My maternal grandmother Elsie Lilian nee Timms, was always known by her given name. To us she was "Big Nana" to differentiate her from Little Nana who was shorter in stature by close to a foot (30cms to those of you who don't remember imperial measurements). She was born in Milverton, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire in 1907. Her father was born in Milverton too and her mother in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. Two of her grandparents were born in Shropshire, one in Warwickshire and one in Oxfordshire.
She is the one in the middle
When I was very little they lived at Whakamaru where Grandad worked at the power station. I remember going to stay when my brother was born, and when Mum had her tonsils out. I'm sure there were plenty of other occasions that we stayed too. We would sometimes visit for the weekend if we had a car. I remember once going by bus with Mum and Mark.
Hours of fun playing with that fire hydrant pump thingy
We baked pikelets together, watching for the bubbles so that you knew when to turn them over. We made fruit cake and had a turn stirring so we could make a wish. Nana made cottage pie and we could help mincing the cold meat in the mincer (no health and safety worries then - just "be careful of your fingers"). Rice pudding was a favourite too.
She and Grandad went for a holiday to Australia to see Grandad's brother who lived there, they bought me a baby doll back. I called her Lynnette.
At the Three Sisters, Blue Mountains with Uncle Frank & Auntie Kath
We all went to the airport to say goodbye or welcome home...
She was a knitter, we all had jumpers, cardies and dresses created by her. She crocheted as well and did some needlework. She liked to read - magazines and novels - and enjoyed tv and crosswords.
When I was about 9 they moved to Hamilton after Grandad retired. They bought a new house with no established gardens and Nana made it her own. Many trips were made to garden centres and some plants were even bought by mail order from nurseries too far away to drive.
After we moved to Wellington, we would go back and stay most school holidays and sometimes she came to stay with us. She regularly drove to Auckland to visit with Auntie Anne after they moved from Te Awamutu, and once (maybe twice) drove to Wellington in her trusty Morris Minor to stay with us.
In 1973 she returned to England for a holiday with her sister. It was the first time she had been back since leaving in 1929. It must have been such a contrast to sailing to New Zealand - flying all the way there and back. They toured around England, visited with their brother and had a short tour of Europe as well. She visited me twice when I lived in Australia too.
Paddling at Palm Beach, Sydney
She knew so many nursery rhymes, ones that none of my friends knew and she shared them with Lauren too. She gave her bouncy rides on her foot, like she had for all of us too.
This wheelbarrow was a carriage for us all, and even the next generation
Nana didn't talk about her family a lot, but the bits she shared really grabbed my attention and I think got me hooked on genealogy. I mean one grandfather married twice and the other three times ?! I had never heard of anything like it when I was little.
So, there you have it, on the eve of Mothers' Day, memories of my two Nanas.
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