Notes of Life

It’s been a long time since I’ve done a “Show & Tell!”, in fact, it’s probably been 2 decades! The latest topic for the Carnival of Genealogy is… you’ve guessed it… “Show & Tell!”, so, having been absent without leave for the past few months in regards to the CoG, I thought I’d join in.

May I present to you…

The Top Hat

The Top Hat was Great Grandfather Alfred’s, but sadly I don’t think we have a photo of him wearing it.

Inside the Top Hat

Inside the Top Hat is a name written in ink. To me, the initial looks like a “J” which would mean the hat originally belonged to Alfred’s brother John. This makes sense as John was a Farmer where as Alfred was a lowly paid Agricultural Labourer.

Also inside the Top Hat is the name of the hat maker and of the seller.

Christys’ London had been making hats long before my Great Grandfather and his brothers were born and they are still making them now long after their deaths.

T & R Gilman of Hanley would have sold the hat to my Great Great Uncle John.

Sadly, I’m not able to tell you much more about this Top Hat, but it’s something I’ve not mentioned here before. We also have a Bowler Hat, which Dad also believes belonged to my Great Grandfather Alfred.

I love things like this Top Hat, the Bowler Hat and Alfred’s old Pocket Watch. There’s just something about them.

I look forward to the next Show & Tell!

Despite the weather, I enjoyed a long weekend over August Bank Holiday. Saturday was quiet and relaxing, but on Sunday morning we headed up to North Wales.

We were off to Caernarfon. It’s about a 2 hour drive from here (what with the twisty roads and mountains to pass). With views of Cadair Idris and other Snowdonia mountains, the scenery on the way up is spectacular. Unfortunatley we were in the middle of Bank Holday traffic and were aiming to be in Caernarfon by a certain time, so I didn’t stop to take photos (although, I’ve been up there many times and will be going many times again, so plenty of time to take photos another time).

After booking in at the recently built Premier Inn at Doc Victoria in Caernarfon and having a bit of a rest, we headed off to the Faenol Festival at Vaynol Park for “Music Under The Stars”. We parked in the first row of cars in the car park (a field!), ensuring a quick get away after the concert. Despite getting there early, there was already a queue at the entrance gates. They’d come prepared too, with picnics etc! John Barrowman and co were warming up and doing sound-checks on stage, so we got a bit of a preview before going in.

When the gates opened and tickets checked, the crowded surged forward towards the stage. Thankfully, I’d booked seated tickets and we were slap bang in front of the stage around 20-odd rows back. The clouds were threatening to turn the park into a mudbath, but nothing ever come of it. We were just a bit chilly, but those on stage urged us all to huddle together and cwtch (cuddle!).

While the park was filling up, a quartet of wind instruments kept us entertained before the main show started. Then we were treated to a musical extravaganzer from John Barrowman, Daniel Boys, Shan Cothi and Jodie Prenger, with an orchestra behind them. Bryn Terfel introduced the show, but sadly his voice wasn’t so good after the previous night of entertaining so he joined us lot in the audience. The others belted out songs such as Anything Goes, I Won’t Send Roses, Moon River, You’re The Top, Send In The Clowns, I Know Him So Well, I Am What I Am and many more… They were all musical themed (if you hadn’t already guessed!). Shan Cothi, being a Welsh girl, sang the Welsh National Anthem for the finale with the others joining in. Then as the last notes were being sung, a fantastic firework display burst into the air.

During a break the big screens showed a song sung by Shan Cothi and Bryn Terfel called “I Believe”. It’s a beautiful song being released as a tribute to Shan’s husband who died of Pancreatic Cancer. Take a look at the Tigertailz website for more information as I’m sure, like me, you’ll love the song.

The park was a little muddy after the concert, although that was to be expected after thousands of people had trampled all over it! We got out easily and swiftly and were back at the hotel just in time to watch the Valencia F1 Grand Prix highlights.

The weather on Monday morning was a little miserable, but after having breakast we headed over to Caernarfon Castle. We got there just after the castle had opened, so it was nice and quiet. While we were looking around the Plantagenet Medieval Society were setting things up for the Foot Tourney, Archery and Dance from the 14th Century. I would have loved a go at the Archery… My brother and I once made home-made bows & arrows when we were kids, not that they were any good!

After our visit to the castle we had a look around the town, before heading back down to road to Porthmadog for lunch (fish & chips!). I also treated us to an ice cream and suitably they had Mango sorbet so I didn’t have to worry about feeling ill afterwards! (Cadwallader Ice Cream is delicious and mustn’t be missed when on a trip to North West Wales!). We then made our way home.

Sadly, when we returned home Dad had some bad news. A family friend, Roy, had died over the weekend. He’ll be sadly missed.

After visiting Teena in Toronto’s blog and seeing her entry for Camera Critters, I decided I’d play along this week.

Here’s next door’s cat Charlie hunting in the field. He didn’t seem to mind me taking photos and even posed for one or two!

Camera Critters – Why not join in?!

It’s a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK, meaning I get Monday off work! I have plans too (as you may have guessed from the title). Tomorrow I’m off up to Bangor (North Wales) for Music under the Stars, part of Bryn Terfel’s Faenol Festival (otherwise known as BrynFest). John Barrowman is headlining tomorrow night with Bryn Terfel, Daniel Boys, Shan Cothi and a guest appearance from Jodie Prenger (who won I’d Do Anything on BBC1 earlier this year). It’s a bit of a drive from here, so we’re staying over night in Caernarfon and slowly making our way home on Monday. I’m just hoping the weather improves, but I’m packing my wellies, just in case!

Talking of John Barrowman… He’s releasing a new album on 24th November called “Music Music Music” and his new single “What About Us?” (written by Gary Barlow) will be released a week earlier. Can’t wait!

I’ve been writing more reviews for Dooyoo and I’m on my way to earning another £20. So that will be £50 since the end of May! You have to rate other people’s reviews too, but you never know what you might find. It uses up my spare time and earns me some pocket money too!

Talking of Dooyoo… I recently reviewed the 3 DVDs I bought with the last Amazon vouchers I earned from the website. These were:

• The Painted Veil – This film is based on a story written by W. Somerset Maughan and stars Edward Norton and Naomi Watts. They play an English couple who married for all the wrong reasons. They relocate to China, where a Cholera epidemic is raging. You see the characters changing throughout their journey, sometimes for better and other times for the worse. It’s an interesting and troubled story, but one I’d definitely recommend.
• River Queen – This film is set in New Zealand in the 1860’s where the British (and Irish working for them) are clearing the land and colonising the country, much to the disgust of the Maori people. An Irish/Maori boy is kidnapped by his Maori grandfather and the story follows the boy’s mother’s quest to find him. The film stars Samantha Norton and Kiefer Sutherland.
• He Was A Quiet Man – In this film Christian Slater plays an office worker who’s had enough. He dreams of blowing up his office building and of shooting his fellow workers, punishing those who’ve made his life hell. Elisha Cuthbert and William H. Macey also star in this film.

So there are a few films for you to look out for!

Anyway, here’s hoping the weather cheers up… See you after the weekend!

Last weekend, my parents & I decided to have a day out. I chose Nantwich in Cheshire as we have some family there and we could pass through some Ancestreal places along the way.

We drove along winding lanes through Higher Wych and Wigland where my Nan grew up and where my Great Grandfather had settled, along the way to the small town of Malpas. It was the nearest town to where Great Grandfather Alfred called his home. He had married there and, despite dying here in Mid Wales, he was taken there to be buried.

Until a couple of years ago, we hadn’t realised my Great Grandparents’ grave had a headstone. We first found it using a map provided by the caretaker. There was the headstone, albeit with Great Granddad’s age shown a couple of years younger than he actually was. However, some of the lead lettering was broken or fallen off so we vowed to return and get it fixed.

Back to last weekend… In pouring rain, we crossed the cemetery only to find that part of it had been fenced off. Even more unsettling were the sheep grazing in the fenced off area! We passed through the gate into the fenced off area of the cemetery and tried our best to dodge the sheep mess. The fence cruely cut graves in half with some headstones being one side of the fence and the rest of the grave being the other. I wasn’t happy!

With the rain coming down, we rushed to find my Great Grandparents’ grave. It wasn’t where we thought it was. Then we spotted it. Another small patch had been fenced off, this time to keep the sheep from a select grave and in doing so, they had kept the sheep from my Great Grandparents’ grave. The grave in front of ours was obviously being visited on a regular basis and with our grave directly behind it, it had been saved from the sheep. I was relieved.

However, when we got to the grave, the grass that had once been kept neat by the caretaker now grew wildly over it. The stones that had once adorned it were now swamped by the overgrown grass. The gravestone face had deteriorated and the flower holders were now behind the gravestone instead of resting on the grave.

I wasn’t happy. Why was the rest of the cemetery being kept in a beautiful condition, but this part no longer being cared for? If I lived nearby I could take care of it myself, but I live an hour & a half away. When the weather gets better Dad and I are going to return to tidy up my Great Grandparents’ grave and repair the lead lettering.

We left the cemetery disheartened.