Category: Life

Blast from the past… 33

Photo from the Old Ciren group on Facebook

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May 2025 (3 months before publishing this article)

I invited my friend Mark to the Small Group barbecue at Bernard and Vivien’s in Berryhill Road. He enjoyed the food as well as the chance to meet and chat with some new people. Al, especially, enjoyed talking with Mark.

On 16th we took Donna’s Mum, Isobel, to the Old Prison Cafe in Northleach; it’s one of the places we like to visit from time to time as it’s not very far from home and is in relaxing surroundings. You can still visit the old prison cells, but they don’t look relaxing at all!

Paul and Vanessa visited for the day on 18th. We met them at Lynwood in the Market Place for coffee and cake and then back at our house for lunch, with Isobel as well. We chatted in the afternoon round the dining table and then on the patio.

JHM: I wrote about a footbridge in Bedford; and part two of my faith journey. World events: Friedrich Merz was elected Chancellor of Germany; and Robert Francis Prevost was elected as Pope Leo XIV.

< Apr 2025 – Jun 2025 >

February 2025 (6 months before publishing)

While going through some items from storage boxes I came across this old hunting knife, it has an antler handle and a leather case and I used it as a teenager as a scout knife. But I think it was given to me by an uncle who might have acquired it from his days in the British Army during World War 2. But wherever it came from, it’s not an object I could legally carry around while walking the streets in 2025!

The snowdrops in Painswick’s Rococo Gardens looked lovely as they always do in season. Every year there are more, partly because gaps are being filled by natural spreading , and partly because additional areas are being planted up.

We had some issues with the new heat pump, mostly due to incorrect wiring during installation, but the engineers came back quickly to make fixes. The heating seemed better and better as time passed and we got to grips with the lifestyle changes – like using a summer duvet in the winter.

JHM: I wrote about truth and facts; and about an asteroid heading our way. World events: The Baltic states synchronised their power grids, connected to Europe and disconnected from Russia; and Thutmose II’s tomb was discovered.

< Jan 2025 – Mar 2025 >

August 2024 (1 year before)

We visited Springhill on our way north to Portrush. Mum used to talk about this old house and garden which she really loved. It was the home of William Conyngham who founded the village of Coagh where Mum was born and grew up.

We were on holiday with my daughters and their families, this time in Northern Ireland. On 7th we set out from the house and walked east along the coast to visit Dunluce Castle. Only Aidan and I went inside as we arrived near to closing time, but itwas well worth seeing.

It’s a magnificent coast as you can see from the photo, there are beautiful beaches and rugged cliffs along the way. So it was a memorable walk. The second image shows some of us near the start of our expedition, on Portrush’s east beach with the town in the background. As always, click the thumbnail for a larger version. Read more about our holiday.

Back at home later in the month, I decided to finally close down my account on X. Back in the day when it was still Twitter I used it a lot and enjoyed the conversations, but in its later form it became full of unpleasantness and anger. I had already found a better, more friendly home in Bluesky – so goodbye X.

JHM: I wrote about a Roman office desk; and a visit to Dublin. World events:  Ukraine invaded Russia’s Kursk oblast; and  The World Health Organization warned that Monkey pox was of international concern. 

< Jul 2024 – Sep 2024 >

August 2023 (2 years)

Beth and Paz celebrated their silver wedding this month, a grand achievment!

And we also had our family summer holiday, this year in Scotland. Beth, Aidan, Meredith and I made our way from the ski-lift car park to the summit of Cairn Gorm, but were unable to go further because of heavy cloud. On the way up we were lucky enough to spot a small herd of reindeer.

We visited a freshwater beach at Loch Laggan, a very strange thing to see, with patches of grass and seedling conifers growing in the sand.

We stayed in a big, old house in the village of Newtonmore. It held a few surprises for us, for example taking a shower caused water to drip through the ceiling in the dining room! But despite the quirks, we loved the house and the area.

Donna and I visited Boat of Garten where friends from near Cirencester were visiting family. Also in August, I went for a walk through the Beeches Estate where we lived until I was eleven-years-old; it brought back a lot of memories and I was able to jot them all down later when I got home.

JHM: I wrote ‘Blast from the past 9’; and an article on starting our North Coast 500 adventure in which we saw a mermaid! World events: Ocean warming reached a new record high temperature of 20.96 °C; and India’s Chandrayaan-3 was the first spacecraft to land near the south pole of the Moon.

< Jul 2023 – Sep 2023 >

August 2020 (5 years)

Beth, Debbie and their families camped at Siddington. It was lovely to have them so close and to be able to pop out to spend time with them. in the photo you can see several members of the family and my sister, Cindy.

Paul and Vanessa came to stay for a long weekend and we did a circular walk from Snowshill, then we went to stay at their flat in Weston-super-Mare to look after the dogs while they were away. The photo shows Vanessa, Maizi, Paul and Donna.

And finally, Thomas Holme came to live with us for a period of time, starting on 22nd.

JHM: I updated my article Introducing Matthew. World events: There was an enormous explosion in Beirut; and the number of COVID cases worldwide passed 25 million.

< Jul 2020 – Sep 2020 >

August 2015 (10 years)

We went to a ‘Wings and Wheels Day’ at Old Warden airfield, not far from home in St Neots. It was amazing, with a series of vintage aircraft flying and vintage cars on display, and with a picnic as well. Donna booked the occasion well in advance, and as it turned out the weather was perfect.

The cars and trucks were a mix of civilian and military vehicles from throughout the twentieth century, some from before World War I. And many of them were in the air or driving about, often flown or driven by people in period costume. It was an amazing day!

Also in August – I released a new version of JDMC, Ed and Jo were married, Peter and Dadka came to live with us for a while, and we had a visit from Beth, Paz, Meredith and Verity. Quite an eventful month.

World events:  Debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was found on Réunion; and  large accidental explosions in China killed and injured over 1000 people.

< Jul 2015 – Sep 2015 >

August 2010 (15 years)

The Cornerstone cafe and bookshop opened for business in St Neots; after a lot of hard work by many people guided mainly by our friends Keith on the construction side and Jim on catering. We were able to hand over to Paul who had provided the original idea and most of the funds, and a series of volunteers for the day-to-day running of the business. Cornerstone also offered a small meeting room for local businesses and clubs, and a comfortable space for conversation or counselling. The first directors’ meeting would follow on 1st September, involving Paul, Jim, Donna and me, and Mark.

We visited Broadstone near Poole to see Donna’s Mum and Dad. There was a naval display on, with ships off the coast and Royal Navy planes and helicopters in the air as well and we ate later at a local pub.

And finally, our Swedish friend David came for a short visit.

JHM: I reviewed ‘The End of Religion‘; and published my Bible reading plan. World events: WHO declared the H1N1 flu pandemic over; and Julia Gillard’s Labor government was re-elected in Australia.

< Jul 2010 – Sep 2010 >

August 2005 (20 years)

Donna’s church cell group went to an open air music event in Bedford, in the photo we were enjoying picnic food with our friends before the music began. A few weeks later the cell group went Greyhound racing, another fun social event.

Towards the end of the month, I looked around Loves Farm on the edge of St Neots with our friends Ken and Gayna. Archaeological excavations were going on where a new area of housing and facilities were to be constructed. Iron Age, Roman, and Saxon remains were discovered and recorded on the large site. It seems clear that this land had been farmed continously from Iron Age times right up to today. The Roman well in the image was carefully lined with stone, and ancient ditches were clearly visible as bands of darker soil across the site with several roads and trackways also identified.

World events: The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was launched; and the first joint China–Russia military exercise began.

< Jul 2005 – Sep 2005 >

August 2000 (25 years)

Donna travelled with her Open Door cell group to the New Frontiers annual event at the National Agricultural Showground at Stoneleigh; I drove up for the day on 1st August. The photo shows the book and music shop.

Knowledge Systems Group (KSG) met for lunch at the Beds Arms in Souldrop close to Unilever Research, Colworth. We often went there and played table skittles, a game local to the Northampton, North Befordshire area. Three ‘cheeses’ are thrown at the skittles and apart from that, the rules are very similar to normal ninepin skittles.

Other events this month were a visit from Donna’s Mum and Dad and a weekend with my Mum and Dad at Cirencester. We also visited Cindy and Paul at Bibury and I travelled to Amsterdam for a Unilever meeting on an intranet website, Research onLine.

World events: The Russian submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea; and  Tsar Nicholas II and his family were canonized .

< Jul 2000 – Sep 2000 >

August 1995 (30 years)

Beth worked hard on her A-level biology project with help and advice from Judy. Debbie was well into her University degree work. Beth appears again in the distance in the second photo. It was a very hot and dry summer, vegetation was scorched, even deep-rooted trees were suffering and grass everywhere was dry and brown.

Judy was still mobile and capable, leading a pretty normal life, though clearly losing weight and often suffering a little discomfort. I continued at Long Ashton Research Station, working for the Statistics and Computing Department and independently developing a Microscopes and Microscopy web site as a resource for professional microscopists. It was developed on my PC at home, and at first hosted only on the Long Ashton web server, but later a microscopist at an American University asked if he could mirror it for faster service in the US and after that it ran on both servers.

Meeting regularly with Tony, Faith, Paul and Jenny was becoming more and more special. Every time we all felt encouraged and peaceful, knowing that whatever the future held, everything would be OK.

It was around this time that Judy began collecting up all her old photos, putting them in albums, and and writing short notes about when, what and who appeared in the images. She was also getting them into date order as far as possible. Clearly she was planning ahead for me, Debbie, Beth and other family members. I’ve always been very appreciative of this, especially as I write these notes for the Blast From the Past series.

World events: Aided by NATO, Bosnian and Croatian forces continued to fight Serbian seperatists; and Eduard Shevardnadze survived an assasination attempt.

< Jul 1995 – Sep 1995 >

August 1990 (35 years)

Debbie returned from her French exchange visit on 8th and we collected her from Lulsgate Airport. She had lots to tell us about her trip and had brought back some souvenirs including a huge French banknote!

Later in the month we visited the Forest of Dean and walked via Biblins Bridge to Symonds Yat where we crossed the river by the rope ferry, stopped for ice-creams, and returned to the car by the same route. And at the end of August we enjoyed a time at the Bristol Flower Show up on Clifton Down, and a trip on the North Somerset Steam Railway.

World events: Iraq invaded Kuwait, leading to the Gulf War; and East and West Germany announced they would unite on October 3.

< Jul 1990 – Sep 1990 >

August 1985 (40 years)

We had a holiday at Ogwen Bank in North Wales. Debbie and Beth are sitting just outside our caravan in the photo. The site was close to Bethesda so we were able to visit lots of interesting places all over Snowdonia

One of the places we visited was Benllech Beach, lovely sand and rocks as you can see. I’ve always enjoyed messing around at the seaside, especially building miniature dams. So there were three kids on the beach and one adult – Judy, who took this photo.

Amongst other things we visited a working slate museum, a woollen mill, The island of Anglesey with its sea zoo and butterfly house, a couple of castles and more. Judy and the girls visited Port Meirion while I stayed at the caravan and worked on an Open University (OU) course.

Apart from the OU courses which ran through the summer, August was always a great time for family life. The girls were on holiday, so was Judy, and we were able to go out for day trips as well as have a week or two away somewhere.

World events:  A Japan Air Lines Flight crashed, killing 520 people; and a British Airtours Flight suffered an engine fire on the runway at Manchester Airport, fifty died during evacuation.

< Jul 1985 – Sep 1985 >

August 1980 (45 years)

Beth was interested in the cat, while the cat seemed to be interested in the paddling pool! And the sandpit in the background appeared to have been the scene of a nasty tractor accident. Just an ordinary summer day at 22 Rectory Drive.

Beth was just 2¼-years-old and Debbie was five and a half. Judy was considering beginning a teaching career having earned her qualification before Debbie was born while we were still living in our flat in St Andrew’s, Bristol. I was working at Long Ashton Research Station on fruit crop pollination, mostly on apples and plums; and I also had a week away at an Open University summer school.

World events: Hurricane Allen pounded Haiti, killing over 200 people; and the Gdańsk Agreement was signed in Poland allowing the free trade union, Solidarity.

< Jul 1980 – Sep 1980 >

August 1975 (50 years)

Debbie turned five months old and was growing quickly in both size and ability. She was developing better coordination, holding things and beginning to interact with adults and distinguish between them.

We started to get the house tidier and items put away. We had much more floor space than at the flat and although our furniture was the same it seemed lost in a large space rather than crammed together. We had only the old, green carpet we’d brought with us; it had filled the lounge/diner at the flat, now it just covered the dining area! Every other section of floor was bare boards, including the stairs, but the kitchen retained the covering left by the previous owners.

I began cycling to work from Yatton to Long Ashton, for a couple of years I’d been used to cycling from St Andrew’s, Bristol. What a change! No more dangerous, heavy traffic to contend with, instead a longer but much more relaxing trip through attractive countryside and the villages of Claverham and Backwell.

World events:   The Helsinki Accords recognising Europe’s national borders and human rights, was signed in Finland; and  NASA launched the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars.

< Jul 1975 – Sep 1975 >

August 1970 (55 years)

Judy was away on holiday for two weeks in the Lake District with her parents and brother, Frank. She took this photo at Watendlath Packhorse Bridge near Keswick.

Judy and I were planning for our wedding in early October, there were just some finishing touches to put in place really, but we didn’t want to run out of time.

Pete, a good friend from University, discovered the Ministry of Agriculture were empl0ying graduate students to interview farmers during the summer of 1970. We signed up for this survey work as we both had our own transport, and spent several weeks driving around the Cotwolds with the questionnaires interviewing the farmers and some of their employees. We lived at Mum and Dad’s house in Victoria Road as our base of operations. Part of the time they were on holiday in Northern Ireland with my sisters so Pete and I looked after the place while they were away.

World events: The Soviet Union launched Venera 7 towards Venus; and rubber bullets for riot control were used for the first time.

< Jul 1970 – Sep 1970 >

August 1965 (60 years)

This was the month of the Grammar School Explorers Club expedition to Scotland, organised and led by one of my biology teachers, Mr Castle. I was one of two sixth formers who travelled with him in his Bedford van with the lighter equipment (the heavy stuff went by train). Graham and I camped just outside Edinburgh while Mr Castle returned by train to travel north again with the fourth and fifth form members of the expedition. Most of us would travel by coach while Mr Castle brought the van and equipment. Graham and I were assistant leaders.

We walked up the Dee Valley into the Cairngorms, then to Ben McDhui and Cairn Gorm, descending along the ski lift route. We visited Pitlochry for a night or two and then to Mallaig and the ferry to Skye where we viewed the Cuillins from Elgol beach and went to the Portree Highland Gathering. After a night at the coral beaches, we returned to the mainland to visit Fort William and walk to the top of Ben Nevis.

It was quite a journey and an experience I shall never forget.

World events: Singapore left the Federation of Malaysia; and U.S. President Johnson established Medicare and Medicaid.

< Jul 1965 – Sep 1965 >

August 1960 (65 years)

Our annual holiday this year was in Northern Ireland, staying at Holmlea in Coagh, Co Tyrone with Mum’s parents. The photo was a brief stop near the Spelga Dam in the Mountains of Mourne during a day out. I had scrambled up the steep bank and took this image of Dad taking a photo of Mum and my younger sisters, Ruth and Rachael, Granda is sitting in the car. Granny and Cindy may have still been in the car as well. How did we all squeeze in for the trip? Ruth and Rachael were small enough to sit on an adult lap, probably with Mum and Granny.

We’d have done a number of trips out like this one, almost certainly including a day at the seaside at Portrush, maybe a trip to see the Giant’s Causeway, and definitely visits to Cookstown and to Mum’s cousin on the farm at Killycurragh on Slieve Gallion. The first (and only) time that I milked a cow was at Killycurragh, but what I remember most was high tea, where the table with its white cloth groaned under a huge choice of delicious food, much of it home grown and home made.

World events: The Beatles began a 48-night residency at the Indra Club in Hamburg; and Russia launched  Sputnik 5 carrying two dogs, mice and rats, and plant specimens. All the animals returned safely after a day in orbit.

< Jul 1960 – Sep 1960 >

August 1955 (70 years)

In August we visited Windsor Castle, I don’t remember this trip although I was seven-years-old at the time.

Mum sent the postcard to her younger sister, Annabelle, and wrote on the back,

‘Christopher & Cynthia couldn’t take their eyes off the soldiers & had to send you this picture so that you could see them too. Wish you were all with us. Much love from us all. Your loving Sister, Lilias.’

World events: Hundreds die in anti-French rioting in Morocco and Algeria; and the first edition of the Guinness Book of Records was published.

< Jul 1955 – Sep 1955 >

August 1950 (75 years)

I needed a photo for the summer of 1950 but couldn’t find one. I’m guessing this is a bit more recent, perhaps between 1950 and 1960; but it does capture business life in Cirencester in that era. In those days there were no supermarkets, you would have visited a variety of small bakers, butchers, grocers, greengrocers and so forth. Barnett’s was one of these.

Charlie Barnett was a famous test and county cricketer, born in Gloucestershire. When he retired from cricket, he set up a business in Cirencester, selling fish, game, and more exotic items such as seagull eggs. The photo shows him working in his shop.

We must have been settling into our new home in Queen Anne’s Road at this time. There were probably boxes to unpack, clothes to put away, as well as the normal household chores of laundry; and for Dad there’d have been the task of getting the garden area tidy, clearing weeds, removing building rubble, stones and so forth, and planning a garden.

World events:  North Korea’s Air Force was largely destroyed by anti-communist forces; and  Uruguay beat Brazil 2–1, to win the 1950 World Cup.

< Jul 1950 – Sep 1950 >

August 1945 (80 years)

On 2^nd August Mike had the bad news that he was being posted overseas. He had to rush to get Lilias to Cirencester as fast as possible, perhaps something they’d planned to do a little later.

He arrived in Stranraer on 3^rd and was in Coagh on the evening of 4^th. By 7^th they were on the train south from Stranraer. On 8^th his mother, Nor, met them at Cheltenham Station with the car and Mike drove them home. They then had five clear days to enjoy time together in Cirencester and around the south Cotswolds until Mike was required back by the RAF on 14^th. But this was a really good day because the victory over Japan was announced and the war was finally over. Medicals, inoculations, and the issuing of tropical kit took almost two weeks; then there was a final twenty-four hour period when he was able to get back to Cirencester to see Lilias and his parents, and the last three days of August were spent on duty in Blackpool waiting for a ship to become available.

World events:  Winston Churchill supported the idea of a pan-European army; and  Pope Pius XII declared evolution to be a serious hypothesis that does not contradict essential Catholic views.

< Jul 1945 – Sep 1945 >

August 1940 (85 years)

There’s not enough information to write something for every month in the 1940s. Dad’s diaries start in January 1943, so for January 1940 to December 1942 I’ll write about things I know, or draw on dated photos and documents. Sometimes I might use a photo or document with a guessed date.

For August 1940 I’m going to write about another of the John Jefferies & Son nurseries, this time a very small one, the Abbey Nursery. The medieval Abbey owned a great deal of land, not just in the town but in the surrounding countryside. Part of the Abbey’s land lay inside City Bank, and part of it formed the Abbey Nursery. It had a shed for equipment, and cinder block bins for sand, grit, gravel and other garden materials. The bins are still there, just inside the gate on the left. Today the land is a nature reserve and is open to the public.

All Cirencester people will know where City Bank is. As the name might suggest, it has to do with a city (which Cirencester is not). But in Roman times its predecessor Corinium was a large and important city only exceeded in size by Londinium, present day London. In the later years of Roman Britain, most cities aspired to a wall, perhaps defensive, or perhaps just a way to demonstate high status. So there was a city wall. In medieval and later times, the useful cut stone was robbed from the old walls and used to build the town anew. What was left of the old walls was a bank of tumbled stone and soil, covered with grass and scrub, hence City Bank, not City Wall.

In 1940 and up until John Jefferies and Son’s nurseries gradually fell out of use from 1975 onwards, the Abbey Nursery was used mainly for growing Christmas trees for sale in November and December, but was also the storage site for the Cotswold stone and paving slabs used by the landscape construction part of the business.

In August 1940 my father, Mike, was nine-years-old and lived with his parents at ‘Churnside’, 37 Victoria Road. His Father, Edward (Ted, Guv, or ‘the Governor’) was 60 and his mother, Norah (Nor) was 61. His brothers, John, Richard (Dick), and Robert (Bob) were 33, 30, and 27 respectively.

World events: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia were annexed by the Soviet Union; and the Royal Air Force bombed Berlin for the first time.

< Jul 1940 – Sep 1940 >

1930-1939 (95 to 86 years ago)

Anything that appears in this section will have some connection with the 1930’s but may extend beyond the decade to follow a meaningful topic more fully.

Uncle John and Auntie Jo were married on 15th September 1932. John was my father’s oldest brother, born in 1907 and 19 years older than his little brother. This is a large gap between the oldest and youngest in the family so it seems my Dad may have been an unexpected late addition!

John and Jo lived at 4 Tower Street, Cirencester; it was a three-storey town house and the features I remember most were a floor to ceiling mirror in the narrow hallway which made the narrow space look much more spacious, and the front reception room with a stone fireplace. There was a fine collection of hand-bells on the mantelpiece, collected over the years it seems and not a set, but nevertheless, in tune with one another. I remember a long passageway with the kitchen at the far end and a little, shady garden beyond that. The floor above must have contained bedrooms and a bathroom, but the top floor was the most exciting as there was a storage room at the front with all sorts of intriguing items discarded from everyday use. An Aladdin’s cave! John and Jo’s daughter, Jill, was my godmother so I was invited round from time to time. She always had something interesting for me to see or fun activities to do.

John and Jo had a poodle (one of the larger kind). He was called Gigot and I remember Auntie Jo collecting the wool when he was clipped and storing it year by year until there was enough to be washed, carded and spun into yarn. Gigot was a mid brown colour and she knitted herself a cardigan from the wool!

As a young child I always found Uncle John a bit solemn and aloof, even a little bit scary, but of course he was quite good fun in many ways if perhaps a little on the serious side. He became Chairman of Cirencester Urban District Council, almost but not quite the Lord Mayor. Cirencester had no mayor in those days, though today it does, and the chain of office is still the one once worn by John.

When my grandfather died, John and his brothers Dick and Bob took over John Jefferies & Son as directors. John’s role had long been managing the landscape design and construction side of the business, using the entire top floor over the shop in Cirencester Market Place as the design studio. I remember Desmond Walker who helped as John’s deputy in the design office. Desmond lived right next to Tower Street Nursery and had a mulberry tree in his garden.

World events (August 1935): The volcanic island of Anak Krakatau began to form permanently in the Sunda Strait. (August 1930): United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law.

<< 1930s >>

1900-1929 (125 to 96 years ago)

As with the 1930s material, everything in this section will have a connection of some kind with these two decades.

My father, Mike, was born on 4th June 1926. He would almost certainly have been born at home – Churnside, 37 Victoria Road, Cirencester. His parents were Edward Arthur Jefferies and Norah Jefferies (nee Monger), usually known as Guv or Ted and Nor. Mike had three much older brothers, John, Dick and Bob (19, 17, and 15 years older). Because he was a bouncy baby, his brothers called him ‘Tigger’ and this stuck. He was still known as ‘Tig’ by the brothers and by his parents while they were still alive. Churnside would itself have been fairly new when Dad was little, the house is Edwardian and was built shortly before Guv and Nor were married. This and the house next door are semi-detatched so were built as a pair, I believe they were the first houses on this section of Victoria Road.

World events (August 1900): International troops entered Peking to free European hostages during the Boxer Rebellion. (August 1905): Norway voted to break from the union with Sweden. (August 1910): Japan formally annexed Korea. (August 1915): In the First World War Gallipoli campaign, the Battle of Sari Bair was fought.

(No earlier info) 1900-1929 >>

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Blast from the past… 32

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Apr 2025 (3 months before publishing this article)

My friend, Dave, from Unilever days came down for a chat, a coffee, a walk and lunch. It was great to see him, as always. We took a look at the Roman amphitheatre and ate at Blend in the old brewery building.

It was Donna’s birthday this month and we visited Hidcote which has to be one of our favourite gardens. Our grandson, Aidan, was trekking in South America, exploring the Caribbean coast of Colombia, sending back regular comments and photos on the family WhatsApp channel. He’s taken some time out between A levels last year and starting University in York later this year.

At home, Donna and I were building and filling two raised beds where she plans to grow vegetables this summer and we had a dumper bag of a soil/compost mix delivered and barrowed it all to the back garden.

JHM: I wrote about dinosaurs and the Bible; and the little wren which is a bird and a coin. World events: Fram2 carried astronauts on a polar orbit for the first time; and Pope Francis died at the age of 88.

< Mar 2025 – May 2025 >

January 2025 (6 months before publishing)

The new heat pump system was running by the end of the month and we had warm radiators for the first time on January 31st. What a joy! In the photo Akki, the team’s electrician, is commissioning the system.

Our leaking chimney was also repaired this month and a damp ceiling dried out well with no more drips in heavy rain; some alterations and improvements to the house were finished as well. We now have windows we can open in our bedroom on hot summer evenings, and that will be a huge benefit. Everything is getting better (but it’s all costing money too).

The CBC Small Group I go to every week had a social evening with a meal at Tony and Penny’s, there must have been ten or twelve of us there and it was a great time.

JHM: I wrote about a new supersonic test aircraft; and details of my breakfast choices. World events: There were devastating wildfires in California; and a ceasefire came into effect in the Israeli-Gaza war.

< Dec 2024 – Feb 2025 >

July 2024 (1 year before)

Our new greenhouse was erected today and looks just great. More good news is that Labour won the General Election and Roz Savage won our local constituency (South Cotswolds) for the Lib Dems.

The rather less good news was that Isobel had a fall while she was away with Donna for a Warner’s break. She had a partial hip fracture which resulted in a partial hip replacement operation and the need for recovery and physiotherapy.

Our friends Jim and Pam from St Neots stayed with us for one night. They arrived in a large camper van and were heading for a touring holiday in Wales. And on 17th I started my ‘Image of the day‘ series of posts here on JHM. On 28th we set off for Ireland via Fishguard and Rosslare for our annual summer holiday with the family.

JHM: I posted Vine and Branches about John 15; and an image of a sunset from Brazil. World events:  Sir Keir Starmer led the Labour Party to a landslide victory; and  the Summer Olympics were held in Paris. 

< Jun 2024 – Aug 2024 >

July 2023 (2 years)

Our solar panels were commissioned and fully working by 3rd July, and they came with a phone app that would let us monitor their activity as well as that of the 10 kWh battery that we’d bought. It was great to see the power flowing on sunny days, meeting all our needs day and night on good days and often exporting power to the grid as well. We knew things would be less impressive in the winter months.

The Small group I’m a member of met for a meal at Phil and Judith’s house in South Cerney, it was good fun as always and an opportunity for longer conversations. Donna and I visited Batsford Arboretum, and Debbie, Aidan and Sara came to visit us for two nights at the end of the month. In the photo we’re strolling in Cirencester Park heading for the town centre.

JHM: I wrote an earlier ‘Blast from the past’; and began a series on our Scottish adventure. World events: New Zealand and the EU signed a free trade agreement; and the films Barbie and Oppenheimer opened.

< Jun 2023 – Aug 2023 >

July 2020 (5 years)

We visited Bradford-on-Avon to visit an old garden and take a look at the town. Much to my surprise, there’s a particularly well-preserved Saxon church there. It wasn’t open so we couldn’t look around inside, but it was fascinating to see a structure that dates back before the Norman Conquest. It may have been built in 1001 CE, so very late Saxon. (See: Wikipedia article)

We ate breakfast in Cirencester’s Toro Lounge, the first time we’d done this since the COVID outbreak.

Near the end of the month we visited Gloucester Docks and the Cathedral with Donna’s Mum, Isobel. The docks area is being redeveloped as a shopping centre with restaurants and a museum as well as all the old docks themselves now in use as a large marina. There’s a large plaza, places to sit, car parking nearby, and an easy walk to the city centre and the cathedral.

JHM: I wrote about a local musician; and a free way of writing online. World events: Russian voters backed an amendment permitting Putin another two terms as president after 2024; and the number of COVID cases worldwide passed 15 million.

< Jun 2020 – Aug 2020 >

July 2015 (10 years)

Our family holiday was at Noordbeemster in the Netherlands, we crossed on the ferry from Harwich. One of the places we enjoyed during this week away was the Zuiderzee Museum in Enkhuizen. In character it’s very like the Welsh Folk Museum and the children enjoyed it just as much as the adults. The photo shows Meredith in the distance and Aidan trying out weird Dutch traditional toy vehicles. Pump the handle to move and steer with your feet. This proved to be much harder than you might think!

I drove to Burton Latimer to meet Rachael and our friend, Jody, for lunch and to talk about meeting again in our homes to hear what the Holy Spirit would say to us together.

It was an exciting month for astronomy as the New Horizons probe flew by Pluto and Charon and began to return data on 15^th.

World events:  Cuba and the United States reestablished full diplomatic relations; and Microsoft released Windows 10.

< Jun 2015 – Aug 2015 >

July 2010 (15 years)

I visited the Christian Bookshop in Letchworth with my friends Jim and Paul to see if we could learn anything that would help us develop the new cafe/bookshop in St Neots. We were looking for good ideas, things to avoid, and advice from people who’d been through a similar process.

Our family holiday was in North Wales at the end of July this year. The photo shows Beth and Paz with their daughters Meredith and Verity on the narrow-gauge steam train, something we have to do on every holiday! This time we were on the Welsh Highand Railway. A few days later we went to visit the Dinorwig pumped storage power station which is an impressive feat of engineering.

World events: The first 24-hour flight by a solar-powered plane was completed; and Slovenia became the 32nd member of the OECD.

< Jun 2010 – Aug 2010 >

July 2005 (20 years)

Debbie and Steve were married in Cornwall at the end of July. It was a quiet but special occasion, with just the two of them, Donna and me, and Steve’s parents. We explored the local area briefly while were there, Steve’s Dad and I very much enjoyed the amazing Bicycle Museum.

Our friend Steph Bennett and her daughter, Sondra, came to stay earlier in the month. During their visit we travelled to Paris by train via the Channel Tunnel and spent a day or two in the city. In the photo we’re on our way to the top of Montmartre.

World events:  Eris was discovered, the most massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System; and the Huygens spacecraft landed on Titan.

< Jun 2005 – Aug 2005 >

July 2000 (25 years)

Our friends Karen and Gert were married in Ampthill and I had the job of taking the photos, most were taken on Kodak colour negative film, and a few on my first digital camera. These were low resolution, but were better than film in low light conditions.

My Uncle Dick’s funeral was on 25th, and my branch of the family gathered at Churnside in Cirencester before the event and returned afterwards for a meal together. It was the same day that an Air France Concorde caught fire and crashed near Paris with tragic loss of life.

We went along to the Tilbrook Village Fete where I spotted a 100E Ford Anglia just like the one I’d owned in 1969. It was great fun to see one again after all this time. I remembered the three-speed gearbox and the windscreen wipers using a partial vacuum from the engine. They were not the best wipers in the world!

World events: The Øresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden was opened; and Air France Concorde Flight 4590 crashed into a hotel outside Paris.

< Jun 2000 – Aug 2000 >

July 1995 (30 years)

Judy’s health was definitely declining slightly and she continued to lose weight slowly. But apart from that she was doing quite well and was not in pain at the start of the month. By the end of July, though, she needed some paracetamol now and then, especially when travelling in the car.

My Mum and Dad came down on my birthday and we were able to sit outside on the patio in the evening. Debbie and Beth were with us and Nick joined us as well.

We continued meeting regularly with our friends Tony and Faith, and Paul and Jenny for the most amazing times of spiritual experiences, feeling very close to one another and very close to Jesus too. They were such special occasions, not prayer sessions and not about physical healing, but they were about spiritual revelation and growth for all of us. Dad sometimes jokingly referred to them as ‘The Gang of Four’ or all six of us as ‘The Crazy Gang’.

World events: The Srebrenica massacre took place; and China fired missiles into the sea north of Taiwan.

< Jun 1995 – Aug 1995 >

July 1990 (35 years)

Dad retired from Country Gardens this month where he’d worked to ease the handover of the old family business as a going concern to the new owners. His nephew Tim had worked with him on this, and being younger Tim continued with them after Dad left. Mum was pleased to have Dad at home and with time to walk into town or go out for daytrips, and even on longer holidays.

Cindy, Paul and little Sebastian visited us in Yatton. Seb was unable to walk without some support, but with his walker to aid him he was already bombing along really confidently – and fast!

We visited Mum and Dad on my birthday, we spent some time chatting in the garden as it was a lovely summer’s day. The photo shows Mum and Judy, with Dinah the Siamese cat sitting on Judy’s lap for a relaxing stroke.

World events:   East and West Germany merged their economies; and  Belarus declared sovereignty in a move towards independence.

< Jun 1990 – Aug 1990 >

July 1985 (40 years)

I was at the RMS Microscopy Conference at York University on 12th, this was to help me get to grips with some new techniques, including electron microscopy and fluorescence microscopy. At this point I was still attempting to localise the plant hormones known as gibberellins in frozen plant tissue for Long Ashton’s Plant Sciences Group.

Judy continued teaching Biology GCSE and A Level at Cotham Grammar School in Bristol. Debbie (10) was studying at Backwell School, and Beth (7) was at Yatton Junior. We were living at 22 Rectory Drive in Yatton west of Bristol; the photo was taken in our front garden.

World events:  The Rainbow Warrior was bombed and sunk; and P. W. Botha declared a state of emergency in South Africa.

< Jun 1985 – Aug 1985 >

July 1980 (45 years)

The new Jefferies garden centre at Kingsmeadow was doing a good trade during the summer months after opening to customers in April. The Tower Street garden centre continued operating, as well as the shop in the Market Place (now Vodafone). And although the nurseries were still in use, they were beginning to fade away in terms of the value they added to the business. It was becoming cheaper to buy in nursery stock than to employ staff to raise plants locally.

We travelled up to Frank and Kathy’s home for the Christening of their new daughter, Joanne, almost certainly in the car with Judy’s parents.

World events: Ronald Reagan was nominated to run for the US presidency; and the 1980 Summer Olympics were held in Moscow and widely boycotted.

< Jun 1980 – Jul 1980 >

July 1975 (50 years)

This was the last full month that we lived in our flat (upper flat in the photo) in Belmont Road, Bristol before moving to Yatton on 2nd August. The flat was very cluttered at the end of July, everything was piled up or packed in boxes ready for the move. This was at once exciting and very inconvenient.

Debbie was four months old on 12th and was dedicated at Zetland Road Fellowship on 27th according to a note in my Dad’s photo notebook. So a lot was happening in July 1975!

World events:   Cape Verde gained independence after 500 years of Portuguese rule; and the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project docked American and Soviet crewed spacecraft in orbit.

< Jun 1975 – Aug 1975 >

July 1970 (55 years)

My degree ceremony at Bath was a little earlier than Judy’s at Aberystwyth (or it might have been the other way around), but we both had our hired robes for the period between the two and the photos were taken at her parent’s house in Cheltenham during that week.

I travelled to Aber with Judy’s parents and brother and crept into the hall at the back to watch and listen as there were insufficient tickets for Judy’s family and for me as well. Then at Bath Judy came along with my parents. The next big occasion for us would be our wedding in October, and planning for that was pretty much done and everything arranged apart from little jobs like writing name cards for the tables at the reception and so forth.

World events:  France tested a hydrogen bomb on Mururoa Atoll; and the Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed.

< Jun 1970 – Aug 1970>

July 1965 (60 years)

At the beginning of July we visited Oxford for the day, Günter Klauß who was staying with us on a school exchange came too and very much enjoyed the trip. Mum sent an Oxford postcard to Granny in Northern Ireland reporting that Ruth had learned to swim a few days earlier.

On 10th, Günter returned home to West Germany, we took him to Kemble Station to see him off on the train to London. This was also the end of my first year in the Sixth Form at Cirencester Grammar School and Mum’s 37th birthday was on the 5th.

World events: Mariner 4 flew by Mars, becoming the first spacecraft to return images of the planet; and Edward Heath became Conservative Leader in the UK.

< Jun 1965 – Aug 1965>

July 1960 (65 years)

The Cotswold Roses would have been flowering freely on the London Road Nursery (now Partridge Way and Pheasant Way on the eastern side of Cirencester). The photo of the catalogue for the following season gives some idea of what they would have looked like.

The school holidays were always a time to look forward to, the freedom to do whatever I liked was great and we would certainly have some family days out to enjoy and a summer holiday away somewhere.

Mum’s birthday was on 5^th, she was 32; mine was on 31^st, my twelfth; Dad’s birthday was in June and he was now 34; Cindy was 8-years-old and about half way through her time at Querns School (juniors); while Ruth and Rachael had not yet started school at all being just four and three.

World events: Kwame Nkrumah became the first President of Ghana; and  Francis Chichester won the first Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race aboard Gypsy Moth III taking 40 days.

< Jun 1960 – Jul 1960>

July 1955 (70 years)

My seventh birthday was the 31^st of July in 1955. Mum and Dad gave me a somewhat faded red bike that was almost too big for me to ride, even with the saddle and handlebars set as low as possible. I found it quite daunting at first, but once I’d learned to ride it, I loved that bike. One thing you could do was fix a piece of flexible card to the rear frame so that it made contact with the spokes of the back wheel. Then it made a marvellous noise that rose in pitch the faster you went. Before long I was riding my bike to Querns School, though Dad came with me to make sure I was safe in all the town traffic. The photo shows our back garden at 17 Queen Anne’s Road where we lived at the time. It was taken in September 1960, but wouldn’t have changed very much since June 1955.

World events: Bertrand Russell highlighted the dangers posed by nuclear weapons; and Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California.

< Jun 1955 – Aug 1955 >

July 1950 (75 years)

Mummy was 22-years-old on 5th July and I was two at the end of the month. I was admitted to Cirencester’s Memorial Hospital as a one-year-old (date unknown, so probably not July) and was apparently very taken with a large teddy bear they had on the ward. I was suffering from a serious bout of diarrhoea and, presumably, dehydration and was kept in for a week. The photo shows the hospital in 1950 (from the Facebook group, Old Ciren).

World events:  North Korea’s Air Force was largely destroyed by anti-communist forces; and  Uruguay beat Brazil 2–1, to win the 1950 World Cup.

< Jun 1950 – Aug 1950 >

July 1945 (80 years)

A three watch system was started, and Mike spent a good deal of time writing and reading letters to and from Lilias, his family, old school friends, and RAF friends now at other stations. In one of her letters Lilias mentioned a problem with serious period pains, a cause of concern for them both.

Generally, RAF duties were rather light during July with the war in Europe now over. Mike mentions activities like cricket, softball, swimming and tennis as well as lectures on topics like returning to civilian life.

On 16th he was off to Staxton Wold radar station near Scarborough where there was rifle, machine gun, and hand grenade practice. Mike had a B+ Pass from the course at Staxton Wold. On 26th he was disappointed to learn that Labour had won a landslide victory in the General Election.

He spent Friday 27th travelling to Cirencester, Saturday with family and friends, and Sunday 29th travelling back to Skendleby and normal duties again with some new radar equipment. The picture shows a Midland Railway engine, probably still in use by the London, Midland, and Scottish (LMS) when Mike made his journey to Cirencester.

World events:  Germany was divided between the Allied occupation forces; and the first atomic bomb test (Trinity), used 6 kg of plutonium to explode with the force of 22 million kg of TNT.

< Jun 1945 – Aug 1945 >

July 1940 (85 years)

There’s not enough information to write something for every month in the 1940s. Dad’s diaries start in January 1943, so for January 1940 to December 1942 I’ll write about things I know, or draw on dated photos and documents. Sometimes I might use a photo or document with a guessed date.

For July 1940 I thought I’d write about the London Road Rose Nursery. This was a large field with a north facing slope, typical of hilly ground in the Cotswolds generally; it was limestone brash overlain by a shallow, stony subsoil and thin topsoil, by no means the most promising site for rose growing. Today it is an area of housing, Pheasant Way and Partridge Way. The field was owned by John Jefferies & Son and must have been bought by the company quite early.

To help keep the poor soil in reasonable condition a rotation was employed. It included a cereal crop, and roses the following year. I don’t know, but it’s possible (even likely) that a crop of mustard or some other nitrogen fixing choice would have been grown in a third year and ploughed in during the autumn to fertilise the soil and add organic matter. From the 1960s I recall stooks of corn (wheat or barley most likely) and the use of a threshing machine to separate and clean the seed for bagging and to produce straw. In 1940 it might have been done the same way or perhaps in those days there would have been more hand labour involved.

Corn seed would have gone to the Jefferies warehouse in Tower Street for further processing, cleaning and bagging for onward sale to local farmers for delivery in the autumn and sowing in the field in the autumn or the spring for early or later harvest. Straw was useful for packing plant orders for despatch in the winter months, and excess quantities could be sold to farmers and horse owners for bedding, or if long enough and of the right quality, sold for thatching.

See July 1960 above for more on the Jefferies roses. Wikipedia has a good background article on roses. The bloom in the image is a cultivar named Peace, the photo is taken from that article. It’s a hybrid tea rose with a good fragrance, presumably named shortly after the end of World War II. My father had two rose beds in the front garden at 17 Queen Anne’s Road, and the one nearest the front door was Peace.

World events: The Royal Navy sank or seized ships of the French fleet in Algerian ports; and the Battle of Britain began.

< June 1940 – Aug 1940 >

1930-1939 (95 to 86 years ago)

Anything that appears in this section will be material that I believe belongs in this decade. Items will not be in sequence within the decade, but where I can make a good guess of the date I will do so.

When Tigger (my father) was about six or seven (a guess) his father, my Grandpa, wrote a little story for him. His mother (Nor) had a hand in this too for the book is machine stitched. I well remember her treadle sewing-machine from the 1950s when I was a child, clearly he had asked her to use it to stitch along the central fold of the sheets of paper making up the book.

The book has the title ‘Mr Fizwig, his monkey, and their adventures’ and was ‘Written for Tigger’. The illustrations have been coloured, mostly by a child of Tigger’s age, and a list of page numbers added along with the word ‘chapter’. Taken as a whole this provides a touching insight into family life around 1932 at ‘Churnside’, 37 Victoria Road, Cirencester.

You can read the book if you want to, it will open in a new browser tab. I’ve assumed a date of Christmas Day 1932, but it might have been written at any time and was not necessarily a birthday or Christmas gift. After a few years it was most likely forgotten, but never discarded. But now it’s here for anyone to read.

World events (July 1932): The Dow Jones reached its lowest level of the Great Depression, at 41.22; and Norway annexed northern Greenland.

<< 1930s >>

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Blast from the past… 31

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Mar 2025 (3 months before publishing this article)

I walked the Thames and Severn Canal from the tunnel portal at Sapperton (Daneway Inn) to the other end at Coates (Tunnel House) and then followed the towpath where possible to Siddington and back along the Cirencester arm to meet Donna for a coffee before walking home again. Including some detours to view additional pieces of canal it amounted to about 15 miles in all.

The main photo shows Cotswold countryside, with Hailey Wood on the horizon. The footpath through this field is part of the Thames Way, and on the far side of the woodland is the southern canal tunnel entrance at Coates.

Several years ago I set up the Friends of the Gumstool Brook website for a friend, and after some difficulty I was able to hand it over fully to him. I’m not as nimble with the technical side as I once was, and I feel more comfortable not having the responsibility any longer.

JHM: I wrote on cease fires and talks in Ukraine; and described installing our heatpump. World events: The first successful commercial Moon landing was made; and Mark Carney became the Prime Minister of Canada.

< Feb 2025 – Apr 2025 >

December 2024 (6 months before publishing)

We drove to York to exchange Christmas gifts with Debbie, Beth and their families. You can see Christmas paper debris in this shot but don’t ask what else is going on! Fern is probably creating really good artwork on her tablet. Paz and Debbie are having a sensible conversation. We did have an excellent time, and it’s always good to catch up.

Donna ran in a 10 km event at Westonbirt School, it was a big event with a lot of runners (she competed as 3390) and it involved two loops of a 5 km course circling around the grounds and local roads. She did really well, finishing the course and being far from the last runner home.

JHM: I wrote about the Churn flood plain; and on our Christmas cactus. World events: Notre-Dame Cathedral reopened to the public; and a car was driven into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany.

< Nov 2024 – Jan 2025 >

June 2024 (1 year before)

We visited Lydiard Park near Swindon. It’s owned by Swindon Corporation who look after it well – a bit like a National Trust property. The grounds serve as a public park with play equipment, a cafe/restaurant, and places for ball games and so forth.

The house has an interesting history and is well worth a visit. It’s available as a conference centre and for weddings and other events, and includes accommodation for guests.

We also spent a week in Weston-super-Mare, looking after the dogs for Donna’s brother Paul and his wife Vanessa. The photo shows Knightstone Harbour, with Brean Down beyond on the left and far beyond that, on the right, is Exmoor.

JHM: I posted articles on canal walks, eg A38 to the Ocean; and discussed some church leaders. World events:  Boeing’s Starliner flies a test mission to the Space Station; and  the UEFA’s Euro 2024 was won by Spain. 

< May 2024 – Jul 2024 >

June 2023 (2 years)

The highlight this month was our expedition to northern Scotland for the North Coast 500. We flew from Lulsgate to Aberdeen Airport while Isobel had a week in Weston-super-Mare with Paul and Vanessa; our journey out was on 17^th June and we returned on 26^th.

On our third day we visited John O’Groats, it had something of a Land’s End feel to it which is, I suppose, entirely to be expected. But looking towards the sea instead of the crowd-focused gift shops and cafes, you see the old harbour from which many an Orkney or Shetland ferry will have left or landed and small fishing vessels come in to land a catch.

Earlier the same day we’d explored Wick, once famous for the large scale of its famous herring fishing industry. The town has fallen on hard times with the loss of its major source of income, but tourism is beginning to bring some income back, aided by a really great fishing museum.

JHM: I made an index for my Blast from the past posts; and I introduced two of my online friends to my readers. World events: A serious rail crash in India killed 296, injuring more than 1200; and Russia caused devastating floods in Ukraine.

< May 2023 – Jul 2023 >

June 2020 (5 years)

Paul and Vanessa visited us on 7th, and Tony’s funeral was on 17th at Cheltenham Crematorium. The lady who presented the address was very good indeed and everything went well. There were quite a lot of guests, Tony’s brother Ken with his wife Anne and their daughters and families, Paul and Vanessa of course, and more.

Fine weather made it better and we were able to chat outside, spaced according to the COVID rules though it didn’t seem too bad as each family could gather more closely within their own bubble.

We were having email problems with our web hosting company and as they were unable to fix the issue I decided to move to a Swedish company, one.com. It took a little time to get everything moved over, but it resolved the email difficulties and I soon had scilla.org.uk moved over and all the DNS aliases set up for jhm, chris, photo, and so on.

World events: The number of COVID cases worldwide passed 7 million on 8^th June and 10 million on 28^th; and there were border skirmishes between China and India.

< May 2020 – Jul 2020 >

June 2015 (10 years)

I visited Thorganby on 13th, driving up through heavy rain most of the way. Donna couldn’t make it this time, but it was a good day. We visited Elvington for Aidan’s football awards day which included some sheep racing as well as football! In the evening Beth and the girls came over and finally I drove back home.

And I met my sister, Rachael, for coffee and lunch at Bosworth’s Garden Centre in Burton Latimer; it’s conveniently about half way between St Neots and Rugby.

Donna bought a new, purple HP laptop at PC World in Bedford. I suggested she spend a bit more on a higher spec device but she wanted the purple one!

I uploaded a new, revised version of Jesus, Disciple, Mission, Church (JDMC), a booklet on following Jesus based partly on the work of Alan Hirsch. I was very active in church life at this time, working with Several groups of people in and around St Neots. One of these was an Open Door Church small group run by our friends Roger and Carolyn. We met once a week for prayer, to sing, and to listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Normally we would meet at the Church office.

World events:  Lithuania officially adopted the euro as its currency; and the Kobanî massacre was one of three ISIL atrocities during Ramadan.

< May 2015 – Jul 2015 >

June 2010 (15 years)

We began work refurbishing the old sports shop in Cambridge Road, St Neots, to turn it into a coffee and book shop. The old place had become dreary and old-fashioned inside and out, but we were confident that a new, fresh, bright colour scheme would make a very considerable difference. The major tasks would be to install a small kitchen where the changing cubicles had been, and build a service counter with coffee machine and display for cakes and so forth.

On 13th we visited Thorganby for Aidan’s 4th birthday party; dinosaurs and their footprints were everywhere, and Aidan was impressively knowledgeable about the different species. The food was dinosaur-themed too.

JHM: I asked the question, ‘What is church?’ and wrote on seeing, hearing and touching Jesus. World events: There were ethnic riots in Kyrgyzstan and uzbekistan; and Julia Gillard was elected as the first female Prime Minister of Australia.

< May 2010 – Jul 2010 >

June 2005 (20 years)

We visited our friends Geoff and Dawn who live in Corfu, Dawn’s daughter married a Greek so they have grandchildren in Corfu, and it’s a lovely climate. We spent a week with them using a little guest room in their garden for sleeping but eating and spending all day with them at home and around the island.

Rosie and Richard were married (Rosie is my niece, Rachael’s daughter). Here’s something my Mum wrote for Rosie when she was born and brought it along to present at the reception! It’s so typical of my Mum.

At work at Unilever Research, I helped with some aspects of developing the Lipton intranet site and was helping set up new PCs for Knowledge and Information Systems (KIS).

World events: Wikipedia was featured in TIME Magazine; and there were protests in several European cities against software patents.

< May 2005 – Jul 2005 >

June 2000 (25 years)

Unilever’s Colworth Web Team was set up, I was a part of this and worked for the team for almost all my years at the company..

Our friends Tony and Faith came to visit and we took a look at the Monk’s Wood Reserve that they wanted to see.

We had a holiday in Yorkshire, hiring a cottage in the picturesque little town of Masham and visiting the surrounding countryside. We loved Masham itself, and also Ripon which I’d never visited before. We did a tour of the Black Sheep Brewery, right in Masham itself, really interesting and good fun as well.

June was definitely a good month, but also a busy month.

World events: There was a powerful earthquake in southwestern Sumatra; and the Human Genome Project was finished and released a first draft.

< May 2000 – Jul 2000 >

June 1995 (30 years)

The photo shows Beth and Grandad (Judy’s Dad) at Hilcot, between Cheltenham and Cirencester. Grandad’s dog, Skip, is in the water and would probably have got himself hosed down when they arrived home in Charlton Kings!

Judy was beginning to lose a little weight at this time though was still fit and well and not in any discomfort. She had read somewhere that drinking vegetable juices might help with cancer so we bought a juicer and submitted all sorts of vegetables to its noisy, destructive action.

Beth must have been sitting A level exams this month, while Debbie was busy with her finals at the University of the West of England in Bristol. These were important times for them both, with significant implications for the future depending on the results.

World events: A US F-16 fighter was shot down over Bosnia; and Space Shuttle Atlantis docked with Russia’s Mir space station.

< May 1995 – Jul 1995 >

June 1990 (35 years)

I chatted with Bill Giles the BBC weather forecaster at the Bath and West Show where I was working on the Long Aston Research Station (LARS) display.

A few days later, we drove to Charlton Kings, Cheltenham to visit Donna’s Mum and Dad, Madeline and Ron. Ron had an allotment nearby and he took us up to take a look at it. Like everything Ron did it was impeccable, not a weed in sight, all the plants raised in the greenhouse in his back garden, everything in dead straight rows. Quite regimented, really; but growing well. The allotment in the photo is not his, in the only one I have of him on his own plot, he’s far away and there’s no detail.

Towards the end of June, Debbie took a leading role in the Larchmount Players summer comedy in which bombs were transported on the London Underground and the other passengers made life extremely difficult!

World events:  JK Rowling had the initial idea for Harry Potter; and the 14th FIFA World Cup was transmitted from Italy to Spain in high-definition TV.

< May 1990 – Jul 1990 >

June 1985 (40 years)

There was country dancing at the Yatton Junior School Fete. Beth was involved in this and there were a lot of families and friends watching. I think I missed the fun because I was at work.

Debbie and Beth also took part in the fancy dress carnival procession through the village. Here they were setting off, still in the school grounds at this point. Beth was wearing a clown costume made by her great-grandmother, Nor. I believe it was originally for my Uncle Dick to wear!

World events:  The Schengen Area was created by five European states; and Route 66 was officially decommissioned.

< May 1985 – Jul 1985 >

June 1980 (45 years)

Debbie and Beth went on an expedition with Mum to climb the stone stairs to the top of Yatton’s church tower. It must have seemed a lot of steps, and then all of them to do again to get back down. At two-years-old I dare say Beth might have been carried, but Debbie must have climbed up and down the entire way.

Here we are later in the month, crossing the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. It was clearly a hot day (flaming June), we were a very typical young family, Judy and I were still both thirty-one-years-old when she took this photo.

World events: The first 24-hour news channel, CNN, was launched; and Tim Berners-Lee started work on software that would later lead to the Web.

< May 1980 – Jul 1980 >

June 1975 (50 years)

Debbie was three-months-old around the middle of the month and was probably able to hold things by herself. I’m guessing about the date of this photo, it might have been taken in July.

We hadn’t moved into our new home in Yatton yet, but the paperwork was all being processed. We didn’t move, I think until July or August, but at least by this time we probably had a definite date and would have given our landlord at the Belmont Road flat notice of our leaving date.

Exciting times!

World events:  The Suez Canal reopened after the Six-Day War; and military rule ended in Greece with the formation of the Hellenic Republic.

< May 1975 – Jul 1975 >

June 1970 (55 years)

This month spelled finals for Judy in Aber (Aberystwyth), and for me in Bath. As usual, for me this meant working in a hot exam room for hours and hours while suffering from a heavy dose of hay-fever. It was really not helpful!

I’d been studying Horticulture in year 4, while Judy was studying Biochemistry in year 3. The photo shows the Bath campus from the air around 1968. The large, pale construction site towards the upper right is the new maths and computing centre which was complete and in use by the time I graduated.

World events:  Soyuz 9 carried a two-man crew for a record nearly 18 day spaceflight; and Brazil defeated Italy 4–1 to win the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

< May 1970 – Jul 1970>

June 1965 (60 years)

This month, Rachael had her 8^th birthday and Ruth had her 9^th, both of them were finishing an academic year at Querns School. Dad’s 39^th birthday was also in June. If you want to see the riddles and their answers you’ll have to read the card.

I climbed Cirencester’s Parish Church tower and took some photos from the top, and also visited the World Gliding Championships at South Cerney with Dad and Günter, a German exchange student living with us at the time.

World events: There was a serious coal mine explosion in Fukuoka, Japan; and  the Vietnam War continued.

< May 1965 – Jul 1965>

June 1960 (65 years)

The school term ended in June, and that was also the end of my first year at Cirencester Grammar School. This is the main front entrance inside the lobby; turning first right led to the imaginatively named, two-storey ‘Red Brick Building’, second left was the Music Room, and right was the Library. Outside is a view across Victoria Road. (I took the photo in 1966, but nothing significant had changed.)

Ruth’s fourth and Rachael’s third birthdays were in June, Cindy was eight-years-old and I was still eleven (but only just).

World events:   New Zealand’s first television station began broadcasting; and Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller, Psycho, premiered in the United States.

< May 1960 – Jul 1960>

June 1955 (70 years)

This photo shows the corner of Cricklade Street (left) and Castle Street (right) in Cirencester. It’s based on a photo on the Wilts & Glos website.

The end of the school year was approaching as the second half of the summer term slipped by. I knew we’d have the long summer holiday and when we came back to school in September I’d be in my third year, not the second year any more. I was six-years-old at the time, but I’d be seven when we went back to school.

World events:   A source of diamonds was discovered in the Soviet Union; and Walt Disney released ‘Lady and the Tramp’.

< May 1955 – Jul 1955 >

June 1950 (75 years)

We went to Weston-super-Mare with Granny and Grandpa and stayed in one of the old hotels at the northern end of the front. I remember being fascinated by the waiter opening the doors on the wooden gramophone cabinet to make the music louder. We also visited Wells Cathedral on this trip.

(I know I remembered the gramophone from just two years old because I asked Mum and Dad about it much later when visiting them from Yatton. They were astonished and told me when and where it had happened. They remembered the name of the hotel we’d stayed in: The Lauriston).

World events:  The French Annapurna expedition reached an 8 000 m peak for the first time; and the Korean War began.

< May 1950 – Jul 1950 >

June 1945 (80 years)

At the end of May Dad travelled to Northern Ireland on leave and with some difficulties made it to Coagh on 29th. On 1st June they visited his old Ballinderry radar site and found it to be ’empty and derelict’. On 2nd they travelled to Belfast and had lunch with Mum’s Aunt Annie and her husband, Uncle Samuel. They sat in the sun outside City Hall and an American took their photo for them. After saying ‘Goodbye’ Dad caught the train to Larne, boarded the ferry, and was back in Stranraer in the evening, he wrote in his diary, ‘Horrible to leave Lilias’.

He then spent the rest of his leave in Cirencester catching up with the family and by the 10th he was back at camp in Alford. On 16th he spent a lot of time at the Butlins fun fair with others from camp. Radar duties continued 24/7 but with Germany defeated, the likelihood of hostile aircraft would have been zero.

World events:  The Allied Control Council took power formally in Germany; and the Battle of Okinawa ended, with U.S. occupation of the island.

< May 1945 – Jul 1945 >

June 1940 (85 years)

There’s not enough information to write something for every month in the 1940s. Dad’s diaries start in January 1943, so for January 1940 to December 1942 I’ll write about things I know, or draw on dated photos and documents. Sometimes I might use a photo or document with a guessed date.

Dad was fourteen-years-old on 4th June, and most likely at school at Rendcomb College just north of Cirencester on the Cheltenham Road. The family home was ‘Churnside’ at 37 Victoria Road on the eastern edge of Cirencester. Mum was still eleven and living with her parents in Coagh, just inside County Tyrone on the border of Londonderry.

One of the Jefferies’ nurseries was at Tower Street, this was on a plot of land that had once been very much larger and in the countryside on the southern edge of the town, but the town had expanded and the nursery was now surrounded by newer development; large parts had been sold off over the years, no doubt at a good profit.

The small piece that remained contained the Warehouse where seed-cleaning machinery occupied the top floor. The lower floors and the cellar were used for storage and processing of horticultural supplies and implements of all kinds. There were a number of greenhouses used for plant propagation and growing on in pots of various sizes. These were heated by a coke boiler feeding warm water through large bore pipes; during the winter months the boiler had to be tended and recharged with coke at roughly twelve hour intervals, usually around eight in the morning and then again around eight in the evening.

There was a packing shed in use all year round. Plants and sundries ordered by customers were packed in wood wool, tied up with raffia,and wrapped in sacking as required to protect them on their journeys; then delivered by horse and cart to local destinations in Cirencester and nearby villages, or taken to the nearby Cirencester Town Station for longer journeys by rail.

The photo is from a cine film taken in September 1960. The sign reads ‘Royal Nurseries, J Jefferies & Son Ltd, Cirencester’, but that aside, the greenhouses, pathway and warehouse would have changed little since 1940.

World events: The Dunkirk evacuation ended; and Paris was occupied by the Wehrmacht on 14th June.

< May 1940 – Jul 1940 >

1930-1939 (95 to 86 years ago)

Anything that appears in this section will be material that I believe belongs in this decade. Items will not be in sequence within the decade, but where I can make a good guess of the date I will do so.

This is an item that can be dated precisely. It mentions a nine-year-old, and other items with it as well as use of the name ‘Tigger’ show that it was part of a birthday present trail of clues for my Dad (he was known as Tigger by close family). As he was born on 4th June 1926, it’s almost certain that this trail was laid on 4th June 1935. It’s in my grandfather’s hand writing so we also know who laid the trail. And the stone steps and sharp right turn to a dark room describe the access to the concrete air-raid shelter where a step ladder must have been stored at the time. This little piece of paper tells us so much!

World events (June 1931): French industries warned that the US Smoot-Hawley bill would trigger an international tariff war; and the Dow Jones tumbled to its lowest level of the year due to anxiety over the Smoot-Hawley bill.

<< 1930s >>

(No earlier info) 1900-1929 >>

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