alison jones (nee ceney)
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Karma: 0 |  | Earliest Memories from Carrie-Anne + Claire
« Thread Started on Oct 25, 2008, 11:38am » | ![[Quote]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/buttons/quote.gif) |
Carrie-Anne + Claire are the daughters of Geoffrey + Iris Bryan (nee Lowe)
Geoff was one of the Sons of Elizabeth Ceney (1914-1999) who was my Grandfather Robert Ceney's sister.
Here are some early memories of Claire:-
One of my earliest memories is going to Gran and Grandad’s for Sunday dinner at 85 Cophall Street . I can still remember the smell of Sunday roast dinner coming from Gran and Grandad’s kitchen. When very young, I didn’t like eating very much and Gran would coax me to eat my dinner by reading ‘The Three Little Pigs’. This became a sort of ritual and I wouldn’t eat my dinner unless Gran read ‘The Three Little Pigs’ to me.
I can also remember that Gran had lots of nice little ornaments (a thatched cottage, little mice, small cups and saucers) that she used to let me play with on the lounge carpet. She never worried about me breaking any of them, and more than one of them needed gluing in the end.
Memories from Carrie-Anne
I remember Grandad Bryan and Granny Bryan singing ‘How Great Thou Art’ whilst cooking the Sunday roast.
Grandad Bryan was a keen gardener, he grew a wide variety of vegetables at 85 Cophall Street . He would let Claire, my cousin Lindsey and me pick some rhubarb from the back of the greenhouse; Gran would always peel the rhubarb and put some sugar in a saucer for us.
They used to make their own pickled onions, and soak their own cucumber, onions and beetroot in vinegar (which we were always picking at).
They had two canaries – one canary was in the kitchen the other in the lounge. On the kitchen table was a sweet box containing humbugs, pear drops, liquorice allsorts and imperial mints. In the lounge above the fire place hung a painting of the countryside painted by Jack Bryan (their eldest son).
Every Sunday morning Dad would always drop Claire and me off at Gran and Grandad’s. Uncle Cliff and Dad would then take Grandad Bryan and Uncle Harold (Grandad’s younger brother) to have a drink and play crib or dominos at the Queen’s Head in Cophall Street (no longer standing). I remember one Sunday Dad lit an old oil lamp in the living room before going off to the pub. Whilst Claire and I were playing in the house we could smell smoke coming from the lounge. The lounge was thick with soot; the ceiling above the lamp was black. Gran made us fetch Dad from the Queen’s Head because no one knew how to turn the oil lamp off.
Memories of Uncle Jack (another Son of Elizabeth Ceney)
My Uncle Jack died when I was ten. He loved to sing and play his guitar – he used to sing like Jim Reeves. He played and sang at most of the pubs in the Black Country . He always sang Country. His favourite artists were Marty Robbins, Jim Reeves and Don Williams to name but a few. I remember once our parents took us to see Uncle Jack sing at The George in Phoenix Street – I remember thinking how brilliant he was.
When I was nine, the family celebrated Gran and Grandad’s Golden Wedding Anniversary. After the celebration Dad, Mom, Claire, Uncle Jack, Lindsey and I walked home. When we were walking down Whitehall Road passing St. Peter’s Church Uncle Jack started singing “Woman in a graveyard, oohh, aahh”, he said he could see shadows appearing out of the graves and started chasing us. Claire, Lindsey and I were terrified. I was too frightened to look in the graveyard, I held tight to my mother’s hand. Lindsey kept screaming, pleading him to stop. Uncle Jack just smiled.
Uncle Jack took Claire, Lindsey and me out to celebrate Lindsey’s Birthday. He took us to Bridgnorth and Stourport. I remember sitting in the back of his small red van on the wheel arch, with their two dogs Barley and Jaggy. We stopped off at the Seven Stars pub at Seisdon for egg and chips. In the pub’s garden there was a tree house with a slide, which I remember playing on.
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