Daddy and Eve looking out across Arnos Vale, towards Brislington
Our 'Indian' Summer is upon us at the moment so we've been making the most of the sunshine. I took Friday off work which meant that I could do the cleaning and shopping, which gave me quality time to spend with Eve on the weekend. I took her to the park on both days and generally had a lovely time with her. We had lots of giggles and fun!
Eve in the playground by our house. The sand pit is huge
Eve in the sandpit, looking toward the tower of Knowle Catholic Church
We spent a good hour together at the park on Saturday morning, before we went up to Knowle. Eve is so good at leaving the park now. She used to cry when she was younger if she had to leave the swings. But now, after she's had a good run about the place, I tell her that we're going shopping (she naps, I wander about the shops). She then happily asks for a drink and a snack and gets into her pram. Little things that make a Mama's life that bit easier, eh.
After lunch on Saturday we took a walk through the woods with Daddy.
This one makes me smile -
Both Sam and Eve are making exactly the same face as they walk through Arnos Vale Cemetery.
Eve's first successful shoulder ride
Daddy enjoyed giving Eve a shoulder ride on our walk on Saturday afternoon. We tried to do this on a previous occasion but she got upset about it so we gave up. She seemed confident to be on Daddy's shoulders this weekend, which was great.
Eve surveying the beautiful parkland scene ahead
Happy people
The Fergusson's at Boca Bar
On Sunday we met Sam's brother and sister, with their families at Boca Bar. We hadn't seen any of them for quite a long time, so it was wonderful to catch up on their news. Eve just loved playing with her cool, older cousins. Huxley has just turned 4 and Scarlett will be 6 in February. They are both so grown up now.
Which portion size doe you think is correct? Click the link below to discover the answers.
Well, I don't know whether I agree with the article below or not. This popped up on Facebook yesterday which started us all pondering. Eve is petite so I don't think it is something that we have to worry about too much, and she does eat very healthily. I'm sure some people would agree with this article about food portions for children, whereas other parents would think it's ridiculous. I always try to take portion sizes into account, but am generally just happy when Eve eats a decent meal.
I think that government authorities make it confusing and difficult for parents, one minute they're telling us to make sure children have such and such and then that advice changes. I take it all with a pinch of salt - not literally :-) - these days.
We are lucky to be in a position where we have the opportunity to worry about such things.
During those long nights where I spent endless hours on the sofa with Eve as a newborn, I saw the Nutribullet for the first time on one of the late night shopping channels. It totally sucked me in and I've fancied having one ever since.
I found it a big struggle going back to work after maternity leave, and have been ill for most of this year. I had 5 days off work for August bank holiday weekend and spent the time relaxing at home, and did a Chakra cleansing meditation with my husband. This created a positive outlook and I have felt a strong change in myself physically, spiritually and emotionally. After the past couple of years I seem to have suddenly found myself again.
I've decided to try to get back to a healthier lifestyle. So, yesterday (maybe on a whim, but hey ho) I bought a Nutribullet online. You can buy them from various sites. They have good offers, and free delivery with free Nutribullet Supergreens (superfood powder).
I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in. Unlike juicers the Nutribullet whizzes up everything, including nuts, seeds and skin, so that nothing is wasted. I like this aspect of it as I really don't like wasting food. It will also be a great way of chucking in ends of vegetables and fruit that may otherwise not get eaten.
Whilst I'm on the subject of cleansing and juicing, I found a lovely website yesterday via a friend who lives in Brighton. The company 42 Juice is based there, it comprises of Coral and Natalie who set the company up after suffering from illnesses, and winning some money on the tv show 'Million Pound Drop'.
I love their story and the juices they produce look great. You can buy their juices for 1 or 5 day cleanses through their website. They are pricey, but hey, that's why I've bought the Nutribullet (sorry ladies). It looks like they have a booming business anyway, and wonderful ideas.
Daddy and Eve are hard at work this morning, doing paintings at home. These pictures really brightened up my morning. Looks like great fun. I'm sure it will be amusing trying to get Eve to taste some super juice one day soon :-)
I love how Eve is always so hands on. If we ask her to do something, she gets stuck right in. On Friday evening after work, as the warm September sun was going down, we took her out to our little front garden to pick tomatoes.
It is a memory that I shall always treasure. I was lucky to spend my childhood in the countryside, and feel that experiences like this are important for children to have. It is something that you really appreciate when you grow up; plus it teaches you about food, nature and how plants grow.
At Boca Bar, where we spent Saturday afternoon with some friends
Sam and I were very proud parents this weekend, when Eve counted to 10 independently as she walked through the cemetery with Daddy. She had counted to 7 whilst stacking blocks a couple of days beforehand, so we both held our breath as she counted her paces up the hill. When she reached 10 she let out a cheer, and so did we!
Walking through the cemetery with Daddy
It seems that you're either for tv or against it as a parent in these modern times. I'm sure that tv in part has definitely helped Eve with her early progression in counting, the alphabet and general development. Personally I feel that it's all about balance. We like Eve to watch tv in the early morning and evening because we know that she spends a lot of time running about playing indoors and outside during the day. She's started singing along with 'Charlie and the Numbers' on Baby tv from an early age, and now happily sits and learns about phonics on Youtube.
Yesterday when I collected her from nursery, Eve's key worker told me that Eve had recognised the letter 'S' and 'B' in a book.
Daddy found a great channel called Super Simple Learning Songs. Like he says, the sounds and music are good, no fear of the hideous children's internet euro-cheese here. There are loads of different things to work through and Eve loves watching it. Plus, it's a brilliant thing to keep her occupied in the morning, whilst we are trying to get ready for work.
At the weekend whilst we were at Boca Bar our friends introduced us to Sago Mini. It's a games app for kids, which is colourful, fun and entertaining. There are some free games, but you can also buy bundles etc, depending on which Sago Mini games you wish to download. We like the free Friends and Monsters games.
We don't have an ipad but Eve likes playing games on our phones. Thankfully us oldies just worked out how to use the Guided Access setting on our phones, as she kept trying to lock us out with her nimble fingers.
Wearing her Boden tights
Granny Loraine gave Eve some gorgeous baby Boden tights for Christmas last year. They were a bit too big for her last winter but now they fit. They are so thick and sumptuous, and come in lovely colours and designs. It's nice that she can stomp about in them with the knowledge that she's cosy and warm.
Eve is a funny old thing. It's not often that she'll eat cucumber slices if I give them to her during meal time. But she just loves to chomp right into the whole vegetable as she goes round the supermarket.
My mum, Teresa Hayes, walking towards the Cow and Calf - Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire
My mother and I have been talking about going on a heritage trip to Yorkshire since I was a teenager. My Grandpa Eric Swire Bates researched our family tree across many decades of the 20th Century. The Bates/Swire family tree dates back to the 1400's. Grandpa visited Yorkshire on a number of occasions during his life. His youngest son Andrew Swire (Uncle Andy), Andy's son Zack Swire, and my Uncle Jeremy Bates have all played their part with research as well.
Over the last ten years I have catalogued my Grandpa's memoirs and letters, along with the family history information that Uncle Andy loaned me. I am a big history fan, and especially love finding things out about my ancestors.
So, when my step-dad Bev, moved to a village outside of Huddersfield earlier this year, my mum and I were raring to visit him. Bev lived in Cornwall for 30 years and has moved back to the north of England to be near his children and grand-children. Combining our family history trip with a visit to see Bev was lovely, as I hadn't seen him for the past couple of years.
Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire
Mum and I set off super early from Bristol on the train. Bev collected us from Huddersfield station and took us to have lunch by the Cow and Calf on Ilkley Moor. As well as the name of the pub where we had lunch, the Cow and Calf is the outcrop of rocks on the moor. The 'Cow' is the large rock and the 'Calf' is the smaller one.
People have been carving their names into the rocks for hundreds of years. It was so inspiring walking around up there, looking down onto the town of Ilkley below.
Breathing in the fresh breeze up on the rocks was invigorating and refreshing. A change of scenery was the perfect thing, just what I needed. Looking out onto the beautiful countryside and vast moorland was really uplifting.
Mum and Bev looking across the moorland
Bev standing on the edge of the rocks, which worried me quite a lot! (1,319 ft above sea level)
The colour of the heather on the moor was so deep and rich, I felt like diving in.
I loved seeing Yorkshire dry stone walls. They are to Yorkshire, as high hedges are to Cornwall.
Ilkley Manor House
After our walk on the moor, we had a lovely time wandering about the small town of Ilkley. In my mind, I thought that Ilkley would be a village, so it was a pleasant surprise to walk around such a well kept town. It was fairly quiet and had a good atmosphere.
Before heading home we treated ourselves to tea and cake in the famous Betty's Tea Rooms, which were established in 1919.
Bev's son, Sam lives about half an hour away so he came over to have dinner with us in Liversedge that night. I'm pretty sure that Sam and I have not seen each other for 20 years, so it was great to catch up with him and talk about parenthood.
The weather the following morning was pretty miserable; grey and rainy. We had planned to walk on the moors near Haworth to see the famous Bronte waterfall. Unfortunately we had to give this a miss. I am using this disappointment as a push to get me back there one day for another attempt.
Keighley Library, West Yorkshire
The stone laid by Sir Swire Smith on the Coronation of King Edward VII, August 9th, 1902
Instead of going straight to Haworth village, we visited Keighley (pronounced Keethley) whilst it rained. The library was the main place that we wanted to visit as part of our heritage trip. If I've worked it out correctly, Sir Swire Smith was my mum's Granny Bates' father's cousin's son. (My Great, Great Grandfather's cousin's son).
My Great-Grandmother, 'Granny Bates', Puys, France, 1927
Sir Swire Smith - Oil on canvas by Solomon Joseph Solomon RA. Date circa 1900
The original painting can be seen in Cliffe Castle Museum, Keighley
Copyright Bradford Museum and Galleries
Sir Swire Smith (4 March 1842 – 16 March 1918) was an English woollen manufacturer, educationalist and Liberal Party politician. In many ways he was typical of the public-spirited, self-made Victorian.
Of nonconformist lineage, he believed in social and intellectual improvement, the virtues of hard work and thrift and the role of the Liberal Party in the encouragement and promotion of this ethic. The son of the founding family of 'Prince Smith & Son, Keighley combing and worsted machinery makers', he owned fleece mills and later Springfield Mills. He was knighted in 1898 at the age of 56 and became MP for Keighley when he was 73.
'The Master Spinner: a life of Sir Swire Smith' was written by Keighley Snowden and published in 1921. My mum has talked about it over the years and we know that someone in the family has a copy of the book. I've managed to find the full text online and am trying to borrow it via Bristol library services.
INTRODUCTION
WHEN Sir Swire Smith died, seven hundred people
made a procession to his grave and thousands
looked on. He had been a far more important
man than his modesty and certain other traits allowed the
world to know, and his life had been quite romantic, though
that was not divined. He owed the great funeral less to
his career than to a special charm of personality.
I propose to make his portrait as " The Master Spinner "
a type of that historical time before the war when this
country taught the use of machinery to the world. Not
only public work but much travel, of which he has left notes
that are very racy, qualifies him for large treatment ; and
so do his close relations with men like Edward Atkinson,
John Bright, Lord Bryce, Mr. Carnegie, Lord Morley, Lord
Ripon and Sir Henry Roscoe his contacts with royal and
other personages abroad, and his influence in affairs equally
the subjects of a vivacious record. It is only in part a
romance of business, but what would any good reader not
give for an intimate story of one of the old Hansa merchants ?
There is even reason why he should be preferred for
such treatment to most British manufacturers ; the life
was so uncommonly full, varied and joyous. When sworn a
Member of Parliament at seventy-three, Sir Swire Smith still
had so much vigour a bachelor with the fair hair and sound
physique of middle age that news writers dubbed him the
" youngest member " with a double meaning. He was
equally young at heart, life having been a sort of happy
adventure with him. He therefore seems to represent
very well that unique commercial period, with its quick
11
12 THE MASTER SPINNER
expansion, its optimism, and the free developments that
prepared us for a great stand against tyranny.
This, however, is first of all the story of a man's heart.
It would be of little interest that Sir Swire Smith attained
some distinction, and had friends throughout Europe and
in the United States, and was loved by his own people,
if he had not left candid personal notes. He wrote well,
and saw the world picturesquely. He also loved women
well. It was a sentimental life, and I am free to tell the
truth about it. At the same time, my friend rose from such
a plain level to serve his country that the romance is no
less evident in his prestige as a man of business than in any
affair of the heart.
I feel massively proud and honoured to have Sir Swire Smith as an ancestor, it makes complete sense that our current family, on the whole, are liberal minded people.
One strange thing, that I was aware of deep down but didn't really think about until now, is that I have worked in the textile industry for the past 8 years. I've walked around modern factories, where huge machines spin and weave fabric. In this respect I feel a connection to Sir Swire Smith, who was such an expert in the art of spinning and technical education. His interest in technical education in particular, is said to have been sparked in part by the inadequacy of the general education of mill workers. His concerns were also a reflection of the Government regarding the nation's developing industry and manufacture.
Keighley was the first Carnegie library, funded by Sir Swire Smiths friend, Scottish-American steel tycoon, Andrew Carnegie. Sir Swire Smith was instrumental in the founding of Keighley's first public library. Carnegie went on to finance the building of other free public libraries in England, Scotland and America.
Statue of Andrew Carnegie inside Keighley library
After the initial excitement of seeing the stone in the wall of the library outside, which Sir Swire Smith laid on the Coronation of Edward VII, we went into the library. As bizzare coincidence would have it, the library was holding a heritage event in a room upstairs.
Mum and I looked around and stumbled across some books in a glass cabinet. I had forgotten to bring my piece of paper with dates into the library, so I guessed and picked up a rather chunky book. Suddenly the book fell open on the photo below; a photo of Sir Swire Smith laying the foundation stone of the library in 1902.
Copyright, Keighley Library
We wanted to photo copy the page, so my mum asked a passing librarian. I explained the family connection to the lady. She became excited and said she had lots of information to show us. She said that she never thought she would meet relations of Sir Swire Smith, the library's founder. I could see the admiration that she held for him in her eyes. It made me feel quite emotional.
The librarian was so helpful, without her we might never have seen the information that she passed to us. We didn't find out anymore information than the family already had, but I think the copies of photographs certainly add to our family archive. We were over the moon at the outcome of our visit to the library. I'm pleased that my mum and I could assist with our family genealogy research.
Haworth village, West Yorkshire
After our trip to the library we drove the few miles over to the village of Haworth. The original street is a cobbled road on a steep hill. On arrival you can tell that the village is lovingly looked after. We enjoyed walking up the hill towards the Bronte Parsonage / Museum, looking in the quaint little shops en-route. As it was September there was a nice amount of people milling about, but no hoards of tourists thankfully. I was glad to see that the shops were not tacky in the slightest. Each shop seemed well placed and thought out, mostly selling original / handmade arts and crafts.
The Apothecary at the top of the hill is wonderful. They sell old remedies and beauty products as well as new. The scent that hits you as you walk through the door certainly sparks off nostalgia.
The Bronte Parsonage and Museum
I'm so glad that we went in the Bronte Museum, it was an absolute delight. It has been beautifully curated. Seeing so many original items that belonged to Charlotte Bronte and her family was fascinating. I particularly loved looking at her clothes, and the lace collars and cuffs with patterns that the sisters made. It was amazing looking at the tiny books that Charlotte and Branwell created when they were children too.
We saw a few other items that belonged to Emily, Anne and Branwell, but as Charlotte was the last remaining sibling alive, mainly it is her belongings that survive.
Click the link for further information on the Bronte Parsonage and Museum:
Charlotte Bronte, Chalk drawing by George Richmond 1850
During our time in Keighley and Haworth I really felt the spirit of the area (the genius loci), and imagined our ancestors as they walked upon the moors; with us now treading in their footsteps. It was very moving.
Looking out from the top of Haworth Village to the moor
On Sunday morning I watched videos of Eve on my phone as soon as I woke up, as I was missing her so much. I wandered around Huddersfield before boarding my train. There are some beautiful, old buildings there. I loved our trip to Yorkshire but was very happy that I was going home to see my gorgeous little girl, and husband, Sam.
Statue of Harold Wilson, Labour Prime Minister 1964 - 1970 and 1974 - 1976
Huddersfield train station
Wonderful, old industrial building next to the train line in Huddersfield
Whilst I was away Sam took Eve out for the first time with the Littlelife toddler rucksack/baby reins. He is very thoughtful and made me a video of their journey so that I didn't miss out.
I chose the Turtle rucksack for Eve and she adores it. She likes wearing it when she's at home as well as when she's out and about. It turned out to be a great buy, hurrah!
Our next family heritage trip will be to Enniskillen in Ireland, where we hope to research the Hayes side of the family. Not sure when that might be, but it's definitely on the cards. We don't know a great deal about the Hayes, so it will be interesting.
The Fergusson's at Boca Bar
Uncle Ben playing sticker games with Eve
Eve surveying the beautiful parkland scene ahead
Katie-Jane, Tom and Ben
The three ages of Man
