Crowning Glory

This month Queen Elizabeth II celebrated the 60th anniversary of her coronation. I don't remember the event as I was a baby at the time, but my mother tells me that the family had a television for the occasion. My parents were never well-off and would have had to make some sacrifices to be able to afford it. My mother wanted a washing machine but my father insisted that the television would benefit everyone (!) whereas the washing machine would have made only my mother's life easier. Mum's pleas that she would have been less worn out by domestic drudgery and therefore a much nicer person to live with, thus ensuring the entire family benefited, fell on deaf ears. Mum continued to wash the family laundry in an old fashioned copper 'boiler' and then put it through a mangle. All the neighbours, who had purchased modern cleaning and washing machines, but failed to equip themselves with the means to watch this exciting event, went round to my parents' house to share their television for the occasion.

The picture on the right is made availabe on Wikimedia Commons here. The inscription states:

"Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom during a state banquet in honor of Brazilian president Lula da Silva at Buckingham Palace, London. The Queen wears the insignia of the Grand Collar of the Brazilian National Order of the Southern Cross (namely, the Grand Collar itself and the Star). Also worn are the insignia of the Royal Family Orders of Kings George V (white background) and George VI (pink background), and also the aquamarine necklace and other jewels that were given her by the Government of Brazil as a Coronation gift, as well as the aquamarine tiara, commissioned by the Queen in 1957 to match the jewels that had been given to her by the Brazilian Government."

That is an awful lot of jewellery, but most of it was worn for diplomatic reasons, not because it matched her eyes! It was only right and proper that she should wear the jewels bestowed upon her as coronation gifts by the Brazilian Government. I do like the idea that the Queen commisioned a tiara to match the necklace, making accessorising so much easier, and of course with all that sparkle the handbag had to be silver.

Our Sepia Saturday prompt this week shows a woman 'with elaborate cameo jewelery and off the shoulder dress'. I thought she's raided her jewellery box in order to show off off all her treasures, but beside the photograph of the Queen she appears positively understated. When I chose the prompt I had no idea what I was going to post, but watching footage of the coronation I realised I couldn't let the occasion slip by without a mention and searched for images on the web. The one above is a 'gem' if you'll pardon the pun.

I may not have a memory of the coronation but I do have an official souvenir programme. I also had a coronation crown coin at one time too. Many were minted and can be found on ebay for very little.

I have copied the contents of the programme and they can be found on flickr here. I like the black and white portrait of the young Queen on the first page, quite a contrast to the one above. I also enjoyed reading the poem by the Poet Laureate of the day, John Masefield, who has featured before on my blog, in 'Mad March Days', and 'The Box of Delights'. It's interesting to compare it with 'The Crown', written by the present Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, to celebrate the Queen's sixty years on the throne.

Shakespeare, in Henry The Fourth Part Two says, "Uneasy lies a head that wears a crown," and it's certain that the Queen has had many hours of unease during her reign, and I'm sure she wondered if she would still be monarch so many years hence, when she made her smiling appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the coronation ceremony. And for Over The Top adornment, how about the model crown in the picture, being assembled in Brisbane, Australia to mark the coronation.


Both pictures above come courtesy of Flickr Commons. Prepare to be dazzled by more sparkling examples from the treasure chests and jewellery boxes of Sepia Saturday participants with their responses to this week's prompts.

Framed

Charleston Farmhouse Door; image courtesy of Tess Kincaid 

This is the keyhole through which he spied,

And saw the prisoner locked inside.

This is the prisoner with nowhere to hide,

Condemned to death because someone lied.

This is the liar who has no shame,

Who put the scapegoat in the frame.

This is the killer who has no name,

Who let the prisoner take the blame.

This is the lawyer who only saw,

A guilty man walk through the door.

This is the judge who set his jaw,

And instructed the jury to follow the law.

This is the witness and false is she,

Who twisted her words and pointed at me.

This is the jailer who turned the key,

Extinguishing hope that I'll ever be free.

©Marilyn Brindley

For some reason I thought of 'The House That Jack Built' when I saw this prompt, so this is my own attempt at a Cumulative Tale. It's a device I've not tried before but it added a dimension of challenge.

Linking to Tess Kincaid's Magpie Tales, where Tess posts an image to get our creative juices flowing. 

The Black Pepper is Very Pungent

In the early stages of WW1 the Lahore and Meerut divisions of the Indian Army took part in some of the fiercest fighting around Ypres in 1914. Losses were heavy and the fighting came as a shock to soldiers more used to colonial warfare. One man wrote home, "This is not war; it is the ending of the world." The Indian Corps provided half the attacking force at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915, and the Lahore Division was thrown into the counter-attack at the second battle of Ypres in April. The Battle of Loos in September meant further heavy losses. Two divisions were moved to Mesopotamia in December, where it was easier to send supplies and reinforcements from India, but two remained on the Western Front until March 1918, when they were transferred to Palestine.

Although no letters (usually dictated as most of the troops were illiterate) have survived, excerpts, attached to the chief censor's report, can still be read. The soldiers soon became wise to the censor's monitoring and found creative ways of getting round it. One man wrote; "The black pepper is very pungent, but only a little remains," indicating to the recipient that it would be unwise to enlist as the Indian troops had suffered heavy losses. The bravery and loyalty of the Indian soldiers could not be doubted though, and most letters talked of fighting for the King or for honour, rather than for India. One soldier had written that his name would be written in letters of gold and inscribed in the list of the brave. His prophecy came true when by 1927 the last of the reminders of the sacrifice made by the Indian Corp was completed.

By November 1918, some 827,000 Indians had enlisted in addition to those serving in 1914. Offical figures suggest that 64,449 Indian soldiers died in the war, their names carved on the massive memorial arch in New Delhi, on the Menin Gate at Ypres and on the main memorial to the Indian Corps at Neuve Chapelle.









Our Sepia Saturday prompt this week was of a kitchen in a hospital train in WW1. I had come across these interesting British Library images a few weeks ago and this seemed an ideal opportunity to share them; many have been been allowed in the public domain through Wikimedia Commons.

There are WW1 hospital and kitchen images aplenty to choose from, but instead of a train we have a charabanc outing. I wonder what the Indian passenger leaning over the side is saying to the nonchalantly posed soldier.

I am also indebted to the BBC's History website and an excellent article by Dr David Omissi,  India and the Western Front in providing the information and quotes above. I can recommend it for further reading. The images are of The Dome Hospital Brighton, The Kitchener Hospital, Brighton (follow the link for more pictures) and Mont Dore Hospital in Bournemouth.

Click on the images to enlarge or view as a slideshow in Lightbox.

Why not climb aboard the Sepia Saturday charabanc and see what other contributors have made of this week's prompt? If you are a Facebook user you may be interested in our Sepia Saturday group page too.

The Open Road, The Dusty Highway

'There you are!' cried the Toad, straddling and expanding himself. 'There's real life for you, embodied in that little cart. The open road, the dusty highway, the heath, the common, the hedgerows, the rolling downs! Camps, villages, towns, cities! Here to-day, up and off to somewhere else to-morrow! Travel, change, interest, excitement! The whole world before you, and a horizon that's always changing! And mind! this is the very finest cart of its sort that was ever built, without any exception. Come inside and look at the arrangements. Planned 'em all myself, I did!'

Toad, in Kenneth Grahame's classic children.s book,'The Wind in the Willows' is enthusing about his canary yellow gypsy caravan which is his latest obsession. I imagine it was something like the one my daughter is perched on in the summer of 1988. Unfortunately no-one in the family remembers where this is.

The novelty of the caravan appealed to the child in Toad; it was somewhere to go to 'get away from it all' and lead a very different life to his normal privileged one at Toad Hall. In some ways perhaps we all harbour a secret longing to live the simpler life promised by the Romany ways. In reality it was quite a harsh existence, but we put those thoughts to the back of our minds when we see the cosy interior.

It was indeed very compact and comfortable. Little sleeping bunks--a little table that folded up against the wall--a cooking- stove, lockers, bookshelves, a bird-cage with a bird in it; and pots, pans, jugs and kettles of every size and variety.

We long to 'play house' as we did when children, pretending we are someone and somewhere else, and the gypsy caravan appeals to our romantic notions. In 1967 John Lennon went so far as to actually buy a gypsy caravan for his young son Julian and just last week it was making news again when it saw the light of day after nearly forty years hidden away: Beatles Sgt Pepper's Gypsy Caravan unearthed in Ascot.  Here's the original, rather jolly Pathe News report.

JOHN LENNON'S CARAVAN

For others it really is a way of life. Watch this video of Barney Maurice and his family, who live life close to nature and travel the roads in their own caravan built by Barney himself. Just a glimpse at this gentle and alternative lifestyle should de-stress you for a while. 

Late in the evening, tired and happy and miles from home, they drew up on a remote common far from habitations, turned the horse loose to graze, and ate their simple supper sitting on the grass by the side of the cart. Toad talked big about all he was going to do in the days to come, while stars grew fuller and larger all around them, and a yellow moon, appearing suddenly and silently from nowhere in particular, came to keep them company and listen to their talk.

When I was a child myself in the fifties, most of our family holidays were spent in a hired, static caravan, usually in a park designed for the purpose. This had the advantage of providing me and my older brother with companions of our own age. 

Our picture prompt for this week's Sepia Saturday is a showman's caravan taken fom the Fairground set of Tyne and Wear Museum on Flickr Commons, where many other splendid examples of a travelling life can be viewed.

The View From Here

For this week's Sepia Saturday Alan invited us to submit pictures of children upside down, the wrong way up or 'all over the place'; this picture illustrates why I still have a fear of heights. It's a classic father and baby picture; "Up she goes!" my father seems to be saying.











The prompt picture has Madrid street kids making use of railings as impromptu gym equipment. I remember doing just that with my little friends at about the same age (once I'd got over being hoisted high in the air by my Dad).






Children are, by nature, innovative; give them an old tyre or two and they will climb in it, swing on it or  just sit in it! Here's my husband c1953 with some little pals demonstrating this art.











And here's our daughter making the point, with the same kind of equipment, but on a ready-made adventure park in about 1986.

And again, the same year, taking part in a gym display at her primary school in Coningsby, Lincolnshire. That's her; upside-down, mid-cartwheel. The badges on her leotard are BAGA awards (British Amateur Gymnastics).

Alan points out that the Spanish chidren are doing what comes naturally and responding to any object which may act as a piece of acrobatic equipment. Here's my agile daughter again, making use of the washing line poles in our garden in RAF quarters in Germany.

Yes, that's my topsy-turvy daughter once more, enjoying a game of 'Twister' at her birthday party in 1986, and looking backwards at the world. In some ways this seemed the best way to view it. At that time her own daddy was in the Falkland Islands, thousand of miles away. She'd been in hospital for a tonsilectomy and was trying to keep cheerful for Mummy. When things seem tough just look at them in a different way; and what's wrong with sticking your head between your legs, letting the blood rush to your brain and saying; "That's better, now it all makes perfect sense!"?

To make sense of the world today, why not view it through the eyes of Sepia Saturday this week? Join us to see what other contributors have made of the prompt picture, add your own, or take a look at our Facebook page, where we view it from all angles (only for diehard Sepians).

The News in Pictures

A slightly misleading title for my post today perhaps, as it will be the newsPAPER in pictures. In fact it's a family gallery of newspaper pictures. The photo prompt for this week's Sepia Saturday is a group of people sitting on a bench reading newspapers. It occurred to me that there must be some examples where newspapers feature in family albums. These days I read mine on the iPad, which is so much easier. The weekend newspapers in Britain now come with many supplements which are bulky and give the delivery boys and girls muscle strain. Much of the content could not be deemed as 'news', and in this way little has changed from my grandparents' day when The Daily Mirror was their tabloid of choice.

I'm assuming that's what my grandfather is holding in this seaside 'walking' photograph. On the back is stamped 24th July, but no year; I'm guessing Mablethorpe 1952, as there was a family holiday there when I was a few months old and my Gran looks exactly the same as the pictures where I am in in my carrycot. My grandparents were in their mid-fifties and my grandmother was six years younger than I am now, and yet looks so much older. The National Health spectacles and 'comfy' shoes don't help.

I remember that they also enjoyed a newspaper style magazine called, Tit-Bits, which featured human interest stories full of drama and sensation. G.K. Chesterton posed the question of whether an author would, "really rather be asked in the next two hours to write the front page of The Times, which is full of long leading articles, or the front page of Tit-Bits which is full of short jokes."






No guesswork needed as to the publication in the next picture; my Gran's newspaper is definitely The Daily Mirror, as the title can be clearly seen. Unfortunately there are no further clues. The word 'freedom' is part of a headline but that could mean almost anything. I don't recognise the picture either. It's another seaside holiday picture, and it was probably Mablethorpe again, as it was easily reached by coach, from their home in Nottingham. They both looks somwhat older and I'd have to guess mid 1960s. They'd both become much stouter by then and it's a testament to the sturdy deckchairs that they were able to support them.

By 1977, when I think this next picture was taken, a few months before she died, my grandmother had been widowed for six years and had been living with her daughter, my mother. The newspaper which had sent her to sleep was probably The Nottingham Evening Post, now called simply The Post. A glance at its website today shows what the main headlines of the newspaper will be: 'A Royal Welcome for Prince Harry, as he visits Nottingham today'.

Delivery of The Post is eagerly awaited by my own mother each day. She reads it from 'cover to cover', although I think she skips the sports pages, which my father would always turn to first for news of his football team, Nottingham Forest. When she has gleaned as much as she can about local news she completes the crossword. Only then can she pick up her knitting guilt-free.




At Christmas 1999 I was snapped reading the The Times newspaper, which was still issued as a broadsheet at that time and after 200 years was published as a tabloid in October 2004, saving much arm-aching. Don't be fooled by the content of the Arts' page which was reviewing some ballet performance as 'Light, lively and so darned nice'; I'm not a ballet lover. I was probably scanning the opposite page, which would have been music, books or drama. Look at the size of my off-the-shelf reading glasses, which I'd started needing in order to read small print. These days I just 'pinch and zoom' or increase the font size on my iPad.




In 1992 my husband was also suffering arm-ache problem with the Style and Travel section of The Sunday Times, which proved much easier to read with an arm resting on the breakfast table. The headline, 'The Di is Cast' clearly refers to Diana, Princess of Wales, whose picture can be seen top left of the front page. It seems to refer to Catherine Oxenberg, who played Diana in a 1982 TV movie. I wonder why it was headline news ten years later. The words 'confusion rages' can just be made out - it certainly does!




By Christmas 2001 I was scanning the paper without the benefit of reading glasses, so I must have opted for contact lenses that day. My parents were visiting so perhaps it was The Sunday Express (My mother still loves the General Knowledge crossword). The headlines were complaining about old favourites 'propping up a tired schedule' so I'm guessing these were the TV and entertainments pages.







And here is my late father, enjoying Christmas in the sun in 2005 and reading one of the few English newspapers available in Lanzarote. I'd better not say the title but some of you will guess when I say refer back to that description of Tit-Bits at the top of this post. Aimed mainly at a female readership, add gossip-mongering and rabble-rousing to the list and you'll know which one I mean. Well there wasn't much choice, and it does have a sports section and a crossword!

If you want to know more about the news behind the headlines in the last picture you may like to re-visit a previous post where a solar eclipse is featured.





I've still got that newspaper and my husband posed with it especially for the blogpost. Note that both arms are resting on a soft cushioned armchair to prevent the well-known affliction 'broadsheet-armache'.


To see what other poses newspaper readers adopt, why not go over to this week's Sepia Saturday newstand and take your pick of newspapers, magazines and periodicals. There's bound to be something to suit everyone.

A Happy Wanderer

When I was a child there was a radio request programme called 'Children's Favourites' on a Saturday morning, which every week seemed to have the same songs. One of these was 'The Happy Wanderer' and our Sepia Saturday picture prompt this week is of a group of happy wanderers setting off on hike of some sort.

I love to go a-wandering, 
Along the mountain track, 
And as I go, I love to sing, 
My knapsack on my back.

Chorus:
Val-deri,Val-dera,
Val-deri,
Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Val-deri,Val-dera. 

My Knapsack on my back.

.The earliest of my family to wander was my mother. She went on a hiking holiday in Wales in with her friend Blanche, at the age of eighteen.

The family were not very well off financially and it seemed a good way to get out in the fresh air and see the countryside quite cheaply. The Youth Hostelling Association (YHA) ran the holidays and Mum  tells me that it was good fun. They slept in dormitories of four girls and in the evening there was singing and card games and some girls played the piano. Mum couldn't afford the proper kit so she had to 'make do and mend' as they said in those days. She already had some shorts and shirts but no tough walking shoes, so my grandfather banged some hobnails into her strongest shoes to make them more sturdy. She must have enjoyed it as she went back again the following year; she had already met my Dad by then and WWII was on the horizon, so it was the last break away until their two-day honeymoon in Derbyshire in 1942.

I wish my Dad had done something similar to my shoes when it was my turn to go 'youth hostelling' in the Yorkshire Dales on a school trip in 1967. Again, we didn't have the wherewithal for me to get kitted out just for a week's walking. My shoes were not the stongest and I recall they let the wet in! Nevertheless my friends and I had a good few days away. We had a lot of fun and met some lovely people and we still recall some of the in-jokes from that week away. The only downside was several of us being afflicted by a tummy bug and spending the last night near the bathroom.

My friends and I cooled our aching feet in the icy waters of the river.

I love to wander by the stream
That dances in the sun,
So joyously it calls to me,
"Come! Join my happy song!"

Moments after the picture on the left, of me and our friend Nigel, was taken, he stumbled on some wet rocks and cut his head. My friend Hilary administered the First Aid as she was keen to practise. She went on to become a nurse! I seem to remember we were left to our own devices at this stage and there were no teachers around. This wouldn't be allowed today, and teachers hesistate before volunteering to organise trips and accompany students on any holiday with a hint of adventure in it. There have been some well-publicised accidents in recent years which have ensured that the Health and Safety rules have been tightened and teachers worry about parents suing. From experience, I can say that the Risk Assessments alone were almost enough to put them off. It's a good job Nigel was able to brush off his fall, and lived to walk another day.

Our packed lunches, made by fellow students, were very unappetising. We tried to palm them off on a passing goat, but failed - I thought goats would eat anything! What does this tell you?

These days I'm much better equipped to tackle the volcanic terrain of Lanzarote where I live. A good pair of walking shoes is a must, but for some climbs only a sturdy pair of boots will do.

Montaña de Guardilama, Lanzarote, August 2012

"To the right of the pass is then 'pencil-point peak' of Montaña de Guardilama, which offers Lanzarote's most spectacular viewpoint to those fit enough to brave the ascent." (Walk Lanzarote, David and Ros Brawn)

It was a climb of 630 feet from here, so I'm glad to have got that one ticked off the list whilst my knees can still manage it!

Montaña Blanca, Lanzarote, October 201

An extendable stick with a pointed end is my favourite accessory - or I'd never make some of the climbs!Oh, and a hat to ward off the sun's rays, and a knapsack, of course, with the essentials like: camera to record the spectacular views and the milestone achievements; water to prevent dehydration; chewing gum and sucky-sweets; penknife (for hacking at fig trees); a plastic bag to collect figs, grapes, shells, anything; wet-wipes (the figs are sticky and the rocks are dusty when you have to use your hands to assist a climb; sticking plasters and a few euros for refreshment when we reach the nearest bar, café or sociedad.

I wave my hat to all I meet, 
And they wave back to me, 
And blackbirds call so loud and sweet 
From ev'ry green wood tree.

Wait for me John!

No blackbirds or greenwood trees, and very rare to meet anyone else to wave your hat to! Once we reach the top we congratulate ourselves, and each other, have a drink of water and a little rest and admire the wonderful views.

The next step is going downhill. This is sometimes  more tricky than the ascent, as the ground can be quite skittery.

Oh, may I go a-wandering 
Until the day I die! 
Oh, may I always laugh and sing, 

Beneath God's clear blue sky! 

Off you go laughing and singing to this week's Sepia Saturday to see what other contributors have made of the prompt below. We also have a Facebook page for serious Sepians (but we we have a lot of fun too!) If you want to read more about our wonderful Lanzarote walks you can hike over to my husband, John's (Caminante) blog: Lanzarote on Foot.