Bitter Sweet Memories

A Memory of Elland.

The town of Elland has bitter sweet memories for me, I was born in 1961 the middle one of three children to my dad Wallace Hawkins and my mum Joan Hawkins nee Smith.
My mum died in 1964 while we lived in New street (my earliest memory is that street), I was brought up by my grandma the late Martha Smith at Grove mills place Elland lane a short walk to my grandma Hawkins house at No3 Springfield rd . I moved away from Elland to live at Rastrick for a very short time before we were placed in care homes around west yorkshire, ending up in Brighouse in 1976. My elder brother Kenneth still lived in Elland and i attended Brooksbank school until 1977. It was shortly after this i moved away from west yorkshire until 1999 when along with my wife, who i met in deepest darkest Lincolnshire moved to Sowerby bridge. While we lived there we decided to find out where my mums grave was as i had never been told, we went to the Parkwood crem where they keep the records and found out mum was buried in Exley sharing a grave with my paternal great granddad. We moved down to Sleaford in Lincolnshire in 2015 and do not visit Elland anymore. However a part of me will be there forever . Graham Hawkins