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Monday 11 April 2016

PLAYING THE GENERATION GAME



My mother as a child with my grandmother in Oldham, Lancashire



'Nearly ninety and her first selfie...' said the  caption on my daughter's facebook page last week. The photo showed my mother with three  generations of her family - the youngest just two years old.

A few days after that photo was taken I returned to Leicester to meet writers' group The Belmont Belles, before  sneaking off to look at my old grammar school, Newarke Girls',  now a community college.  From a distance it looked exactly the same - an elegant building, with a central clock tower, surrounded by an acre  of green grass, with a long pathway leading down to the main road.

It was along that path that I walked for the very last time one sunny Friday afternoon in  the  late 1960s. Three days later I was a trainee reporter on the Lytham St Annes Express in Lancashire.   It felt a long way from my Guernsey home.

Meanwhile my two daughters have done their own bit of moving around - one has worked in Australia and the United States, the other travels Europe with her work. She is also a dedicated Derby County Football Club supporter who was born in Lancashire and lives in Yorkshire!

Not to be outdone, my two  granddaughters support  Leeds United most of the time and Derby County when their father's not looking.

Which brings me back to my mother, who was  born in Lancashire in 1926 and went on to marry a Guernseyman when she was just nineteen.  She wants to keep the selfie - well - to herself. But here she is ten years ago on her 80th birthday. Happily she's still got plenty to smile about.




Happy Birthday Mum




The old Newarke Girls' School, Leicester, as it is today


6 comments:

Barbara said...

Hi Marilyn, I just love the photo of your mother with your grandmother; photos were so much nicer back then. I can’t be doing with selfies – if I was young and beautiful it might be a different kettle of fish, but old and wrinkly is not a good look!
I really enjoyed this post, very nostalgic.

Guernsey Girl said...

So glad you liked the photograph, Barbara, but what's all this about you being old and wrinkly? I think you look great! You'll have gathered by now that I love nostalgia. I'm sure it has a great future! :)

Diane Eagle said...

Hello Marilyn oh how much i love that photo of mum and her mother,and what a lovely time to put it on your blog when mum is about to have her 90th birthday.

Guernsey Girl said...

Thanks, Diane. Mum is pictured at the start of her life and moving towards her last years. That, I agree, is poignant.

lynneconnolly said...

Gosh, I went to Newarke Girls', too. I'd love to get in touch with some of my old friends. Alison Laundon, Rosemary Deacon, Mary Simpson, and a bunch of others.
It looks just the same, doesn't it?

Guernsey Girl said...

Hi Lynne - I've been away and somehow managed to miss your comment. Would be interested to know when you were at Newarke. I would love to catch up with Sherry Cooper, Yvonne Hampshaw and Christine Burrows.... And yes, the school does look just the same from the front. Very nostalgic. ps - have just followed you on twitter.