Today is the 4th of May. 102 years since my uncle Dan was born and 57 years since my grandfather Hugh died.

I never got to meet my grandfather as he died before I was born and while I didn’t see a lot of my uncle Dan, as he lived in England and we were in Scotland, I do have very fond memories of him. On a couple of occasions London for job interviews or training courses and I was invited to stay with Dan and my auntie Nellie at their home in Luton.

Dan was the 2nd of 5 children and the only boy. He was also the only one who left Newmains. He left home to join the army and, while he returned for visits, never lived there again.

My grandparents would have missed him very much and I know they visited the family in Luton. I’ve written previously about them being on a train which crashed on their way home from a visit in 1953. You can read more by clicking here.

I’ve found photos from 1962 when they visited, along with my parents, to meet their latest grandchild. I have very few photos of my grandparents so these are quite special. I was quite young when my granny died. I remember her as being really old (she wasn’t especially) and after my granda died her health deteriorated and she never really left the house. It’s nice to see them all looking happy in this pic.

Here’s another photo featuring Hugh and Dan from the 1930s. My granda was very much into football and was very much involved with local teams. Here he is on the left in the back row while Dan is the second boy from the right in the front row. I recognise the location of the photo as being the grounds of St Brigid’s church in Newmains which at that time was also the school.

Hugh was born on 25 March 1899 and died on 4 May 1968. Daniel was born on 4 May 1923 and died on 14 June 1990. Both gone too soon.