Bealtaine Festival

Celebrating Creativity as we Age

I Remember, I Remember ………

In May of this year, I joined a class at the local Library for a six week session.  I didn’t know what to expect, except that the purpose was to recall early memories of childhood, good, bad or indifferent.   Our local Library is very diverse.  Naturally, there are books for every age group, for small children up to pensioners and every subject you could think of.  I think the staff have been the same since my children were small.  One of the interesting things I’ve noticed, is that groups of people meet at the library.  There are different areas where you can see people studying or groups sitting around talking quietly.  Exhibitions are often held there.  I was part of one this year where our framed posters of stories and poetry were exhibited.

Our first session with Brigid, our teacher/facilitator, was getting to know the group, which numbered about nine, mostly women and one man.  Brigid brought along some items to engage our senses and memory.  There were some wild flowers, a bar of carbolic soap, a Dinky car, some old “Secret Seven” children’s books by Enid Blyton, and a few other things.  When I saw the soap, I immediately thought of Life Buoy soap, the big bars of red soap that my mother hand washed the clothes with years ago.  The Dinky toy and the children’s books certainly evoked memories of my childhood.  My mum actually worked for a while in the factory in London where they made the Dinky toys!

Each week Brigid brought along something new to get our thoughts flowing.  We wrote what we were thinking, and we took turns reading out our memories.  It was fascinating to hear how parents had met, what the husband did for a living (women rarely worked outside the home in those days).  There were heart-warming stories about family holidays and recollections of different things that happened during the family’s early years.  One lady who grew up in Birmingham, remembers the bombing during the Second World War.

One week we were asked to draw a map showing where the house we were born in was. That was a bit daunting for most of us.  It was one thing talking about early memories and writing about them.  Drawing was entirely different.  The week after we were asked to draw the first house we lived in.  That was easy enough, though my family standing outside the house looked like matchstick men.  (When my son called in that evening and saw the drawing on the worktop he said “Did Beth do that?”  Beth is my six year old granddaughter!)  I really laughed!

On our last session, Brigid brought along blocks of wood for us to paint with acrylic paint. This was the real deal! I was getting a bit nervous at this stage about expectations.  Brigid did a quick painting to show us what we could do.  The only stipulation was that we had to paint something we remembered as a child.  A few people did memories of the seaside, caravan holidays, one abstract, one of a house that had been bombed in a row of houses during the war.  Mine was of a neighbour, Mrs. Doyle, who lived opposite us when we lived in Ireland, standing at the door of her cottage.  My memory was of the beautiful scarlet rhododendron bush in her front garden.

During our sessions, the lovely people in the Library supplied us with tea, coffee and biscuits.  Brigid varnished each of our paintings, and they were hung in the Library for a few weeks.  Some of us typed a little piece explaining what the picture was about.  Carmen Cullen, Writer, (a friend and neighbour also), opened the proceedings for us, and did a wonderful introduction.

It was a most enjoyable exercise and none of us thought at the beginning that we could produce something worth hanging in the Library.  Brigid organised an evening to launch our paintings.  She brought along bottles of wine and a jug of the most refreshing drink I have ever tasted, made from sparkling water, orange juice, crushed strawberries and pieces of orange.  Gorgeous.  What a wonderful six sessions we had from the start, and our thanks to Brigid for the experience.  I was delighted one of my daughters, Andrea, and son Dylan came along for the launch.  They said they really enjoyed it, and the paintings weren’t too bad either!