Terry Tyler: family

Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Monday, 16 February 2026

100th Birthday in Heaven :)

My mother Barbara would have been 100 years old today, February 17th, though I doubt she would have wanted a telegram from Charles and Camilla - Princess Anne, maybe! Mum died in 2019 when she was 93, after having suffered from Alzheimer's for 10 years.

I was taking a look at what London was like when she was born there in 1926, the year of the General Strike, and picked out three (very short) videos. I can't add videos to this blog at the moment, but these links take you to YouTube.

London 1926 1.51 mins long

London Bridge 1926

General Strike 1926

Photos of London life in 1926, HERE

Mum in the middle, about 1941 :)

In 1926, when she would have taken Mum out in her pram, this is what my grandmother might have paid for her shopping. Back then, of course, the currency was pounds, shillings and pence, but I've converted it into decimal currency for ease of comparison:

A loaf of bread: 4p

A pound of butter: 8p

Half a pound of cheese: 4p

Eight Sausages: 6p

Six eggs: 5p

Five pounds of potatoes: 3p

A leg of lamb: 30p

A whole chicken: 25p

The large family home Mum, her parents, brothers and sisters grew up in, in West London, probably cost her father around £1,000.

On the right, aged 8

With regard to this time in my mother's life, I came across an amazing coincidence via a Twitter friend who lives in Massachusetts - it's HERE if you're interested. It's short, fear not!

I have to just mention this, while I'm on the subject of familial coincidences - during WWII, Mum's brother Geoff was in the Navy, while her brother Ken was in the Army. They never knew where in the world each other was from one month to the next (and indeed the world was a much larger place in those days), but one day down a little street in India, Uncle Geoff literally turned a corner and bumped into his brother. Of all the streets... below, from one of Mum's many photo albums.

This was taken in about 1951, in Beccles, Suffolk, where Mum met our dearly beloved father. I love how elegantly people dressed in the 50s. I remember Mum wearing white gloves in the summer, particularly to church. I also remember her saying, some decades later, 'Why doesn't anyone dress properly anymore?' 😄

This snap by my sister Julia; it's just so like her.

Happy birthday in heaven, Mummy :)

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Wednesday, 18 September 2024

Me and My Big Sister

Still summer for a few days up in the frozen North East 😎

Sunday, 31 July 2022

Birthday Memories

August means my birthday, so I thought I'd put together some birthday memories from years gone by :)

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Not my actual 0th birthday, but ten days after I was born - my first photo, with Mum and Julia (and Coco).

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On or around my 3rd birthday, which occurred on this holiday in Great Yarmouth. That's me in the groovy bloomers, with sister Julia and cousins Gerry and Sue (to whom we are still close). I remember going out on a boat with Uncle Geoff and Gerry, and crying because I was scared.

(I've just realised that Julia was wearing said bloomers in the photo above. The curse of the second child - you don't get to wear new clothes!)

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My 18th. I remember being most pleased with that jumper - it was £1 in a Miss Selfridge sale the year before. Light blue sparkles going darker towards the top. Well, it was 1970s. Kept it for years.

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22nd. Staying in a hotel in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. Can't believe I ever had that much hair!

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My 29th birthday party. The 2 litre bottles of Websters/Adnams beer show what a classy bash it was. This is me clearing up afterwards. Sort of.

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My not-so-big 3-0. 1989. Oldest friends Ruth and Lesley took me out for dinner at Luigi's, which was the best authentic pizza restaurant that ever existed. I can still remember the Napolitana. Olives and anchovies.

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35th - The Foundry pub, Northampton. Always loved this photo, not least of all because there aren't many of me, my brother and sister all together.

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My 36th, 1995. In the Rubicon casino, Northampton, which my then-boyfriend Marcus, Abi and unknown bloke (not with Abi)

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On my 37th it rained all day! Had stayed at my friend John's house the night before, and in the morning were walking the three or four miles home. Then the downpour came - had to give up and get on a bus, and we were so drenched, dripping onto the floor, that all the passengers laughed when we got on!

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38th - the aforementioned friend John threw a party for me at his house :)

Abi, John and my brother, Eddie.

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My 40th, 1999

With my oldest friend Ruth, and 4th child Joe :)

Much later... it's my party and I'll pole dance round the coat stand if I want to.

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43rd - in the King's Head, Cromer, Norfolk; had moved there two years before. The very beautiful Claire (on the right) had the same birthday as me, and we would usually have a drink together at some point during the day. Claire's mum Kirsty was the landlady of the Kings Head.

Birthdays in Cromer entailed drifting from one of the six pubs to another, and being bought drinks, I seem to remember. A very small town where everyone knew everyone, and life centred around licensed premises!

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45th - actually the day after. In Sheringham, about five miles up the coast from Cromer. Julia and me at our friend Denise's cafe. I loved that top I'm wearing but someone nicked it off my washing line.

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48th - a blowy night on Cromer pier, with Julia and John.

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A couple of days after my 50th. Turkey. Too hot to wear make-up! (and yes, I'm wearing the same dress as I was in the picture from two years before!).

Little bit of background here: the holiday was actually a 50th birthday present from my employers - but I could only go to Turkey, as that was where their main suppliers were located (thus, business expense). Six weeks later, I told them I was leaving (to move to where I live now), so they scoured MySpace for evidence of a reason not to pay my final month's salary, thus recouping any money they'd spent on the holiday.

The offending pictures? A toy rabbit in various places around the engineering establishment. They got me on health and safety, and wasting work time.

Offending rabbit. He had his own MySpace page.

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52nd. Love this photo! In our flat where I live now, with dear husband.

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Another 'milestone' birthday (60!!) - an idyllic few days spent in Cromer for get-togethers with old friends Still the same - the afternoon traipsing from pub to pub, albeit more low key than when I was younger!