Friday 28 October 2011

A Little Explanation

If you have been following the comments between Claire and I after this post
http://coffeee2001.blogspot.com/2011/10/heysham-village.html you will see that we lived in the same small area of Morecambe and even went to the same primary school though not at the same time...we'd emigrated by the time Claire and her family arrived at Harewood Ave.


It was called Sandylands County Primary School when I was there from September 1960 to November 1967.

In July, 2008 when Mum, Dad, Joe and I were all in Lancaster at the same time, Dad and I set off one Sunday afternoon to walk around our old neighbourhood......we walked from near The Park Hotel on Balmoral Rd, down Norfolk Ave, along Lordsome Rd, up Harewood Ave and then up Fairfield Ave to catch a very expensive bus back into Lancaster...five pounds for a 5 mile one-way ticket!
Here's some of the many pics I took that day...

Dad sets off along Balmoral Road

That sweet little house

The annex of our primary school...grades 3 and 4 went there in my time and walked back to the main school for school dinners. I went to the toilet one lunchtime and when I came out I'd been locked into the school building so I climbed out through a window and went home to tell me Mam!


Dad painted this house in about 1951 when he was a young apprentice. He was also the young apprentice whose large hand-barrow tipped up on Heysham Rd and spilt several gallons of paint onto the road! He must have walked hours pushing that barrow as he lived about 6 miles away from this accident and the Boss did not have a motor vehicle.
Looking up Hampton Rd, our school is on the right-hand side of this road.



Walking down Norfolk Ave, in the photo below the right-hand semi facing you used to be a little shop in the front room of Mr and Mrs Stathers and their dog, Sally Slab Cabbage. Mrs Stathers was very generous with the Lancashire cheese when small children were in the shop! They used to enjoy banana sandwiches with sugar sprinkled on them for afternoon tea.




Looking west along Lordsome Rd...our old home is on the left-hand side and looked out over the playing fields and all the way to Lancaster, Ashton's Memorial, and to Clougha Pike.



Outside number 40, my brother, Ian, was born in the front bedroom in October, 1960

Number 48 is where my best friend, Gillian Scargill, lived for many years.



The view from the back of the house and my bedroom window was across the fields to Lancaster...you can  just see  Ashton's Memorial on the left, I used to call it Williamson's Ornament as a child! Learn more about Lord Ashton here He had a major impact on the City of Lancaster. The hill in the background is Clougha Pike in the Forrest of Bowland and rises to a height of 1355 feet.


Looking across Morecambe Bay to the Lakeland Fells on a full tide.

Now the real reason for this lengthy post is that Claire and I are both members of the Down to Earth Forums and when we held our Christmas Swap last year I posted those goodies I showed you here to Claire in Brisbane having no idea that we had this common background. It was only yesterday when Claire commented on my Heysham post and photos that we worked out this connection. I am just amazed and perhaps it is a small world after all?


Have a blessed day
xxx

5 comments:

  1. The sweet little house you comment on used to belong to the head librarian and also drama teacher at Heysham High, Mrs Taylor, as I recall she lived there with her mother.

    This is all still a very big surprise to me. I do wonder what the odds are of all this happening (still after how I met my husband I should be used to beating the odds!)

    Claire
    xx

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  2. It's mind-boggling alright!

    I met Joe on-line when he was in Ottawa and I was here lol!
    xxx

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  3. I met my hubby online too, he was in Australia I was in England.

    Are you sure you're not my long lost twin? lol!

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  4. Certainly looks that way LOL Where did you move to Morecambe from...are you a Lancashire Lassie...my peeps came from around Preston, Barrow, Chester and even Germany and Ireland as far back as we can find. My maiden name is Gardner and Mum is a Kelsall.
    I've sent you a FB invite too btw Little Sister!
    xx

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  5. I didn't move to Morecambe, I lived there since I was born (with a while in Preston for uni, then I lived in Turkey a while too). My Mum was born in Yorkshire but Grandad and some of his family were Blackpool. I traced the family tree (oddly enough with the help of the lady who lived in the cute cottage you mentioned), but couldn't get back too far. As far as I went we were all English though. I'll have to check out the whole FB thing Sis, never got into it really.
    xx

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