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As is so often the case when l am meant to be playing accountant and
supposed to be working hard & interpreting the figures on my quickbooks software, l find myself straying, sending out emails to friends, browsing the pages of Google for, well just about anything of interest to me. l will confess that this is no new phenomena, it is a part of me, easily distracted. School reports wrote ' she is always gazing out of the window, her mind on things miles away and paying no attention to the lesson in hand'.
Not much has changed, outside it is snowing, the wind howling down the chimneys, my feet encased in 2 pairs of socks & boots, and here l am, scanning Google and the word Newent. My family, you see, come from this small country town on the outskirts of the Forest of Dean. In fact they have lived & died here for some 200 years, their tombstones peppering the churchyard of St Mary's, their spirits walking the King's Shoot & the attics of the Red House.
Oh, as you can see, l have done it once more, gone off on a tangent. So here l was googling the ancestral town, when my grandfather's name popped up. On further investigation and clicking l was somewhat chuffed and needless to say surprised to see that my cousin, who lives in California, has been restoring and posting photographs that had been taken nearly 100 years ago by said grandfather.
l will hasten to add that Grandpa B WAS a very keen amateur photographer as was his father & grandfather before him.
The picture of the two chaps and weather vane will make my Dad chuckle for you see his bedroom was directly opposite the church and the wonderful, gleaming golden cockerel. Being a country lad and the proud owner of a collection of firearms which he used to shoot anything that moved, the weather vane became a vital piece of target practice. Some years later, when the spire & vane were being repaired, it was discovered that the weather vane was full of bullet holes.
'Who dunnit' ran the headlines in the local newspaper. 'Perhaps it was the Home Guard using the cockerel for target practice' ran the story.
l don't think so!
ps: the last picture is view of the Red House / Post Office from church spire
supposed to be working hard & interpreting the figures on my quickbooks software, l find myself straying, sending out emails to friends, browsing the pages of Google for, well just about anything of interest to me. l will confess that this is no new phenomena, it is a part of me, easily distracted. School reports wrote ' she is always gazing out of the window, her mind on things miles away and paying no attention to the lesson in hand'.
Not much has changed, outside it is snowing, the wind howling down the chimneys, my feet encased in 2 pairs of socks & boots, and here l am, scanning Google and the word Newent. My family, you see, come from this small country town on the outskirts of the Forest of Dean. In fact they have lived & died here for some 200 years, their tombstones peppering the churchyard of St Mary's, their spirits walking the King's Shoot & the attics of the Red House.Oh, as you can see, l have done it once more, gone off on a tangent. So here l was googling the ancestral town, when my grandfather's name popped up. On further investigation and clicking l was somewhat chuffed and needless to say surprised to see that my cousin, who lives in California, has been restoring and posting photographs that had been taken nearly 100 years ago by said grandfather.
l will hasten to add that Grandpa B WAS a very keen amateur photographer as was his father & grandfather before him.The picture of the two chaps and weather vane will make my Dad chuckle for you see his bedroom was directly opposite the church and the wonderful, gleaming golden cockerel. Being a country lad and the proud owner of a collection of firearms which he used to shoot anything that moved, the weather vane became a vital piece of target practice. Some years later, when the spire & vane were being repaired, it was discovered that the weather vane was full of bullet holes.
'Who dunnit' ran the headlines in the local newspaper. 'Perhaps it was the Home Guard using the cockerel for target practice' ran the story.l don't think so!
ps: the last picture is view of the Red House / Post Office from church spire
13 comments:
What an exciting find. I love the photographs.
Well, I'm just as bad as you for going off on a tangent. Here I should be getting ready for work, and I'm looking at 61 photos posted by your cousin. What an interesting find! I peered at the clothing and conveyances - what a slice of history!
See it pays off to go off on tangets! if you hadnt you may not have found the photos ..What a scallywag shooting at the cockeral a brilliant piece of family history though xx
And answer me this " How did the kitchen work" for christmas?
Interesting and lucky for you that you can trace your family this way.
I love old photos. Great find!
What utterly marvellous photos. Just a window into another world. thanks for sharing them with us.
It's wonderful what you find when you go off at a tangent - please continue doing so! These are very interesting photographs, especially with the 'insider knowledge' that you have. I looked through them all and was particularly taken with the image of the 'workmen' digging up the street for the water pipes (if only it could be done today without pneumatic drills!) and the image of the pony and trap, containing the family. Fascinating record of social history - thank you for sharing them. And your grandfather would be really pleased to see them being shared, I'm sure. Mootia x
Hi Judith, for your info, from the drive of the post office and the weather cock with a .22 rifle takes 8/9 sec.which makes a small movement,One day I was going shooting,after putting the gun in the car, Rector Burnell came, from the P/O and said "hit¬s a windy day today", Happy new Year. ,
I find that Googling and 'going off on a tangent' are marvellous things for the brain ... you learn so many things that you wouldn't've done otherwise!
You are so lucky to be able to find such serendiptic gems!!
What a find! Love the cockeral story....
I constantly to off in tangents. I just tell myself that it's because I'm female and therefore I'm a natural multi tasker. It makes me feel a bit better.
Sounds rather like my school report ! now we know where you get your photographic talent from.
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