Early Years
The couple on the right are Mum's father (Fred) and mother (Edith, always called Edie). They lived in Etherley (near Bishop Auckland, Durham).
Fred's dad was the engineer at the colliery in Hetton-le-Hole and Edie's dad was a miner in the same colliery. Later Edie's younger sister (Mum's Aunty Alice) married Bob, who was a Hetton miner all his life until he retired.
Edie had worked in the Co-op in Hetton but gave up once Mum came along. Fred was a draughtsman at Etherley Colliery. He was involved with both the Masonic Society and the Mechanics Institute and played cricket and (when I knew him) golf. Edie was a member of the Women's Institute (and sang in the choir).
Mum was their first child, born on May 12th 1924. She was followed by a brother, Donald (1926) and a sister, Joyce (1931).
Family holidays were a week self-catering at Redcar. Aunty Alice and Uncle Bob used to join them; Mum saw a lot of her mother's family in Hetton and would go to church with them when staying for weekends.