19th February 2019 - John Weston (Jack) Memories - Part 1

Thought for the day: "My wife misses me. But her aim is steadily improving."

Meeting in Caerphilly yesterday for Court of Penychen - an instruction and went very well.
And the dining finished well within the time of the Hour Glass...

Almost caught up on some paperwork... 

First page of Memories - by John Weston transcribed - though I think that Susie wants to improve her touch typing so she may well decide to type the remainder... but here s a starter...

My Memories

1905 - 1967 by John Weston

Preface

I was born at 56 Meredith Street, Crewe on the 18th of November 1905 , at 5 o'clock in the morning. I was told later that there was a severe Frost the previous night, and my dad  dashing up the street to fetch the midwife slipped on a sheet of ice and sat down heavily on the Pavement.  a good start.

My parents were both of Anglo Saxon stock, my ancestors having lived on the north Shropshire plain for generations. In fact the family can be traced back to Saxon times. I consider that I have lived through a period of one of the greatest industrial and social revolutions plus two wars, in the history of our great country. I will now describe incidents that have happened in my life during this period. Some will be amusing, some sober, some tragic but all will be interesting to the reader.

My father left Crewe in 1907 where he had been employed for several years in the railway work shops, and just took a job at Norton, Shifnal On the estate of mister W H Foster. My father remained in the employ of the Foster family until his death in 1949. He was buried at Stockton in the new cemetery on the north side, a curb in polished granite marking his  last resting place

My first memory

It was spring 1908. I was in the garden with my dad who was preparing the ground to plant potatoes when he cut of stick to act as a marker for setting potatoes. Dad made the trenches and I set the potatoes measuring the distance between them with the stick. I was 3 years old then, in successive years I took a bigger part in the gardening programme

Village life

60 years ago everybody in the village had a large well kept garden this was an absolute necessity as wages were low and it had to keep the family in vegetables all the year round and also grow sufficient potatoes to feed a pig. every cottager fed a pig as that was relied on for the next year's bacon. As children we had to pick wild ash from the hedgerows and nettles to feed the pigs. The pigs were bought from the farmers in the spring when they were about 8 weeks old and fed on through the summer by the cottagers. About the end of November the pic killing season started the pigs were killed at night hungup and allowed to set until the next night. 

more to come...