandparents in the late 1950s and the 1960s. Nothing special happened and certainly nothing expensive. Just going to the shop that one set of grandparents owned, going out in the car with Grandad on deliveries, eating cheese and ham in the back of the shop where they made sandwiches. The other grandparent, our Nana living alone, used to have us to stay. We did baking, dressing up, playing with the cat, watching tv, eating sweets, going on a bus, the excitement of being sent to the local shop with money and a list! Looking back, these are all ordinary but very happy memories, just about spending time somewhere else with someone who loves you and less rules!