The second and final instalment from this particular photograph album that was kept by my paternal grandparents.
I'll start with this one. It is undated but my Dad is there - Allan Burke, aged probably one-year-old and certainly no more than two so I'd guess 1933. His brother, my Uncle Geoff, was born in May 1933 and he does not appear in the photo, so either he wasn't yet born or my Grandma, Annie Burke, didn't trust any of the kids to hold him securely. Dad is held I think by Doris Woolfenden who would be his cousin once removed - the daughter of his Great-Aunty Florrie. They are in front of the door on the back row.
There are very few photos of Allan and Geoff playing with other children. Dad always said that Annie viewed most of the other children in the street as "a bit rough..." and discouraged her two sons from mingling. I suppose you have to bear in mind that she had lost three children in childbirth or infancy before Allan survived. It may have made her a bit over-protective.
August 1935. Allan, Annie and Geoff on the beach somewhere. The date is the only caption so I'm not sure where this is. They are paddling in a pool on the beach and I note Dad is wearing sandals in case of broken glass. I'm not sure those knitted romper suits would stand up well to being immersed in the sea somehow...
Happily they make it off the beach with gussets intact and have a go on what looks like some kind of racing game. If only they were tall enough to see what was going on!
Taken on Allan's third birthday in April 1935. I've no idea where this is either, but he has a satisfied and brave smile on his face despite the large piece of gauze plastered to his knee, the trophy of some endeavour or adventure!
Allan and Geoff with an unknown child between them on my grandad's Ariel motorbike. Enthusiasts may drool over this bike now but apparently it backfired once whilst my grandad (also called John Burke) was kick-starting it. It broke his ankle and he sold it soon afterwards.
Allan and Geoff on a more easily managed roundabout somewhere. No clues are given - it could be at the seaside somewhere or at their local beauty spot of Hollingworth Lake where there was a small fairground and amusement arcade.
Geoff in what I take to be a pedal car. The year is now 1936. Those look to be a serious pair of boots he's wearing...
This tricycle had started out as Allan's as another photo exists of him much younger riding it. Now he is riding pillion behind Geoff round the back of the house. The gasworks can be seen on the far right.
Tired out by their efforts - Geoff pedalling to go faster and Allan dragging his feet to keep the speed down - the boys take a breather on the doorstep. Ah... scratch that, there's no door... on the pavement then!
Geoff with my Great-Uncle Percy on a carousel. Once again there's no clue as to where this was taken.
Geoff on Church Street, Rochdale near the gas works. Up until my own teens my Great-Grandma Maggie Brierley and her sister Great-Gt-Aunty Florrie still lived on Church Street and the smell from the gas works was a bit whiffy to say the least! I never knew my Great-Grandad. Fred Brierley had died in 1949.
This looks like Southport boating pool. John holds onto both his sons who are eager to play with their model boats to the point of going in head first... If you look carefully at the far end of the pool you can see that it has a curved end and then immediately gets wider. I remember as a small boy holding onto the mast of my toy yacht and watching it cut through the water as I ran around the end of the pool. I reached the wider bit and plunged straight in up to my waist... My Mum was extremely annoyed but I think Dad thought it rather funny...
Somewhere else I recognise! Blackpool beach, just south of the South Pier. Annie is with both her sons and her parents, Maggie and Fred.
Allan with his Aunty Elsie, Annie's sister and wife of Percy who we saw on the carousel a bit earlier. Both John and Percy had motorcycle and sidecar combinations.
Allan and Geoff paddling in a pool. No idea where this is either. It's not deep enough for the pool at Southport, which in any case is not bordered by hedges. Answers on a comment or on a postcard please...
And we finish this article - and the album - with a photo of my Daddy in 1938. The pier looks like Blackpool's North Pier.
Great photo’s again John I do wish people would have written on the back of their photos. We have lots with no idea who some are or where they were taken.
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