Friday night home alone with Children In Need

I do feel that many of my older friends may very likely say "I told you so", but tonight I do feel that I'm officially old.  Friday night used to be THE big night for going out, if I wasn't already out at a beer festival or on the way to some kind of CAMRA meeting in a different part of the country.

Staff Bar at GBBF 2013
(that's me third from bottom)

Since becoming ill and poor I've been unable to go out much - but sitting here watching Children in Need by myself just tops it all for aloneness.  In the past I've joined in silly activities at work or in the pub but here at home who will notice if I wear my pyjamas or dance along with the celebrities.   

I can see the rest of my life stretching out in front of me a bit boring and studious.  I'm keeping busy going to Barnsley Archives and transcribing things, attending Cudworth Local History and Heritage meetings at the local library and doing Open University study (well, for seven more months anyway).  But what happened to the fun?

Tomorrow my Great British Beer Festival friends are meeting in London to plan next year's festival.  I won't be there, at the meeting or at the Festival.  I've had to retire due to ill health.  The picture on the right shows us all serving at the staff bar on the last night of the Festival this year.  That's my daughter on my left and the OH second on my right.  Everyone in the picture is a long standing friend and I will miss them.

I was looking forward to going to an Open University tutorial in Leeds tomorrow, but my tutor has been taken ill and has had to cancel.  My disabled travel pass lets me get to Leeds for free, last year my tutorials were in York which was just too far to travel and outside the area for my pass so I attended no tutorials at all.  I have been looking forward to this year's  - it's a great chance to meet like minded people and talk about history in an academic way.  At least there's still the Facebook groups and the OU forums,  I can still talk to people online - but it's not like meeting them face to face I'm afraid.

Even Children in Need is in the pub tonight - the whole of the One Show took place in the Queen Vic in Albert Square.  I've watched the Dr Who bit and the Strictly Come Dancing bit and I think Terry Wogan is getting a bit old for doing it all now.  The joke about being a younger partner for Tess than Bruce Forsyth was good though.  Is there anything else worth staying up for?  Ah, Brian Blessed just did a 'Coming Soon' and the answer is no not really.

Good night!

Week 11 - Book of Me - Military

This week's prompt in the Book of Me series of blogs is Military.  The Book of Me is a fifteen month project organised by Julie Goucher of the Angler's Rest blog to help us blogging historians and genealogists to write about ourselves for a change.

Each week Julie sets us a theme or a series of questions to answer.  

Did you join the military? Were you encouraged or discouraged?

I attempted to join the RAF when I was eighteen after I had failed my A levels.  I failed that as well.  I can't remember whether my parents showed any interest.
 

Did a family member join the miltary?  Regular or for a particular incident?

My father did his national service in the RAF (but that wasn't linked to my motives for the above).  He did not enjoy it and often used to say he wished he'd joined the army instead as with his grammar school education he'd have probably been made a tutor.  As it was they discovered he was colour blind so he was unable to be a pilot - he spent two years as a fitter.  He did serve some of that time in Germany - my mum and he were courting at that time and she may have more stories.


Outside billet RAF Bruggen 1953 - my dad is second from the right
holding his cap and posing from the looks of it!

My father's sister was in the ATS during the Second World War - some of her story is here.
My paternal grandfather was in the Seaforth Highlanders pre WW2 and rejoined during the Second World War - I have a post about him here.
My maternal grandfather was in the Home Guard during WW2 - there's a great picture of him in this post.

Did you or your family serve overseas in the line of service either during a war or as a posting?

My paternal grandfather, Edward Lawrence Hall, served in India from December 1926 to December 1932 (info from his Certificate of Service).  His medals include the India General Service Medal with a bar that says "North West Frontier 1930 to 31".

War Medal, 1939-45 Star, Defence Medal and India General Service Medal 1930-31

 

Any thoughts, photographs, memories relevant

Coming from a North-Eastern coal mining and shipbuilding background my family history is fairly short on soldiers (or even sailors) so the ones that I find usually via the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's site, are usually diligently researched. 

There is a whole page (work in progress) of links to various soldiers' stories from my family and my husband's (the OH), accessible via the World War One Soldiers' Stories tab at the top of this page. 

And to conclude:
Yesterday I received an email directing me to a page in an American newspaper concerning a relative of mine  - Gabriel Davison Harle - he's my second cousin twice removed and he died in WW1.  A fascinating story about finding his letters home from the war in an attic!  I wish I had that kind of luck in my researches.  So a huge thank you to the gentleman who brought this to my attention!

P.S. if you are wondering what happened to Week 10 of Book of Me - I'm thinking about it - the prompt was Unexplained Memories and as I seem to remember everything with great clarity (I may be fooling myself but it feels that way) I can't honestly put my finger on anything unexplained to write about.