COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Yesterday’s Sunshine.

As a counterpoint to some of the very serious work Age Concern South Lakeland is engaged in, occasionally a project comes along that lifts the spirits of all those involved and provides that much needed smile and perspective in all our busy working lives. “How we used to play”, part of our Community Development work, is just such a project.

In June this year the 7 and 8 year olds of Grange primary school had a lesson with a difference. Victor and Dorothy Hindle spent the afternoon with the children talking about their childhood holiday experiences. Their experiences were brought to life for the children with treasured photographs, postcards, coins of the day and even hats worn on holiday by Dorothy.

The children were surprised to hear that Victor was 12 before he had his first holiday and they were enthralled to see his demonstration of period beach attire which included the ubiquitous knotted hanky, rolled up trouser legs and braces. Of course the children bombarded the couple with numerous questions, “How did you get there?”, “Where did you stay?”, and “Did you see Punch and Judy?”

Both Dorothy and Victor thoroughly enjoyed the experience. They said, “It was lovely to see their faces light up when we showed them our old photographs” and “We had forgotten how interesting children could be - they asked such fascinating questions”.