General Chat

My nan,Fred's mother looked after me much more than my mother ever did. We lived in the same house.It was two farm cottages that had had a door knocked through between the two kitchens to accommodate my great-grandmother's family.

Nan was brilliant and gave me something of a childhood. I have happy,happy memories of black leading the range with her on a Friday and of her pushing me to the village in my pushchair. That came to an abrupt end the day I got out half way and created merry hell because she wouldn't get in and let me push her!

She cuddled and cooked proper food and kept me clean.

Sadly she died when I was six and she was in her mid sixties and my mother was forced to be a mother. The rest is history on that score.

As for my mother's mother.I hardly remember her at all,she died when I was three. The older cousins talk of her with affection but there does seem to be a conspiracy of respectability in the family where they will not ever voice a controversial view, so I don't reallyknow what things were like in that family.

As a child I thought my grannies were OLD! I think we all do when we're children.

Neither of my grandmothers were "cuddly", but my family are/were not the demonstrative type. The only grandparent I remember giving me cuddles was my father's father, my "papa", I loved him so much. I was six when he died, and I still miss him<3

Mum's mother was religious, I went to Sunday school to keep her happy! She wasn't well at the end of her life, she lived with us for some time, before being taken to hospital. She died at the young age of 62 years and 2 months (younger than I am). Am I an old lady? Nah!!!!!!!

Father's mother (wife of papa) was a bit odd, rather vain! The only gift I remember her giving me was a jewellery box (I was about 10 at the time); I found out later that someone gave it to her, and she didn't like it! Gran didn't get on with any of her three children, my father refused to visit her before we left UK for Australia.

The feeling must have been mutual, because gran remarried three weeks after we left, and didn't say a word (she was 68, new hubby was 70). Dad didn't even know she had a new man in her life. Gran had three sisters, and two half sisters (there may be more!) I didn't know they existed until I started tracing the family! My other grandmother (mum's mum) had two brothers & four sisters, we knew all of them, except for one sister who died as an infant.

I remember staying with gran after papa died (no idea why I was there)...... and I wet the bed. She didn't speak to me for a whole day.

<3

I had a slight problem, neither of my parent's liked their mums.

Mum's mum wasn't very nice to her - she was the second daughter, and gran wanted a son. Gran had a son - when mum was 10 - andmum was left looking after him a lot.

Dad's mum (like dad) preferred animals to humans, which suited me. But she also looked after the children of the wealthy (for payment) during the summer holidays, when they were 'home' from boarding school, and 'took in' a boy she found wandering (aged 2) in a filthy state.

I only met my dad's mum once - but what a lady!!
I was left with her for 6 weeks while the family moved. I was just 11.
Living with her were her dog - an old english sheepdog my 2 cousins, their mum (dad's sister) who had just got out of prison for shooting (but only wounding) her husband, and her dog - a tetchy jack russell - I'd never met these people before either.
Gran had a smallholding with chickens, pigs & cows. The farmhouse had no electricity upstairs, so we used candles.
The younger of my cousins was exactly a year younger than me.
One day we stole one of gran's fags - gran found out and made us sit on cows (I, being the oldest had to sit on Princess - a nasty cow if ever there was one) and smoke 5 Woodbines!!
I found this hilarious. and really wish I'd known her better.!
Perhaps I would have found out who dad, and his sister's father was.

We used to see my mum's mum more. Definitely not a 'cuddly' gran.
She wasn't amused when my sister & I found grandad's ashes in a drawer in the room we were sleeping in.
When she got older, sister & I used to take her to local pubs (in the New Forest) for lunch - as we realised anything she offered us was past it's sell by date.
Give her half a pint and she'd start singing

Didn't bother me - I'd join in if I knew the words - but wish I'd recorded her. :-D

My Granny Richardson scared the pants off me.She died when I was about 11.I never saw her often as she lived in Scotland and I was in Devon.Ex School teacher.Just rather brusk in her manner and with her accent I never knew quite how to take her lol.She had a hard life.Lost her Husband when she was expecting her 7th child.She was one of very few women back in the early 20's with degrees,in English ,Maths and I think French.I never remember a hug or cuddle from her.Just thinking of her as a formidable person.(although from what my cousins say she wasn't that bad)
I do remember the day my Dad had the phone call to say she had passed away ,and that was the first time I ever recall my Dad cry.
Now I realise what an amazing woman she must have been .An intelligent ,very strong willed lady. She was the only Grandparent I knew.

Oo-er, BC, I think I might be have some of your grandma's tendencies, but I seem to make my 3 offspring laugh and my 2 grandchildren, so I hope I don't alarm them. I think they just think I'm a funny old biddy, to be honest :-D

Personally, I had one lovely, cuddly grandmother, who I adored and the other one scared the living daylights out of me, but I have grown up to understand her.

Oh gawd Barb that made me laugh :-D

My paternal nan died aged 34 so I never got to know her. My grandad married again some 12 years later in 1947 .....to Winnie The Witch and that's putting it lightly. She was many years younger than him, but you would think it was the other way round. He waited on her hand and foot and she rarely got off her fat backside because of her weak chest!

My maternal nan......well I think she preferred my brother :-D

I remember being terrified of my granny. She seemed huge to me but was in fact no more than 5ft tall. She wore a large wrap around pinny and had a moustache. It was made clear to me that I was to be seen and not heard. I never had a cuddle or a kiss ever.

In a shoe box in her sideboard was a long thick plait of her hair which I thought was weird. Granny also took snuff and my mum, her d.in law, used to moan about it. There were " snuff rags " behind tthe cushions.

I do remember that grandad took her to Canada to see family back in the day.

Its only after researching that I've found she was one of ten children and had a very hard life till she married and became a shopkeeper for over 40 yrs.

She lived in an old cottage after grandad died and she was in bed one night and the badroom ceiling fell in and she ended up one floor below. Then in a care home and a New Years Eve party had a couple of drinks and died in her sleep at 87yrs

Glad of that BC,,,

course you're a wild colleen BC,,,,,,how many grannies of 100 nip out to have a tat how cool is that,,,, ;-) :-D :-D :-D.



my grandma was lovely,down to earth, always had a bread and cheese at the ready plus fruit cake always a bowl of apples ,,,,,,she used to keep sixpences and threepenny bits tied in a hankie in her pinny and when she undid the knot you knoew you were in a for a coin,,,,,,,to buy sweets that would last and not chocolate,,,,,,,,bless her....one day me and a cousin split her feather pillow and we got the copper stick across our bums...... :-D

I used to dislike my step nan because I wanted to go to Sunday school then church and she wouldn't let me have tuppence for the plate....mean old thing I thought.....but then looking back and after researching her family, they seemed like the type of people to have nicked money from the plate, not give to it. In fact, at my Father's funeral one family member quipped that we should be taking not giving, when asked to donate to a good cause......but that's another story :-D :-D

Awww Kay I was just thinking about her today..bless her <3 :-D BC XX

Edit....and of course I am now a Grandma since this thread began and of course it is the most wonderful thing in the world! My son told me recently that the nearly 8 year old thinks I am 'wild'. Whatever does she mean! :-D

Oh BC I found this old thread from the dark ages,

while on a hunt for something else. :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D,

perhaps more granny stories can be added, :-D

I think i am cuddly, cosy grandmother! i am eccentric, laughed too loudly, preferred male company, was a spendthrift, and given to practical jokes,rather play with grandkids than h/work,would protect my grankids with my life,hate seeing them being pushed too young..too intelegent.....i want them climbing trees,building sandcastlesxxxx

see BC you can do nice threads what ya want to ....

Hi ive enjoyed reading this thread. I loved my Grandma, she didnt make me eat veg, we played cards and were allowed to stay up and watch tales of the unexpected!. Sharm.

I can only remember my mum's mother, my other grandma died before I was born. Anyway, I adored my Nan. She was the kindest, sweetest tempered person. I never saw her angry or shout at anybody, & she always made delicious cakes which she served for tea on Sundays. She passed away when I was about 12. I still miss her but hope they are now altogether again. xxxxxxxxxxxx

i had a cuddly one, but wish id known her nan, she was a fishwife and lived on the docks a midwife money lender need i say any more lol, wish id known her x puss

THATS ME,,BC,,LOL

I had both B.C. won't go all over it again, but my Scottish Granny was my idol.....warm, cuddly kind and interested in what we did.... My paternal English Gran ws distant, didn't get to know her, she had so many grandchildren, and my two girl cousins, older than us, and of her daughter, were the favoured ones......we didn't mind, we didn't know any different.....my Gran's surname is quite rare so I looked into her family, and can see why she was as she was......I wish I could talk to her now, and have a different understanding of her....

Was she a Gemini BC! LOL

Aww Hayley, that's brought a tear to my eye...such lovely, loving stories. Thanks:-))