grandparents

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with love from Porlock Weir (1987)

With love from Porlock Weir

Taking a week away in Dunster with such lovely surroundings. Our flat is very satisfactory and well furnished & situated next to a large house & garden, of which we have the use. Taking things quietly & exploring the village My love to you from Auntie Vi

A classic status update from my great aunt. The postmark date is Minehead 5 Oct 1987.   The 13p stamp was the cost of sending a postcard second class in 1987 (this is approximately 34p in 2015).

We were still being reminded to ‘Be properly addressed’ and to ‘POSTCODE IT’ – this is some thirteen years after it became mandatory; by this time most people in the UK seemed to have got the idea!

Porlock Weir is still a popular spot for visitors, it is about 10 miles from Dunster. The yellow dragon in the top left hand corner of the picture is the logo of Somerset County Council.

The eagle eyed amongst you will notice the name change – I’d got married.

Auntie Vi was married to Uncle Wilf who was Grandad‘s brother. They did not have children, hence no grandchildren; they were great fun and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them when I was a young child. We were out one day, us in our car, with Wilf and Vi following behind; there was a crash, Wilf died. With a child’s eye view, the horror was lost on me – he was my Grandad’s brother, therefore ‘old’. I saw Auntie Vi more regularly, she holidayed with us and livened up our birthday parties, but she lived as a widow (seeing me grow up, get married, have my own children) for at least another 20 years. How sad that she was denied spending that time with Wilf. 

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with love from Widecombe in the Moor (1975)

4 blog 19 11 14 copy

Dear Hilary & John, We are having a very nice holiday the weather has been very kind to us.  We visited Widdicombe yesterday & today we are sitting looking at nice sea with quite large waves at Meadfoot Beach between Paignton & Torquay.  Love to Mummy & Daddy.  Grandad & G~~~ (Grandma to you)

A classic status update from my paternal grandparents to my brother and me.  The postmark date is Newton Abbot, 1 June 1975.   Five stamps adding up to 5½p which was the cost of sending a postcard second class in 1975 (this is approximately 50p in 2014).

The picture illustrates the old nursery rhyme which reads:

Tom Pearce, Tom Pearce, lend me your grey mare, All along, down along, out along lee; For I want to go to Widecombe Fair Wi’ Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davey, Dan’l Whiddon, ‘Arry Hawk, Old Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all, Old Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all.

Grandad died in the early eighties.  Grandma was my last surviving grandparent and lived on to see me married, but missed being a Great Grandma.  In actual fact she was my Dad’s stepmother, but when I was born it was decided (for ease) that she would be known as Grandma.  She was a great needlewoman and textile artist and encouraged this in me.  More about my love of textiles here http://www.textiletarts.co.uk/about