General Chat

I read your entry with interest Mary, definetly not boring
If I can't visit all these places in the real world, at least now I can visit via the info on here.

Have started getting some info together about Handsworth Park (my park). Hope to be back tomorrow, with at least some of the info.

Tess

Goodmorning,

Thanks Mary I found your writing about Oliva interesting. As I have not travelled out of South Africa at all I enjoy reading about other places and definitely do not find the entries boring.

Our supermarkets already have Christmas displays out and Christmas music playing, I think they start earlier each year with so much emphasis on the commercial side forgetting what it is really about. We, as a family, don't set much store by the cost or size of a gift but more on the thought and the spirit in which it is given. My daughter always bakes tradiitional "Soetkoekies" (a direct translation is Sweet Biscuits) a recipe she got from my Mother every year, which she gives to her friends and they simply love them.

My sister-in-law has just had her third TIA (a tiny clot which blocks a blood vessel in the brain - Bridget you will know about this) in 6 months. According to my brother the doctor is going to do tests to see if he can find out what precipitates the attacks - I didn't know they could do this.

This is the time of the year when our friends from London usually visit, but sadly they are not coming out this because of financial constraints. We are going to miss them. My daughter is also feeling the pinch she says people don't have money to spend on computers and you would be surprised at how many people expect her to work for free.

Bye for now.


Val.

Good morning All

Looking forward to reading about Handsworth Park Tess - many years ago my grandad used to take me to the Birmingham Show at this park. He used to breed rabbits with long ears and used to put them in the show. Although I do not remember him winning anything. The highlight for me was to sit in the grandstand and watch horse jumping - still like watching this sport even today.

I will write about Birmingham later today - I was bought up for the first 9 years of my life in Yardley village - the cottage was opposite Yardley old church. Happy days !!!

Take care
Love Mary xx

O glories of Glories we seem to be back on line as we were when this thread first started.Thank you everyone for keeping the spirit alive. I am learning so much about different places in the world that I soooooo wish I could see. Unfortunatley not having sufficient funds to educate, bring up and now again provide a small treat for our six children and travel I am now gaining insite to so many aspects of where eveyone lives.
Now please stay with me for a mmoment.Hmm six children I can hear some say.
Mariage nos one, 24 years 4 childre including one set of identical boys...very sad divorce..........tears tears and more
tears,

Then met someone I had always known, and 2 years younger than me whose wife had left him and his two boys..

Married him a few months later and now we are a big happy family an all children were/are encouraged to see, and enjoy their other parent,...so important I believe,

Now I have many cyber friends and am learing so much about culture in place across the world It is wonderful

I think I shall write about Frinton On Sea next

Bridget

By the time I first got to see Handsworth Park Spring had come.
This meant it was a bit warmer, we had more hours of daylight, there were leaves budding on the trees and the spring flowers were out.

Everything looked a lot brighter and lighter, and people generally were more cheerful.

The Park had mant undulating lawns, and although we looked, we couldn't find any signs saying "Keep off the grass"
. It was all for us, a walk on, or sit on or gambol on or roll around on. Really marvellous.

There was a childrens playground, with swings, so a small for age twelve year old I was able to play on the swings, going really high!
Alongside the childrens playground was a little pond, (which according to Wikapedia, is fed by the Farcroft and Grove Brooks).
Close to the Playground was the band stand.
A railway ran through th park, most of it hidden behind banks. A humpbacked bridge took us to the "other-half" of the park.
Here we found the boating pool, with a boat house. Boats could be hired in the summer months. You could chose either a rowing boat or a double canoe ( which are much more stable than the rowing boats)
A shallow section of the boating pool was partitioned off. Here you could fish for tiddlers, with little nets and jam jars. Or you could walk all around the pool.
The pool had a small island in the middle. Very useful for the nesting birds, ducks, swans etc.
You had to go clockwise around the island, woe bitide you if you didn't!

The man in charge of the boats had a loud hailer, I think that evetone who used the park at that time will have memories of him calling "Come in number 12, your time is up!"

Beside the pool and just outside the park is St Mary's Church abd graveyard (Handsworth Parish Church). This has a lot of old gravestones, many covered in Ivy, and often leaning over.
Amoung those buried here are the fathers of The Industrial Revolution, James Watt, Matthew Bolton and William Murdoch.
I believe that the first church on this site was build c1200.

In another corner of the park was the old Handsworth Swimming Baths. I spent many a happy hour here, especially as I had got a free pass!

As well as a bath for swimming, the "Baths" had also got actull baths for people to wash in. Many of the houses nerby were built without bathrooms, and/or were in multi-occupation (I hope that that is the correct word).
So these baths were very well used.

The park has many flower beds, mature trees and shrubs, tennis courts, a cafe, a water fountain as well as a vriety of wildlife. There was also a sunken garden (we called it the secret garden) with a statue on a plinth of a child with a lamb.

All free, and almost on my door step.
I spent a lot of time there while I was a teenager, and still go there now.

Yes mary, I remember The Flower Show well, more about that another time.

Tess

A wanderer returns. Sorry, I keep forgetting to check this thread. I have enjoyed reading back a few posts. Mary yours on Oliva has me wanting to visit. We so enjoyed Nerja this year. However we already have two visits to Tenerife planned for next year plus a week in Dorset and a week in the Lake District and a possible fortnight in lanzarote so not sure where we could fit it in.
Trying to think where I can write about that would be interesting.

Ann it is great to see you back, looking forward to your piece now.....you do gad around so you will have lots to write and describe to us all>>>>>>

Iam going to write about Frinton tomorrow.

Night night

Bridget

It will have to wait a few days Bridget as we do to London for the long weekend our children gave us for our Golden wedding tomorrow.

Ann

Happy Golden Wedding,

I hope that you have a very good time in London and that the weather stays fine for you.

Of course this could mean that you have another subject to write about.....
I look forward to reading all about it

Happy Golden Wedding Anniversary Ann. Enjoy your time in London.



Val.

Congratulations on your Golden wedding anniversary Ann and OH - have a fab time in London

Love Mary xx

Well as promised here are my memories of Yardley village.

Perhaps it is because of my happy childhood in Yardley that it remains close to my heart.

I was born in Church Road, Yardley and lived with my mom, dad, sister and grandparents at the cottage over the road from the church. Next to the church was Yardley park where I had many happy times playing in the playground and my treat used to be on a Sunday afternoon when my dad would take me to play on the putting green.

Yardley is now a conservation area and through traffic is not allowed through the village. So very different from when I was a youngster - although in the early 50¡s traffic was not really a problem.

The cottage was detached and next door was the Labour Club. The village boasted a post office and general store, a greengrocers, a farm and even a blacksmiths - often you would see horses being shoed.

I was not allowed to play in the street but we had a very large garden so had plenty of room to play. My dad used to grow vegetables while my grandad loved to potter amongst his rabbits, budgerigars, canaries and hens. Teatime would sometimes be a fresh boiled egg without the little lion stamped on it !!

The front garden of the cottage was small but I will always remember the hedge of rhodedandrums and the two fushia bushes either side of the front door. Talking of front doors - it was never locked and the postman would open the door and put the mail on the ledge inside. Now, that would not happen today would it ?

I suppose my childhood was idyllic - or so it seemed to me - life seemed to be so happy - long summer days - picnics in Chelmsley Wood - when it was also known as Bluebell wood for obvious reasons. Little did we know that the first place my mom and dad had you could see Chelmsley Wood from the kitchen window. We moved to Kingshurst when I was 9 and it was the first real home my mom. dad. me and my sister had - we could also see Yardley church's steeple from the lounge window - should say it was a second floor flat hence the views- My grandad said that if he needed us he would go to the top of the steeple and wave a flag.

Well I have done enough reminising (spelling ?) today - hope you have found it interesting. Tess I really enjoyed reading about Handsworth park.

Hope you all have a great day

Love Mary xx

Mary and Tess

I have enjoyed reading the entries from both of you and it simply shows how evocative our memories can be.

This week is flying past and yet I still have so much to do especially at work, so no change there.

I must calculate how many days left before I should finish work.......

Will try to come back later, phone ringing

No the telephone call did not take ths long but had a lovely long chat with army son. Not only has ne been promoted as I said earlier but he has been given the honour of leading his men in the Poppy Day march through town. He explained that most of his colleagues have misxed feelings about this as they would have liked to have been leading but are also delighted they haven't because then all army eyes will be on my sons marching technique rather than on them!!
sorry if I am saying to much about my family,

Night night everyone

sweet dreams

Bridget

I am sorry that once again I haven't had time to write my story on here. Went to work this morning and didn't get away until 2pm had a rest and a shower and now going back for 7pm to 7am shift and the same tomorrow night.

At least we have now recruited and scrutinised the candidates and appointed so just waiting for all the checks that are required these days and then the two of them can start, Hip Hip Horray !!!

Well a cup of coffe sits waitning to be drunk so bye bye for now , best wishes to you all and have a pleasurable weekend.

Night shifts over and I am tired ! It wasn't hard work, just a long time to be running around and then not sleeping very well during the day. This morning Iwent to bed at 10.00hrs and woke up with a start thinking I was late for work!!!

The sun is just about shining and and the Hastings area looks rather grey from where I am sitting. I am going to have a coffee now and maybe something light to eat and then try to have another snooze for a couple of hours.
So, look out for the Frinton Story

Have a good day wherever you are


Bridget

The town of Frinton-on-Sea is often in the news, mostly featuring a gentle dig at the strict regulations that govern the town. Frinton was designed in the early 1900s as a seaside resort and has remained unspoiled ever since with some of the finest beaches in the country. 'Progress' is carefully controlled to preserve the original Victorian nature of the town. The decision to open the first pub was long debated until plans were approved in 2000. Sandwiched between the sea and a railway line, there is little room for expansion, which helps retain the charming small town feel.

Frinton Golf Club was founded in 1895 and used a nine hole design by Tom Dunn, on land now occupied by houses in Second and Third Avenue. In 1904, twice Open Champion Willie Park Jnr. designed a new 18 hole course on the present site, an area formerly renowned for hare coursing. On the advice of the famous golf course architect Harry S Colt, various improvements were made to the original design that left the layout largely as we know it today.



These improvements, however, were greatly set back by the coming of the Second World War. Frinton lies on a stretch of coast that was thought to be a possible site for an enemy invasion and so, with the exception of the first three holes, the course was requisitioned by the Army and sown with mines. The resultant damage was obviously considerable and it was not until 1947 that the course began to resume its former shape.

Over the years many famous golfers have played at Frinton, including in the early part of the twentieth century the great triumvirate of Vardon, Braid and Taylor. In 1929 the British Professionals practised at Frinton prior to their first Ryder Cup victory at Moortown. A member of that team, 1923 Open Champion Arthur Havers, was subsequently to return in 1956 as Club Professional, a post he held until his retirement in 1964.

In more recent years Frinton has been at the forefront of change by being one of the first to embrace total equality of the sexes in its membership.

Well that is the first installment about Frinton. If the Golf Club had not been built the chances of Frinton becoming what it became would most likely never have happened.
In the next installment I will write about the wonderful competition that was held to deternmine who would design and build some of our favourite buildings.
Bye for now and I hope that you are all having a relaxing weekend

Hello everyone, hope you all enjoyed your weekend. We had a couple of heavy showers of rain last night and to-day is cloudy and overcast, so hopefully we will get a bit more rain. Unfortunately I believe there was no rain in our catchment area

I thought I would write about my home town.
I was born in Grahamstown and went to school there. In those days we didn’t have a motor car and we walked to and from school, about 2 kilometers each way, this included going home at lunch time as school had two sessions. I remember how some farmers would come into town with their ox-wagons to sell wood as many homes had wood stoves then. The shops would all close at l p.m. on Saturday and re-open on Monday. Those were the days when one could hand in a grocery shopping list at the grocery store and the goods would all be delivered.. I also recall the first icecream carts coming into the residential areas, the driver ringing a little handbell, the first icecream I remember buying from them was called a Polar Bar, a tubular icecream covered in chocolate.

Grahamstown is about 60 kilometers from the coast. The town was founded in 1812 by Colonel John Graham and initially it served as a military outpost as part of an effort to secure British influence in the then Cape Colony, against the Xhosas. . The Xhosas raided and looted the Settler farms in the area and many settlers gave up their farms and moved into the town. The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British Colonists settled around Grahamstown by the British Government in 1820. They are commemorated in the town by the 1820 Settlers National Monument which opened in 1974. It is a living monument, hosting plays and cultural events. There is also the Settlers Hospital, so named in recognition of a gift of money by the 1820 Settlers Memorial Association

Grahamstown is known by a couple of names – “City of Saints” as it is home to about 52 churches. There is,however, another story which may be the source of this nickname - It is said that in about 1846 the Royal Engineers stationed in the town needed building tools and sent a message to Cape Town asking that a vice be sent to Grahamstown from the Stores. A reply came back “Buy vice locally” the response was “No vice in Grahamstown”!! Another nickname is “Sleepy Hollow” because during the long summer holidays when the schools and the university are closed and all the students leave town it is so quiet.
.

Grahamstown is an educational centre boasting some of the finest schools in the country. Three of the schools are private schools and the rest are Government schools. There is also a university, namely Rhodes University which was established as Rhodes University College in 1904 and became a university in 1951. This is where my father was employed at the time he volunteered for the Army, on his return after the war in 1945 he went back to his old post, he was the Clerk of Works, where he remained until his death in 1974.

If anyone is interested I will write some more to-morrow .




Val.

Golden Wedding Anniversary gift weekend 21 – 24 October 2010

The taxi arrived at 09.55 to take us to the station so we arrived in plenty of time for our train. In fact the Paddington train arrived very early having had its onward journey to Cheltenham curtailed as it had been delayed in London. Hearsay said it was signalling problems. We were able to get on twenty minutes before it was due to leave, a bonus as it was very cold on the station. No reserved notices had been put on seats and the guard said there were very few so we exchanged our booked seats for two others which we preferred. The train was clean, the journey swift and uneventful and we arrived on time at Paddington, manoeuvred our roller cases through the crowds going in the opposite direction and quickly got a taxi and were on our way.
There were road works along the normal rout the taxi would take but our driver said he would take us a different way, instead of going through the centre he diverted around Westminster and did his own tour giving us a running commentary as he drove. We saw many places that we recognised from years gone by, it was a journey we found very interesting and we didn’t begrudge the fare of £16 including tip, at all.
At the Swissotel The Howard a very smart gentleman in uniform and top hat came forward to open the taxi door and remove our luggage. We followed him to reception. On checking in we were told that our room was not yet ready but that we had been upgraded to a room on the 8th floor overlooking the river. We couldn’t think why but it sounded good. The nice young man who spoke impeccable English, said that if we left our mobile number he would call us when the room was ready. The doorman took our luggage for safe keeping and we went off to find some lunch. When we walked up the road to The Strand we realised that maybe looking for lunch at one thirty was not going to be an easy matter. Our hotel was in an area sandwiched between the Courts of Justice and Kings College. Pubs and wine bars were full of workers from the former and cafes and restaurants were full of students from the latter. We managed to squeeze into a small table in a sandwich bar and had a coffee and toasted sandwich. Meanwhile we had received a message that our room was ready so we made our way back to the hotel.
We were given the key to room 807 and told our luggage would be taken to our room for us. Not that we had much, just two small roller cases but we were obviously not meant to transport it ourselves. We opened the door to our room and, wow! It was wonderful, a large
five foot bed and a small settee, a large glass topped coffee table, all black marble surfaces, everything sparkling clean. The bathroom, more black marble, snow white very large fluffy towels. There were huge windows with patio doors and a balcony. I opened the door and stepped out. The view was breath- taking, to our left we could see St Pauls and Tower Bridge behind Blackfriars Bridge. To our right we could see the Millennium wheel, Waterloo Bridge, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Directly opposite us was The National Theatre and the OXO tower, and on the river, all the cruise and ferry boats. On the coffee table was a large card with a photo taken at night from room 814 a few rooms along and a square white plate. On the plate, Happy Anniversary written in chocolate and four chocolates. The card wished us a memorable 50th wedding anniversary and hoped our day was fantastic. So that was the answer as to why we had been upgraded.
As soon as we had unpacked we walked out of the hotel and went via Aldwych towards Holborn where we found a huge Wetherspoons and had a bottle of wine and some Nachos. We walked back to the hotel via Chancery and The La Courts. At 4.45pm we found ourselves swimming against a tide of humanity as workers from some building or other fought their way home towards the nearest tube station. We had never seen so many people in one place moving in one direction at the same time. When we got back to the hotel, we took a lot of photos from the balcony, luckily it was a beautiful sunny day although quite cold. Unfortunately Tony was by now developing a sore throat and cough so was feeling the cold. Because of this we decided to stay in the hotel to eat that evening, even though we were aware of how expensive it was. We had a lovely bath then went down to the bar for a pre dinner drink at 8pm. The bar only serves the more expensive brands (Blue Saphire gin for example not Gordons) and only serves doubles. I had a whisky and water and Tony had a G&T, the drinks were served with a bowl of pretzels and another of mixed nuts and the bill was £17. We chose the cheapest meal on the menu which was fish and chips and creamed mushy peas.

We chose the cheapest meal on the menu which was fish and chips and creamed mushy peas. The fish was in beer batter, the chips chunky and the peas creamy and there was home-made tartare sauce to accompany it. We also had a tomato juice each (Having had a bottle of wine earlier in Wetherspoons we opted not to pay £25+ for a similar one!) The meal came to £47! We could not afford to eat here often! We were not late to bed but I didn’t sleep that well, I rarely do the first night in a strange place.
Friday 22 October. As we were on a room only basis we had a cup of tea then walked out of the hotel and down the Strand to look for somewhere to have something to eat. All the sandwich shops and small cafes were full as people grabbed coffees etc on their way to work. Eventually when we were almost in Trafalgar Square we found a small shop called the breadline, that sold coffees and Danish pastries as well as breakfasts. There were only a few tables and he was doing a brisk trade but we managed to get a table and enjoyed our pastries.
The Square was still remarkable empty, it was quite early still, about 10am, so we spent half an hour taking the obligatory photos of Nelson on his column.
We spent the following two hours in The National Gallery. Tony’s favourites were the Canalettos and mine, as usual Monet, although I did find an artist with whom I was not familiar, called Camille Pissarro whose paintings I liked a lot. Right at the end of our stay there we found a small exhibition by an artist called Clive Head. He is apparently a British artist born in the sixties. He made a great impression on both of us with the three paintings in the style of perspective artists such as Canaletto. Head’s perspective pictures were of London scenes, so realistic that you felt you could walk right into them. Sadly he doesn’t seem to have produced postcards, there was one book on sale which was very expensive so his work has to remain in our heads. (no pun intended).
From the National gallery, after taking a few more photos we walked to Covent Garden stopping to take a photo of a memorial to Oscar Wilde on the way. This inscription was on the memorial. Covent Garden was buzzing as usual with unicyclists and other entertainment artists, but what caught our eye, or more appropriately our ears, was a young man in one of the lower restaurants who was busking, and he was singing opera. He had a wonderful voice, very powerful, you wonder why somebody with a voice like that is reduced to busking? We went round Jubilee Market, lots to see, nothing we wanted to buy. We then made our way to The Shakespeares Head (Wetherspoons where we had been the day before) for lunch. Just managed to find a table as it was again crowded. This is not surprising of course as the prices are the same as elsewhere while most London bars and restaurants are much more expensive. Tony had a ham baguette and I had a ham and cheese Panini and we shared onion rings. We also shared a bottle of wine.