Saturday, June 05, 2010

Down memory lane

A combination of lucky chances took me to Murton today on what should have been a brief visit to check on a headstone in the churchyard - my great great grandfather's to be precise. It was too nice a day to leap straight back into the car after seeing it and photographing it so we just had to wander further up the hill. Imagine my surprise and delight to find my great grandfather's headstone up there, and then a great uncle and then another. It's amazing how well some of them have survived - well over 100 years old and looking as if they were erected in the last decade. A tribute to the craftsmen who selected and then carved the stone.
I'm afraid we then played hookey a little further, as I realised that the house I first remember my grandparents in wasn't far away. Was it still standing? Absolutely, and what's more it had a splendid new fence and hedge and was obviously home to children enjoying the garden as much as I had all those years ago. Mind you, I don't suppose anyone in the house goes out each morning and washes in the water from the rain butt as Grandad did even if he had to break the ice on it first! The house now sports double glazing, satellite dish and a garage. The pit at which he was overman is now a retail park and open space. The coal heap at the road end is gone and there wasn't much sign of prize leeks growing. But the bricks and mortar looked achingly familiar and fond memories came flooding back. Happy days!
Back home to an email about anti-social behaviour last night, but it's not clear whether the person reporting it has told the police or just waited until tonight to email us about it.

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