From a document written by Christine Bate named Christine Baby Photos.doc
CHRISTINE ELINOR BATE
PHOTOGRAPHS GIVEN TO CEB BY SADIE PORTER
KEY TO PHOTOS IN BLACK ALBUM
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These photographs were given to me by my Mother when she divided up most of the photographs that she had saved. She also gave some to Sheila and Margaret. She kept some of her most special photographs and, I think, Sheila took them to Wolverhampton when Mother left her house at 50 Whitehill Drive. As far as I know, Judith has those photographs.
Page One: A studio photograph of Sheila and Christine by Fred Shaw of Bridlington and Rotherham. Christine, 6 weeks old and Sheila 3 years and 6 weeks..Mother always kept a framed copy of this photo on the mantelpiece of the front bedroom.
Page Two: Large photo of Christine at age 13 months, wearing an écru shantung silk dress and a string of pearls. The photograph was taken by Bill Hillyard, a workmate of Father’s who also lived on Whitehill. Mr. Hillyard borrowed the down payment from Father so that he could rent one of the Whitehill houses. At that time Father was still single and comparatively well-off. The houses were built by the Rotherham Rural District Council and were intended for the miners. However, 1926 was the year of the General Strike and the miners stayed out on strike for many months and so could not afford to move into the Council houses.
Page Three: August and September 1931. Three photos of Christine in her pram. Here’s a little bit of history. When Sheila was born, Auntie Bessie sent a £5 note. This was a very generous gift, much more than most workers earned in a week. Mother and Father went to Rotherham and bought the pram.
The photo of Mother holding me is labeled “six months”. Her hairstyle, referred to as ‘earphones’ was fairly common, two plaits were coiled over the ears. At that time, Mother was twenty seven years old.
The remaining three photos were taken by a street photographer in Carlisle. Going “Upstreet” to the shops was an important outing, it was a social occasion as well as being necessary to supplement the food bought from the travelling vans that came regularly to the house. I am in the folding pram, we used to take it on the train with us when we went “Up North”. Grandma was always very elegantly dressed and wore expensive hats that she bought from a hat shop rather than a department store.
Page Four: May 1932, three photographs of Christine on the lawn of our neighbours, Mr. and Mrs. Mayo, with their Airedale dog, Billy. He was known as Billy Mayo, the customary way of identifying dogs in our village. He met a sad end. He was poisoned and I remember seeing him as he lay dying on the front lawn. Vets were not affordable in those days. On a brighter note, also in May 1932, some pictures of Sheila and Christine with a parasol, seated on a bench made from a plank between two soap boxes.
The photo “Christine 13 months 1931” was labeled wrongly, I was 13 months old in March 1932.
Page Five: September 1933. A group photo with Grandma Steel on the right at the back, Sheila on the front row at the left, and Christine and Mother on the right. Presumably the others are friends of Grandma’s. Mother could never identify them but she knew that the next photo of the three of us was taken in September at Walton in Cumberland. Again she could not identify the woman.
In another photo “Up Street” in Carlisle it is June 1934 and the picture on the grass is of Sheila and Christine with the Surtees boys; the elder one was Bobby. They were nephews of Lily Steel who married Mother’s brother Donald. They all lived in Low Row that happened to be the next village before Gilsland where my grandparents retired to in 1939. Uncle Don was the chief electrician at Carrick’s, a pork butchery and bakery that was the only “industry” in Low Row. All their goods were distributed by van to villages and small towns as far away as Silloth. The small photo at the top right shows Mother with us at Skegness in August 1934
The picture of Granda Steel with Sheila and Christine and Towser was taken on April 9th 1933. Towser was the dog that was fed cornflakes and tea. This was at 3, Broad Street in Carlisle.
The photo of Sheila and I on the lawn at Whitehill Drive was probably late in 1934 or early in 1935. Sheila’s dress was knitted. It was red flecked wool at the top and grey flecked wool at the bottom. Of course I wore it later.
Page Six: This was Silver Jubilee Year, 1935, to celebrate King George V’s 25 years on the throne. On May 6th, Jubilee Day, houses were decorated with bunting and flags, there was a Fancy Dress Parade and competition and I’m sure, lots of street parties. The large photo shows the entry for the Fancy Dress Parade that was I was part of. The bridegroom was Dicky Oliver, the bride Pauline Brooks, and Doreen Moses and I were bridesmaids. Dicky and Pauline’s parents organized it and one of them must have borrowed a car because we rode in a car in the parade. Only two people in the village had cars when I was young, Doctor Sen and Mr. Turner, a commercial traveler, and they didn’t lend their cars out. We won a prize and I remember being at home with Mother one wet afternoon late in the year when the Vicar’s wife came to the house. She was invited in and opened up an attaché case on the kitchen table. Inside there was a display of jewelry and I was allowed to choose among a few options. I chose a silver bracelet that I have given to Charlotte. I had no idea that there was a connection between being in the fancy dress parade and being given the bracelet. Dicky Oliver went to work as a lab boy at Sheffield University some time after he left Brinsworth Council school. No higher education for him, but his mother said that he was “at Sheffield University”.
The photo of me on Father’s knee was taken at Llandudno in July. We had gone there on a railway outing and I had a pain while we were on our way in the train. It was severe enough for me to be taken to the hospital and I was kept there for the day. You can see that I enjoyed a short time on the beach at the end of the day. I have written about the railway outings in my memoirs.
The last photo of the two of us on the lawn was taken in August to show our Maypole outfits. Sheila danced around the Maypole and I was a train bearer for the Queen of the May.
Page Seven: This is a continuation of Maypole photos. Mrs. Skeet, the lady on the first photo was the organizer. We voted for the May Queen during Sunday School in Catcliffe at Saint Mary’s. I remember Mr. Bradley sitting behind a table on the stage in the Parish Hall. Barbara Charlesworth put me in the line and told me, “Say Dora Wadsworth when you get to the table.” Guess the name of the queen on the photo. I don’t know who played the piano but she had a very fashionable outfit.
Page Eight: Later in August 1935 we went on holiday for a week at Blackpool. The first time we ever went anywhere other than to stay with family in Cumberland. Blackpool with its tower was a very popular holiday resort on the west coast of England in Lancashire.
The bottom left photo is of the two of us on a walk to the Water Works from Grandma’s house in Carlisle. The dog is Towser, the one who was fed on cornflakes and tea. I never did see the Water Works and can only assume that it was a park by the river Eden with the water works hidden away somewhere. As often happened, I was puzzled. Before our visit ended, I developed scarlet fever and was taken to the Isolation Hospital and the rest of the family returned to Yorkshire.
Page Nine: The first photo was taken in July 1936 at a Mother’s Union tea given by Mrs. Middleton, wife of the John Brown’s Pit manager. This was the biggest house in Brinsworth and it was on Whitehill where we lived. Mother invited Mrs. Foster, out next door neighbor to go with her.
The middle photo was taken in Nana Porter’s garden. I was playing with my cousin Eric in his old pram. This was the year that Mother caught scarlet fever and I was staying at Nana’s while Sheila was with Auntie Lizzie.
The third picture of me was taken in Charlesworth’s garden, across the street from our house.
Page 10: Still 1936. Perhaps the Maypole dancing was before Mother was ill. Sheila and I show off our dresses again and I was a train-bearer again. Heather Charlesworth was the crown-bearer.
Page 11: 1937 was the first year we went to Beckfoot on the Solway Firth
for our holidays. I intend to write about our visits to Beckfoot in my
memoirs. The first four photos are of the family at Beckfoot. Note Father’s
formal dress for the seaside. At least he has his jacket off on one of them.
The lower two photos were taken at Kirkby Stephen at the river Kirtle when
the three of us had a day out at Gretna Green and also went to see Bruce’s
cave where the story goes that a spider had spun a web over the entrand and
so the pursuing soldiers did not look inside for Robert the Bruce. My dress
was moss green crepe with large pearl buttons and a white collar. Home
made of course.
Page 12: More pictures of our seaside holiday at Beckfoot. As a treat, Sheila
and I were given a bunch of lollipops, here featured in several photos. The
dog belonged to the Wannop’s . I was never a fearless swimmer and Mother
said for the first few days that she would not go into the water but after she
sat down in the water while paddling, she ventured in.
Page 13: While at Beckfoot, we went to tea at Great Uncle John and great
Auntie Bessie’s. Although we usually visited them by train while we were in
Carlisle, this was special because they came for us in their car.
The lower two pictures were taken at Uncle Harold and Auntie Florrie’s
house in Carlisle
Page 14: 1938.Two photos of me in my outfits for the dancing class
performances.
The organdie dress was pale yellow for when I sang and danced a solo to “I
Found my Yellow Basket” The other was a very smart scarlet top and
pillbox hat with gold braid, matching cuffs and a pleated white skirt. All
were made by Mother to the teacher, Miss Bamforth’s, requirements. For
that, the group sang and danced “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”.
The lower photograph was taken in a do-it-yourself booth in Birmingham
when we went there on the train for a special day out.
Page 14: 1938 cont’d. The upper two photos were taken in July when Auntie
Bessie and Uncle John visited us while we were staying at Beckfoot.
Mother’s grimace was because Uncle John was tickling her.
The lower picture shows me, Sheila, and our cousin Eric at a park called
Hammond’s Pond in Upperby, Carlisle, near to where Auntie Lizzie and
Uncle George (known as Gal) lived. Eric was Father’s sister Jean’s boy. We
are playing with wind-up boats.
Page 16: 1940. This was the year that Mother discovered ruching, done with
fine elastic on the sewing machine. Both dresses were of satin. Sheila’s was
blue and mine was gold. We are on the lawn at 50 WHD in this photo and
the one beside it. Our budgie was called Joey and we had him because he
flew into the house through the sitting room window one rainy day.
The rest of the photos on this page were taken at Gilsland on the
Cumberland/Northumberland border where Mother’s parents retired to in
August 1939. We are sitting on the Popping Stone . It had two small stones I
n front of one big one and I think the name referred to “popping the
question” with one’s knees on the two little stones. The stepping stones were
nearby and crossed the river Irthing. The last photo was taken on the High
Road that nowadays would be called a by-pass, except that it was a fairly
extensive loop. It was quite a climb from the village of Gilsland up to this
corner. I am sitting on Uncle Tom’s knee. He was Grandma’s only brother
and the youngest of her family.
Page 17:1941. These pictures were taken in July on the lawn on the day I
was told at school that I had won a County Minor Scholarship. Sue was the
dog that was bought to distract me from the air raids. The air raid shelter can
be seen behind me, it is buried under the mound of earth. The tarpaulins on
the lawn were brought out to dry in the day time.
Page 18 & 19: Probably after September 1941. A studio portrait of the two
of us in our school uniforms. This was very special because the children who
stayed at the village school did not wear uniforms. Only five
students “passed” for the Grammar School in my year, out of a class of
about 30 to 35. One girl who passed was not allowed to take up her
scholarship because she had a younger brother and only he could attend
because of the extra costs involved and the commitment to stay in school
after the age of fourteen. He did not pass.
Page 20: 1944. Mother, Sheila and I in one of many photos taken on the
lawn at 50 WHD. I don’t remember the occasion, it may have been in 1945.
I had knitted the scarlet sleeveless pullover that I am wearing. I thought it
went very well with my pleated grey skirt. Other’s suit was a gingery brown
tweed with some pattern in it perhaps lines. Sheila’s pinafore dress was pale
grey and notice that she is still wearing ankle socks at the age of sixteen.
The two lower photos were taken in hired costumes that the Girl Guide troop
wore for one of our productions of pantomimes that we staged in the Parish
Hall. I forget which one this was, it may have been “Aladdin”. I was the
“principal girl” and Marjorie Jones was the “principal boy”.
Page 21: 1946. The two top and the two left- hand pictures were taken in
June. My dress was pale green with white stripes and I wore it to school
because by then variations on the summer school uniform dresses of green
and white checked gingham were allowed. Not only was clothing rationed,
but there was not much choice available.
July. The middle right-hand picture is Geoff’s first appearance. Basil Bond and Audrey Bolton and Geoff and I were all friends. We cycled together. Basil and Audrey are still happily married. The dress I am wearing in the photo with Father was blue silk with white flowers. It was complicated to sew with its lacing and the neck and at the waist. I had very few bought clothes.
Page 22: More of 1946. In August, we had a females-only week at the seaside at Bridlington. Gwen Thompson and I enjoyed going off by ourselves to the docks and I played the fool with Margaret’s bucket and spade.
Page 23: More photos of us at Flamborough Head, near Bridlington, where there were cliffs and a lighthouse and another photo of us on the tennis court. We did a lot in one week.
Page 24: The Upper VI Arts class of 1948, my last year at Woodhouse Grammar School. On the right, Margaret and I with Sue “behind the shed”.
The two lower photos were taken on Rag Day 1948. This was the day in the autumn when the Sheffield University students dressed in all kinds of costumes and covered the centre of Sheffield collecting money for the Children’s Hospital in cylindrical cans. Many high jinks, a lot of ragging and a boat race in home-made boats on the River Don. One of the figures in the industrial-age murky river Don is Geoff. They did not win the race.
Page 25: 1951. First a picture of me with our new Corgi puppy, Bruce. Next, Mother and I on a walk in Derbyshire. We are standing at the edge of the Ladybower reservoir that submerged a village called Derwent. There were stories of the church bell ringing from under the water, but it is true that the buildings could be seen in years when there was a drought. Sheila must have been the photographer. The middle photograph was taken on October 20th on the steps of St. George’s church in Brinsworth. Philip wore his uniform and so didn’t have to buy a suit. Sheila had two bridesmaids, Barbara Green Mullins and me. We wore pink shot-taffeta dresses with white organdie shawl collars. The dresses were all home-made and the reception was at the Rotherham Co-op restaurant. A spartan wedding in a spartan time.
The two lower photos were taken in 1952. One a family group with Bruce and the other possibly taken in Beccles in Suffolk while I was teaching in Norfolk.
Page 26: 1953. Margaret and I in our kilts, on the lawn as usual. Then a neighbour boy, Donald Lowe, and I digging. Next, two pictures with Phyllis Goodey. The first was taken when Sheila and Philip visited with John while I was living with Phyllis and teaching in Great Yarmouth. The second was taken in Derbyshire when Phyllis stayed on for a few days after our wedding.
The large picture is of Katie Steinfeld with members of the cast for a play whose name I do not recall. It certainly was one of the Baldock Drama Group’s pot-boilers. I am on Katie’s left. She is touching up the make-up of a member who later won a scholarship to Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Page 27: 1956. On board the Neptunia sailing from Southampton to Montreal. From there by train to Vancouver, B.C. Phil and Margot Gribbon and I on the beach below the cliffs at the UBC campus. Phil always liked to light a fire. Lastly, hanging out the washing at 2325 Agronomy Place on the campus.
Page 28: 1958. Outside St Anselm’s Anglican Church on the UBC Campus. Moya Gribbon’s christening. Bob and Grace Barrie on the left with Grace holding Simon. I’m wearing my “going away” suit from our wedding. It was a soft sage green with accordion pleats. Note the hats. Peter and Brenda McGovern on the right. The Gribbons later moved to St Andrews and the McGoverns to Edinburgh.
1959. Geoff and I relaxing on the lawn at 50 Whitehill Drive. Note Mother’s little rocking chair on the right. It is in Ginnie’s bedroom now.
1961. Mother and I on the terrace at the Vanderbilt Mansion in New York State near Rhinebeck.
Page 29: Another photo of our visit to Auntie Bessie and Uncle John in 1937. See Page 13. John Green had the original that was included in the photos given to Sheila at the same time as Mother gave me most of the ones in this album.
1954. This was taken when I visited Sheila and Philip in Richmond, Yorkshire. John was about a year old. I went for a weekend by train. I had a red gabardine raincoat and also wore a black hat for the journey from Hertfordshire. We are standing on one of the walkways at Richmond Castle. Sheila and Philip lived up three flights of stairs on the top floor of an old house on a hilly cobblestone street. Philip was still doing his National Service and was stationed at Catterick. The only good thing that was said about Catterick was that the sunrises were beautiful.
Page 30: 1948 or perhaps 1947. It may have been that Geoff had just bought his Sheffield University blazer and this photo recorded the occasion. Of course, on the lawn at 50 WHD.