My mum Rene (Alice Irene Flitney née Harding) died in 1999. When my brother, sister and I went through her things we found an envelope full of old newspaper clippings and other bits and pieces. We looked through the papers and put the envelope away, but those yellowing pieces of paper keep whispering of half-forgotten times and places. Places like Butlers Cross, Stoke Mandeville, Aylesbury, West Wycombe, Little Kimble, Wendover, Ellesborough, Southcourt and Princes Risborough.

Saturday 27 September 2014

Ibstone, Bucks & Well Manor Farm, Hampshire.

Sepia Saturday provides bloggers with an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs.

Today’s theme is; Motorbikes, pillions, uniforms, couriers, turbans, tents and towels;


I've had a largely unsuccessful rummage through the family albums in the hunt for uniforms, couriers, turbans, tents and towels.  Motorbikes proved a little easier, so that will be my theme for this my first foray into Sepia Saturday territory.


What can I say about this photograph? Only my dear old dad would pose on a motorbike while wearing a suit, tie and not so flat - flat cap! I hadn't realised how odd the term ‘flat cap’ sounded until I typed it. According to Wikipedia, there are numerous other names for the same type of headwear, names like Paddy cap, longshoreman’s cap, scally cap, Wigens cap, duffer cap, bicycle cap, cheese-cutter and bunnet!  

Regardless of what it’s called dad never left home without one. Interviews, hospital appointments, days out, working on the farm, his cap went with him. His ritual on leaving the house was always the same. He would recite the words “spectacles, t-------- (word removed for the sake of decency), watch and wallet" while patting the appropriate points on his body.  Thinking back it would have made more sense to replace spectacles with cap, but then it wouldn't have rhymed! 


Dad doing his best Norman Wisdom impression, note the cap is firmly in place although this time worn backwards. Dad was a huge fan of Norman Wisdom the "little man" in the ill-fitting suit and cloth cap. He always watched the programmes on TV and knew many of the songs and gags off by heart.

  Mum played the piano a lot when we were kids. This was one of her favourite songs.




Now it’s the turn of my brother Tony to model the bike! I have no idea what was going on with the car. It's on blocks and covered by a tarpaulin (does that count as a tent?) so I presume it was a work in progress. It looks to me as though Tony has something (oil?) on his hands, so perhaps he was helping to do the car up. Tony if you should read this maybe you could let me know what you remember.




Tony looks to be in his early twenties here, so I'm guessing it was taken at the end of the 1950s.  One thing I've noticed while looking through the photos is the number of times my family have their pictures taken while standing in front of windows and/or drainpipes!  

I don’t think mum ever rode pillion, but later she did own and ride a moped.  This bike looks very similar to the one in the first photograph apart from the registration number, but then I know nothing about motorbikes so it’s probably nothing like it at all...
Mum, dad and Peggy a dog of many varieties. 


For more exploits on wheels and other exciting things, please visit Sepia Saturday

25 comments:

  1. Welcome to Sepia Saturday. You post like you've been doing it for ages! I enjoyed these photos, especially when the guys are posed as if ready to run the photographer down.

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    1. Thank you Wendy, that is such a lovely thing to say. This is a very new blog, but I have been blogging about vintage books at http://marchhousebookscom.blogspot.co.uk/ for a while now. I feel very much the novice when it comes to family history.

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  2. Listening to Norman Wisdom, brings back lots of memories
    xxxxx

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    1. It certainly does. I had forgotten I had some of the old sheet music until I found this one while sorting out the spare room on Thursday. Do you remember I saw mummy kissing Santa Claus, you need hands and the shifting, whispering sands? I’ve got those as well. The Santa Claus one is ripped in half; perhaps it was a less than perfect Christmas that year. 

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  3. My favorite photo of this post is the first with your dad on the motorbike and the little girl -- is it you? -- on the trike beside him. Not exactly "like father, like daughter" but close enough as far as the outstretched arms with hands holding handlebars and right foot up on the pedal.

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    1. Hello Nancy, yes it is me; sorry I should have made that clear. I tend to get a bit carried away with my memories and forget the details. I adored my dad and always wanted to be exactly like him. I probably drove him up the wall as I was constantly trailing him around! Thanks for calling in, Barbara.

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    1. Thanks John, and thanks for calling in, it’s great to ‘meet’ you. Barbara

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  5. Welcome to Sepia Saturday with a well themed post. Would the car be up on blocks as it was the war years and petrol was in short supply?

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    1. Thank you very much for the welcome, I appreciate it. I remember my dad talking about petrol shortages in the war, but as I was born in 1948, and I’m in one of the pictures so it was sometime after that. I should have put dates and names on the pictures, sorry.

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  6. Barbara,
    Motorbikes and trikes I have had fun on both. Thanks for refreshing my memories. There is no finer way to travel than on a motorcycle with a beautiful girl on the pillion seat and her arms tight around you. Ah! happy times indeed...........
    Mmmm! Suppose at this age I could perhaps recycle a tricycle. If not it could go in the peddle bin........Ho! Hum!

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    1. You old romantic you! I must say I have a few memories like that of my own, and it’s nice to have them.
      You could always recycle a tricycle and turn into a wheelie bin!

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  7. I always wear a cap but unfortunately it's of the baseball variety despite the fact that I live in Andy Capp territory. However a flat cap doesn't sit right on me. Love the old motor bikes.

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    1. I’m not really sure where Andy Capp territory is. My memory tells me Reg Smyth came from Hartlepool, but that is really all I know. I do remember reading the cartoons in the paper, do they still publish them? Glad you enjoyed the motorbikes, thanks for commenting. Barbara.

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  8. Thanks for joining us on Sepia Saturday; you made a great start with this wonderful selection of photos. I hope you’ll stay with us for future posts. If I might make a plea as admin; could you please remove the word verification? We’ve almost eradicated here on the meme and it does make commenting so much more pleasant.

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    1. Thank you very much for the welcome. I'm wondering how much spam I will receive without word verification but will remove it and see what happens.

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    2. Barbara, we all went through that too :) The answer is usually, surprisingly little, and if you approve each post anyway it won’t appear on the page. We’ve had lots of discussions about this on the facebook page (please join us; it’s fun!). In settings you can ensure that ‘anonymous’ can’t comment by clicking the ‘Registed Users’ box. It’s up to you whether you have comment moderation on but many of us tick the ‘sometimes’ box for posts older than seven days and it seems to work. Most spam is left on old posts. Good luck.

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    3. Thanks for all the tips, I've done as you suggested and am on my way to Facebook to look for you. Thanks again, Barbara

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  9. I wonder where in the world your father picked up that humorous rhyming phrase he used whenever he went out? The words mightn't have been so bad, but pointing out the places? :)) Did you ever try to follow suit? Yes, & welcome to the Sepia family. Always happily room for a new member!

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    1. I’ve absolutely no idea where dad first heard the phrase, but I presume it must have something to do with making the sign of the cross. He would touch his glasses, then pat his trousers, raise up his left hand to his shoulder and touch his watch, then pat the right hand pocket of his jacket where he kept his wallet. I had no real notion of what he was doing when I was small, and by the time I was old enough to realise it was just something he did. I don’t remember copying him, but I probably did. I bet that caused some consternation! Thanks for the welcome.

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  10. Good to have you along for the Sepia Saturday rides, Barbara! And thanks for Norman's wonderful voice (those of us on this side of the Atlantic don't know about him...) and the great bike shots!

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    1. Thank you for the warm welcome Deb, it is lovely to meet so many nice blogging folks.

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  11. I never heard that rhyming phrase before, but fortunately Google had.

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    1. I didn't think to check on Google, but I wish I had I could have cut and pasted the explanation. How funny, I just assumed it was something dad did.

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  12. Good on you Postcardy. I would never have thought of googling it You've given me the giggles. But it was a great post from the I Want to Be Like Dad photo to dear old Norman Wisdom. He had a beautiful singing voice that really didn't need comedy at the same time.

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I really appreciate your comment. Thank you!
Barbara x

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