WEEK 27 – The great outdoors

 WEEK 27 – The great outdoors

For this weeks theme of “the great outdoors” there are so many people that I could use as many of the family were farmers or ag labs. So, this is going to be a sort of general post linked to them all, with a few individual mentions.

As above many of my ancestors were farmers or ag labs, worked with horses or cattle or simply on the fields. They must have had a love for “the great outdoors” to do it, or it was the only thing they knew how to do and had to put up with it. They would have been out in all weathers. It would have been a very hard job to do.

Grand uncle Fed Thompson was born in 1926 in Outwell Norfolk. In his childhood years he was a boy scout and spent time in “the great outdoors”. Although he spent many years working in a foundry as a labourer he also did gardening on the side, and later in life he spent most of his days in “the great outdoors” as a gardener. He had a huge garden where he lived in Wisbech and most of it was used for growing his own plants and vegetables. I spent many days with him and his wife and “helping” in the vegetable garden. I’m sure he would say different. He had a typical country image – old scruffy jeans and checked shirts and a cap, he smoked a pipe and always had dirty hands.

Great Grandad George Haylock was born in 1880 in Swaffham Bulbeck. He spent his entire working life in “the great outdoors”. He was a general labourer, a farm hand a jobbing gardener, gardener heavy work and he had an allotment. I never met George and from the photos I have of him he doesn’t look like he had ever seen “the great outdoors” let alone spent his life there – in every photo he is smartly dressed in a suit and tie. My great aunt said he would come home, bath and change into his suit so he looked presentable if anyone came round.

The husband of my grandaunt Albert Cox was born in 1914 in Sussex. He was a Lorry Driver during the week and a local gardener at weekends, but later in life he spent his time in “the great outdoors” and did gardening full time. He was the gardener for the church where he and his wife got married and later buried in. As well as doing other peoples gardens he had a lovely back garden with plants and vegetables and a short walk from the house he had the allotment that was Grandad George’s. He always had checked shirts with old trousers on the days he was going to the allotment. I spent time helping him down there as a child.

Great Grandad Arthur Thompson was born in 1876 in South Runcton. He was a farmers son and therefore he also was a farmer. He spent his time in “the great outdoors” on the farm the family lived on or at the one he worked at. He had the typical farmer look of straw hat or flat cap, check shirt and dungarees and a pipe. I never met him and by all accounts he wouldn’t have liked me as I am outspoken.

Many of the Haylock and Bigmore family were farmers as were some of the Irish Lackeys and Jacksons (but not all). There are possibly other people who worked in “the great outdoors” but I can’t think of any.