curate your own
DESCRIPTION
ÂTRANSCRIPT
C U R A T E Y O U R O W N
A multimedia arts project celebrating peoples stories through artefacts, words, audio, photography and moving image
Curate Your Own session at
The Place Café, Airedale
C U R A T E Y O U R O W NC O N T E N T S
Foreword 4
Introduction 5
Curiosities, Toys and Trinkets 8
Jewellery and Decorative 13
Sound, Musical and Moving Image 18
Everyday Objects 22
Photography and Art 32
The People’s Museum 46
This book is dedicated to the memory of Emily Harper,
fondly known as Little Em, who fell asleep 97 years young.
3
Museums are spaces where people can come
to get a sense of their place in the bigger
picture of history. Objects reflect back the
experience of our own lives, or those who’ve
lived before us, ensuring a continuum in a
larger society and culture. The artefacts
in a museum can trigger memories, like a
collective memory box, often validating
people’s own personal everyday experiences
as important and worthwhile.
For me, one of the highlights of the Curate
Your Own project was meeting the project
participants, many whom said they do not
visit museums very often, and seeing the joy
and excitement that the everyday objects on
display in our museum evoked in them. There
were moments of pure joy where faces lit up
while looking at objects, or handling items,
and memories were shared and celebrated.
Curate Your Own has beautifully captured a
sense of excitement and interest in exploring
Foreward John Whitaker
the importance of people’s own history. The
museum are pleased to have supported
One to One Development Trust in delivering
the Curate Your Own book, film and virtual
museum project.
The staff in all of the Wakefield, Pontefract
and Castleford Museums are here to welcome
you. We would like to invite you into the
museums to look, reflect, learn, enjoy quiet
time and answer any questions you may have.
John Whitaker
Curator
Wakefield Museum
“Memory is the diary we all carry about with us.”
- Oscar Wilde
The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895
Mary and Wendy enjoying the exhibits 4
Curate Your Own has been a wonderful
project working with people to create an
online virtual museum, a book and two short
films. The material has been gathered through
sessions in reminiscing, storytelling, film
making and photography run in community
venues. Participants brought along objects to
the workshops to talk about, which led to the
building of a collective memory box and that
became known as ‘The People’s Museum’.
Trips were organised to Wakefield and
Castleford Museums. Under the expert guide
of curators John Whitaker at Wakefield
Museum and Dave Evans at Castleford
Museum, the participants had fun hearing
about the collections and exploring their own
stories and memories in the context of the
museum collections.
Further contributions to the project were
gathered through social media by promoting
the collaboration between One to One
Introduction Judi Alston
Development Trust and Wakefield Museums
asking people to tweet, Facebook or text
photographs and stories about their special
objects. This encouraged a wider interest
in the project and a different cohort of
participants.
The People’s Museum is a creative,
experimental environment that is inspired by
the stories and artefacts that came forward
through Curate Your Own. We would like you
to join Poppy the museum cat, to explore it
online at your leisure. This book is a catalogue
of some of the items and stories available
from the online version of the project.
There is a fundamental inquisitiveness in
the human condition that enjoys hearing the
stories of other people and getting glimpses
into other peoples lives. Curate Your Own
celebrates these snap shots of life from the
everyday to the more curious.
Curate Your Own has encouraged its
contributors to take a moment out of their
normal routine, to stop, self-reflect and think
about an object that signifies something
special in their life, then creatively share its
story. Thank you to everyone who has taken
part in this project and supported it.
Judi Alston
Creative Director
One to One Development Trust
March 2014
5
Poppy who sadly passed away during the
project at the young age of 16 and inspired the
People’s Museum virtual cat.
A quirk of Natural History collections is that specimens
without ‘providence’ (i.e. those that lack background
documentation), are often of little scientific value and
consequently fall out of circulation in museum displays.
In 2009, shortly after completing a degree in Zoology, I
picked up some collections management work sorting
through several thousand zoological specimens which
had been languishing in a store room for over 50 years in
the biology department of my old university.
I found this specimen of a chameleon hidden behind a
bunch of ropey looking frog dissections and decided it
was a keeper. However, because it lacked the necessary
paperwork, the Professor overseeing the work decided it
could not be kept and would need to be ‘deaccessioned’
(museum speak for ‘chucked out’). In the end, though,
he decided to gift it to me as a reward for my hard work
on the project. I now work for an amphibian and reptile
charity and have used this specimen in a number of talks
on adaptation. I’m always happy when I get to do this
because, perhaps rather ironically for a long-dead lizard,
it feels like I have given the specimen a new lease of life!
Vanna Barber Chameleon
Bringing young and older members of the community together in Curate Your Own worked well. This communication between the generations builds a strong sense of community and cohesion. 68% of the participants said they ‘enjoyed spending time with people of different ages’.
C U R A T E Y O U R O W N
Curiosities, Toys and Trinkets
“Makes my heart smile seeing the old folk light up over their past memories.”
Holly Ellis
6
I found him in a junk shop. Felt sorry for him.
Everyone hates him - I love him. I’ve rescued
him from the scrap yard.
Anne Thorley Doll
Hannah Furlong Pot Horse
I desperately tried to win this pot horse
on a tombola aged five but ran out
of money so the lady gave me him.
He became the first ever present I
gave to my grandma, who looked
after him until her last day... and
now he stands in my room looking
after me.
I got this item nearly 16 years ago after my
great nannan died. When I was young she
would tell me things about when she was a
little girl (she was born in 1904) and what a
rough life she lived. It’s special to me for two
reasons: firstly, it belonged to a very special
person who was loved by everyone and she
lived until she was 94! Secondly, it reminds
me about the different
times in history we
both grew up in, how
change has to happen
and that we have to
accept change even if
we don’t like it.
Rebekah Eyles Flower Girl
I have no idea where this doll came from,
she’s just always been with me. She reminds
me of my childhood and times when there
was no need to worry, just
time to play, that’s why
she means a lot to me.
This is Bonny Lad. My husband, Frank,
bought him for me when I was 32; we’d just
got married and were living in Scotland.
We moved with the pits as Frank was
a miner, Bonny Lad has always
come with us and lives at the
end of the fireplace.
Nancy Holme Scottish Decanter
I never had a dolly when I was little, we
couldn’t afford one. When my sister and
I were in our teens, my mother bought us
each a little celluloid dolly, I don’t think you
can buy them now. My mother knit all these
clothes and I have treasured this dolly my
whole life because she did it with her own
hands. I’m sorry she’s passed on now,
bless her.
Irene Hargreaves Doll
This clown doll is so special to me. My granny
and granddad had a craft business where
they made little peg dolls. My granddad
used to make the wooden parts and paint
their faces, and my granny would make their
clothes and hair. We’d spend hours helping
make them and have wonderful fond
memories of being little and helping
out at craft fairs. This doll takes me
back to a special place in my heart,
my grandparents instilled in
me a creativity and love
of making things.
Clair Mason Clown
8
Nancy at the Addy, Knottingley
The Three Wise Monkeys, ‘see no evil, hear no
evil, speak no evil’, belonged to my nan, then
to my Auntie Eileen, and then when she died,
my mum gave it to me.
From being very young I’d always been
fascinated by this ornament and now love
the representation it signifies across many
different cultures and centuries. I always
wondered which wise monkey I could be.
Judi Alston Three Wise Monkeys
When I was 14 or so, my local friends went
to the local school but I didn’t. I heard them
talking about a boy everyone fancied:
his name was John Mackie. There was
excitement one evening because we were
all going somewhere and he would be there.
He was about a year above us all at school.
I had never seen him but everyone else was
interested in him.
We went to the event and at
some point he came over, sat
down and started chatting – to ME!
He was cool and he wore John Lennon
specs.
He walked me home that night
and asked if we could go out the
following day. We went into town
together and he bought me this little
wooden Viking figure. Our romance didn’t
last very long, but it always felt sweet
that he took me out and bought me
Irene Rhodes Viking
something – despite the attention he was
receiving from all the girls at his school he
asked me.
That was 44 years ago. My little Viking
survives, missing one horn from his helmet
and his arm that was originally carrying a
spear. He is faded and his glue is all but
gone so bits of him are always
dropping off, but he survives.
He has never had a name
but my granddaughter
saw him for the first
time and said he
should be called David.
So let him be David. But
his surname will always
be Mackie.
10
Clair Mason CatsHere are my two bling
cats. I love them! I had
a massive cull of all my
things but these got to
stay. I love cats and my
two real cats have been my
constant companions for the
last 16 years.
My bling cats, well, they please
my eyes and heart. The way
they glimmer in the sun makes
me smile. I think I must have
been a magpie in a former
life because I am partial to all
things shimmery.
Doreen Zacharow Acrobatic Doll
My dad bought me this wind-up doll when I
was one, so she’s 78 years old now. I thought
she was great, although I was never allowed
to wind her up in case I broke her.
My mam stopped me playing with the doll
because my two sisters and I, and my mates,
used to go up on the Rec, where the swings
were, and climb up to try and do acrobatics
like the doll was doing. My mate finished up
with broken leg and a dislocated shoulder.
11
Members and volunteers of
The Addy Luncheon Club visit Wakefield Museum
Tracey Yates TeddyTeddy was made for me by my auntie. He
was a gift to me at my birth. This means
Teddy is now... cough... years old – which
I’m told is very good for a bear with very
little stuffing! He’s gone bald in patches
from being loved so much, and his nose is
dirty and stained, from years of having Vicks
VapoRub put on it whenever I had a cold.
Teddy went everywhere with
me: he has been on planes,
trains, boats, bicycles and
even roller-skates, usually in a
rucksack. Now he resides on the
top of my bookcase. He’s so
fragile these days and I worry
he may fall apart, but the
little girl in me is sad that
he isn’t hugged anymore.
Debra Atkinson DollTo make the hair my gran used to wind wool
round a knitting needle and then leave it a
little bit, before taking it off and chopping
it up for little curls.
My granddad used to paint the faces
and make the doll, then my gran used
to make all the clothes and things
on her sewing machine, like a little
pillow and things.
They used to go to craft-fairs,
and make scenes with props, like
old washing mangles, and have peg
dolls working on them.
13
This was my mother’s locket, I don’t know
where it came from but it has a foreign face
carved in it. I’m 91 so it must be over 100
years old. I got it when she died, and inside
there are photographs of my mum, and me
and my husband. He was in the Navy, we met
in Belfast but he was from Knottingley. My
mother loved him and this locket is what I
treasure most now.
A lot of participants said that they didn’t think anyone would be interested in their artefact or story. ‘You don’t want me to take a picture of this silly old thing do you?’; ‘Why are we filming this, no-one will be interested’ – but the rest of the group listened on expectantly saying, ‘Yes we are, come on!’
Jeanie Humphries Locket
C U R A T E Y O U R O W N
Jewellery and Decorative
“It is wonderful for everyone to get together doing something different and a chance to reminisce.”
Shelly McIntyre
Amelia Treasure Bracelet
It’s a bracelet from my great gran. She was
struggling to pay the bills, so she started
getting lodgers, and then she had a really bad
accident where she fell off a bus and lost her
leg. She had to have a wooden leg put on.
She kept on with the lodgers and made a bit
of money and that’s how she bought this. It’s
not proper gold, but it has got maybe a little
bit in it…
14
Douglas Chance Medals
I was a coachman for the Queen, serving for
35 years. This is from the Queen herself, that’s
a personal medal, very few people get that
one. RVM – Royal Victoria Medal it was first
brought in by Queen Victoria. That one was
when I rode on the coaches on the Jubilee,
and that was after my first 20 years in service.
It was funny how I got the job – it was a bet.
I was in racing stables as a jockey and my
mate said, ‘I bet you 10 quid you can’t get an
interview for the palace’. I said
‘right, you’re on’. So I wrote for an
interview, expecting nothing at all, but I got
a letter from Buckingham Palace to go for an
interview.
There was a fella there called the Master of
the Horse, I used to go hunting with him and
my bosses when I was 14 years old. He was
with the Queen and, when he saw me in the
yard, he said, ‘Jingles!’
I turned round, and the Queen said to him, ‘do
you know him?’ He said, ‘yes, Ma’am’. She said,
‘why do you call him Jingles?’ He said ‘I gave
him that name when he was 14 years old, and
he used to hunt with me down on my estate
with Captain Gerald Balding’. Then the Queen
said, ‘I’ll always call him Jingles from now’. All
the years I was with her she always called me
Jingles.
15
My great grandmother was posthumously
charged with murdering her child when
she drowned herself and baby. This rosary
belonged to another daughter, my granny,
who also had a hard life. Her faith was her
comfort and I treasure this because it was her
fingers and thumb that smoothed away the
figure on the cross.
Helen Watkiss Rosary
Jeanette Homer MedalThis is my dad’s Carlsberg Trophy Darts
League Winner, 1971, Robin Hood & District.
He always wanted to be a professional darts
player – he never got there, but he won loads
of big trophies and went all round the country
playing at clubs.
Fran Campbell Jewellery Box
This is a little jewellery box that my son, Andy,
made me years ago. Much treasured. It has the
original cotton wool in which is yellowing a bit
now!
This medal has the Carlsberg logo on it. He
used to make his own flights out of paper,
folding them like origami – you used to make
your own and have them weighted, because
they’re all different weights.
16
Sarah from Airedale enjoying
the Men in the Mirror exhibition at Wakefield Museum
Wendy Gordon Necklace
This is my ‘head’ necklace which I bought
about 20 years ago. I’d like to say it was
from somewhere exotic but it’s from a shop
in Wells, although I believe it was carved in
South Africa. I fell in love with the serene look
on the head. It’s carved in an aromatic wood
which smells delicious when it gets warm.
I’ve worn it lots over the years and it has
accompanied me on many adventures.
I treasure it and it’s one of the few things I
own that I’d be heartbroken if I ever lost.
This is my Eumig Viennette Super 8 cine
camera that I bought at the age of 11 in 1976
for £105. I bought it from Tasker’s camera
shop in Barnsley. This was my second cine
camera as I had begun my filmmaking life
using a 1960s Bell & Howell standard 8
camera, but I soon outgrew that
one and needed something
with a little more
‘power’. To pay
for it I had two
paper-rounds
and worked in a
joinery on Saturday
mornings.
I had had an interest in making films
from an early age and was always
fascinated how television
programmes were made. I used
to build models of sets on my
bedroom windowsill, complete
with stage lighting, and pretend to
make TV shows. I filmed friends
Dean Hinchliffe Cine Camera
and family, I made animations using Plasticine
models and I filmed air-shows at RAF
Finningley. I didn’t film nearly as much as I
would have liked because each film cartridge
cost about £7.50 and was only three-and-
a-half minutes in
duration. I now
have a small
archive of our
early life to
look back on
and I have fond
memories of making
those short silent films. For
me, however, I think the most
important thing about this
camera is that it pretty much
defined how my life was
to pan out for the next
(nearly) 40 years as I
pursued a career making
films and working in the
media industry.
Curate Your Own has gathered artefacts, photos and recorded stories from a diverse range of participants, 17 to 97 years old. The collection spans nearly 150 years.
C U R A T E Y O U R O W N
Sound, Musical and Moving Image
“It was very interesting and unexpected to see things that I knew about from my past.”
Emily Harper
18
I found him in a junk shop and felt sorry for
him. Everyone hates him – I love him. I’ve
rescued him from the scrap-yard.
Holly Ellis Xylophone
Lorraine Mitchell RecordMy dad used to like rooting round the second-
hand shops and I remember so clearly the
excitement of my mother when she found
this album and asked dad if she could have
it. I could only have been about 10 so this
was 44 years ago. We took it home and,
as soon as I heard it, I understood why she
loved Josef Locke so much. (He was an Irish
tenor who sang in operettas like The White
Horse Inn and Pirates of Penzance. On this
album he sings Violetta – the ‘Cornetto’ song
– in English and I’ll Take You Home Again
Kathleen, and When You
Were Sweet Sixteen). He
did his own orchestration
and the songs have
such drama in their
presentation. I played the
album recently and the
passion still brings tears
to my eyes. I feel it is the
one thing that identifies
the part of me that is my
mum.
19
My grandfather’s banjolele. He used it to
accompany himself whilst breaking wind.
True!
Tony Wade Banjo
Don Atkinson BBC Microphone The reason I treasure the AXBT microphone
is that it is the symbol of British broadcasting
and is the microphone used by past Kings
and statesmen, plus other famous people
in the BBC’s history. So many archive BBC
photographs of shows, like The Goon
Show, and others have this microphone in
prominence.
Fortunately I obtained it by swapping another
antique mic for the one in the picture. It
still works and sounds rich and round and
is a tribute to British manufacturing too.
The microphone was manufactured for the
BBC in the UK and is a type called a ribbon
microphone.
I suppose it is possible that someone like
Winston Churchill or King George VI may have
spoken into this one. I believe it came from an
outlet called BBC redundant stores who sold
off old BBC stock.
20
Sample Caption on Photo Trying on bloomers staff and volunteers from The Addy
The hot water bottle belonged to my nana
and granddad. It’s a reminder of childhood
visits to their house in the 1960s. They had an
outdoor toilet, no bathroom and no heating
in the bedrooms, but they were very happy
times.
Nana helped us bake scones and coffee
kisses. This was her measuring spoon.
Jacqueline Sharp Hot Water Bottle & Weighing Spoon
Colette Welby Clock
This is the clock that used to hang in our
lounge when I was growing up, marking the
passage of our lives. I used to imagine it
belonged on a ship... It no longer works and
the braid has frayed but still it tells me of a
time in my life, shared by those who are no
longer here.
Many of the project’s participants had not been to a museum before, or only ‘years ago as a child’. This engagement into the museum for local residents (and subsequently their families) is exciting, encourages aspiration and promotes confidence.
C U R A T E Y O U R O W N
Everyday Objects
“What a great project, brilliant trip and opportunity to see new things, meet new people and enjoy a lovely time.”
Hannah Inanvschak
22
Terry Campbell Bowl
Doreen Zacharow Brass Bag
This bowl is very special to me – it brings
back lovely memories of my mum and dad
every time I look at it. For as long as I can
remember this beautiful and colourful bowl
was on display on the shelves at their house
in Halifax. I don’t know just when or how they
obtained it (or if it is of any monetary value),
though it must be very old now. It now has
pride of place in our home in Lincolnshire.
Once I went with a friend to her sister’s house
and we got talking about stuff, and she says
‘do you like handbags?’ I says ‘yes’, and she
says ‘I’ve got one you can have’. Well, I’d never
seen anything like it, I were 36. She opened
it up and I took it like and, when I used to
have it, I hung it up on a hook at the side of
my fireplace, and everybody passed remarks
about it. I had plenty of offers to sell it, but I
says no.My grandfather’s (Pop) shaving mug that
sat on their bathroom windowsill with his
shaving brush, razor and full of creamy white
soap. I can remember the smell. It was odd
to me as a child as my dad (the Hippy) had a
beard so didn’t shave and this represented
something I had no connection with – being a
girl – and from my Pop’s generation of ‘short
back and sides/clean shaven’. He always had
another shave Sunday evening when he and
nan went out to the pub and this was when I
often would see him using it. Now it sits in my
bathroom and connects me to him and his
generation.
Louise O’Neil Shaving Mug
23
A warm welcome from Wakefield Museum’s curator John Whitaker
25
Hazel Richardson A Letter
I found this with all my mum’s paperwork
after she died as she’d left it for me and my
sister. It’s her handwriting, and it’s a prayer
and a message. I’ve laminated it to try and
keep it in one piece, it was fading and getting
broken. It’s quite poignant
‘Dear Father, whose will it is that their
children should dwell in peace and unity, help
us to live bravely and cheerfully, and to show
loving kindness to all. Grant that we may do
the work that was given us with willing hearts
and give us the wisdom that we may find
happiness in the small things of life, and make
us faithful in all we do.
‘Farewell, dear children, my life is passed. I
loved you dearly to the last. Weep not for me,
nor sorrow take, but love each other for my
sake. Love, Mum.’
I don’t read it very often but that is something
that nobody gets their hands on that, that’s
mine.
Navigating over
Charles Waterton’s
famous caiman
Debra Atkinson Coupons & Badges
My gran used to save us all these coupons,
most of them expired in 1990, and these were
what we used to buy and sell.
We’d line our dolls up as customers, and
me and my sisters used to fight to be the
shopkeeper.
My granddad used little off-bits of wood to
paint up as sweets and put them in jars, and
we used to have my gran’s big scales, those
you had to put a weight on to weigh things.
We used to sell little badges, anything that we
could find to sell, like this I Love Wimpy party
badge and Naughty Uncle Wally & Wendy.
My dad found these shoes in the wall of an
old hospital that he was knocking down. I
think they are really old – apparently in the
olden days they used to put shoes into a
wall for good luck as a custom. What was
weird was when my dad got home he was
working on our house and knocked one of
our walls down and found a baby’s shoe
buried in the wall. It was really weird.
Mary Iverson Shoes
26
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Mary and Amelia sharing stories at The Place Cafe, Airedale
Jeanette Homer Crochet Patterns
It’s my grandma’s coffee grinder. I have no
idea how she got it but I do think it’s very old.
She was strict and very old-fashioned. All the
rules and manners that I learnt were more
from my grandmother than my mum. I used to
stay at my grandma’s a lot and I learnt to cook
with her.
Vicky Verster Coffee Grinder
Jeanette at
The Place Café, Airedale
I like crocheting because it’s colourful, making
blankets out of knit squares is a great idea as
it gets rid of all your scraps of wool, and it is
functional as well.
In the old days it gave us something to do
on winter nights, it used to take our mind off
being cold because we didn’t have central
heating. We had ice on the inside of the
windows. But now we can’t afford to put our
central heating on, so we’re making these
kind of things again.
28
The Barber’s Boy
Sarah Ellis Plate
Fran Campbell Bible
This is my very first Bible. My mum bought it
for me when I was 10 years old. It has lovely
coloured pictures in and, though pretty worn
now, it always reminds me of my mum.
I have a thing about spoons, I collect spoons.
Don’t ask why, just for some obscure reason
they appeal to me. I have about 200 at home
but I can pick them all out straight away.
Spoons are historical – when the grandkids
come they get them out, often they pick the
ones with the pretty pictures, and you can
indirectly teach them a little bit of history.
Hazel Richardson Spoons
This is a 1960’s cheap plate that came from
Woolworths, it was popular at the time. When
my daughters were little they used to eat their
tea off it. Now it hangs on the wall and is quite
iconic as a piece of retro chic.
29
Sarah exploring Wakefield Museum
Rachel Wilcox Plate
Martin YoungBook
A marvellous tome, and a recent acquisition
of mine in a ‘J.R. Hartley’ manner... a glorious
compendium that has been both in my life,
and out of it, over the decades. But I am
pleased to report that this first edition from
1936 is now firmly in my grasp, and so it will
remain. A most treasured item, indeed.
I’m a traditional barber and have been a
collector of male grooming items for 47
years. This is a famous dressing called
bear’s grease, and it came from the oil of
bears, a very repugnant smell that had to
have perfumes and oils added to it. This is
from 24 Old Bond Street, London, and it
cost 2 shillings and six pence.
This is a dessert plate from a tea set I
inherited from my grandma, Isabel. It’s called
Bird of Paradise and was made for Harrods by
the Plant Company in their Tuscan range.
She was given it as a wedding present when
she married Leslie in 1935. I am particularly
attached to it because my grandma taught
me to cook and to enjoy making ‘proper’ food.
Her anecdotes and recollections of food,
meals and recipes also prompted my love of
food history and collecting old cookery books.
Although they don’t get used very often, I do
occasionally use them when I make a real old-
fashioned high tea.
David GriceMale Hair Product
31
This is a screen print by Martin Young, bought at an art fair in Glasshoughton in 1996.
It was the first piece of original art I bought. I have continued collecting art ever since
and this print has always been on the wall in our houses.
Marcus Romer Billy Casper
Evidence of the impact of Curate Your Own has been gathered through evaluation, questionnaires and interviews. 76% of the participants from community venues said that they ‘wouldn’t have come to a museum if it hadn’t have been for the Curate Your Own trip’ and 96% said they ‘hoped to return with family or friends’.
C U R A T E Y O U R O W N
Photography and Art
“Never been anywhere so magnificent!”
Harry Swallow
32
Douglas Chance Photograph - Queens Carriage
The Queen wouldn’t stand any clutter. If you spoke to her, you
spoke to her as down-to-earth, nobody taking the mickey, nobody
trying to be Jack the Lad. She’s too wise for that one.
I’m not used to smiling. We were never allowed to. You never smile
on State occasions.
Margaret Carr Photographs - Family
My niece took this photo of my brother just before he died. His
name was John Robertston and it’s the only photo I have of him.
My other photo is my great grandson, Noah Carr, who I’ve only
seen once. He has a little brother now, but I may never see him
as they live down south somewhere. I just wish them to be happy
and rich.
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Hazel Richardson Photographs - FamilyThis is my grandma, her surviving
brothers and all her sisters in about 1902.
Unfortunately, the two other brothers
died in the First World War. One was on
Her Majesty’s ship Good Hope during the
Battle of Corona, and it was blown up and
he didn’t survive. The other brother was at
Arromanches in the trenches and he never
came home. It is a very special picture – it’s
my family, and it means something. It’s not
often you see a whole family like that.
This is my mother, my grandma, my sister
and myself in Blackpool. We were going up
the Tower and I remember sitting on the floor
of the lift screaming, as I didn’t want to go.
I don’t do heights and I didn’t want to go up
the Tower – I still don’t like heights, even now.
I didn’t like Blackpool, I didn’t like the piers.
I could see down and they had to walk me
more or less from one end of the Golden Mile
to the other until they found proper steps. I
wouldn’t go down the wooden steps because
I could see through, and I would sit on the
promenade and scream.
Hazel at the Addy, Knottingley
Barbara Wells Photograph – Friends
This is me. I was born in Ferrybridge and it
was a proper village back then, I mean there
weren’t the motorways there are now.
I’m sat with my auntie’s dog, Blitz, a big
Alsatian – they wouldn’t allow that nowadays.
June Copely Photograph - Daughter
This is my daughter and the photo is about 49
years old. I took her to a studio in Pontefract
to have the photo taken.
I like this photo and the frame, which my
nephew’s wife bought for me for Christmas.
Sadly my nephew’s wife died of cancer a few
years ago.
Emily Cohoon Photograph – South Africa
My son-in-law and daughter work in this
village, he works in the mines. It’s my
granddaughter and me in the photo.
I’ve been nine times, the first time when we
were there, my husband died. It’s a gorgeous
country and I really like it, it’s beautiful but I’d
miss home too much to emigrate there.
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June and Sam sharing memories at Wakefield Museum
Helen Monks Wall of Photographs
Piccies of our family on my dining room wall, includes my
three, and goes back to my mother’s grandparents and my
hubby’s grandparents.
This is who we are, they watch over us while we eat.
We were really really lucky because at that time most people we
knew didn’t go on holiday they just did day trips. My Dad bought this
for a few pounds, it was like an old railway carriage but thats how
caravans looked back then.
That’s my Mum, my sister and my brother, and I don’t know where I
am. We used to walk from Sewerby on the sands down to Bridlington.
Once I found ten shillings that was brilliant, you know in those days, it
kept us going for the rest of the week.
Maureen Ward Photograph - Caravan
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Harry at the Addy, Knottingley
Harry Swallow Photographs - Cut Throat and Brimham Rocks
This is in the 1950s when I’d left the marines and I couldn’t live at
home as it felt like the walls were closing in on me. I hitchhiked all
over with my mate Dan who was an experienced axe man, then
we came across a timber merchant who took us to his yard. We
worked there for four years and our boss built us a hut.
Dan was a bit of an idealist. We both had ambitions of changing
the world, which turns out to be an impossibility. We had a lot of
adventures. This photograph is Dan giving me a shave. Cut-throats
aren’t as dangerous as you might think. You must keep it sharp on
a leather strop, up and down. If it’s blunt, then you’re liable to cut
yourself.
I started climbing as a schoolboy, but then the war came
along. I lost 18 years, not just ’cos of the war, but because
afterwards I couldn’t settle down. There’s nothing fake about
rocks, they take thousands of years to get to that stage,
eroded by wind and rain. I don’t think there’s any rock climbers
can actually tell you why they climb.
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Barbara Wells Photograph – Carnival
I was only about four and we had to walk
round in a circle while these ladies in the
middle picked out who they wanted to be
as the maids of honour. The other three girls
were all friends of mine from Ferrybridge,
they had been chosen and I thought ‘oh well,
that’s it, I’m not going to be chosen’, and then
I was called in. We went to the Carnival, we
were in a horse-drawn cart owned by Carter
Linley, we wore mauve, the Carnival Queen
was Sarah Bottomley, and they had a fish and
chip shop in Ferrybridge Square. That was
80 years ago and it was the first Ferrybridge
Carnival.
June Copely Photograph - Mother
I keep this photo at the side of my bed. It’s
my mother Ethel. Crampton was her maiden
name, and then Dickinson. She spent a lot of
her life in Goole because her grandparents
had barges on the canal and they used to do
the coal. She was born in 1892 and died when
she was 82. She was a lovely mother.
Looking at this brings my husband, Eric
Abbot, back to me and makes me feel happy.
We went to Eckington Hall with others for
a medieval banquet, where we ate the food
with our fingers and drank Mead out of these
container things. There were no knives and
forks, or anything like that, it was really good.
It’s 10 years since he passed away. I still miss
him, but you can’t do any other can you?
Mary Abbott Photograph - Banquet
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Emily Harper Photograph - Brother
He was a lovely lad, was our Tom. I think him and his mate were
both drunk when they went to Pontefract and joined up for the
army. My mother said ‘they shouldn’t have signed you on’ in
the state they were in. I know he was drunk because he came
home and my mam’s bed was down in the room, he got in the
bed and was sick at the side of it. I went in to see if he was all
right, stood in the sick, and fell down on my back. My mother
played hell with him. He got sent to India, got malaria and died
– he was too young and should never have gone. My mother
didn’t have the money to bring his body back to England.
I wish I’d got the money, I’d do it.
41
I love this photo of my gran, I think it was
the 1940s. What I love about it is the old-
fashioned nurse’s uniform, like a film star from
a Second World War movie.
Debra Atkinson Photograph - Gran
I was born in 1918 and this is my mum. She
was 64 when she died.
She kept us in order. She was much more
frightening than my dad ’cause if she was sat
at the table and you were doing ’owt wrong
she’d pick up a fork and she’d say ‘I’ll put four
holes in you’ and throw the fork, we used to
dodge.
Emily Harper Photograph – Mother
Gillian Cook Photograph – Self
This is a picture of me when I was four or five
years old. My sister did tap dancing. I was
always a tomboy, but my mum insisted that I
had a picture taken with a dress on – so that’s
my sister’s tap dancing dress with an extra
special big bow. It was taken in Featherstone
Square where I was born, in front of the pit
stacks in a two-up, two-down with eight kids
in it. We had an old-fashioned sideboard with
a posh cruet and wine decanter – never ’owt
in them, they were there for show. Probably
me mam put some sherry in when the vicar
came round.
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Gillian at The Addy, Knottingley
Tracey Yates PaintingI was learning about Hildegard of Bingen and
reading a book which suggested ways to pray
inspired by her spirituality. As I emptied my
mind, pictures and feelings began to form
inside me. The painting is a representation of
what I saw.
The painting is oil on board. It took several
weeks to complete as I had to keep leaving it
to dry in layers. I don’t really feel the painting
does justice to what I saw in my mind, I’m
just not that good an artist! In some ways
the painting has preserved the memory of
my ‘vision’, but in other ways it has diluted it...
I’m not sure how possible it is to capture the
intangible.
44
Debra at The Place Café, Airedale
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www.curateyourown.co.uk
46
47Mary and Amelia relaxing in Wakefield Museum
www.curateyourown.co.uk