Old Photographs...

Got Alan out to school and after John left I attacked a pile of ironing. Still have loads to do but at least Alan’s school stuff is all done, I have clothes to wear for the rest of the week and David has enough work shirts to last till the middle of next week. Yay!

I then turned my attention to the task of going through some old family photos I looked out last week as I want to get them copied and re-printed so I can start a wall of family photographs. These two photos of my mum jumped out at me as the pose is so similar despite the difference in age.

The first photo was taken in 1944 when she was 4 years old. The second was taken 20 years later in 1964, just before she was interviewed by the BBC about her award of the George Medal from the Queen, as a result of her rooftop rescue of a suicidal man who was threatening to jump from a rooftop on London’s Coram Street with his baby son.

As I've mentioned before, my mum was a WPC with the Met at the time and was just about to go off duty when she was sent to try and talk to the man who was threatening to jump from the roof with his baby as his wife had left him, and persuade him to come down to safety. My mum had no idea why her Sergeant thought she was the person for the job (A church Minister had already been talking to the man for over an hour to no avail) but upon getting onto the roof, she discovered the man, like her, was Scottish but living in England and it became clear why she’d been chosen.

It’s all too long a story to go into here but if you’re interested, there are photos in my BLIPFOLIO that tell the story better than I ever could.

I am trying to decide what should happen to my mum’s George Medal and all the press cuttings and letters / telegrams of congratulations (and marriage proposals!) she received from all over the world, when I’m no longer here. I’m an only child and Alan will be the end of our line so I am thinking of gifting them to the Metropolitan Police Museum….but part of me also wants them to stay in Scotland. I will need to have a good think about it.

Another funny story about my mum’s time in the Met is told HERE
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Monday again eh? Never mind, it’ll soon be the weekend ;-)

PS Yesterday’s Backblip