St. Lukes - A Churchyard Echoing the Past
I'm not sure how it came about but I realised that my trips home have become a recurrent theme of reminiscence. Anyone hurtling through their 50s will no doubt involuntarily find themselves looking back at their lives and as we come to the point where we have more time behind us than in front, its perhaps natural that the triggers for doing so will become more and more frequent.
In my case, trips home are primarily to see my 83-year-old mum who since my dad died four years ago has had her wings clipped a little. She is still mobile, getting around on buses and taxis but its not the same as when my dad was around as they'd spend their days shopping and 'doing' coffee at their favourite haunts both in the locale and further afield. Added to this were their monthly jaunts on holiday and like me, mum never likes simply sitting still.
My posts from the UK aren't in any chronological order but things always end with a trip to St. Lukes churchyard, which is only 3 miles from her home but impossible to get to by bus, to visit family graves. Mum's parents and her older brother are all buried here as well as an assortent of her friends, more distant relatives and people she knew as she was growing up.
The Autumnal scene only added to the serenity when we arrived, armed with some clippers and a bowl of hyacinths. My Nana had never wanted anything for Christmas except a bowl of hyacinths and from being a young boy, this is all I'd ever given her. She was never one for 'stuff' and I remember one year, when I was about 18, gave her a beautiful silk scarf for Christmas.
She took one look at it, turned to me and said; "Where's my hyacinths?"
Fair do Nana, and I never missed a year again. She died only 10 years ago aged 99 and so I still keep up the 'tradition', my way of adding a little continuity, I guess. Dying at 99 though is a bit of a bugger, isn't it?!
We didn't need the clippers. A team of volunteers keep the place looking neat and well tended and so I had my usual wander. I've been to more baptisms, weddings and funerals here than I could possibly remember and glancing at the gravestones, and despite me not actually being brought up in the village apart from summer holidays spent staying on my grandparents farm, the names were familiar and faces of those halcyon childhood days flashed in front of my eyes.
We only stayed about 15 minutes, that's all that's needed to for my Mum to pay her respects and remember back to her youth and although I try hard never to look back in life, a gentle reminder from where you came from often helps to ground oneself in the now and plot a course into the future.
The kicker to this story is that when I was going through some photos on the local council's archives, I stumbled upon a picture of the church choir in 1953 with my mum and her still living younger sister. The coincidence was that the choirmaster at the time was a man called Geoff Copper and although my parents wouldn't meet for a further 8 years and lived in different parts of the county, Geoff was actually my dad's uncle. The other thing is that my mum is completely deaf in one ear and her sister, almost completely deaf. Despite this, she still likes to talk and you can imagine the volume she talks at. I bet the choir back then sounded, 'interesting'! I included the photo at the end of the post.
I also realised that I have never added any posts from Pontefract to the wonderful @pinmapple and so that will also be addressed starting from today.
I wrote this post mostly for my own benefit and as with all posts of this nature, creates our own immutable archive so if you did read it and look at the pictures. Thank you.
Darrington St. Lukes Church Choir 1953. I Can't actually make out enough detail in this old photo to work out which is my mum and aunty!
All pictures were taken by me except the final one which came from the Wakefield museums' archive and all pictures here are available to freely download for personal and commercial use. Upon looking at the credits for this photo, it appears to have been taken by one of my relatives in any case.
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This morning i waked up with a strange thought; i was thinking exactly about how now life looks asymmetrical, every day is a day less instead of a day more… well I am 55. It’s like in some moment my way ascending the mountain will become the way going down. In the meantime i am still learning slowly about cryptos and blockchain.
Enjoy your mom!
It’s nice to see in pictures some how where you came from.
Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for dropping by and nice to meet you!
lol..thats an even more depressing thought than I worte about having more time in the past than in the future! Happy positive posts from me only in the future.
Have a great week :-)
Nice to meet you too! And thanks for your follow. You have a new follower also, hopefully for too much days than the life of Hive!
Grounded by surroundings, memories of those who walked before us, a lovely place to take you Mom to spend time wandering through.
Thank you Joan. It is nice to spend a short while in reflection there. Especially in the beautiful Autmn colours.
Wishing you a wonderful week ahead :-)
Have a wonderful week as well, we moving into summer enjoying different colours in the region.
I find churches interesting places, they hold so many stories and architecture wise are always nice to look at even if it's a little parish church. This one is very nice.
And that's so sweet of the 18 year old Nathen to get your nan such a thoughtful gift (so you thought!)
I'm still thoughtful ;-)
It is a nice church and goes back to Norman times. We are lucky to have a LOT of history in and around Pontefract and its castle. That's not to say most of the town isn't still a dump though!
Great photos mate. My mum was like that after my dad died. When they get so old together its such a blow for them when on goes. You are right, you do start to look back ridiculously so over the past. Bloody fifties!
It must be very dificult for them but at least for her, she still has her independence and nothing stops her getting out but it does play on my mind a little more as each year passes that I'm not closer.
Bloody fifties indeed. At least we are still shagging monsters though!
Monsters of shag, that's what keeps me going!! 😀😀
Lol, that's bought a right chuckly smile to my face
That is a lovely place and I can only see similar ones in the movies. Churches and graveyards are different here. Each of these places have their mysterious past. Also, having your mom so far at her age must be tough.
Thank you Erikah, and it is and gets a little worse each year as does the sense of guilt at not being closer. Despite being so far away, I can be door to door if I need to in about 18 hours which isn't too bad.
Churches like this are pretty much the norm here outside the towns. Some parts of this church you see in the pictures date back to the 13th century but was restored and expanded in the late 1800's .
On the site had been a priory and mill that was mentioned in the doomsday book. It's so odd that I have become fascinated by history as I've got older, I'm not sure if there is a connection there but as a younster I had zero interest in the subject!
Thanks for dropping by and have a blessed week Erikah :-)
Lol, you're not alone with this, I feel the same. When we're young, we are interestd in totally different things. Mostly in the future, not the past, then we realize that in order to do well in the future, we have to know the past, right?
Have a nice week my friend :)
Hello @nathen007,
This is @lizelle, I'm part of the Silver Bloggers’ Community Team.
Thank you for sharing your excellent post in the Silver Bloggers community! As a special "token" of appreciation for this contribution to our community, it has been upvoted, reblogged and curated.
Thank you @lizelle. I know it shouldn't really, but these sort of lovely little recognitions do sincerely mean so much. Thank you :-)
Great post @nathen007 😊😎
I so understand the things that are unknown to most, when we are living in another country than were family is.
My mom is 88 at the moment. Far away…
Even though I’m not 50 yet, I do that too. Reminiscence about times long gone.
Distance memories about other countries become more faded going forward. Maybe I should stop moving hahaha 🤣
Have an awesome new week!
It is difficult being far away and I do have times when I feel guilty about it, but for now at least, she's doing OK so I can 'put-off' some tough decisions for another day!
Admit it! You can't stop moving lol...I can't wait to see some posts from the Highlands though.
Sshh....don't tell that Scots fella above but the highlands, and in particularly the West Coast is simply the most beautiful area on earth.
You have an awesome week too and thanks as always for dropping by :-)
Yes, I understand. Let’s hope that our family members stay OK for a little while longer… 🤞🏻🍀
That’s indeed the toughest part.
Ok ok… probably. But I really want to settle down some where. Just to grow some roots, just for once in my life hehehe 🤭
Won’t tell anybody 😉😎 most don’t know yet where I am going. 😇
I did see some amazing nature in some videos around there… can’t wait to explore 😎
Thank you so much @nathen007 😊 anytime!
Horses and cake is what I know..
Great looking church
Was your dad's uncle's dayjob as a policeman!
Coincidinks do seem to be everywhere.
LOL...Horses and cake, but more precisely, liquorice is about all there is, except a castle that had Cromwell locked in its dungeons and Richard the Second was a regular resident. There is a lot of important history in the area but generally speaking, it's a shithole!
A little trivia on the racecourse. 1. Its the longest continual circuit in Europe. 2. The hill approaching the finish line has cost me a fortune over the years! But the mid-sommer Friday evening meeting is absolutely one of the best, and most raucous fun events in the whole sporting calendar!
Geoff Copper lol...thanks for pointing that out. It's actually a typo and his name was Cooper but you're absolutely spot on. There are massive coincidinks everywhere!
Reminds me of when I lived in Newbury... Not the hill, just approaching the finish line 🤣🤣🤣
Lovely memories and photos @nathen007! Churches and graveyards always look so serene, always makes me wonder about the people and the lives they lived.
Hive is a great repository for our memories!
It is a superb repository and thanks Lizelle. I'm always torn though about how much I want to be totally public and how much I want to really allow myself the freedom of my mind and speech that anonymity can bring. Its a balancing act!
It is fascinating wandering around and reading the inscriptions. There are some very old ones there and many of the recent ones, I knew some of the people from my childhood such as the local village shop keeper, or my Grandads friends who I'd met as a kid. It's both nice to remember and a little sad at the same time but it's just life! Nice to touch base with the past but not to get lost for too long whilst you're back there.
Have a great week ahead and thanks once again Lizelle :-)
Wow, well said @nathen007, the best advice you can give to anyone!
My Mom lived to see 90 but left us early this year; even though she faced tragic losses, her motto was 'you have to get on with the job of living.'
Tough at times, but life is about living and making the most of each moment not so.
I saw the inscription below in our Botanic Gardens, I think you'll appreciate the lesson in it.
Have a great week further 🤗
Its a beautiful inscription and its amazing that this basic premise of living in the now runs right through humanity regardless of religious belief. One of only a very few absolute truths I guess!
Thank you for sharing that picture and have a beautiful weekend :-)
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How nice to have found that picture of your family. My mother is 86 years old and she likes to walk from one place to another as if she were a young girl, she travels by cab and even by motorcycle. I suffer for that. :DDD
The pinmapple community is very good, it is one of the best when it comes to travel.
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What a beautiful post Nathen 💗 Aah Hyacinths hehe...the simple things in life are the best, right? How wonderful to have had such a beautiful childhood and being close to your Nana like that. Very special. I love old churches... so much history, so many lives witnessed. Hope you have the best time with your mom !LUV !ALIVE
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Thank you so much. She was from a simpler age. I think in my generation, we've seen an incredible shift in how we live and interact with technology, at a speed of advancement never before seen in history. I think back to being a kid and its so dramatically different. Amazing.
Anyway, thank you once again and have a beautiful and blessed weekend :-)
amazing place.