Saturday 6 April 2013

Storytelling Sunday -

Happy Sunday to you all and welcome to March's edition of Storytelling Sunday. Regulars will know that on the first Sunday of every month, blogger from across the globe join in telling stories of all shapes and sizes. This year we are talking about precious things. The stories are all linked together via their founder Sian who sits High in the Sky overseeing the posts.

So today I welcome you to another one of my precious items. Today I would like to introduce you all to my grandparent's clock.



Here she is, the clock my dad's parents had on their mantlepiece for as many years as I can remember. When I was a small girl, my grandparents lived in Leckhampton, a suburb of Cheltenham in a large terraced house. It was the kind of house which still had an outside loo and two lounges. Well one was the best front room and the other was a small parlour. This was the room where the piano stood along with chairs, a special glass cabinet and the TV. The mantlepiece had the clock. I can remember watching my grandpa winding the clock at bedtime with the key which lived under the clock. It had a chime for the hour and every quarter hour.

After my grandparents died, my parents let me have the clock and when I owned my own house, it sat on my mantlepiece above the fire. Now I used to wind it up too but people complained that it ticked too loudly and chimed incessantly so sadly the clock hasn't been wound for a very longtime. Nowadays it sits on top of the TV cabinet surrounded by photographs of friends and family and occasional flowers - currently it is daffodils.


Lil sister and I playing piano at our grandparent's house (me in red/orange).
 
Despite it not being wound up, that clock lifts my heart every time I look at it, it brings back memories of a happy childhood
  •  playing in my grandparent's garden, 
  • helping my grandpa on his allotment, 
  • walking round to the swings at the park, 
  • smelling my grandma's perfume, 
  • the bristles of my grandpa's beard, 
  • his dents in his scalp from bullet and shrapnel wounds at Dunkirk, 
  • the funny old china hot water bottles and eiderdowns on the beds to keep us warm in the house with no heating

and many, many more. It is amazing to think that one item can evoke so many amazing memories but I suppose in a way this clock is so rapped up in my childhood, that the memories are deeply ingrained into the wood cabinet of the clock, and the times are measured by the ticks of the clock and the movement of the hands across the face. I think today, after all this time, I will take that key, and just like my grandpa, I will wind the clock and listen to the echoes of memories the ticking brings.

I wish you all a memorable Sunday and many happy times reading the stories brought to you today.

24 comments:

  1. Oh gosh, I remember china hot water bottles (I still have one) and eiderdowns and my grandfather kept the key under the clock too … I love the way just writing about it evoked a cascade of memories for you (and for me!). I can't help hoping that one day it gets to chime again ...

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  2. How lovely. You need to wind it up today - in honour of being the subject of Storytelling Sunday! Clocks used to have quite loud 'ticks' in those days, but I think that's quite a comforting sound, very relaxing. You have lovely memories of your grandad.

    Ps I saw on Debturtle's blog you used to frequent BS when living in Cambridge, what a coincidence! Where did you go? Wonder if I was ever in the same place at the same time?!

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  3. Oh, you must wind it up Jo :o) How rude of people to complain, when they are guests in your home! My grandparents had a clock very similar, if not identical to yours.

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  4. Yes, definitely wind it up! Beautiful clock and such happy memories and you have described them so beautifully.

    Can I just say that I think your blog looks beautiful too, I must get mine spruced up!

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  5. I hope you have a good Sunday too. We are just back from a visit to the local Botanical Gardens.I even took a few photos.

    Your story is a wonderful one today - your Grandpa's house sounds very like the one my Grandparents lived in, with no inside bathroom and a parlour at the front. There was a clock too..I wonder if the chimes sounded the same? Precious memories indeed. Thanks Jo!

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  6. Do wind it Jo! I love a ticking clock and what great memories yours has. We have three chiming clocks in our house and they never go off at the same time. It is a standing joke that if you are trying to watch TV on the hour you will miss the first 5 mins with all the cuckooing, chiming and dongs! x

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  7. This is a lovely story Jo! The clock is really precious and I love all the memories it brings back for you :D x

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  8. Maybe you should wind it every now and again, perhaps every Storytelling Sunday, in order to remind of the many happy memories it brings to mind.

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  9. What a lovely memory, I know have a happy image of you standing and winding up the clock and smiling while doing it :) how wonderful

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  10. I would not have stopped winding the clock, but that's just me and I am stubborn. I'm happy you will again wind the clock and hear the ticking that reminds you of your grandparents. It is funny/strange how smells and sounds can bring memories rushing back that we thought had been forgotten. By the way, it is a lovely old clock.

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  11. My grandparents had one very similar to that, which sat on the mantelpiece or THEIR front room!
    Alison xx

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  12. Ah - my grandparents in law had a similar clock - it didn't have a loud tick as it was broken but they left it there anyhow :) What a lovely set of memories you've listed.

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  13. My parents have a similar clock - I'm not sure where it comes from, but it hasn't ticked or chimed in many years. My mother-in-law took the clocks from her parents house and had them restored about 10 years ago. When she bought them home and gave them pride of place in her living room my father-in-law told her they would have to go because the ticking drove him bonkers.

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  14. I remember one similar at my Grandparents too
    What a lovely set of memories coming from your precious clock :)

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  15. The clock is lovely, but the memories it evokes are even better!

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  16. Your clock has reminded me of my grandparents clock which is almost identical! It's lovely that they bring back such happy memories, one memory of mine is that they have a very loud tick! :) x

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  17. Small correction - They were not dents, they were his adorable dimbles as he called them..... love him xx

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    1. Yes Rach I couldn't think of the name while I was writing. Dad loved this BTW xxxx

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  18. And my grandparents had the identical clock which is now happily tic tocking and chiming in my brothers house! So many memories you have evoked, thanks so much for sharing.

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  19. My husband has a very similiar clock handed done to him from his grandfather. Apparently the clock face came from an old MG and the wood from an aeroplane. It doesn't tick loudly but we do forget to wind it up.

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  20. Wonderful story :) Brings back memories of my Grannies clock when I was growing up :)

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  21. I love that turn of phrase "the echoes of memories the ticking brings". I can just imagine listening to that clock and playing those old reels over in my mind.

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  22. I love clocks, but don't have any heirloom ones. Loove your story and how you wrote it.
    Rinda

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  23. Oh what a treasure and so nice that it brings back all these memories of your grandparents. I hope youo wound it.

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Hello and thank you so much for stopping by. It is always a pleasure to read the comments I receive and to meet new friends. I try and reply to comments on friend's blogs as much as possible. I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog and look forward to seeing you here again soon. Love Jo xxx