52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Wk 47 - Fall

Week 47. Fall. What was fall like where and when you grew up? Describe not only the climate, but how the season influenced your activities, food choices, etc.

Challenge open from Saturday 19th November until Friday 25th November 2011

Autumn, as is it is known in the UK is a really pretty season. I love watching the leaves change from their bright green through to yellows and then to shades of red and brown. Very often we find in the UK that the Summer doesn't want to leave us and we have a burst of Autumnal sunshine. That happened this year. Other years can be very wet or the colds of a pending winter start early. The South west of England where I live tends to be warmer than northern parts and I heard on the news last week of the first smattering of snow in the highlands of Scotland.

At the end of October we changed our clocks and gain an extra hour in bed, so that means that for those of us who work lengthy days we leave for work in the morning and return home in the evening in the dark. I hate that. I love the long evenings of the summer. As the weather cools and we develop colds, chills and pending winter glumness I like to eat comfort foods of casseroles and stews. I find that I go out less and become a bit of a home bird during the colder months.

I grew up in the South East of England, where the temperature is typically warmer than here, where we are on the coast. The start of the school year in September meant the arrival once again of a hockey stick and the dreadful red socks we had to wear. I loved hockey, but when it was cold it was dreadful, the ground hard and fingers, hands and knees catching the cold and turning red; which matched the socks! Of course the cold and redness made any injuries we endured feel worse than ever. 

We also used to have a Harvest Festival and I always enjoyed gathering foods and making a hamper in a shoe box. We could often nominate an elderly person to receive the hamper. After the service we would deliver them. Ah, happy memories. 


Here is a postcard from my Guildford and District collection.

This is St Mary's Church in Guildford circa 1906. St. Mary's is one of the oldest Churches in Guildford and I do have some family links there. My 4 x Great Grandfather, George Ellis was married to his second wife there in 1805. You can read about George's life HERE (part one) & HERE (part two)