A postcard and a visit to Well Manor Farm

You might wonder why I'm sharing this rather ordinary looking postcard.  The views of Buckingham (The Square and Town Hall, the old jail, the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, an old house, the River Ouse) are perfectly nice but not especially interesting. It’s neither very old nor rare, but it is special in…

Memories from an envelope

I was already putting this post together when I noticed this week's Sepia Saturday prompt - Aha thought I – two birds with one stone!  The two birds in question are my sister Sue and I (forgive the pun). There are no babies in the post even though we have five between us, but I…

The Flitney Family at home for Christmas

Sepia Saturday 259 : Families, meals, and Christmas.This is one of my favourite photographs taken at Well Manor Farm Cottages (Well, Long Sutton, Hampshire, United Kingdom) in 1959. Dad (Denis Flitney) is looking directly at the camera which is a shame because the reflection from the flash has almost obscured his ‘celery moustache’. My sister…

Alice Laura Harding née Wesley 1893 – 1939

Most of the stories on this blog have been about the Flitney/Stopps side of the family, but it’s now time to redress the balance a little.A summer picnic; Left to right me (Barbara), Auntie Gladys, Sue, Rene Flitney née Harding and Thomas Harding.By the time I got to know my maternal grandfather Thomas Henry Harding…

High Holborn Farm – then and now.

High Holborn Farm is another of those names from the past; My dad (Denis William Flitney) and my grandmother (Daisy Clara Flitney nee Stopps) must have discussed the farm, but I don’t remember any of the stories. I just have a strong recollection of the name, and the fact that it was close to a place…

Guest Post; My Sister Remembers – Part Two

Memories of Susan Poulter nee Flitney; Sue is my older sister (although she looks younger!)Previous instalment hereI remember going up to London with mum and Tony during the last few months of the Second World War. Mum’s family lived in Harrow on the Hill and during one visit there was an air raid and we all…

Guest Post; My Sister Remembers – Part One

I was born on the 20th May 1942 in the flat at Ibstone House, Ibstone, Nr High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire where my mum, Irene known as Rene, was the housekeeper to Rebecca West and her husband Henry Andrews and my dad, Dennis, was their farm manager.  Rebecca West (Mrs. Andrews) was one of my Godparents, and…

West Wycombe Park and the Hellfire Caves

Memory has a habit of playing tricks on me these days – did things happen the way I remember? Many of my memories are more than 60 years old. Would my sister and brother remember them in the same way? I have no idea, so all I can do is tell the stories as I…