A-Z: I Remember..Babies, Books, Birthdays & Brownies

I Remember When......
Recalling Memories of My Childhood

No I can't claim to remember my life as a baby!   But in recalling milestones, let's start at the beginning.  What was your first BABY photo?

I was born during the Second World War and this is the earliest photograph I have of myself - with my father.  I have no idea when he first saw me.  Here I think I must be about 3 months old.   

Following the deaths of my parents, I found a number of letters they exchanged in 1944, whilst my father was serving in the RAF as a Code and Cipher Clerk in France. In one letter, Dad asked for a "Photograph of Baby" - and this studio portrait was the result! 

The photograph reminds me of my father's war experiences through D-Day, the entry into Paris, onto Luxembourg, the bitter winter of Battle of the Bulge and entering Germany, before being posted to the Far East just after VE Day.

My mother was apprenticed as a tailoress at the age of 14, and continued to make her own clothes well into her 80's. However I cannot remember Mum having anything but grey hair which she wore in a French pleat. So this photograph is unique in showing her elegant style, lovely brunette hair and the "widow's peak" which she was so proud of.

More B's
BIRTHDAYS - How did you celebrate your birthday? What presents did you get? Did you have a party or a special outing ? What party food did you eat? Did you have a special party outfit?    I grew up in the era of a small party at home with the traditional games of pass the parcel, musical bumps, and pin the tail on the donkey (blindfold). My party dress was full skirted with a sash. We enjoyed sausage rolls, sausages on sticks, jelly and ice cream, iced gem biscuits - and of course the cake! 

BOOKS - What were your childhood favourites? What did you read as a teenager? Do you now use a Kindle? I was an avid reader of Enid Blyton and the Chalet School Stories, and the magazines of Crystal","Schoolfriend" and "Girl". Classics featured in my reading, boosted by the serializations on BBC Sunday teatime TV. I later moved onto family sagas and historical fiction. For me nothing beats an actual book for curling up on the sofa or relaxing in a bubble bath!

BALLET- I have a vivid memory of being taken by my mother and aunt to my first ballet "Coppelia" - and I began a lifelong passion for this enchanting art form. How have you been inspired by a stage performance?

BREAKFASTS - Did you have a traditional fry up or something more continental and healthy? Mine was original - I used to spread my Weetabix with marmalade, as I hated anything soaked in milk.

BROWNIES - No, not delicious chocolate brownies which I love, but the junior Guides. I was in the Leprechaun Six.  I have  memories of two concerts we did - singing "Teddy Bear's Picnic" as we hugged our Teddies' and being dressed in a yellow crepe paper hat with a green crepe paper collar, as we recited the Wordsworth poem "To Daffodils" - "I wandered lowly as a cloud". Fortunately there is no photograph of the occasion. 

Onto a Clutch of C's
Clothes, Christmas, Church and  Cars

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