Tuesday 25 September 2012

Loopy Nana


Reading Nilly’s great post about her grandmother,  (  http://nillyhall-maidinkent.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/whats-in-name.html)     and having spent the last week wallowing in family history research, I decided Loopy Nana needed an outing in my blog.
Nana is on the right.....walking with a neighbour.....I'd love to know what they were talking about.
 
Nana, Queenie Kathleen Gilbert, was born in 1902. Her father was a bootmaker in Rochester in Kent, she attended a convent school, rowed and drove a motor bike. It’s hard to think what the nuns made of her....she was a big girl, and became what others may have called a handsome woman.....always larger than life.

Queenie, aged 21

My parents and I lived with her for the first 4 years of my life. My early memories of her are that she systematically broke every piece of a 110 piece dinner service my mother had received as a wedding present. ( not strictly true, I have about 6 pieces of it left). I can remember hearing a crash from the kitchen, my mother raising her eyebrows, and Nana shouting “ oopps...sorry Joy, that’s another bit gone “
Nana took me for great walks in the park,  and always told me how much I would have loved “her Billy” ( her husband who died in 1946.....he’s the one I have since discovered was a bigamist, and Queenie was actually his third, simultaneously held, wife).
Queenie and her Billy, in 1928
Her motor bike was her pride and joy, and she would go for midnight rides in north London. The police followed her home one night, and suggested that she should probably stick to day time rides in the future...she was about 70 at the time.
no caption needed....it's just Loopy nana
Nana worked in munitions in the war, and then when Billy died she became a factory superviser for the Tilley lamp company. Later in life, she considered retirement, and then decided against it, working as a tea lady for an estate agent until she was in her late 80s. When I was a student ( mid 70s) she sent me £1 every week, in an envelope, with her latest news. That continued for 4 years, she was my most reliable source of income, at a time when £1 would certainly pay for a decent night out at the pub.

My father adored her, and she spent every weekend at our house, every Christmas day, and she joined us for a week of every family holiday we ever had. Nana could climb on the rocks, wield a mean cricket bat in any beach cricket game, and was always our favourite baby sitter.
Between being 16 and 18, I would go to her little flat for tea, every Thursday night after school. We had sausages and mash every time. Nana would ask what I wanted “next week” as I was leaving, and no matter what I suggested for a change..... it would be sausages and mash the following week.
I do remember being a little hurt when finding a Congratulations on the birth of your daughter ( me) card, in a box, with the words “ oh well, better luck next time, the train set will have to wait “. However, as she bought me a big red fire engine as a present when I went into hospital when I was 2, I guess, by then, she’d forgiven me for not being a boy.
We started to refer to her as “loopy nana” when distinguishing her from our other, not so loopy nana. It stuck, and she loved it. I am very proud to have inherited that title, and will work hard to deserve it.
Loopy Nana on the right, not so loopy nana ( nanny) on the left, with their great grandaughter, my daughter Jessie between them. This was taken just a couple of months before Loopy nana died......so glad she met Jess !
 

 

27 comments:

  1. What a super lady...I love the photograph of her on her motorbike.

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    1. She was pretty amazing....never moaned or complained, and life must have been pretty tough after Billy died...a real character.

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  2. Poignant and interesting. Lovely memories and photographs to have.

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    1. Thanks Gaynor...I do love the photos, especially the one where she is with her neighbour and looking as if she has a nasty smell under nose.

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  3. She is fantastic, Janice! Even larger than life than my own great grandmother who was also quite a character. You seem to have captured her perfectly cos I really feel as though I know her and love her too! Wonderful!!
    Axxx

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    1. Thanks Annie...it's quite a name to live up to. I think Liam and Dexter would quite like a nana who rode a motor bike. Jx

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  4. How thoroughly delighted I am, Janice, to meet your grandmother here. Loopy Nana seems like quite the character and fun to be around. She reminds me a bit of my Aunt Babe, who was a force to reckon with and whom I miss. Queenie's life could not have been easy, but, she seems to have made the most of it. Thank you, dear Janice, for sharing her.

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    1. Thanks Penny, she really was a great character, and she certainly did enjoy her life, hardships and all.J.

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  5. I hope I'm a Loopy Nana too (I'm sure the kids all think I am), but I could never compare with Queenie. What a woman!

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    1. I think we should all aim to be loopy nanas...the world would be a better place ! I enjoyed your grandmother post so much, I couldn't stop thinking about it, and decided I wanted to post about mine too.

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  6. Lovely post Janice. What a character, and you are so lucky to have photos as well as your memories.

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    1. Thanks Ayak.. the photos do help jog the memory, they capture her sparkle so well. J.

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  7. Great post mum!! you always talk about people so well! Love it x x

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    1. Well...it's easy to talk about your great grandmother in glowing terms, she was a lovely person.x

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  8. Brilliant post Janice I smiled all the way through that.

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    1. I'm glad Matt, she really was a character. x

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  9. Janice...this was a very awesome ad interesting post....love the name "loopy nana".....you Brits always have cool names. She sounded like a very interesting character and never a dull moment and lived life to the fullest.....you are so fortunate to have photos of her and that your daughter got a chance to meet her. Thanks for sharing your story. :-)

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    1. Thanks Erica, she certainly lived life to the full...and never complained about anything, she always saw the bright side of things. J.

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  10. Now i have something to aspire to. Loopy nana! ( hate motorbikes though!)

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    1. It's a great title isn't it... one that anyone would be proud of.J.

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  11. What an amazing woman to have for a grandmother and what a lovely tribute to her! All of the photographs are wonderful -- but I do especially love her on the motorbike!

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    1. Yes, she was unusual for a granny....one of a kind I think. My dad used to worry about her on her night motor bike trips, but she always said it was the safest time to drive....less traffic on the roads. J.

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  12. Janice, I SO enjoyed meeting your amazing grandmother. Seeing her on her motorbike at the age of 70 gives me hope for the future. Not that you'd ever get me on a bike, but with her sense of adventure and sheer indomitableness (is that a word?) she makes a great role model for us women of a certain age. :-)

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    1. Thanks for your comments Perpetua. Queenie was a really remarkable, and lovely woman, and someone who never really thought she was anything special.You are right, a real role model. J.

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  13. That first photograph is priceless! What great research. you're doing on your family

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