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???

What's New?

Very little it seems! I can't belive I haven't blogged since Christmas - has so little happened? In a way - yes!

Work continues as usual. I work part time as a cover teacher which means I take any lesson in any subject for any absent teacher. Quite challenging and, in fact, quite mind numbing as expectations of the amount of work they will do is quite low. Sad that morale is so low really.

Howver outside school, life is better. Although I have given up leading IA tours in Britain and abroad, I have been 'revisiting' cities abroad and findig that there is so much available on line which helps me to research industrial history. I have been transported back to Barcelona, Budapest and Prague as I have been reviewing my tour guides to those cities. Time to get my notes edited and sorted for publication as I intended all those years ago when I first did the research for the tours. That should be a resolve for 2012 but we will see.

I have also been doing much more family history. The Mormon Family History Centre at Hyde Park is closed long term for refurbishment, no word yet of when they reopen. Their records have been moved to the National archive in Kew which is a slow and difficult journey for me and so I have taken to going to the London Metropolitan Archives to look at Ancestry for free.

Obviously they feature London records there and not many of my relatives are London-based but its not too bad a journey there. Thank Heavens for the Freedom Pass and free travel all over London! I have been looking at records for other people who are compiling family histories, either for books or personal interest.

Spring is definately here and with the longer days, I fell more alert and ready for the new challenges I thought I would face last year.

PS I had forgotten to say how much I enjoy Blogland in a vicarious way. Glad to hear news of 'friends' whose lives are so different from my own.

Happy New Year 2012

What an intro to 2012!

Have just watched a family history video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcgYpw4NGxw, which is brilliant! Not that I am swayed by by the name check in the acknowlegements!

Good family research and excellent filming shows how Partick Joseph King married Elsie Hayton , perhaps one of my husband's relatives.

Do watch, its worth it!

Genealogy Excitement

After the excitement of preparing some genealogical charts for the new book on Brindley, I am now involved with the research into another famous engineer and his family. Peter Barlow was an extremely influential man at the beginning of the 19th century. His work at the Royal Arsenal on optics , astronomy and mathematics was followed all over the world - he even received an award from the Emperor of Russia.

His two sons, Peter William and William Henry Barlow were renowned engineers, particularly associated with railway works and bridges. William Henry was associated with the building of the large span roof at St Pancras Station for the Midland Railway. A grandson, Crawford Barlow, was also involved in engineering and then the family disappears into obscurity.

Its has proved a genealogical conundrum to find out where the family cam from and where the descendants went. For a start sources state that the wife of Peter Barlow remains unknown. Not now!

Its amazing what the internet can give us. After some researches at the London Metropolitan Archive and the British Library I found on the searchable database of Provincial 19the century newspapers that Peter Barlow was a teacher at Shipdham in Norfolk - surely a misprint! When I interrogated Google I found that Barlow had been a teacher at a school there and had married a teacher at a girls' school there. Shipdham parish registers were online and that told me that a Peter Barlow married a Miss Elizabeth Short and when interrogated further told me the names of two children I had not known about, one of whom Peter Horation Barlow, I have yet to trace further.

Its amazing what the internet throws up. I found two 19th century online books on Norfolk, one of which gives a full biography of Barlow up to the 1820s, details of which I have not found elsewhere. I have also found a branch of the Barlow family as surveyors in New Zealand at the end of the 19th century. They had had difficulty in finding work at home so travelled afar. I found the online version of Peter William Barlow's book on his early years in Kaipara and could read about his travails.

Fantastic and all from the sitting room at home!!!

A Year Ago Today

A year today since Mum died - difficult to remember back to the horrendous weather at this time last year. London snowed in as was Derbyshire. It took nearly a fortnight to have the funeral.

It seems such a long time and yet such a short time. I am also surprised at how often I say to myself, 'I must remember to tell Mum about that'! At least I have started to make inroads on her wool stash. Shame I could not transport her large wall of fitted wardrobes to put it all in. I have not yet collected all her material but then again I have not plugged in her sewing machine in anger yet.

I must look at her patchwork next year and finish the grand daughter's quilts she so nearly finished herself. All the patches are there, with the backing material. All I need now is the courage to get started. Roll on the New Year.

A new book on James Brindley

As Christmas approaches, how about a new book to put in relatives' Christmas stockings? A friend of mine and GLIAS member, Christopher Lewis has written a new book about James Brindley and his school of engineers who were involved in early canal development.

Some of their names may be familiar, others less so but Chris has researched their contributions and tells a fascinating story with a gazetteer included that shows you the most important canal sites.

It is here that I should confess that I prepared the family trees and my husband took the picture of a statue of Brindley which now graces the cover!

So look out for 'The Canal Pioneers, Brindley's School of Engineer', published by the History Press and available at all good bookshops and online stores now.

Pinterest

Thanks to A Thrifty Mrs - http://www.athriftymrs.com - for the heads up to look at Pinterest - http://pinterest.com.

Its a fab site where you can create boards with pictures of all your interests. You can look at other people's boards or just add pictures and comments on your own.

I have spent ages tonight just looking and adding - my favourite cities of course - not had time yet to look at crafts!

William Heerlein Lindley

My new post concerns the son of my last post - that is Willam Lindley's son William Heerlein Lindley. William Senior had three sons, all of whom went into civil engineering. William Heerlein was given his mother's maiden name as his middle name and was also heavily into engineering especially concerning water and sewage and especially in what is now Eastern Europe. I assume that he spoke fluent German which would stand him in good stead in Prague and Warsaw which were German-speaking at that time.

He worked with his father on the sewage system in Prague. The engine house and part of the sewers, no longer in use cane be visited.

http://www.ekotechnickemuseum.cz/

LIndley also worked on the water supply in the remote city of Baku shortly before his death

http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai102_folder/102_articles/102_shollar_zelichowski.html

and in Warsaw

View of water filter

Statue of Lindley in Warsaw

and in Łódź!

View of the construction of the sewers

The sewers today, showing the quality of the brickwork

At Last I'm Free II

Western Railway Station, Budapest

Having spent a couple of weeks pondering, I have now happily embarked on editing my site notes for Barcelona and Budapest with a view to publishing the Industrial Archaeology of each city. Since I have been leading IA tours I have not had time to reflect on what we have seen and certainly not had time to publish.

Its over 10 years since I managed to get anything in to print so here goes....

Its been so pleasant renewing acquaintance with two cities I love to visit and which have such a rich industrial history. So maybe there will be a chance next year, when the weather is better, of revisiting these two cities and more to follow!

PS For those interested I have already published the IA of Paris and West Flanders. Sadly only West Flanders is still in print - contact me for further details.

At Last I'm Free

Well for 13 years I have been devising and organising walking tours, City Safaris, round British and European cities but now I've bowed out of that and, strangely enough, I'm not sure what to do with myself! I have spent so long researching buildings of industrial interest that I now find myself at a loss.

With the whole of Europe to research and write about, what next? Perhaps more frequent blogging if I can upload pictures here more easily.

So that's one of my promises, research more and write more - so watch this space.

British Engineers in Europe - William Lindley

I recently gave a lecture to GLIAS about British Engineers in Europe. Many well known names such as Sir John Rennie and Thomas Telford undertook substantial works abroad when it was difficult enough travelling at home! However I concentrated on lesser known engineers, although their work certainly wasn't lesser.

One of my favourite engineers who spent his whole career abroad was William Lindley, 1808 - 1900. He had spent some of his early years in Germany. Later once qualified he was sent to work on an early German railway line, the Hamburg-Bergedorfer Eisenbahn which began his association with the Hamburg area. Somewhat luckily he was in the area when a disasterous fire demolished most of the city in 1842 and he was charged with some of the rebuilding, in particular the new water and sewage system.

The former Bergedorf Station of 1838

He was so highly regarded that today his statue stands close by one of the entrances to the sewers close to the river in Hamburg. His other memorial is the water works at Rothenburgsort where a small museum explains the development of the water system. www.hamburgwasser.de/wasserforum

Lindley statue

An early photograph of the Rothenburgsort Water Works with a distinctive chimney/stand pipe

Despite his long career in Germany. Lindley died in Blackheath in South London. However his fame in his adopted city ensures that there are still books and exhibitions about him.

COVENTRY INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY

Our first City Safari ths year will be to Coventry, 25th - 27th March, also known as 'Heart of England'. Coventry is a relatively small city with a long and varied industrial history. It has been known as a centre for silk and ribbon weaving, watchmaking, cycle and car manufacture and much more. Considering the devastation during World War 2, a surprising number of industrial buildings remain in the suburbs.

The city centre is another matter and the mediaeval heart of the city was ripped out as well as the Cathedral and the new ring road is a concrete circle squeezing pedestrians. But the new buildings from the 1950s and 1960s are a joy especially with the University of Coventry's innovative blocks close by. Below is the Univeristy Library, the towers contain lenses to direct natural light into the building and they also act as ventilation towers.

(c) mint choice icecream

We have probably all had name tapes sewn in to our school uniform, all produced by Cash's of Coventry. The company was founded by two Quaker brothers, John and Joseph Cash, who began producing silk ribbons in the early 1840s. Some of their housing still remains in Kingsfield where rows of cottages were built with an upper storey for silk weavers and theor jacquard looms which were powered by a central beam engine. This range lies along the Coventry at Cash's Bridge.

(c) Snowmanradio

Coventry is, of course, best known for car manufacture and we will see a surprising number of factories which still remain, including the former Poppe & White engine works in Foleshill. Sadly car production has moved elsewhere!

Further details can be found at www.citysafaris.co.uk - so do come and join us if you want to find out more about England's 'Motown'.

Further details are available from the new, improved City Safari website - www.citysafaris.co.uk

GLIAS LECTURES

Glias Lectures begin for this season next week on Weds 19th January. This time I have a vested interest as its being given by my husband on one of his pet topics - the History of Computers. The actual title is 'Computers in London, History through Archaeology' and will look at the surviving buildings in Greater London where important developments were made after World War 2.

Although many have heard of the work at Bletchley Park during the war, fewer will be aware of the National Museum of Computing which is on the same site and which is home to all sorts of computers, including some of my own collection of laptops! More information can be found here - http://www.tnmoc.org/

The work of the CCS, Computer Conservation Society has been really vital to the museum and as well as being Treasurer to Glias, my husband is also Treasurer to the CCS.

So as he will be wearing his CCS hat next week, he will be telling us about some hidden history and computing in London. Further details available from the Glias website - http://www.glias.org.uk/

New Year Resolutions

Many Resolutions but as yet little resolve!

As I mentioned in a previous post, my mum died before Christmas, sad but not unexpected at 89, but I have now 'inherited' her supplies of craft materials. Apparently when my sister and I were young she prided herself that whatever we might want to make or do she had supplies available. When she moved from Scotland to Derbyshire, she discovered the cheap materials and haberdashery on Chesterfield market!

So now I have a linen chest and a chest of drawers full of fabric - sheeting, vyella from the factory shop in Paisley and lots of tweed. There is also a huge fitted wardrobe full of wool - mainly Shetland. When she was fitter - in her early 80s she was still making patterned mittens in 3ply on four needles. She never seemed to need a pattern for the different snowflakes and other patterns. When we were clearing up we found about 12 different mittens - but none matched!

Together with the yarn and fabrics I now have her sewing machine, mine is worn out, and a huge selection of threads. At least my sister has taken the embroidery wools and canvas and one of my daughters the rug canvas!

Now my task is to find something to do with this great stash. At the moment I am knitting another blanket out of the scraps of wool and while I am not remembering my mum with every stitch, I do think back to how much she enjoyed her trips to buy the yarn and the plans she had for its use.

What a fine legacy and here's my real resolution - to make sure her stash is well used and that the mountain of log cabin patchwork squares are joined up as she wanted and given to her two grand daughters as throws as she intended.