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| Edith and Kathleen Danson - late 1908 |
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| Playing in the garden - Edith (seated) & Kathleen, c.1914 |
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| Edith and Kathleen, 1916. |
Aunt Edith was the
eldest born on 2nd September 1907. I think of her as one of line of "Feisty Danson Females" and she was fond of regaling me with stories of the family and
her life in teaching. She was the only one in the family to win a scholarship to Fleetwood
Grammar School, riding the four miles on her bike in all weathers. She became
a teacher at Burn Naze School in Thornton (a poor area of town at the time), kept
home for her father and brother, travelled widely, even to Russia in Iron
Curtain days, and married for the first time at the aged 73. You can tell from
her photographs that she was someone who enjoyed life. Aunt Edith, was, of course, my godmother and took on the role with great gusto.
Her sister Kathleen (my
mother) was born 8th September 1908 and was more reserved. At the age of 14, she was apprenticed to a local tailor - and was still making her own clothes in her 80s. She was also skilled In a wide range of crafts . I always think her motto could be “Happinessis Stitching”.
Both Edith and Kathleen
enjoyed fashion, and made their own clothes on a treadle machine (their
house did not have electricity until 1958) and regularly went dancing
at the Winter Gardens, and the Tower Ballrooms in Blackpool - where my
mother met my father.
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| Kathleen & Edith |
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| Kathleen & Edith |
Both sisters were accomplished at
needlework and crafts, with Aunt Edith also a talented artist. and
both , like many of their generation were skilled bakers.
Stitched by my mother
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| Painting by my Aunt Edith |
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| Collage by my mother |
Who could be my mother's bridesmaid in 1938, but ~Aunt Edith. Forty-three years later, in 1981, the roles were reversed when Edith married.
Kathleen & Edith
Kathleen & Edith
Both sisters left me with a wonderful legacy on how to get the most out of life. I have a lot to thank them for.
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- W
