Sense of humour

My maternal grandmother was a troubled woman, but she clearly had a sense of humour. I have many photos to prove it. Here are a few...

Here she is on a beach somewhere in England, sometime in the 1930s. Perhaps this explains my attraction to yoga! My great aunt, (gandmother's sister) lived in Bognor Regis so it's possible that's where this photo was taken, as they often visited her there.

And here she is (right), testing out a tricycle. I don't know who the woman on the left is; it could be her sister Gwen, or a friend. This would also have been taken sometime in the 1930s.

Here she is, dressed up in her husband's uniform. I'm not sure when this was taken; probably the early 1940s. My maternal grandfather served (for England) in both WWI and WWII. In fact, he was in the cavalry during the WWI. I will have to dig out the photo I have of him on his horse and scan it.

Here my grandmother watches over my very young mother, circa 1934.


This is a detail from the last photo taken of my grandmother in August 1949. The next month, she died on the operating table during back surgery. My 16-year-old mother stands next to her in this photo. They had a complex and difficult relationship, and things were never really properly sorted out between them, but when this photo was taken things were better between them.

I wish I'd had the chance to get to know my maternal grandmother. I think she was a very interesting woman, with many faults, who ended up stuck in a rather loveless marriage. But I like her sense of humour!