Memoir Archives - Huguenot Jo

How can I keep from singing?

Huguenot Jo — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 18:38:11 +0000

Why they called me Joy I don’t know.

When the midwife asked my mother for my name, she thought she heard the reply “Joey”. If only. They needed a boy, to inherit the family butcher business. I was the last …

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“My two lovely girls”

Huguenot Jo — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 18:07:29 +0000

February 22 is never a good day for me – it’s the anniversary of my mum’s death, and I ignore it at my peril.

Better to acknowledge it than have things go wrong all day as the subconscious wreaks havoc.…

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Promotion – excellent pay, good prospects and a company horse

Huguenot Jo — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 20:51:43 +0000

Guest blog: Author Ann Vinden is currently writing a biography set in Chile during the nitrate extraction period. She writes here about horses, class and family.

No-one would have suggested learning to ride a horse as a means of independence …

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“When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it…”

Huguenot Jo — Sun, 15 Nov 2020 12:33:40 +0000

I have my criticisms of my mother, and in many ways she was an abomination, but she did make sure I learnt to swim, and – more unusually – to ride.

My sister and I were horse fanatics. Our riding …

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The other side of the tracks

Huguenot Jo — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:24:49 +0000

Sarah is 80 this year. She idolised my mum who, admittedly, was good with small children not her own. In any case, this was in the years when my mum was a Sunday School teacher and must have had child-amusing …

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Little Staughton Google Street View MK44 2BY

Huguenot Jo — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 10:25:03 +0000

Little Staughton Google Street View MK44 2BY

If you’ve got the courage, and it’s still standing, you can look at your childhood home on Google Street View. I googled the name of our cottage to find out its postcode – …

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