Thanks For The Memories

I received a message the other day from Keith Mealey in response to a News From Nowhere posting way back in December 2007. In the post, I told the story of Auntie Rhoda and her time as a Winstanley Babe back in the 1920s. Keith tells me about his moth-in law, Edith Carr who was a Winstanley Babe back in the thirties. Since writing about the Babes, other people have also contacted me about their relatives who spent time as Winstanley Babes : some of them as recently as the 1960s. One of the great delights of the Internet is the way it can bring together people around shared interests. You don't need to spend twenty years researching a topic or organise complex reunions. You just need to mention a word or phrase and let Google or Yahoo do the rest. This is happened a number of times over the last year or so : I have had people writing to me to share memories of, say, Fircroft College or their enthusiasm for such things as motorcycle funerals. Helping to preserve such memories is one of the many pleasurable side-effects of blogging. Keith's message reminded me of all this and provides a perfect opportunity at the time of the Easter holidays to thank everyone for their messages.