Today Henry took me on a drive out. Nowhere really scenic, though it does have it's own tourist sign - "The Furness Peninsula". Shorthorns are known for their longevity, but there is still an inevitable end. We took three elderly cows to a local abattoir. The eldest, Strickley Goldie 132nd is over thirteen and had 10 productive lactations. I'm not really sure where the meat goes from such cows. Do I want to know?
It was also a chance to look back at my roots - my paternal grandfather (Wilfred Shaw) was born in 1901 nearby. His father (John Dixon Shaw), at the time of the 1901 census is listed as an Iron Ore Worker. They lived in a house on what is now the main A590 and with the wonders of Google Street View I could find it. Not a very exciting picture. I don't think the traffic lights and white lines were there in 1901.
And here's a photo of me, my father, grandfather (Wilfred), great grandfather (John) taken in 1952.
I've been looking back quite a bit this week. Compared to the Robinsons I don't have many relatives. Family sizes seem to have got smaller with each generation. I am an only child, as was my mother. My father had three brothers, but one died in the war and another never married. For one reason or another I've not had much contact with the family I do have, and Henry and I had talked about getting in touch with those we knew. My father's surviving brother, Bill Shaw, died last week and so we will meet up with the rest of the family. But a funeral is not what we had planned.
2 comments:
We reckon that must be Lindal, or very near? And your Great-grndad must have worked at Askam (where a certain cousin of Henry's was brought up). Before her time there were important ironworks there, fed at first by a local mine.
Small world.
Yes - Lindal in Furness. It is a small world - with out families cris-crossing but never joining. My maternal ancestors at one point lived near Old Hutton (they moved about a lot - not sure if there's anything to read into that!)
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