Georgewhitt
Winger
What a brilliant story marra.
And what a legacy she left for the world to see.
Never a truer word spoken marra.
Planning to take 2 of my grandbains to Beamish to show them the type of place I grew up in, and get a feel for the history of the NE.Going up the male line, I'm pretty sure he was a miner. He died before I was born. All I ever knew of him was an old and early photo on the wall at my grandpa's house. One of those ones where no background was really captured, just a round picture around the face that seemed to fade away. I wonder what happened to that picture. I always thought he looked stern but posh, which would not fit with being a miner. Perhaps taken in his sunday best.
No idea on my mam's dad's side. My mam's mam's mam lived until I was probably about 14. She was a fantastic lady and full of fascinating stories. She was brought up close to Catherine Cookson and was the same age, I think they knew each other. My nana might have been a year or two ahead of her at school. Some of the real life events that went into Cookson's books, she remembered. The changes she saw come in in her life was fascinating.
She was a seamstress. Her dad died when she was quite young, so her and her mam faced poverty or make a living without a man in the house. Her mam started bringing in clothes for mending or would pick up old and worn clothes then cut, trim and make new clothes out of the best bits. She used to unpick the worn collar off a shirt, turn it around so the worn bit was on the inside folded over bit and get another few years of wear out of it. My nana picked up all the skills and it kept her out of the workhouse.
She loved her sewing and crochet. Some of the stuff she made, and her various dress making pattern books are now in one of the 1950s houses in Beamish. Fantastic going to see her stuff and show my kids, with it being their great great granmother's stuff. Admittedly my daughter was interested, my son less so!
I am going to make sure we see her stuff marra.
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