Talkin, Cumbria

November 5th 1954

I, at the tender age of fourteen, arrived in Croglin on November the 5th, 1954. It was 'Bonfire Night' and as strangers in the village I did not know a single soul. However the bonfire for the celebrations had been situated in the old quarry at the top end of the village and festivities commenced at about 7.pm so my eldest... [more]

Croglin 1958

When my husband and I married in March 1958, he bought the cottage nearest the camera on the left; no electricity, no bathroom......it cost the  princely sum of £300!
The building at the end of the street is the pub, and behind the trees on the right is the church and graveyard.  The trees have been felled now.  
In... [more]

Roadside Cottage Ainstable

To the lady who lived in the white cottage on the roadside central to the picture of the village of Ainstable: My grandfather lived in that cottage with his grandmother, Ann Dixon, his mother, Mary Dixon and his aunt, Bessy Dixon. His name was Tom Dixon and he was born 5/1897, went to the school in the village, died 8/1966 and... [more]

Pretty little Ainstable

I was brought up in the white cottage mid-left, by the roadside, by my grandparents.
The Crown Inn at the middle of the picture in the distance was run by Jim and Winnie Tuer, and I was friends with their daughter Ruth. The white cottage on the right was the shop, and later also became the post office.  The original one... [more]

Early Childhood

After retiring from the RAF, my father was with Air Ministry Constabulary and we moved to Stanwix in 1938 when my father was posted to 4 MU. We lived in Knowe Park Avenue and I attended Stanwix School. My sister attended the Margaret Sewell School for Girls. I was five years old when we moved to Stanwix and... [more]

"Snowed In"

If my memory is correct it was the winter of 1940/41 when I was a teenager, working for a long distance transport company from the midlands. We had left Carlisle on our way south via Shap Fell when we were caught in a blizzard and the roads were impassable. Our lorries had to be left on Shap and somehow we got... [more]

Barclays and Taylors of Tarraby Farm

My mother Gladys Taylor (nee Barclay) and father James Taylor married and lived at Tarraby Farm, Carlisle in 1927. My mother's parents were Alexander and Isabella Barclay, who lived and worked on the the farm. My grandfather was originally from Nigg, Aberdeenshire, where he was headmaster of Cove Bay public school, till approx 1918. My father was from Great Strickland, his... [more]

My Great Grandparents in Kirkoswald

My Great Grandparents, James & Annie Robinson and their daughters Caroline & Jane, moved to Kirkcoswold in early 1900's. Annie died in childbirth soon after. James remarried Mary Hetherington and had a son James jnr. He worked in the Co-Op in Lazenby and married and had 2 sons. James snr was a coachman and later worked cutting hedges. I remember visiting... [more]