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ladystylestores · 4 years

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Great-Great-Grandmother Wendy Bishop Died Aged 97, But She Lived An Extraordinary Life First

Courtesy the Bishop family

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Wendy Bishop was the first person to die from the coronavirus in the small town where she lived in the Scottish Highlands. She was 97 years old, and had lived an extraordinary life: serving as a medic during the second world war, raising six children, and later opening a hospital for injured dolls and teddy bears where she repaired toys sent to her from around the world.

Now, Bishop will finally be laid to rest alongside her wartime sweetheart, who was killed in battle at the age of 20, almost 80 years ago.

Wendy Beatrice Austin Bishop, one of three siblings, was born in Northfleet in Kent, in the southeast of England in 1923. She left school at 15 and went to work at a local kennel.

Soon after, World War II broke out, and she was evacuated to Hampshire, but at the age of 17, she enlisted in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force as a medic and served from 1941 to 1945.

Courtesy the Bishop family

A picture of Bishop taken during the second world war.

She was stationed at RAF Oban in Scotland and met her first boyfriend, Roy Stephens. He died at the age of just 20 on his first mission with the Royal Air Force, so they never got to live out their future together.

Almost 80 years later, his relatives are still in touch with Bishop’s family, and her ashes will be buried alongside her first love in Golders Green crematorium, north London.

“She totally loved him,” her granddaughter Johanna Bishop said. “And of course, when he was killed, my nan met my granddad and they had six children.”

After the war, Bishop moved back to England, to Hampshire, where she married and had her children, and later relocated to Bournemouth, where she first opened a shop.

Bishop was an adventurous woman, and after her marriage broke down in the 1970s, she just decided to start again, hundreds of miles further north. She lived out the rest of her life in Scotland.

Courtesy the Bishop family

First she moved to Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands, and then on to Grantown-on-Spey, where she opened her “hospital” — Toys and Treasures — in the high street.

Bishop also loved to write — she wrote letters and poetry, and she kept diaries. After she died, Johanna found her grandmother’s memoirs, “pages and pages and pages” of her life story, that her family hadn’t even known she was writing. They are now considering getting trying to get them published.

“She always liked fairies and things, and I think the Highlands to her was probably magical, with the heather on the hills and things like that, she was so creative and made a lot of things, she just loved it up here,” Johanna said.

Bishop started her toy repair business from home, but she had so much work from all over the world that she decided to open a shop. She would fix up beloved dolls and teddy bears and send them back to their owners dressed in little hats and coats. Her hospital received visitors from all over the world, including Princess Diana’s mother, Frances Shand Kydd.

“She thought because she had so much going on at home that she should open a shop,” Johanna said, “because she had dolls and teddies sent from everywhere.”

“I’d pop in the shop just to see what other exciting things that she’d received,” she added. “It was just extraordinary.”

Courtesy the Bishop family

Bishop at a Christmas fair.

Johanna, who spent her early years in Bournemouth before moving up to Scotland, where she now lives, fondly remembers her summer holidays with her gran in the Highlands.

Bishop would travel down to the south coast of England to collect Johanna and her sister Lisa, and then they would take the long coach journey back up to Scotland together, where they would spend their whole summers.

“I could go on all day about the things she did,” Johanna said. “She took me up the Cairngorms, up the lift. I mean years ago, it was bloody dangerous. I was terrified. I remember I had little red wellies on and being absolutely terrified.”

Courtesy the Bishop family

“My nan always had a dolls’ house,” she recalled, “and this is something I’ll always hold onto — she always had a dollhouse, so we always had things to play with, the miniature cakes and all the miniature things that always fascinated me, all this miniature stuff. And so when we were coming up here, we were so happy we didn’t want to go home.”

Courtesy the Bishop family

“We had the best holidays,” Johanna said. “When I was a child, not many of my friends went on holiday, or went anywhere, but we’d say, ‘Oh, we’re going to Scotland,’ and I just remember feeling lucky and…different, because my nan came and took us away to this wonderful place.”

Bishop also loved to party. She loved Christmas, and she loved having all of the family round to her house for a big knees-up. In her later years, she also liked going to the shops on a Sunday and loved going to the garden centre — where she’d often catch up with friends.

“She’d always stop and speak to somebody,” Johanna said, “and when she got talking to somebody you knew you were there for about two hours, because people were so interested to talk to her.”

She was also very generous and supported people living in poverty in Nepal right up until she died — charity work that her descendants have vowed to continue in her memory.

“You had to watch what you said to my nan,” Johanna said. “If you said you liked something, she would give it to you. She was so, so kind, very generous, very generous.”

Courtesy the Bishop family

Bishop was also famous among her family for her Easter bonnets, which she would make for all of her descendants right up until the year before she died — and she wasn’t just a grandmother but a great-grandmother and a great-great-grandmother. And she managed to keep up with them all by being active on Facebook.

But she did not get to meet the family’s newest arrivals before she died, her great-great-granddaughters, Lorena and Freya.

Courtesy Bishop family

Bishop in the 1980s with her homemade Easter bonnet.

Freya’s parents — Johanna’s son and his partner — were given a gift of a toy elephant for Freya, who was born on Monday. They named the elephant Wendy.

“I don’t want to ever forget my nan, because she wasn’t just a normal granny,” Johanna said. “She was something different.”

Bishop died on April 18 at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. She had tested positive for COVID-19.

She was a well-known character in Grantown-on-Spey, and on the day of her funeral, local residents lined up to pay their respects.

Courtesy the Bishop family

The Guard of Honour in Grantown-on-Spey.

“There was somebody from the army, somebody from the RAF, somebody from the fire station, and the police,” Johanna said. “They all gave her a salute as she went past in the coffin…and people came and lined the route which my nan went.”

In her final hours in hospital, Johanna and her aunt were allowed onto the ward to see Bishop for one last time. They stayed for two hours, and as her beloved grandmother drank a cup of tea, Johanna told her not to worry about the family, and even told her a little white lie to put her mind at ease — that baby Freya had arrived safely already and that she and her parents were doing well.

Bishop died just hours later.

“She really enjoyed that cup of tea and I thought that I’m going to hold onto that memory,” Johanna said.

“These are memories that we’re going to cherish now because it was just nice to be able to say goodbye.” ●

Courtesy the Bishop family

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aroundtheworldin18years · 5 years

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Back in the 70’s, I remember my two siblings and I being told by Mum that she had booked our family’s first foreign destination package holiday. The destination…Salou, Spain. As you can probably imagine, we were happy giddy children running around the living room, our arms outstretched; pretending to be aeroplanes….vrooooom, neeeooooown! Our usual family ‘holidays’ were day trips to Blackpool Pleasure Beach or the Cala Gran Caravan Park in Fleetwood, and even those trips were few and far between. So, our first trip to foreign lands booked, and we only had a year to wait…a whole year! Mum worked three jobs that year just to pay for the package holiday. Family Holidays Have Changed Since The 70’s and a package holiday was the only way to go, booking DIY was relatively unheard of.

A packed beach at Blackpool Pleasure beach in the 1970’s

DRESS TO IMPRESS

The year passed, and in the weeks leading to travel day we were dragged from pillar-to-post buying new clothes. Travel day arrived and I remember getting dressed into my new clothes. Wouldn’t want to look like the scruffy council estate street urchins that we were, no siree…posh clobber all the way! Bescoby’s (catalogue shop) finest at that! Manchester Airport was packed and the aircraft was enormous and noisy! The engine noise was soon drowned out by the rowdy passengers (mum and step-dad included), many of whom were bladdered and singing at the top of their lungs….”oh, this year I’m off to sunny Spain, Y Viva España”! The stench of alcohol was overwhelming and cigarette smoke filled the cabin, inside the aeroplane it looked like a foggy day!

Travelling with British Airtours at Manchester Airport

DO YOU JEST, NO I JOUST

There’s so much that I can recall from our first foreign holiday. One awful memory is going to the beach and having our white freckled skin plastered with sun cream. We looked like three ‘child-sized’ abominable snowmen on the beach but we didn’t care, we were on our package holiday! There were vendors walking the beach with live animals; baby chimps, snakes, lizards etc, each trying to get tourists to have a photo. My best memory was being taken to a Medieval Castle to watch Knights joust to win the hand of a Fair Maiden! Upon entry to the castle we were given a paper ‘crown’ and a plastic ‘chalice‘ before being shown to our bench table. We dined on chicken and potatoes and drank juice. No plates, a whole roast chicken was slammed down onto the table by servers who were dressed like peasants. Definitely no FSA hygiene rating in the good ol’ days! Quite a scary experience for a child if I’m being honest, scary…but an indelible memory. Plus we got to meet and have a photograph taken with the King and Queen of the Castle before we left.

Trying to win the hand of a Fair Maiden in a jousting contest

PILOTS ARE POOR, LET’S HAVE A WHIP-ROUND

Another memory I have of the 70’s family holiday was gathered on the return flight home. I recall a drunken man, walking up and down the aisle with a colourful sombrero souvenir on his head and a large ‘piñata’ style donkey under his arm; collecting money from the passengers to hand to the pilot after landing. Oh yes, and the tipsy travellers clapping and cheering once the plane landed and ground to a stop! Heaven only knows why? That’s the pilots job…take off, fly and land the plane! To this day I am still baffled as to why ‘collections’ became a common sight on planes in the 70’s and 80’s. It’s not as if pilots didn’t get paid a decent salary surely? And, on the souvenir front, I also remember my Nana bringing home a plastic donkey that she filled with cheap cigarettes. Pull both of the donkey’s ears, the tail lifted and a cigarette popped out of its bum hole! Highly amusing to a child, but also strangely weird!

I’m not an ass, I’m a donkey!

THE WORLD WIDE WEB IS WONDERFUL

Back in the 70s, booking via a Travel Agent on the High Street was the only option for Mum when she was booking our first family holiday. Nowadays we can surf the WWW discovering far flung destinations. The ease of comparing thousands of hotels and reading every Review (good and bad) of the hotel or campsite that you have your heart set on, is, well…easy! Booking a holiday is much more convenient in the 21st Century, especially as we have so much tech and so many apps to assist our travels. Mummy often recounts how, in the 80’s; her Mum and Dad planned their 3 week family trip to America and Walt Disney World Resort. No Google maps or Booking.com in sight and once at the destination…no sat-nav in the hire car! I shudder at the thought! I get lost in Asda’s car park let alone travelling the globe!

Lynne (age 9) meets Mickey Mouse at Disney World, Florida

LET’S GO TO SPAIN AND EAT A FULL ENGLISH

In this day and age we are truly spoilt that we very rarely experience ‘new foods’ whilst travelling. The exotic fruits that you would only see on your foreign summer holidays are now stacked high on our supermarket shelves. Albeit in the 70’s I’m sure that we, just like the other British holidaymakers in Spain; were still tucking into a full English fry. Let’s go to Spain and eat a full English…now that makes sense…not! And, just to make things clear; a fry isn’t a proper fry unless it has Heinz Baked Beans and HP Brown Sauce! Eggs, sunny side up or over easy, what’s your preference? Thankfully our tastebuds and sense of adventure have evolved since the 70’s. Nowadays we love nothing more than exploring a region and sampling the local delicacies when we venture to a new country.

A hearty fry, always a great start to the day

SELFIE’S ARE MORE ANTI THAN SOCIAL

Think back, how on Earth did we survive a holiday without letting our friends, family and anyone else on our Facebook ‘friends’ list know what a fabulous time we were having! Today, it’s so easy…lie by the pool with a cocktail in hand, snap that selfie (might take more than one attempt and a multitude of facial expressions) and share to all 7,936 friends (are they really ALL friends) on Social Media. It’s a holiday, put your phone away and stop being anti-social! But make sure you get that ‘instaworthy’ picture first!

Strike a pose…vogue

PHOTO ALBUMS GALORE

Back in the 70’s you came home with a couple reels of camera film that you would have to wait for a week to be processed in your local chemist. You would then spend hours arranging your glossy snaps into photo albums and annotating who, what and where…nightmare! Friends and family would avoid calling to the house for months fearing a 7 hour session of you reminiscing whilst showing them your ‘amazing holiday’ snaps! Now, when we arrive back home; a quick 10 minute ‘holiday’ conversation is all that’s needed because your friends and family have already seen the pictures and read about the holiday on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and every other social media outlet that there is.

Photo albums for reminiscing about holidays

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

Of course the cost of travel has also changed drastically since Mum worked 3 jobs to take us on our family’s first foreign package holiday to España. 2019 and we are in the era of low budget airlines where you can pick up a flight for €10 and sometimes less! Search engines have become our new BFF and sites like Skyscanner, Booking.com and Trivago allow us to hone our skills at searching for a bargain holiday to a luxury destination. No longer does cheap mean bad, or ‘you get what you pay for’. Credit was non-existent, there was no ‘stick it on the credit card’ and pay it off after the holiday, holidays were paid for with hard-earned cold, hard cash! I remember vividly counting and bagging my saved pocket money then taking it to the Post Office to exchange to Spanish currency, Pesetas, or ‘potatoes‘ as we called them! And I still have some of them from the 70’s, as well as a stamp.

IT’S THE MEMORIES THAT MATTER MOST

One thing that hasn’t changed since the 1970’s is that people still travel to make memories. Whether those memories and moments are captured in one simple 35mm photograph, or by 10 burst shots on your newest high-tech smartphone, we are all still trying to make the memories that our parents did back in the 70’s.

Sunsets and Memories

Where will your travels take you? What is your best travel memory? Let us know using the comments box below.

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Information, currency and prices are correct at the time of publishing. Views, opinions and experiences are that of The Callaghan Posse and are correct at the time of publication. Photos, unless credited, are taken by The Callaghan Posse for use and distribution by Around The World In 18 Years. Images and content may not be used or copied (individual or commercial) without obtaining prior permission.

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FAMILY HOLIDAYS HAVE CHANGED SINCE THE 70’S Back in the 70’s, I remember my two siblings and I being told by Mum that she had booked our family’s first foreign destination package holiday.

#1970 #Family Holiday #Package Holiday #Spain

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laureviewer · 7 years

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My Year in Pictures: 2016

Having realised I posted so little last year, it’s time to get back into it with a lovely little memory post - my year in pictures, once more!

So in January we had just got back from travelling and had Christmas back in England, so really very little happened as we were very tired and broke and searching for jobs. But we saw our lovely friends who we’d missed loads over the last four months - I will always be grateful for those who stick around for us to come back to.

Gacy? Storge?

In February, we did what we do every year - make sure we don’t go out on Valentine’s Day because of the ridiculous prices and busy-ness, and went out for dinner for an anti-Valentine’s instead. 2 for 1 cocktails are fun when one of you has to drive ;)

George, Stacey, James and I (AKA Universally Challenged) lost at the pub quiz in the Comrades Club, though we really won as coming dead last means you get FOOD.

Tash, Beth and I also met up for Beth’s birthday, when we went to Soton for the ultimate student night in Jester’s - that student club where you have to wear old shoes because God knows what crap you’re going to get from the sticky floors in there.

In March, I took THE PLUNGE. One I had been wanting to take for years. I got a tattoo!! My little Mantine is on my left thigh, happily swimming around like the manta rays we swim with in Fiji on our round-the-world trip (though he is a little smaller than the ones we met). It was sore but not as bad as I thought… though doing it on your ribs like I thought I wanted originally might be a different story. This is a photo of it on the day:

And how could George, Stacey, James and I pass up a Misugo’s and Creams?

God knows what we did in April, other than watching Eurovision with Alec… where a face swap meant that a celebrity turned up out of the blue!

In fact, April (or really March 30th) saw me start my new job with the Haulfryn Group as a Marketing Executive, where I still am today.

In May, Beth came up to see me, and we took a lovely summery walk around Virginia Water Lake.

Then James and I made sure we went to Comicon in London, where we finally got to meet our idols, the Yogscast & Hat Films! They really were lovely, especially their man man Lewis, who made sure to talk to us for ages despite the hours-long queue behind us!

In June, Stef and I showed our mutual love/obsession with sushi by having a sushi-making session (though I may have got a bit tipsy and got impatient with all the fiddly rolling!).

For those of you who remember (or care) the Queen turned 90 in June, so at work we had a ‘dress like a royal’ day. I won and my fellow Marketer/graphic designer Hannah (AKA Kate Middleton) came second!

July marks the second half of the year, and also when my year started to pick up. That always seems to be the case with me - I do so much more exciting things in the second half! Though nothing could top my 4 months travelling, I’m sure.

James and I took advantage of my company being the owner of holiday parks throughout the UK and took a trip down to Paignton, Devon, to stay in a luxury lodge, relax, and see his lovely cousins who live down there. We even had a hot tub!!

We also finally met his cousins’ hairless kitties, who are actually gorgeous and not weird like so many people think about hairless cats. They were so friendly, though it is a bit weird stroking something without any fur! The female with a little bit of fur is named Lumi, and the completely bald male is Kuro (photo credit to Elise Preston for the latter).

Those eyes though.

James and I also took advantage of the lovely scenery around us and the hot Summery days to play Pokemon Go, as it had only just come out then!

I was also reunited with my uni girls again in Shoredich (2 out of 3 of them) and we had a lovely time, eating delicious street food and catching up (dat oversized bag wow)!

My nephew also turned 1 on the 16th of July, so my sister had a birthday party for him.

In August I saw the girls (and Freddy!) again at a Hong Kong Drinking Team gig in London; perfect location for all of us to meet up!

I also took time off work to spend time with my little sister Harriet at the beach…

…had more sushi and plum wine with Stef at Mikado’s…

…and saw the girls (all of them this time) again in London!)

Also in August, James and I took a day trip into London to take advantage of Harriet’s Merlin pass!

We had crocodile and ostrich burgers at Shaka Zulu (a cocktail, burger and chips for £10 in the middle of London, whaaaat?) and then went onto Maddam Toussards - somewhere I’d never been, but had wanted to ever since seeing loads of them dotted around countries you’d never even think they’d have them on our travelling adventures.

We met loads of celebrities there too #blessed.

With that chaotic month over, September didn’t slow down that much, with our friends Rosie and Josh having a leaving party before they jetted off to South America to do some travelling.

See my Facebook timeline for an amazing video of Josh’s dancing!

My sisters and I also took my dad out for a late Father’s Day trip into London to again take advantage of Harriet’s Merlin passes - we went to the London Dungeons and the Aquarium! The Dungeons were brilliant, having not been there for ages, - of course my dad pointed out every inaccuracy, and Amelia being pregnant meant she couldn’t go on the little rides they had in there, haha!

Beth also came down to go to one of James’ gigs…

…and I was sad to have to move offices in September, as my commute would be slightly longer and I’d miss reading by the beautiful Thames on my lunch breaks.

October saw Stef turn 23, and we had a big house party over her’s, which was great fun! Sam debated heavily with her mum, we took some great photos, and I saw Laura again for the first time in nearly 2 years. ^-^

We also went back down to Devon to see James’ cousins again…

…went to MCM again and met Tomska, another of our Youtube heroes…

…and finally I went down to Soton to go with the girls to Oceana for Halloween! We had such a good time at predrinks together in our posh little hotel rooms.

Sadly, James’ gran passed away at the end of September. However, she very lovingly left her home to James, and so we had spent the whole of October and November doing it up, so that we could finally live together after 7 whole years of being together. It took weeks of painting and sorting and carpets and quite a bit of our savings, but it was totally, completely worth it, just to be finally living together after so long.

In November, our lovely neighbour, Joe, installed our shower for us and put up the beautiful splashboards that we picked in a stunning slate colour.

November marked our 7 year anniversary - can you believe it?!

So, at the end of the month we went to the Ice Bar and Winter Wonderland, both of which we’d never been to before, so it was lovely and a completely new experience, going around one of the biggest Christmas markets in the UK.

And what anniversary would be complete without sushi…

Weirdly, PM Theresa May came to our work on Friday to open our new Maidenhead offices, being the constituent for Maidenhead. She had her funky shoes on and looks suitably confused. This may be when one of our managers asked “Is Brexit actually going to happen?”

December was SUCH a busy month. Not least because James and I FINALLY MOVED IN TOGETHER!! My cats tried to sabotage our efforts however by camping in my last pile of dirty laundry…

We moved in on the 2nd of December, and due to our efforts of the previous couple of months, it very quickly felt homely and cosy. We bought 2 sofas from the charity shop, put up the Christmas decorations, and - most importantly - made sure both our computers fit in the living room for optimal gaming time!

Despite being pretty ill the first week, it was great.

Our good friend Lynne even made us this lovely moving in present!

After all that excitement, I had a very early birthday party on the 10th of December, seeing all my friends in the local pub, The Squirrels.

I also made sure to see the girls from uni one last time this year in London for dinner and drinks.

In the middle of December, Haulfryn had a Christmas party, which I could take James along to. It was really fun - it was a masquerade mall in Reading, with a three-course meal and wine, as well as acrobats and other acts to keep as all entertained, and a casino for James to try his luck! Having been at Haulfryn for almost a year now, it’s nice to be able to go to a big event like this.

For my birthday this year, James really went all out. I had no idea what he had planned - only that we were going to London, and I had to wear my Pokemon dress! So I donned it and off we went.

First he took me to Sticks ‘n’ Sushi in Covent Garden for a late lunch - and as all I seem to eat is sushi you’ll know how incredible that must have been!

Mmmm big decanter of sake.

Then afterwards we got on the tube to Hammersmith, where the London Philharmonic Orchestra were playing… and what were they playing? Pokemon!

It was incredible - they played music from all of the games, telling the stories of the games throughout, and showing a lot of the game footage on their screen. It was incredibly nostalgic, amazingly well done, and even if you aren’t a fan of Pokemon, the Philharmonic are obviously incredible, and so the music was flawless.

I couldn’t have asked for a better (or geekier) birthday. Thank you James.

On the 23rd, Hong Kong Drinking Team had been asked to headline the ‘best of the year’ show in the Facebar, and so I went along - and they didn’t disappoint. While most of the acts were heavy, James and his band dressed up as Christmas characters (James: Santa; Jack: Jesus; Dave: sexy Christmas pudding,#; Luke: Bongle the Bear from Rainbow (he thought it was a reindeer in the fancy dress shop); and Charlie: sexy elf). And boy, was Charlie a sexy elf. They did Santa Baby and Charlie was especially camp. My favourite gig of theirs for the whole year!

Christmas was incredibly special this year, as for the first time James and I didn’t have to balance our days - we were just together. As cheesy as it sounds, it was magical!

For Christmas Eve, we went to a onesie party up a the Squirrels to see in the big day.

Christmas Day saw us opening our stockings together, and then going to the Squirrels for Christmas drinks.

Afterwards we had a lovely Christmas dinner with the Skinners and a chilled out evening.

On Boxing Day, after seeing my Mum and Amelia, James and I had my dad and Harriet over, as my dad hasn’t had a family Christmas in a few years. It was great - we played Cards Against Humanity (which my dad loved!), I cooked, and James’ parents came over late afternoon.

The last few days of the year were just as exciting. On the 30th, it was the Squirrels’ landlady’s birthday, and so we had an 80s night up the pub!

James also met Jess’ South African boyfriend Adrian, and now I’m worried about us staying together… they have a proper bromance going on!

Seeing in the New Year was just as great, with karaoke, dancing, and lots of booze.

And lastly, as I put on a bit of weight travelling and got out of my fitness regime, I took up running this year rather than paying for the gym. It’s amazing how much more you want to exercise when you don’t have to travel as well! I smashed my distance goal for the year, and running has now become part of my lifestyle as well as an easy way to keep healthy.

Thank you 2016, it’s been an incredible year. Here’s to the next - the first one of me being a ‘proper’ adult, responsible for a home. Gulp.

#2016 #icebar #love #moving #yearinpictures #year in review #friends #life #personal post

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oreopata · 6 years

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The Auckland Mining Gallery trip

I had one hell of a day on Thursday. ^^ As usual, I went to my weekly art class. It was great to be back after having missed a fortnight due to some work being done in the town hall. Putting a new varnish down on the wooden floor. The pungent smell meant we had to keep away. It still had a little bit of a lingering scent when we were there. It honestly made my nose itch and quite a few of our eyes watered. Trish couldn’t stay inside because the smell made her feel ill. Otherwise it was tolerable enough for us to continue.

The previous lesson, we’d been instructed to bring in three items to do some life drawing. I picked a few things from around my office: A couple of peacock ore stones, my red Maneki Neko, my silver fox plushie and the silver London snow globe/music box I got for Christmas.

One of the things a lot of us will do is just get up from our workspace and have a nosey-round to see what everyone else is doing. It’s great to see what everyone else is doing. One of the best things you can do as an artist is to surround yourself with people that are creative and talented. It makes a nice change from always being physically isolated from other artists. When a couple of them came around to see what I was doing, they seemed really impressed. I was only in the sketch stage, which I first do with a blue sketching pencil (like the ones most comic artists use). They seemed much more impressed than I thought they would, especially in this early stage. But since they pointed it out, I guess I was doing well in capturing the angle I could see it from. One woman said I could teach her a few things. I laughed, thinking she was buttering me up. After all, the people in that class have more years of experience and knowledge behind them. Plus, right now, my forte is in drawing, as opposed to painting. So, I’m still unsure as to how I’ll finish it. I’ve been thinking about how I haven’t gone near acrylics for so many years. I wonder what oil paints are like?

We always finish up the class at 12, so we agreed that at half past, we’d meet outside the No.42 art gallery at half past. At first I wasn’t sure what to do, since I’m the only one there that doesn’t drive. Luckily, the woman I always chat with and sit next to was kind enough to give me a lift. Even stopping outside my house first, so I could swap my large case full of art supplies that I wheel to the class with my handbag. While she was getting parked, it allowed me to stroll down Bondage and see what’s happening. The book shop down there, that I just adore, had a sign in it, promoting that they had many mining books for sale. I’m hoping I can have a look in there soon. It’s wonderful to see the town get into the spirit of celebrating our mining history.

Of course, if we were going to meet outside the No.42, we’d be fools to not have a look in to pass the time. I always love having a look in there. One woman who attends our classes, Susana, had some wonderful pieces on display. Both from the fabric art she does and (my personal favourites) the drawings she’d done around the local castles. You can find her work here (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009210100667&hc_ref=ARQ7gnrfQ6j41qRNVIZsQilHKcMYsKDf5k98DghwOxUxscWxJvhzi7VV3siPbDRIge8&fref=nf) They’ve also got quite a few books on sale about our local art history. Including a book on Spanish art in the Bishop Auckland castle. I took the opportunity to take a couple photos in the No.42, since I knew that going into the Auckland Mining gallery we wouldn’t be able take photos – for obvious reasons.

It’s got me thinking about how I would love to submit to these galleries, but I just wonder if a lot of them would take umbridge with mixed/digital mediums. A lot of galleries tend to turn their noses up at those kinds of things. Even though I still really want to get more practice with colouring in traditional mediums. Honestly, knowing the rules of both mediums really help you when drawing with either. It’s kind of like how you can’t do good cartooning without an understanding of anatomy and you can’t really colour that well digitally without looking carefully at how things are lit or observing how it works with painting.

One point of interest is the marvellous curtain of poppies draped over the entrance to the town hall. The photo doesn’t do it justice (because like an idiot, I’d forgotten my camera and had to use my iPad.)

The Mining gallery itself was incredible. They really put in the effort to make the building atmospheric to support the paintings. The walls being painted dark, ambient sounds of water dripping and shifting stones playing around you and a very particular but inoffensive smell really put you in that mining environment. The paintings on display were stunning. Since I have no pictures to show you, I highly recommend you go down there to check it out. I adored seeing paintings in so many different styles. Even spotting some very graphic, art deco styles. I loved how most of them didn’t shy away from the emotion and humanity of our mining history. It’s certainly what I’m most interested in.

My absolute favourite painting was a large one; “The Hartley Disaster” by H.H. Emmerson. I found myself absolutely hypnotised by it. I adored the colours, the composition, the size, the brush work and mostly of all, the emotion and faces. I have a soft-spot for compelling pictures that capture emotion. I still REALLY wish I could have been able to buy a print piece to frame and hang in my house. Even looking on Google Images doesn’t do it justice, as a lot of the pictures aren’t good quality.

As I walked around, I had my sketchbook in hand. Scribbling down anything I could see or ideas that came to mind. They were never going to be good. I had to do them quickly to get the most important details and basic gestures. That said, I still had a few staff members peek over my shoulder and compliment me on the sketches. It was so nice, but also mildly embarrassing, since I thought they looked awful. XD I was great talking to them, to learn more about what was happening in the paintings and getting more information on the props and genuine mining items on display.

Of course, I was never going to walk away from there empty handed. I bought a few stationary items, a postcard print and a book full of our mining history and pieces called “Shafts of Light”

After we were all done in the museum, we had a look across the street for a bite to eat in a Café. I had myself some nice smoked salmon sandwiches with a side of sweet potato chips and a nice slice of Red velvet cake to go. Felt like an appropriate way to end off such a good day. I had such a wonderful time just having a bite with those of us left, chatting, having a laugh. The class is one of few occasions where I don’t feel like an odd one out (Despite how much I REALLY look like an odd one out amongst them.) After all, I was viscously bullied and ostracised in my school years. And ever since my gran died, I really have been alone amongst my family. Now that the person I loved, related to and talked to the most was gone forever. Even she said that there were two groups of people in this world – me and her, then everyone else. And of course, with her death, I had to be the support for everyone else. But I didn’t really have much of a shoulder to cry on or able to talk to myself. One family member often telling me how they’d kill themselves if not for me and just having a lot of pressure on my shoulders. But I could go on forever about how things have turned to shit since her passing.

Much to my surprise, when I posted this on Facebook, Trish commented; “Love the sketches, and the blog! But why would you be the odd one out sitting in the café with us, lol. We are all crackers. Think they were speedily locking up behind us, haha.”

Getting that comment, plus everything I feel and experience during the class is honestly overwhelming. Despite how I look different to everyone else, am a different age to everyone in the class (everyone else is likely older than my parents, which is fine with me, since I’m a bit of an old soul. Even as a bairn, I found teachers more comprehendible to talk to than my peers), it really feels like I’m welcome and I’m not getting the same judgements on my appearance and everything else, which has become frequent with others around me (mainly family)

With this day out, I’m feeling inspired to draw pieces based on our Mining in the North East.

If you want to see the images relating to everything I'm talking about, I've made a Facebook gallery here:

#England #Britain #North East England #Mining #North East Mining #art #painting #day out #my day out #personal #art class #life drawing #sketching #Miner #vent #No.42 #The Auckland Project #Mining Gallery #my artwork

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