Knit Club

I have been knitting and crocheting almost as long as I can remember, having been taught by my mother. In those days it was 4 ply wool with small needles - not so easy for little fingers!

Over the years, I knitted all sorts - aran jerseys, lace jerseys with matching stockings - well it was the 60's. Once married I knitted for my husband too - complicated patterns in many colours. I recently found one of these 40 year old jerseys in my elder daughter's house as she had sneaked it away! 

Once the children arrived I obviously knitted for them and also created a range of children's jerseys which I sold at craft fairs. Ideal occupation for a mum, knit while the kids play and then have a day out at a craft fair while husband looked after the children! I didn't make much money but I enjoyed it. 

Then I went back to work and when the children were in their teens I completed only a few projects, crochet handbag, colourful cardies but little else until now. Suddenly just before I retired the bug came back and I made a couple of baby blankets for a friend as well as a couple of de-stashing blankets.

And then my mother died and I inherited her yarn - not the colours I would have chosen but so what! I am currently using 40/50 year old yarn knitting a jersey for my husband - he deserves it!

So last year, when my daughter mentioned there was a knit club at the Shortlands Tavern, I jumped at the chance of going to a pub every couple of weeks for a drink and a knit and a chat. such an esoteric collection of people who drop in and out. You would never believe that this week a Mexican granny who spoke no English turned up and was so delighted to see us all knitting that she took pictures of us!

Its a while now since I felt 100% - my fault as its a family failing, hoping that if you ignore something it will go away!

Well the doctors seem pleased with me, including the dietician I was forced to see as I had lost so much weight. Now I am at my optimum weight for height and have not been so slim since the 1960s or even earlier Being unwell seems to have gone to my head as I now feel I can wear clothes I had not thought I could because of my 'ample' figure.

Bring on the miniskirt! When I last wore one, tights had barely arrived in St Andrews where I studied Modern History so heaven only knows what we looked like! I remember buying tights with integral pants at Woolworths!

In those days fashion seemed to change so quickly, almost day by day, and even in the frozen north, we kept up especially by making our own clothes. 

Here are some students on the traditional 'pier walk', you can see why a warm undergraduate gown was a necessity.

I had had a good training from my mother in basic dressmaking and continued at University where my halls of residence even had a sewing machine which could be used by the residents. 

That's my residence, the red building to the right of the Old Course Clubhouse,  now converted to expensive apartments.

In the summer of 1967, the machine seemed to reside on the top floor where a number of us took advantage of it. In those days material and patterns seemed to be cheap, certainly cheaper than shop-bought clothes. Chain stores such as Primark certainly would have been popular as then there only seemed to be C&A selling bargain clothes. I remember buying fabrics in the Fairfield Drapery Stores - a really old-fashioned drapers shop. The fabric department was in a large hall at the rear of the building, lit by attic windows - just right. Today the store in Market Street, St Andrews has found a new use as the local Tourist Information Centre.

We lived near Paisley in those days, close to the Viyella mill where they sold off that fabulous material in bright plain colours, tartans and the eponymous Paisley pattern - just right for short empire line dresses for the dour Scottish winters. The mills on the River Cart had been founded by James Coats as thread mills and were later taken over for other uses. I remember going there with my mother for textile bargains. 

My mother always had a large stash of material and also yarn, both of which I have inherited and some of that material must date back to her 'Paisley days' which is close to 50 years ago - shows how it doesn't date and how well it can last.

So I am now in the process of finding my old paper patterns to use up some of that stash - so here comes more mini dresses and perhaps a couple of 1970s long pinafore dresses, complete with frills as the bottom.

James Whamond, 1790 - 1839

James Whamond is my husband's three times great grandfather and he fought at the Battle of Waterloo! That's why we applied for the replica medal in his memory. Apparently the medal was not issued until the 1840s by which time he had died. 

He enlisted as an 18 year old in Stirling and joined Wellington's army fighting in the Spanish Peninsula. He fought all the way through that campaign  and back into France where he also fought in the Battle of Toulouse. 

Napoleon's lat stand was at Waterloo and James Whamond was there too as a Corporal in Captain McNair's Company in the 52nd Regiment of Foot. He remained the army and saw further service in Ireland and Canada until he retired in 1830 after 14 years as a sergeant. Below is a picture of the 52nd at Waterloo.

Last Charge of the 52nd Regiment of Foot, Waterloo; print after an original painting by Laslett J. Pott.

All this is remarkable  enough but what I find really exciting is that on all these adventures he found a French wife and had a family which went round the world with him! His first child, John, was born in France before the couple came home and were married in 1819 in Weedon Bec. 

Weedon was an ordnance depot on the Grand Union Canal and was also where the Royal Family would have been evacuated to as a place of safety had Napoleon's Army invaded. 

Their second child was born in Derby, another garrison town, while number three was born in Clonmell in Ireland. Two further children were born in Halifax in Canada and the last four in Kirriemuir in Scotland.

Kirriemuir was a linen weaving town in Angus close to Tannadice where the Whamond family came from. After such a long military career, James came home with French wife and family but sadly died in 1839 leaving Marie Francoise a widow. How a French woman managed to make a like in rural Scotland is a mystery!

But her story does not end there. Her children spread far and wide. This was a difficult time in the linen weaving industry in Kirriemuir and all left to better themelves. Diligent searching in the censuses found Marie in Longforgan in Perthshire in 1861 with eldest son John's family, and in Glasgow in 1871 with her daughter, Janet McCusker. 

Finally she died in 1874 and was buried in Liverpool. By this time her son John had moved to Liverpool, where a number of Whamond's lived. Her final resting place is in Toxteth Park Cemetery on Smithdown Road. Sadly there is no memorial stone to such a remarkable woman.

What a couple, what lives - another reason I love Liverpool.

Sweet Peas

Sadly my Aunt Marion died just after Christmas. BUT her lovely daughter-in-law, Rita, gave all those at the funeral a goodie bag of things which would remind us all of Marion which included a packet of sweet pea seeds. 

She was always fond of her garden and her favourite flower was the sweet pea. A long time ago I was a bridesmaid, with my cousin, for her when she married my Uncle Alan and of course we had posies of sweet peas while our dresses were in a lovely lilac colour to match.

So now its warm enough to plant my seeds. As we have a sunny yard rather than a garden I have bought new pots to plant in and at the same time bought a couple of packets of seeds. Candytuft will match my climbing peas and were a favourite of my grandmother who planted them as a border every year.  

Then I bought some nasturtiums, gaudy and bright, in oranges and yellow which were a favourite of my late mother. So once planted, fingers crossed for some sun and showers, I will have a display which will also remind me of times and gardens past!

In My Liverpool Home Part 2

I have briefly dealt with some of the reasons I love Liverpool - here are a few more. 

First of all there are the fabulous museums, including the new Museum of Liverpool which opened in 2011. The building, designed by a Danish company really adds to the waterfront. There are fabulous galleries and displays but my favourite is the Wondrous Place which celebrates Liverpool's musicians and sporting heroes. On the second floor there are huge windows which give tremendous views up and down the river where you can sit listening to 'Ferry 'Cross the Mersey'.

My father's father came from Everton - and he was proud of where he came from. Apparently when elder daughter went to university in Liverpool, I insisted that she supported Everton - and she still does!

Hurrah for the 'toffees'

Family history is another of my passions and I am intensely proud of my Scouse/Irish roots though sadly all of the places they lived are now gone. One of my greatest regrets is that I cannot remember how he spoke. He spent a lot of time in Manchester and then London so perhaps he did not have a Scouse accent. 

So Liverpool is where I feel really comfortable thank to the spirit of the locals. My husband recently fell over in the street and was immediately surrounded by people trying to help - perhaps not what would have happened at home!

Daughter and I were in a local pub near Anfield when the Liverpool match ended and floods of supporters arrived including some Scandinavians who apparently once bought the pub drinks as it was so cheap! Every one talked to one another happily. Typical of what I have always found here - perhaps embodied in the following, unforgettable,

You'll Never Walk Alone

In My Liverpool Home - Part One

I've just got back from a weekend visit to my elder daughter in Liverpool, somewhere I now think of as my spiritual home. I got to thinking of why this was. When I was a teenager the Beatles were my heroes as well as the rest of the bands producing what is now the Mersey Sound. 

It was not until the 1970s that I actually visited the city when one of my friends was responsible for developments in the Albert Dock, the first part of the regeneration of the modern city. That tied in with one of my other interests - Industrial Archaeology.

Then my daughter went to John Moores University and never came home! Apparently that happens to many students who find the city so attractive that they settle! That meant that visits to the city increased and over the years we discovered the Beatles sites in Liverpool - she is the daughter who is a Beatles fan too. We went on the National Trust tour of John and Paul's homes as well as the cemetery where Stuart Sutcliffe is buried. I told you we were fans. Here we are at Mendips, John Lennon's childhood home.

Most times I am in the city I try to visit the Cavern - yes I know its not real but the music is as are most of the visitors. Not all of them are tourists, some are just locals dropping in for some good music. Often bands who have been gigging around the area for 40 years are playing. They love the music and so do I.

Here I am outside the Cavern, and inside where another fan, wearing a fab Beatles shirt took our picture. That's another reason why I love Liverpool. People are so friendly. Coming from the south you do not expect people to talk to you, but in Liverpool its so friendly. 

We also love going to pubs in Mathew Street, the White Star and the Grapes. The White Star is one of those lovely old fashioned pubs with different bars where the Beatles went to be paid by Bob Wooler after gigs.  Here is a picture of that back bar from the pub's web site.

Stairs with memorabilia

Back bar

The Grapes was where the Beatles went for a drink before gigs, the Cavern was unlicensed then. Amazingly some of the wallpaper, which dates back to those days and features in photos of the band, survives. Once when we were there it was a karaoke afternoon. Liverpool has always been famous for music and in particular for singing in pubs. One of my happiest memories of Liverpool pubs. The audience even applauded the most nervous of singers and sang along too. Happy days!

I hope I have succeeded in persuaded you how happy I am 'In My Liverpool  Home'. More to follow soon.

PS  In My Liverpool Home performed by the Spinners.

Its three weeks short of  a year since I last blogged. Just never felt like it.

Its been a strange sort of year. Eventually we sold my mother's house in Derbyshire. It had never been my family home but as it was nearly a mile up a farm track near Ashford in the Water, it was ideal for family holidays and celebrations like Christmas. BUT it was taking longer and longer to get there from South London and our little family is more dispersed now, so that it was difficult to get there, especially after my mother died. The house needed total refurbishment as well as pipes for the water supply so when a local landowner made a cash offer for the sum we wanted, the deed was done.

The money came through just after Christmas so that I could then hand in my notice at work. I have been in education all of my working life, latterly as a Cover Teacher at the school I have been working at part time and on supply for over 21 years. Sadly Cover Teaching is one of the least regarded jobs in our school. Over the years, our little team has got smaller and we have been worked harder. If a member of staff is away, it will be on a day when they have their worst classes and so we see the worst classes on a regular basis. We read the form to tell us our work as we entered the classroom and then have to deliver the lesson, whatever subject it might be. I trained as a History teacher and have some idea of what should be going on, but my other colleagues have very different backgrounds.

Morale has been ebbing away just as our Head is forcing everyone to work harder to do well in our next Ofsted. So when my inheritance came through I was really keen to leave.

But now that the farewells have been made and I  have spent the gift vouchers on a Kobo, I am at a loss as to what to do next!

So many plans about travelling and writing up notes on the cities already visited as well as craft projects. What to do first? 

So here I am, on the night before return to school after half term - no panic about getting to bed early, no upset stomach over what might be in store tomorrow! In fact what should I decide to do tomorrow???