Vintage wedding photographs part five

It is an exciting time as my sister gets married on Saturday. It seems to have been a while in the planning and is now suddenly here. Her dress is made, the cakes are iced, my niece and I have sparkly bridesmaid's shoes to wear, bunting is being put together, paper flowers are being fashioned and crochet floral table centrepiece production is a go go. It is all set to be a wonderful day.

All this wedding preparation made me think it was about time to feature some more vintage wedding photos here. You can find more in my previous posts on this subject here, here, here, here  here and here.

I really like this 1920's photograph as you can see a fair bit of detail of the bride's cap and veil. Look at the lovely lace on the corner of the veil that is hanging over the chair. Her cap is either beaded or she has some kind of tiara on. It is a shame that her massive bouquet hides her dress but this is common in wedding photos of this era.

I think this is a 1920's wedding because of the bride's hat, hair and dropped waist dress. On the back of the photo it says Mother and Dad. I wish we had their names! I like the fact that this bride's bouquet almost touches the floor! The groom is very dapper.

I think that this is also a 1920's wedding, although it could be early 1930's. Massive bouquets, floor length veil, pearls, bridal cap. I am particularly interested in the bridesmaid's dresses as it looks like they have some sort of open, full length coat that goes over their dresses. Their hats are also interesting, the look like they have an inner cap that fits close to the head and then the outer part has the brim. You can see the hat pin on the bridesmaid on the left.

I like these two smiley, happy bridesmaids. I like the jaunty angled brims on their hats too. The sleeves and length of their gowns make me think this is a 1930's photo.

I think this is an early 1940's photograph judging by the hair and the woman on the right's dress and hat. We can't see much of the bride but close up it is possible to distinguish two layers to her dress, the top layer is see through and looks to have a lattice pattern. The bridesmaid's dresses look a little more 1930's with their puffed sleeves. On the bridesmaid on the left you can see some kind of detailing near the bottom of the dress, I think it could be an appliqué bow? The little girl has nice shoes that I would wear now and a great, sticking out dress!

This photo is not in great condition but I wanted to include it as the bride is in the middle of laughing at something and looks so very happy. I can't tell if the bride's dress is a printed fabric, some kind of damask or has a lace overlay. Her sleeves look slightly puffed but then tight from the elbow down. You can just catch a glimpse of her floor length veil behind the groom's leg. I like his pin striped suit. I think this is a 1940's wedding.

This is a lovely picture of a wartime wedding. I hope that they had a long and happy life together. The bride and bridesmaid have suits on or possibly the bride has a long coat and a dress on. Impressive hats too.

Very helpfully there is lots of information on the back of this picture. The wedding of Mary and Alan took place on 4th November 1948. The best man is Brian Temperley and the bridesmaid is May Lyons, the bride worked with her at the Regal Cinema. I love being able to find out this kind of information. The bride is in a lovely shaped suit, it looks like the skirt may button down the middle, or it has some kind of central decoration. May's dress has some very pretty pleats and looks to have some embroidery at the collar. She has a very far away look!

This bride is wearing a lovely suit, it is probably a wartime wedding. The star piece of her ensemble is her hat. It  has masses of veiling and some bird's feathers/wings/half a bird on it. Quite impressive. They look happy couple.

I think that this could be a 1940's wedding too. The top of her dress has such beautiful details on it, beaded flowers and a sequined ribbon. I think that her hat is made of feathers, I like the ones that curl around her ears. This is a lovely, happy picture.

This is such a fabulous picture of these three bridesmaids all smiling away. The have lovely floor length floral dresses with a slight sweetheart neckline finished off with pearls. They all have elbow length white gloves and cute half hats. I think this is from a 1950's wedding.

I'm looking forward to Saturday!

A tale from a travelling hat

Last month I had a very special weekend away at The Petwood Hotel in Lincolnshire. I went with my family and our family friends. It was special as a baby was born in each family in 2013 and this was the first time all of the three generations would get to meet up. It was fabulous to see everyone and have the babies meet each other. We enjoyed ourselves so much!

The Petwood was planned in 1905 as a bungalow which is hard to imagine when you see the first photo. These extensions were added from 1908 and Petwood was the home of a Baroness Von Eckhardstein. It is located in Woodhall Spa which was a very popular place for spa treatments in Edwardian times.

During the Second World War the Petwood was requisitioned by the RAF and was the Officer's Mess for the 617 'Dambusters' squadron, who I talked about in this post. The hotel has lots of related memorabilia and aside from being a beautiful place to stay it is also an interesting place to poke around.

The weekend was special for another reason - I had a treasure in my possession which I thought would look particularly at home in the hotel and I was hoping to get some good photographs of it there. My visit had luckily coincided with my turn to have Tanith's fabulous travelling hat. If you have not seen this before get over to Tanith's fantastic blog and catch up on the people and places that the hat has travelled to so far. Having watched it make it's way through blog land to me I was so excited to unpack it and try this gorgeous little hat on for myself. Do you want to see it?

Let us go in the front door.

We better study the map to get our bearings.

I think I know where I am going. 

Always important to locate the dining room!

Getting my order in at the Squadron bar.

Looking at the memorabilia.

Going to investigate the rest of the hotel.

A most comfortable window seat with a good view of guests arriving.

Having a chat.

Admiring the wood panelling.

Catching a glimpse in a handy mirror.

Heading downstairs.

Catching the sunshine.

Resting in the lounge.

Warming up by the fire.

Considering a turn around the grounds.

Back inside.

I enjoyed my time with the travelling hat very much, I loved wearing it. I paired it with a modern but vintage appropriate dress, a vintage brooch in matching colours and my felt leaf belt which I hand sewed from a 1940's pattern. Thank you so much to Tanith for creating this hat and sending it out on it's travels around the world. I look forward to seeing where it goes next!

RAF East Kirkby 1943-45

A few weekends ago we went on a very pleasant outing to the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre at East Kirkby. The Centre is situated on a Bomber Command airfield and includes the original control tower. Lincolnshire had many airfields during the Second World War, it is a very flat county making it practical and it is on the East side of England so is near to Europe. The Centre is owned by two brothers Fred and Harold Panton. They opened it as a memorial to their elder brother Christopher and the other 55,500 aircrew of Bomber Command who lost their lives in the war.

The most well known exhibit is the Lancaster Bomber NX611 which is situated in the main hanger. As you walk in through the hanger doors you come in just under it's nose and the sheer size of the aircraft takes your breath away.

NX611 is better known as Just Jane. She was built in Birmingham in April 1945 and was destined for the Far East. However, she was not needed and ended up in storage until 1952. I like to see all the art work.

Having been bought by the French Government she was used in maritime patrols and in Air Sea Rescue until 1964. She spent a year in Sydney and then returned to England in 1965. The Panton brothers were able to buy her in 1983 to become part of their museum built on part of what was RAF Kirkby. She has been restored to taxiing standard so she doesn't fly but you can sit in her and have a taxi run. Unfortunately this wasn't possible on the day we visited so I will have to return; only 3 Lancasters in the world can still move under their own power.

I did get to sit in another aircraft though and gosh it was a tight squeeze. From nearly taking a slice off the top of my head on the door frame to squeezing into the pilot's chair it was all a bit tricky. I am only 5'4" so I have no idea how grown men manage!

I may have been pushing up my glasses in reality but in my mind I was adjusting my flight goggles.

Do you want to see what it was like inside?

So many dials! I couldn't make head nor tail of it! I am full of admiration for pilots.

The main hanger is huge and also houses displays of many RAF artefacts and tells the stories of the squadrons of Bomber Command. There are many personal possessions on display and I found theses little rodent crew mascots to be particularly poignant. I hope that they worked.

One of the stories is that of the Dambusters and one of the bouncing bombs is displayed.

There were also lots of vehicles that would have been used either on the airfield or as transport to leave the base. These are a few of my favourites, chosen not because of their function but for their shape and shininess of course!

A motorbike for nipping around the airfield.

Some lucky airman's pride and joy!

An Austin K2 NAAFI wagon which was used to take tea and refreshments to the ground crew when they were dispersed around the airfield. This one still works and is often used when the museum puts on special events.

I rather liked this little Ford.

Bedford WLG coach 1931. This was used by airmen at all the local bases to travel around the area. It was owned by a local garage and was used regularly until it crashed into a ditch in 1947. Whoops!

The final thing about the main hanger is something that struck me as soon as I walked in and that was the smell. It smelt exactly like my Grandad's shed used to do. Grandad's shed was the place where he did wood and metal turning, making bits and pieces, pottering about and entertaining us with science magic when we were children. I suppose it is some mix of metal, grease and who knows what lingering in the air. I mentioned it to my parents and they told me of the time a few years ago when they took Grandad to the Centre. His short term memory was going and he was often confused but they said that as soon as he walked in and saw the various pieces of aircraft he knew exactly what everything was used for and how to fix it. He was RAF ground crew during the war so it must all have struck a cord somewhere inside him. I was pleased to have that little link to him.

These tin huts are situated to the side of the main hanger. Do you want to look inside? I did!

This is the billet hut which would have been home to the aircrews and ground crews on the base. Those beds look mighty uncomfy but a friend who has tried them says they are not so bad. The shelves and chairs contain the belongings of the men which were interesting to look at.

This diagram shows how your kit would have needed to have been laid out ready for inspection. I just find it fascinating. Imagine the trouble you would be in for getting it wrong or misplacing something.

Let's go in!

The briefing room was exactly what it sounds, the place where the aircrew found out about their next mission, saw the maps and charts, looked at the weather, discussed tactics and timings. It must have been most nerve wracking sitting there wondering about your chances of surviving the next few hours.

For some reason I didn't take many more photos. I didn't get any inside the control tower for two reasons. It was set up as it would have been when it was operational but some areas were behind glass and I couldn't get good pictures. Also, there were lots of mannequins dressed in RAF and WRAF uniforms but their faces and synthetic hair freaked me out and I didn't want to look too closely at them!  

We also visited the memorial chapel, the escape museum and the Home Front exhibition. My favourite thing in the latter exhibition was a sewing machine!

I didn't realise that the Air Ministry branded their Singers! This one was from 1941 and was used to stitch parachutes. I do like an old sewing machine, I have three of my own!  

I definitely recommend it as an interesting place to visit and it is worth looking out for the events that are held there.

As an aside, I am having a May sale in my Etsy shop if you fancy taking a look. All items have been marked down by 20% to celebrate Spring!