Family 'treasures'

I have thought about this old pull-along toy of mine (or maybe it was my brother's) many times over the decades, wondering if it was still at my parents'/brothers home in England. This was one of many sentimental things that arrived weeks ago in 12 boxes. It has only just sunk in as I type this, that of course this is a tricycle. Both my mother and father were extremely keen cyclists in their younger years - many old photo albums, which also travelled here from England, are filled with wonderful photos of my parents on their various cycling trips. I wonder if this toy was made by my father.

I was indescribably happy when I received an e-mail from one of my great friends in Birmingham the other day. The subject line said "John's drawings". I've never clicked on an e-mail so fast in my life! My friend, Anne, had come across two of my brother's old drawings when she was going through more of his papers. At least 30 years ago, John had sent two of my children a post-card sized drawings each and these have been treasured ever since. I had asked John to please, please send us more drawings over the years, but it just never happened. I even "said this to John", in words that were read out at his service : ) Even though he was an amazing artist, everyone else had more confidence in his artistic ability than he had himself, as so often can happen. To suddenly find two of his drawings "in front of me" is absolutely priceless. I suspect these were done many years ago, perhaps when he was in College, and he would no doubt say it was "just a doodle". We can't thank Anne enough for her careful search through endless piles of papers, making sure that nothing important to us is missed. Later: oh, boy, does it never end? The moment (today) I more or less finished copying and pasting about 4,500 e-mails into Word Documents thanks to the corrupted Inbox, I plug in my two external hard drives, determined to start doing some long-overdue backing up. I got a message saying something about data being lost and that it might be a Microsoft (?) problem, data couldn't be saved to my G drive (external), though I hadn't even started to add new stuff. Then I got that nasty blue screen with the white text! Finally managed to get my computer back and running - but I don't think I will plug in my G drive again for now. Lol, what I would really love is to have a week, or even just one day, without constant stress of one kind or another!!!! I've totally forgotten what it feels like!

Though these things may not look all that important, they brought back so many memories of my parents, my Father especially. When my Brother in England died a couple of years ago, these books and cycling clips were amongst the family belongings that great friends of mine sorted through and then shipped over to Canada for me. Both my parents absolutely loved cycling and I am lucky to have wonderful memories of going with my parents and Brother on our bikes into the countryside around Birmingham, UK. I have such fond memories of my Mother searching for wildflowers (a love for which she passed on to me) and my Father taking photos (especially of steam trains, for which he had a passion!). The old bicycle clips were one of the most precious thinsg sent out to me. I had no idea I would discover them in a box stuffed full of interesting papers. Memories of my father bending over to attach the clips over his trousers and ankles, came flooding back. The three books in the image above will be passed on to my son, who is a keen cyclist, too. There is a note inside the "Ragged Staff" book, saying: "Best wishes to Tom B. (my Father, Tom Carden Bassindale) - good cyclist and first-class photographer" - 'Ragged Staff'', April 1947. "Ragged Staff is the pen name of Rex Coley, a journalist on Cycling (which became Cycling Weekly) in the 1940s and 1950s. Each article is an entertainment - a short tale or scene from the life of a keen cyclist, who is never happier than when traversing the country on two wheels. There are endless social mishaps, with boarding house land ladies who have a low opinion of cyclists; hotel porters who insist on carrying saddle bags like the baggage of grandees; and station masters who don't approve of means of transport that do not require the purchase of tickets. Much of the time Ragged is accompanied by his wife, Ann, his foil and frequent debunker. On occasion, the son, and even the pet dog join them awheel. Coley was an accomplished writer. These are simple little tales with no pretensions to literature, but Coley makes them a pleasure to read. Each is alive with incident and dialogue." googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-3887... Round the World on a Wheel: "Sir John Foster Fraser (1868–1936) was a British travel author. In July 1896, he and two friends, Edward Lunn and F. H. Lowe, took a bicycle trip around the world riding Rover safety bicycles. They covered 19,237 miles in two years and two months, travelling through 17 countries and across three continents. He documented the trip in the book Round the World on a Wheel." From Wikipedia. This may have been the first serious book written about cycling.

This is a carriage that goes with a large, heavy, beautifully-made, working model of the Stephenson's Rocket, 3 1/2" gauge, made by Hornby. The engine and the tender measure 18" in length, so you can imagine what the total length would be with the carriage as well! It has taken me so long to get it out of its box and photograph it, but I need to get it to my oldest daughter in the next little while. My Father, an exceptional photographer, was also a lover of steam trains, travelling all over England and Europe photographing them many years ago. When he died, he left a large collection of model trains (a curse for my Mother, lol, and also for my friends, Linda and Tony, who so generously went through everything when my Brother died!), including this real beauty. He also had a much smaller version, which I will keep for myself, but my oldest daughter inherited her Grandpa's love for steam engines and she was so eager to have this. So, my good friends in England sent these out to me when my Brother died, along with all the other personal things. "Stephenson's Rocket was an early steam locomotive of 0-2-2 wheel arrangement, built in 1829 at the Forth Street Works of Robert Stephenson and Company in Newcastle Upon Tyne. It was built for, and won, the Rainhill Trials held by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1829 to choose the best design to power the railway. Though the Rocket was not the first steam locomotive, it was the first to bring together several innovations to produce the most advanced locomotive of its day. It is the most famous example of an evolving design of locomotives by Stephenson that became the template for most steam engines in the following 150 years. In 1862 Rocket was donated to the Patent Office Museum in London (now the Science Museum) by the Thompsons of Milton Hall, near Brampton. The locomotive still exists, in the Science Museum (London), in much modified form compared to its state at the Rainhill Trials." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephenson's_Rocket For anyone who is interested, this is a link to a YouTube video of one of these models in action. This was a test run for the Hornby live steam Stephenson's Rocket at the KMYCA track in Antwerp. youtu.be/pQhOUbB7378 Ha, just HAD to share this YouTube video (thanks, Dave!). It never pays to tease a frog! youtu.be/QzXM58qR1Es

No eyes, hardly any fur, and a "squeaker" that no longer growls .... that's my dear old Teddy bear from when I was a little girl (a few decades ago, LOL). A few months ago, a family member was on a short trip to England and was given this bear by my brother, to bring over to Canada for me! Just after Christmas, I was able to collect him from my son's. Can't remember what the bright red bow was from, but it was still lying on my two-seater since Christmas. I gave it to my Teddy to brighten up the photo : ) It feels so weird to see and feel this old, beloved toy again. Just wish he could "see" me : (.

A rather battered, well-used, wooden object that kept me busy for many hours as a child : ) It's just over 3" tall. Wanted to get a quick shot of it before I pass it on to one of my kids. The first link is to a YouTube video (not in Engish) showing one of these objects in use: youtu.be/PTpoyn-b4uI www.waynesthisandthat.com/knittingnancys.html www.squidoo.com/corking

These old, tarnished silver thimbles came over from England to me after my Brother died two years ago. They belonged to my Mother, who loved needlework, and brought back many fond memories. As well as making all her own clothes and mine, she also taught needlework in a secondary school for a number of years. When I saw my two daughters in the last few days, I passed on one of Grandma's thimbles to each of them. I think I would much rather see silver than tarnish, but I guess you aren't supposed to clean old things.

My parents were both very keen cyclists in their younger days, and I was fortunate enough to grow up with endless bike rides into the countryside around Birmingham, England. These started off with baby me riding in a sidecar, then on a child's seat sitting behind my Dad on his bike, to eventually riding my very own bike. When my amazing group of friends in England sorted through all the belongings of my parents and my Brother when he died two years ago, they put aside this old cycling badge and several pins that had belonged to my Father. He had been a keen member of the Solihull Cycling Club. These family "treasures" are about to be passed on to my son, who has always been a very keen cyclist : ) LOL, I think my parents saved everything, which is SO lucky for us!

This was my paternal Grandmother's (Alice Gladwell Bassindale, nee Carden, born in 1876) sewing box, which was then passed on to my Mother, who did a lot of sewing in her lifetime, including teaching Needlework when I was an older child or teenager. I remember my Mother using this box. If I remember, I will post a photo of the inside sometime. I was thrilled to bits when my wonderful group of friends in England sent this out to me with all the other personal stuff that had belonged to my Parents and my Brother, after my Brother died two years ago. I am now passing it on to one of my daughters.