About me

Here is the first photograph of Ethel Maud (taken 1915) with father Lewis Saville, mother Mary Ellen Saville, sister Sarah Ellen (Nellie) and brothers William (Bill) James Thomas (Jimmie) Charles Henry (Harry) and Arthur.

Ethel with sister Nellie 

Ethel stood between mother Mary Ellen and sister Nellie at her eldest brother's wedding (groom Bill and bride Maud, 1920)

Ethel around 21 years of age, having grown up in the village of Thorpe...

...and who had met the dashing Reg Bryant... 

And here's Ethel and Reg on their wedding day

But war was to disrupt the young couple's life soon after they settled in Skipton.

Reg was to serve in the Royal Scots Fusiliers (Yorkshire Regiment) taking him to the Netherlands and the Normandy beaches, while Ethel lived with father Lewis and served as a fire watcher in the Yorkshire town of Morley.

Reg survived the war and the couple settled again but, very sadly, he did not survive his post-war battle with cancer. Reg lived to name his daughter Jennifer Mary and passed away when Jennifer was just 9 weeks old. 

Ethel became the father of the family. She turned down a kind opportunity to return to the railway offices where she had worked during the war to make a fresh start building a career as a Civil Servant in Rothwell. Ethel's sister Nellie cared for Jennifer during those working hours. 

And together they were a family - here at the seaside...

...and at Jennifer's wedding to Ian Smith.

And here is Ethel with her two eldest grandchildren, Gavin and Kirsten

Ethel had a long career as assistant housing manager at Rothwell Council
(here on the back row, on the left)

And, as this blog lets you know, enjoyed many years of happy retirement with Rothwell's Jubilee choir and the Woodlesford Ladies' choir
(here front row, far left)

Here is Ethel at a youthful 93 years old - a time when she was still reading 

monologues at local choir concerts

 

And Ethel at an amazing 99 years old, still living independently.
She raised an eyebrow when Granddaughter Laura explained that this photo had been posted onto the internet, in seconds, using the computer on her telephone!

And our family gathered from all over the country to wish her a 

HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY!

(Here Ethel is sitting on a bench bought to celebrate her birthday, 

outside Royds Court where she volunteered for many years 

and still enjoys the weekly coffee mornings)