December 2020

‘Christmas is coming!’  Well, I suppose it always is, but this year preparations seem to have started earlier than ever. In the last week of October, St Ives switched on its Christmas lights and when Father Christmas made an appearance he socially distanced and stayed behind glass to wave at the children!

With many restrictions placed on us at the moment there will be no large Christmas gatherings this year, but our Memory Cafe members, like many of us, will have fond memories of happy and exciting seasonal parties in their younger days. Local organisations, churches, schools and employers would arrange Christmas events which were such a central part of our celebrations: trestle tables loaded with party food and crackers to pull, games such as musical chairs, postman’s knock and pass the parcel, perhaps a visiting magician or clown, and best of all a visit from Father Christmas who called everyone’s name in turn and gave wonderful presents – how did he know exactly what each of us really wanted?

For the girls best party dresses were the order of the day – if you were lucky with sparkly sandals and new white socks.  For the boys your best short trousers, shirt and tie and even a blazer – no jeans and tee shirts then!

Our photos capture one such happy event, held in Crantock in the 1950s – clutching their presents and balloons it looks as though this little crowd are preparing to go home and Father Christmas certainly looks as though he’ll be glad of a rest!

Perhaps you recognise some of these faces or better still are in one of the photos yourself. Maybe you can recall attending similar gatherings when you were a child.

Even before this year’s restrictions, events like these seemed to have faded into the past but the memories live on.  Let’s hope we can all adjust and have a very happy and healthy Christmas this year and we look forward to a time when we are all able to meet up again.

November 2020

Remember, remember the fifth of November ……. well, we always do, and nowadays many of us go to organised bonfires and firework displays, but it’s not like it was in the ‘old days’ is it!

Bonfire night in the 1950s and 1960s was much more of a ‘hands-on’ celebration: family and neighbourhood events were the order of the day, and the last weeks of October were the time for gathering wood and cardboard for the fire, making a good Guy Fawkes to put on the top of the bonfire, after he’d been taken around the streets in a wheelbarrow or go-kart to collect ‘a penny for the Guy’ of course!

There was great excitement in late October when fireworks were first seen in the shops – a selection box of Standard Fireworks was good but it was always a highlight to peruse the trays of individual items – rockets and Catherine Wheels were a must, but there had to be a few bangers of course, and don’t forget the fountains, Roman Candles and packets of sparklers too!

As the night finally arrived everyone hoped the weather would stay fine and all was set for an exciting evening – the fire was built, rockets set up in milk bottles and Catherine Wheels nailed to posts – dads were usually in charge of these!  Meanwhile mum had prepared a feast – in some households this would include ginger parkin and toffee apples, for others potatoes and sausages to bake in the fire, or perhaps mugs of hot soup to thaw us out as the night always seemed to be clear and frosty.  Children listened expectantly to hear the first fireworks go off and rushed outside to have a first look to see if any early fires had been lit. For the daring this was the time to set off bangers and Jumping Jacks and for boys to frighten unsuspecting girls!

As Guy Fawkes Night proper got underway the dark sky was full of colours, sounds and smells – small children waved sparklers whilst the older ones shrieked at the excitement of the sound of explosions with the air filled with ‘ooohs’ and ‘aahhs’.  

As the fire died down, everyone made their way back home taking with them a distinct smell of woodsmoke mingling with a whiff of gunpowder.

Do you remember the morning after? Ashes from the bonfire would still be smouldering and bleary-eyed children collected the remains of rockets and other fireworks as they made their way to school. Here comparisons would be made as to who had the biggest bonfire, the loudest banger, the highest rocket and who had set the hedge on fire!  Then to cap it all you had to write a poem about it!!

We all have our personal memories of Bonfire Night and it was certainly an occasion to remember. We look forward to a time once again when we can share such recollections when we meet up with our Memory Cafe friends.

September 2020

 This month we thought we’d look into our memory box of everyday items and recall when they were last used. Just think what you could have bought with a ‘ten bob note’ (50p) and when did we last use ink? How many of these items can you identify?

At our memory cafe we often handle and talk about things we have used in the past. If you have any items you think we could use, please get in touch, you can email us at crantockmemorycafe@talktalk.net.

We are still hoping it won’t be too long before we meet again, but we think it important to put the health and safety of our friends as a priority so won’t be rushing in to an early opening of the cafe doors.