Taking a hint from a suggestions list

Census Sunday is suggested...

There's a forum concerning a couple of small villages in Derbyshire. They used to be referred to a the Great hamlet and Little Hamlet. Suffice it to say, my family has been connected with both for many, many years. So much so that my branch is very much an outlier. To this day I have no evidence to show why they ended up in Lancashire some 100+ miles from the original villages.

Rumour has it that the family went to the four winds when the family business got into difficulties. There was a fire which almost destroyed the business and so various family members left to seek their fortune.

 A problem with genealogy is the number of times names are re-used and in that family the names: Cyrus, Frank, George, Benjamin, Sarah and Elizabeth abound. Occasionally, names such as Ellenor and Ruth cropped up. 


From a company where fathers, brothers, uncles and sons worked it lost most of the family as they headed to Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire and the USA.

Two sisters who remained in the villages.

Friday - sans Tai Chi

Fridays usually involve a social gathering with folk of a similar age known as the 'Happy healthy hearts' club. From 10 until 11 we attempt to do tai chi, chatting before the tutor arrives then coffee of tea and a chat afterwards.

Barbara is 80 and May usually gives her a lift there and back. Times when May doesn't go for any reason, I do the 'chauffeuring'. But, not today, no lift and no Tai Chi.

D and I went to the hospital, where he had laser treatment to cauterise capillaries in his eye. Arriving at the hospital early, having left home early in case of traffic congestion en route, the nurse out drops in D's eyes. Then we waited, and waited as the waiting room filled up.

The appt time of 9.15 came and went, it was 10 a.m. before D was seen. I carried on waiting for another 3/4 hour whilst he was treated. Apparently, the back of his eye began to hurt and is ratcheted up as the treatment progressed. The good news being the other eye is okay. Consultant had done some preventative treatment on other capillaries, just in case. 

Now there's a two month wait for an appt. for a check-up and hopefully he'll be discharged from outpatients.

Wisdom Wednesday?

Following onwards thro' AA100 I came across a quiz based of the first three chapters of book 1.

Would you say the following statement is true or false?

1. The most reliable written accounts of Cleopatra are those produced by ancient Roman authors. [note Roman, too easy to be mislead ad Plutarch was in fact Greek]

Cassio Dio wrote about Antony and Cleopatra, more than 200 years after the events occurred.

Horace Ode 1.37


2. Cleopatra ruled the richest and most powerful country in the Mediterranean basin.
Certainly, Egypt was a rich country, with vast wealth, particularly grain.Roman power was far superior to that of Egypt.
 The problem comes with the word 'country', was Rome a country? or just a State?


3. Cleopatra manipulated her image to appeal to different audiences. Now, this is something for which evidence can be found.

4. Doctor Faustus retains elements of a medieval morality play.
What's meant by an Elizabethan Morality play? Pause for thought.

5. Marlowe borrowed a lot of his ideas from his reading of Shakespeare. Although some scholars posit that Shakespeare was influenced by Marlowe, could the reverse be true?

6. "Cézanne painted the way he did because he simply didn't have the technique to emulate artists like Bouguereau."
Hm, that would be like comparing chalk and cheese.

7. Cézanne was "the first modern artist"?
Again this is debateable, time to look once again at the group of Impressionist painters associated with Cézanne.

Paul Cézanne - 1839 to 1906 used restricted palette and reworked time and again. Dedicated painter and misfit.
Claude Monet - 1840 to 1926 in Le Havre Eugène Boudin encouraged him as a landscape painter. 1855 moved to Paris. Friend of Pissarro.
Camille Pissarro - 1830 to 1903 friends with Monet and Degas landscapes
Auguste Renoir - 1841 to 1919 began by copying some of the works in the Louvre.
Berthe Morisot - 1841 to 1895 woman impressionist artist, wife of Manet. For a short while she was more well-renowned than Monet, Renoir and Pissarro.
Alfred Sisley -  1839 to 1899 friend of Monet and Renoir, landscape painter, impressionist. Born in Paris to English parents.
Edgar Degas - 1834 to 1917 painting, sculpture and making prints

Monet, Renoir and Sisley founded the Impressionist movement.

Starting anew

Carrying on from my previous post...
As we used to say on FirstClass the old OU social media, the registration finger struck.

I've become accustomed to study and relish learning for the sake of it. Having just completed U214 the Art of English, I wondered whether to stop or to carry on. Browsing the OU courses, I came across AA100, Arts past and present. Then I gave in and registered, it starts officially on October 4th.

It's a fascinating mixture of Art History, Music, historical figures, drama and suchlike. The first book in the series 'Reputation', covers Cleopatra, Christopher Marlowe, Paul Cézanne and Stalin. Unfortunately, for this presentation, Faraday has been omitted, so chapter 4 has become optional.

Typically, I've been dabbling thro' the available resources, downloading pdf, transcripts and audio files. So far, I've watched a video presentation on Cleopatra as portrayed on film from 1917 to 1963. The latter was the famous Burton and Taylor epic, which I remember watching in the school hall as an end of term treat.

Next, I played the recording of 'Dr. Faustus' whilst following the text. The version edited by John O'Connor has the text on the right-hand pages with 'helpful notes' on the left. The bulk of the book covers Marlowe's life, playhouses, language, criticism, performance, plot and study skills.

Later, the course looks at quartets by Schostakovich. 

I'm really looking forward to working my way through.

Apols for repetition, put it down to pleasant anticipation of things to come.

Studying - what? me?

After my successful result for the Art of English, I half thought of stopping at that. Then the registration finger 'struck' and now bring on Arts Past and Present. 

The website opened today, the official start of the course is in October.

I love accessing course resources and organising files and folders to take the information. Now, I have pdf versions of the course books and an assortment of other necessary pdf. Probably a sign of my generation, but I was brought up to treat books with respect. Later generations daub pages with highlighter of various loud fluorescent colours without a qualm. Then they have to nerve to sell on their disfigured books. Worse still, some folk will pay good money for them!

That's why I love pdf, I can highlight to my heart's content (guilt-free) and the search facility is a boon, far superior to indexes at the back of an ordinary book.

Arts past and present is a pot pourri of a course - Cleopatra, followed by Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, then Cézanne, just for a start.

Unfortunately, the OU has had to alter some of the ways it operates, hence chapter 4 on Faraday has become optional. Another effect has altered the scheduling, length of 'terms' has been shortened and holiday breaks lengthened. It will take some getting used to.

#2 Tai Chi

For the last few weeks, I have been going to not #1, but #2 sessions of Tai Chi.

The usual Friday session is more for being sociable, rather than a strict session. Although some folk have been attending those sessions for many years, the level remains the same. I had begun to wonder where to go to move up in skills. Hence, I now do Tai Chi on Fridays and Saturdays.

1 Tàijí qǐ shì Taiji Begin Form
2 Jīngāng dǎo duì Buddha's Warrior Pounds Mortar [1]
3 Lǎn zhá yī Lazily Tying Coat
4 Liù fēng sì bì Six Sealing And Four Closing
5 Dān biān Single Whip
6 Jīngāng dǎo duì Buddha's Warrior Pounds Mortar [2]
7 Bái é liàng chì White Goose Spreads Its Wings
8 Xié xíng Walk Obliquely
9 Lǒu xī Brush Knees
10 Shǎn sān bù Step Three Times
11 Xié xíng Walk Obliquely
12 Lǒu xī Brush Knees
13 Shǎn sān bù Step Three Times
14 Yǎn shǒu gōng quán Hidden Thrust Punch

15 Jīngāng dǎo duì Buddha's Warrior Pounds Mortar [3]

That's as far as it goes, unless there's someone new, in which case everything is broken down into more segments.

Saturdays are far more purposeful. Today, we focussed on some moves after Buddha's Warrior Pounds Mortar [3].

Green Dragon Emerges from the Water  (Qing Long Chu Shui) 

Pushing With Both Hands (Shuang Tui Shou)

Fist Under The Elbow (Zhou Di Kan Quan and Chui Zhou Di Chui)

Stepping Backwards And Whirling The Arms (Dao Juan Gong or Dao Juan Hong)

White Crane Spreads Wings (Bai E Liang Chi).

Diagonal Whip (Xie Xing)

Turning Back With Arms Twining (Shan Tong Bei) 

Flashing The Arms,

To be covered soon - Flash The Back, Flashing Turn To The back

One of the really good things about Saturday is the focus, no unnecessary noise, everyone determined to do their best.
Then, like today, it is a mixed group with some using  it as a warm-up for the next session. No matter where you look, there's someone more expert whose moves you can imitate. 

Tutor David G 

Quote

Don't stupidly repeat the form and think that you are going to get fighting ability. You must take out single movements from the form and train them repeatedly until you completely understand them.


The form is not a dead thing. Many people can do an outside imitation of the form, but they are lost in, as one participant put it, "copy and paste mode". The form must be alive within the principles.

Use slowness to achieve detail. I cannot emphasise how much importance Wang put on the fundamental need to train slowly.

September, I'll remember...

So goes  familiar song from Simon and Garfunkel. 

September 1st and the start of another year for my teacher friend. I wish her well.

Once again the media is full of yet more government interference in education; my goodness, how they love their social engineering! 

I am thankful to have the inestimable benefit of retirement. Part of me still wonders how those returning to the 'chalk-face' continue to cope with the overwhelming burden of management directives. Teaching is hard enough without those whose education bears no resemblance to anything they inflict on children today. 

Cynical, that's me...whenever these initiatives are enforced

The guy fronting the initiative in the media...

Nick Gibb was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire

•  educated at the Maidstone Grammar School, Kent
• Roundhay School, Leeds
• Thornes House School, Wakefield
•  College of St Hilda and St Bede at the University of Durham
•  received a Bachelor of Arts degree in law in 1981.

Therefore, he's from the generation of 'O' levels and 'A' levels, pre- GCSE which was introduced mid 1980s.

Whenever these initiatives are brought in, money has to be spent on resources. Someone authorises companies to do training, publishers bring out new textbooks and in these days, new computer software for schools.

The burden on teachers is to use an American expression 'ramped up'. No-one takes into account the endless hours teachers put in to getting ready to face the challenges, or the increasing stress levels.

 

It has been a poor year for toms.

When folk in widely separated parts of the country all have similar problems, there must be a link somewhere.

Discussing the situation, I have concluded that toms do not like the prolonged arid spell with for the UK horribly high temperatures. 

The heat was too much for me, and I guess the toms did not cope with the rapid rise in temperatures during the day. Nor did they like the resultant weeks of overcast rain-bearing skies.

If I think back to when I used to help in Dad's greenhouse at home and compare it with the same greenhouse some 30 years later situated here, I've never known such a poor year for toms. Hey ho! Another sign of climate change?

Ch-ch-ch changes

This has been a momentous week, mostly sadness. The untimely loss of someone who touched millions by his acting and comedic skills. 

The media have been awash with obits, some gentle, others not so. R. I. P. Robin Williams.

'Thought for the Day' on BBC Radio 4 is something I listen to rarely.  These days I am up and about well before the broadcast time.

Today, the speaker was Anne Atkins. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to listen again. She spoke of the melancholy associated with the life of a clown, comedy-tragic or tragic comedy and seamlessly worked in classical examples from Greek literature to the present day. 

Usually, if the radio was on and she was introduced as speaker, I'd turn the radio off. 

'Anne Atkins, a vicar's wife and Christian author is a regular guest in the three-minute slot,'

On the rare occasions I have listened to her my 'hackles have risen' and I am not alone, search her name to find examples.

tbc...

Now, thanks to the BBC web page I can quote...

"The year is 1806, the place London. A man seeks help for depression. “Normally I’d prescribe medication,” his doctor says. “But the pantomime on at Covent Garden will do you a lot more good. I cried with laughter. Go and see Harlequin and Mother Goose. Grimaldi will cure you.” 

“Ah,” sad the man sadly. “I am Grimaldi.” 

Not waving but drowning. The aria Vesti la giubba from Leoncavallo’s opera Pagliacci opens, Put on your costume and powder your face. People want to laugh. Turn your tears and distress into jest, your pain and sobbing into a funny face... Until the harlequin’s real life overwhelms him and the comedy turns to tragedy."

I had to find a more trustworthy translation...and ended up listening to the late, great Pavoroti performing that aria. 

"To act! While out of my mind,
I no longer know what I say,
or what I do!
And yet it's necessary... make an effort!"

I recommend watching Pavoroti singing the Aria and thinking about Robin Williams and the gaping hole his loss has left behind.

St. Swithin and a day of changes

Tories are doing a reshuffle.

I usually avoid politics like the proverbial plague. However, today, the media report that various people have changed places.

The one of main interest to me is Education.
I have friends who are still coping in this most burdensome occupation.

One friend is Head of a primary school and another works in one. 

True in the shuffle, the to date most despised incumbent at the Education department has been replaced...
But...the replacement is a former oppo of the PM so tarred with the same brush [deep sigh].

Uncomfortable truths?

Reading some posts earlier, brought to mind  past memories.

In the 1970s, education was one of the 'best' careers to be in. There was respect amongst educators, pupils and parents. They were a well-oiled team working to do the best with limited resources. Prime Minister Harold Wilson (Labour) gave teachers their best pay rise ever. Staff-rooms buzzed with promise. It was not all good news, there was bullying of female staff by male staff 'in authority'. 

One Deputy in particular would walk into the staff room and exclaim, ''Ah, my dear, you appear to be 'free'.'' Then delegate a class in need of cover to the unfortunate female. Rumour had it that the guy kept a 'wee dram' in his desk drawer.

Then came the 1980s when the seeds were sown and nourished by the incumbent Tory party which was almost communist-like in its zeal to oppress and to brow-beat the population, with the coal miners and school teachers as their targets of opportunity.

In came G.C.S.E. and out went C.S.E.

Once again England was a nation of discontent. 

The Tories ground down the miners and the teachers. Social engineering was carried out on a grand scale. 

There were strikes, the Govt.. saw the Unions as outright foes. London developed a 'get rich quick' - devil take the hindmost 'culture'. 

Unrest continued, social engineering went on at a pace. After the miners had been 'dealt with', teachers were in the spotlight, told they were not professionals. The annuity links between teachers and Civil Service were scrapped and millions ££££££ disappeared into government coffers. 

Traditionally, learning had been disseminated from universities to colleges and schools. Now the government intervened with its National Curriculum which still blights lives today.

For some 30 years the curriculum has been at the beck and call of ideologies, whims and fancies of successive governments.

What has happened to the teaching staff during that time?

Staffrooms are war zones where staff are bullied by line managers, Wooden Tops (aka senior management) and in some schools the bullying is done more often by parents and pupils. 

To adapt a well-known song...

Dark sarcasm in the classroom
Pupils - leave those teachers alone!

One school Head targeted senior staff and threatened them with loss of early retirement. He sought ways to remove senior staff, first demeaning them, then increasing workloads and belittling their efforts.

Simple maths 
Remove senior knowledgeable renowned and respected staff as a way of gaining 'control'. 

Next, promote yeah-sayers and lick-spittle. Those most malleable who would ask no questions. Bring in newbies with no experience but 'good' on paper. Saving money as you go.

Sign up your staff for mindlessly boring, time-wasting 'training'. Set one session in an hotel, pay for the cronies and lick-spittle to stay overnight at the school's expense...all in the name of 'training'.

As was common knowledge at the time...you ought not to accuse the then Sec. of state for Education because he had been sectioned and spent time in a mental institution before release complete with cert. of 'sanity'.

Then, another incumbent of that position was said amongst teachers to be....
quite literally...
'the blind leading the partially-sighted'.

One of the leading unions issued members with a work diary to fill in. That was when the Govt. claimed teachers' salaries were 'generous', since they were paid for 2765 hours per year.

The diaries were completed and made telling reading. Some conscientious staff had passed the requisite number of hours before Christmas. Others lower down the pay scale and with fewer responsibilities had clocked more the half the national hours. 

Then the bright sparks at the DoE (Dept. of Education) worked out a cunning wheeze. They enacted legislation instructing staff to do all reasonable to fulfil their obligations. No matter what the hours actually spent on preparation, form filling and all forms of mindless bureaucracy and red-tape involved plus contact time...hours officially remained at the notional 2765.

Part way thro' the 1980s and on into the 1990s pressure mounted on teaching staff. 
One of my friends left yo become a prison warder...seeing it as far less stressful, which turned out to be true. 

Another committed suicide.

Despite the fact that a member of staff was fulfilling her duties responsibly, the time-table was redesigned to make her surplus to requirements. That particular trick was used several times. 

Senior management harassed anyone with the temerity to really be ill, by demanding work from them.

Being signed off by a Consultant wasn't 'good enough'. One guy had a nervous breakdown and was forced back into the classroom.

By 2000 the gateposts were being moved and it became harder to qualify for early retirement. 

The Head that took over saw illness as a slight and personal insult. Her solution was to target the staff member by setting in motion the dismissal process. 

Fortunately, one of the governors was paying enough attention and when the dismissal proposal was put forward spoke up in the teacher's defence. 'You must not do that to 'n' all my children have been taught by 'n' and 'n' deserves better treatment.


The rest as the saying goes is history...

That school no longer exists, and in the year that 'n' retired staff were given a bonus because of their achievements.

The school that replaced it...completely new building from 'scratch' but lacking those members of staff that had shown moral fibre over the years....has slid further and further down the league tables...

This on-line apology for a life...

I used to comment that a computer was a typewriter that 'talks back', in the days before no ordinary folk had an on-line presence, Now in the age of connectivity, loneliness on-line becomes more apparent. 

Talking into the 'ether' only serves to make aloneness more up front and personal. On-line communities are an anathema. Communing as in really getting to correspond meaningfully is a hollow joke, as hollow as the electronic worlds themselves.

Years ago there was an on-line community that bore more of a resemblance to life. It was accessible to OU students. There people expressed their thoughts, beliefs and life events. Friendships grew and folk met up face-to-face, cementing feelings of togetherness. Later in the name of 'progress', the OU adopted formats ready-made by Google. Connections were sundered at a stroke. Some migrated to other platforms in the desperate hope that the community would survive. Needless to say, it did not.

Today has been a day of several folk deleting accounts, pulling the plug on on-line communities. 

Something to ponder...

Keeping cool - aka Fun Monday

Fun Monday for July 14th:
We're now mid-way through what most people think of as summer. What's your favorite way to keep cool?

Today, we went out and bought a replacement fan. Unlike other Fun Monday folk here in the UK we hardly ever get really high temperatures even in Summer.

Yesterday, for that was when this missive began, everyone felt enervated. Why? Well, the thermometer had reached 25C. Next week, south-east England might reach the dizzy heights of 30C.

Now, I know to some folk (Australia and the US) it would be nothing to write home about. In fact, I was reading just the other day that an Aussie friend was finding it difficult to cope with the 'cold' and her friends were in agreement. 18C and they were hunting for scarves and gloves!

I digress, in order to cope with 25C we employed our dehumidifiers and rotating fan at night in search of sleep. 

At teatime we enjoyed the typically English favourite dessert of strawberries, ice cream and cream (delicious). 

So, the doors and windows are open in the hope of a through draught...so it rained and at least made the air feel fresher. But, of course we shall enjoy our summer dessert treat later on. None the less, the dehumidifiers and fan will hopefully make things more pleasant tonight.

Quoting Dylan Thomas

“The sun declared war on the butter; and the butter ran.” 

P.S.

July 17 th

Sweltering? - in temperatures of 25+ C

The Met Office has declared a Level 2 health alert to run through to Sunday morning.

The warning is triggered when the Met Office forecasts there is a 60% or higher chance of temperatures being high enough on at least two consecutive days and the intervening night to have a significant effect on health.

For Fun Monday July 7th

Fun Monday for July 7th: 
What makes you glad to live in the country you live in? If you celebrated the 4th (USA), you can include a picture of that as well. We're feeling patriotic for this Fun Monday!

First I hope all my friends across the pond have a wonderful time of joyous celebration!

Next, returning to dearest Sara's topic and the question of gladness.

I have been mulling this over all day and finally decided that dear Olde England makes me glad, for its quirkiness and eccentricity. Not the numerous wise-guys of the twenty-first, or even twentieth centuries; but those that went before. 
Please note it is England not any of the other parts of the British Isles. 

Today's set of countries (apart from Ireland, which has the most gladness inspiring capital city, Dublin), are like toddlers always squabbling. 

The English language in particular makes me glad. No other Western country has seen language grow and morph like England. 

At present, I'm reading some books written in the 19th century (for pleasure). 

" Like some tall cliff, which rears its awful form, 
High o'er the vale and midway leaves the storm; 
Though clouds and tempests round its breast be spread, 
Eternal sunshine settles on its head."

Hulbert, Charles Augustus, 1804-1888. Annals of the church and parish of Almondbury, Yorkshire (Kindle Locations 196-199). London, Longmans. 

What a great description of England!

From another book

"Feb. 15. Thomas Tilsye and Ursula Russel were maryed; and because the sayde Thomas was and is naturally deafe, and also dumbe, so that the order of the form of marriage used usually amongst others, which can heare and speake, could not for his parte be observed. 

After the approbation had from Thomas, the Bishoppe of Lincolne, John Chippendale, doctor in law, and commissarye, as also of Mr. Richd. Davye, then Mayor of the town of Leicester, with others of his brethren, with the rest of the parishe, the said Thomas, for the expressing of his mind instead of words, of his own accord used these signs : 
first, he embraced her with his arms, and took her by the hand, putt a ring upon her finger, and layde his hande upon his hearte, and then upon her hearte, and held up his handes toward heaven. 
And to show his continuance to dwell with her to his lyves ende, he did it by closing of his eyes with his handes, and digginge out of the earth with his foote, and pullinge as though he would ring a bell, with diverse other signes."


Cox, J. Charles (John Charles), 1843-1919. The parish registers of England (Kindle Locations 1697-1698). London Methuen. 

Today I have been glad that our unruly weather has behaved itself, showing the West Riding countryside at its best as the Tour de France rushes pell-mell.

Another thing to be glad about it the lack of nasty creepy-crawlies. Unless one ventures into the wilds of the farthest south-west, there are no dangerous beasties. 

Trim

Today the neighbours employed a proper tree surgeon.

An early start to Fun Monday!

The lovely Sayre writes...
Fun Monday topic for June 23rd - Everybody's got a project of some sort going, whether it's reading a book, knitting a scarf, painting a picture (or a room), or planting a garden. What's your latest project?

Once upon a time, I'd have posted pix of knitting / crochet. Another time it would have been books. More recently the pix would have concerned OU studies. So what's gone on?

Time to post examples...

Looking back into the past...a mix of local history studies and genealogy research. Even tho' I say it myself, researching is something I've become good at doing. I love finding and finding out. Finding information, finding sites to help my researches and learning about people and places in times past.

Auntie Jean (born 1909)

Village events (May Queen procession)

Theatrical events

News from the past

Ads

A tad late - aka Fun Monday

One of the more noticeable things about retirement is that weeks have a tendency to turn themselves inside out. To explain, for most of my working life, work dominated my days, evenings and nights as well. Now, Mon-Fri are simply a n other days. Sat n Sun are for the workers to as my Dad would say 'Six days, shalt thou labour and on the seventh do all odd jobs.' Hence, it can take quite a while to realise what the day is today. I know Fridays because I go to Chen Taijiguan - Chen-style Tai-Chi. I won't have even that landmark this week. One of the Masters from the Chen village is over here to do workshops, our tutor and his two stand-ins are involved in the workshops this weekend.

What did I want to be? Anything but second-best. I knew what I did not want to do, and that was anything connected with sewing / tailoring. Briefly, I toyed with the ideas of journalism, librarianship and the Civil Service. 

Even when I left school I still had no idea.

Fortunately, there was a lady that worked part-time in the chemist's shop where I worked after leaving school. She changed my life in a good way, pity is I no longer remember her name. 

We had our tea breaks together and once she learnt I'd had a Grammar school education, she kept telling me from time-to-time how I was 'wasting my education' doing shop work.

By Spring I was applying to colleges and going for interviews.

That Autumn (Oct.) found me leaving home and going to college in Liverpool.

As they say, the rest is history.

Photo by permission of Chris Knagg.

It has been said that 'ignorance is bliss'

Sometimes having common-sense and a good education, make reading on-line posts a tad annoying. Social media has 'a lot to answer for'. Some folk would rather post a question to a group and sit back waiting for the answer to appear like magic, than do research themselves. This was the downside of belonging to an unofficial group. 

I'm grateful to the OU and to their library in particular for helping me to hone my research skills.

Starting with T171, You, your computer and the Internet, I learnt that basically, a computer is a glorified typewriter that talks back.

I've been reading some posts concerning genealogy in the loosest sense. Someone asking about emigration to North America in the mid 1800s couldn't understand folk leaving from the port of Liverpool. As the Americans might say a 'no-brainer'. Checking the Liverpool maritime Museum site, soon backed up what I thought was the answer.

Liverpool was in a favourable geographical position for trade with the 'New World'. Bristol had lost its position in the hierarchy of ports. People flocked to Liverpool to head West. From 1840-1940 some 9 million souls headed west. Between 1845 and 1851, Some 1,250,000 Irish left to escape the Potato Famine. 

Own goal

Before anyone imagines this post is remotely connected with events in Latin America...no worries.

Hillsborough dominates headlines and has done for many, many years. 
It haunts Merseyside and Liverpool in particular.

Looking thro' news headlines yesterday and today I noticed the growing bru-ha-ha concerning an attempt the Sun 'newspaper's' attempt to do a mailshot. Normally, it would not be 'newsworthy', but the latest Labour leader made a faux pas.

First there was the storm in a teacup over Skelmersdale posties refusing to deliver/handle that 'rag'. 

Then Ed Mlliband made an unforced error.

Quoting from the Liverpool Echo

Ed Miliband has said sorry to those he offended by his decision to pose with a copy of the Sun newspaper.

The full statement issued by the Labour party today read: "Ed Miliband was promoting England's bid to win the World Cup and is proud to do so.


"But he understands the anger that is felt towards The Sun over Hillsborough by many people in Merseyside and he is sorry to those who feel offended."

The Sun newspaper (rag) is abhorred on Merseyside. Hence, when the Labour 'leader' posed with that paper, no matter what the reason, he scored an own goal. Merseysiders have a proud heritage. Jokingly, Liverpool is referred to as the Capital of Ireland; it has a large Irish population, dating back to the days of the Potato Famine.

 © Copyright Peter Tarleton and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Image used under creative commons licence.

Searching

Not knowing whether or not to continue with the OU. Finding that with studies ended for now, there's more research to do (family history); have now joining two FHS (family history societies) Derbyshire and Yorkshire.

School class of about 1910-1912

The lady seated, with a baby on her lap is my grandmother. 

She died at the early age of 37 years old.

Advertising the family business (early 1900s)

Cyrus and one of his brothers, Frederick, moved from Huddersfield to Derbyshire. They began as joiners and woodworkers then as the business grew they had a timber yard and building business. Apocryphal family tales claim the business failed when the timber yard went on fire. Also, one of the family had let the insurance lapse. The family split with various groups heading to different places in Yorkshire and Lancashire, with a remnant remaining in Derbyshire.

Sunday best

Horse judging