When I last wrote we were still desperate for rain. Now it has rained and some plants are confused by what season it should be. I have a patch of red campion flourishing which is normally a spring flower. The grass has totally recovered and now looks green and healthy but some vegetables such as green beans were a total loss.
I have cleaned out my woodburner ready for whatever winter we are going to get. Oil prices are eye watering so we shall be sparing in our use of it - no gas here.
I spent 2 weeks in Junction in Goole in August where with history group friends we put on an exhibition of old photos, artefacts [these mainly from Chris Laidler of the First World War research group]. We talked to a lot of people and as ever the school albums were very popular.
One lady brought an interesting postcard. Her relative had worked for a time for the Gunnill Interchangeable Signs company. These signs were invented by Ernest Gunnill and installed all over the country. The letters were wooden, sometimes painted in different colours and installed on wires. Ernest lived with his family on Marshfield Road. His son Stuart edited the Goole Times before the war and was later awarded the MBE for his work with the Air Ministry.
A week or two later it was heritage weekend and I was in Eastrington church alongside my cousin Richard who is a radio amateur and was broadcasting from the church. I was also wearing my Howden civic society hat and we had a display set up explaining the history of the area known as Howdenshire.
My contribution was a slide show of many of my pictures of Eastrington which I have collected over the years. My family - the Nurses - have lived in the village since the 1680s - although I had no pictures of them!! The pictures were displayed on a big screen and I set each picture to show for 7 seconds. Thought it was enough. But it wasn't and I had to alter the timing to cater for those who were identifying friends and relatives. It was a good day and thanks to the ladies who had baked, who served teas and particularly to churchwarden Trudy Nieto who is working hard to maintain the church. The picture below is from 1967.
In between a friend and I met an American couple, Don and Julie. Don's ancestors, the Wright family, had emigrated from the Knedlington area in the 1680s as they were Quakers and were persecuted for their religion. We took them to Knedlington where the owner of Knedlington Hall, Phil, talked to us about its history and explained that Don's ancestors would have been able to watch the hall being built.
But finally can I invite readers of my blog to have a look at my Howdenshirehistory.co.uk website. My daughter made it several years ago and it was very out of date. Now it has a new look and I am adding pages of information and photos to it. The old photos page is not quite working properly yet but you can look at photos and I am adding them as fast as I can. If you have any requests let me know.
Here's a Howden one for you to work out where it is.
