The Magpie's Hoard

Walter Laming

I never knew either of my grandfathers; they both passed away before I was born.

My maternal grandfather, Walter Laming, was born in 1896 and died in 1947. He served in the army throughout the First World War and later worked as a printer for the Sheffield Telegraph.

My mother recently lent me a small booklet containing my grandfather’s own handwritten notes about his military service. Below is a transcript of those notes.

Age 16 years. Enlisted as Driver, Royal Engineers (Territorials) June 1913.

England declared war on Germany August 4th 1914. Then in camp at Hornsea. Immediately returned to Sheffield.

Mobilised 7th August 1914. Left Sheffield with Forces 24th August. Marched to Conisborough, Askern, Cawood. Thence in training at Doncaster, Sandbeck Park, (48 hours leave), Rossington (then last leave 4 days)

Kineton. Joined 29th Division (now famous). Next civilian billets at Long Hitchington*. Havensmouth*. Thence embarked on Troopship B13 March 18th 1915 for abroad (destination then unknown).

Landed in Egypt (Alexandria). Stayed there 13 days. Sailed for Lemnos. April 24th 1915 sailed for Dardanelles. Landed Sedul-Bahr V Beach Gallipoli April 31st* 1915.

Evacuated January 4th 1916. Sailed back to Lemnos. Thence Egypt (Alexandria). Entrained for Port Suez. Sallied through Suez Canal to Port Said. Thence to Marseilles. Via coast of Africa, Morocco.

Landed Marseilles, France March 1916. Pont Reme* 2½ days in cattle trucks, Mailly. Mailly Somme. Ypres Somme.

After 22 months abroad, 10 days leave for England. November 1916.

Back to Somme for Xmas. Arras, Elverdinge, Pilcombe Ridge.

Wounded. Bullet in left knee. CCS Calais. Sailed for Blighty. October 1917. Edmonton Military Hospital, London. Convalescent Home, East Finchley.

February 1917. 10 days sick leave. Back to Duty. Aldershot until June 1917. Sailed again for France with 550th Field Com. To Messines Ridge, Belgium. Bethune. Aberville* etc, etc. Tournai.

Granted 1 month’s leave after 5 years service. November 8th 1918. 3 days later Armistice signed. War ended November 11th 1918. 11th hour, 11th month, 11th day.

Back again to France December 1918. To Tournai, Belgium. Then Antwerp, Belgium.

Demobilised at Clipstone, England May 1st 1919. After 4 years 2 months Foreign Service Abroad. Then only 22 years of age.

*I have deciphered my grandfather's handwriting as best I can, but there may be a few mistakes in this transcript. Some of the place-names appear to have been misspelt. “Long Hitchington” is probably “Long Itchington" (Warwickshire) and “Havensmouth” could be “Avonmouth" (Bristol). “Pont Reme” is probably “Pont-Remy" (Somme) and “Aberville” is probably “Abbeville" (Somme). The date “April 31st” is clearly incorrect.

William Norris Ordish

This fish and chip shop was run by my great grandfather, William Norris Ordish.

The shop was on Aston Street in Sheffield, at the junction with Bernard Road (near where the city's waste incinerator stands today). This row of buildings was demolished many years ago.

I'm not sure who the man in the doorway is - it doesn't look like the proprietor, but it might be one of his sons (Willie or Albert... or possibly Fred, who emigrated to Canada).

I think this picture probably dates from around 1910. According to the old street directories, William Norris Ordish moved from South Street to Aston Street in 1906 or 1907. He was still in business in 1919, but by 1922 he had retired to Maltravers Road. He died about 15 years later.

When you look at this image in close-up you can pick out some extra details, such as the pots of aspidistras in the window and the sign on the door which I think reads "Try our fish - direct from Hull and Grimsby".

Since I first posted this picture on my blog in July 2006, I have been contacted by no fewer than three 'long-lost' relations:

• Margaret, who is descended from my great grandfather's brother;
• Ian, who is descended from my grandmother's sister;
• Judy, whose husband may be descended from my great great grandfather's brother.

Thanks to my mother, I now have a large collection of old family photographs. I have posted some of them on Flickr. For privacy, viewing is restricted to people on my "family contacts" list. If you would like to view the pictures, please get in touch.
 

The Modern Boy

I spent yesterday afternoon helping my mother with the daunting task of sorting out my late father's papers and paraphernalia. We started with the small mountain of stuff that he had amassed in the corner of their house he used as an office-cum-studio. Amongst other things we found dozens of notebooks crammed with notes and sketches on sundry topics: church architecture, anatomy, calligraphy, archaeology, etc.

It soon became apparent that my father had been reluctant to throw things away throughout his 86 years. I even came across a letter dated 8th November 1933 from offices of The Modern Boy. It seems that my father had sent them a photograph of a model biplane he had built (I hasten to add that this was long before the advent of the Airfix kit).

Dad was just 13 when he built the model plane. Within three years he had graduated from model-making to stone-carving. He was inspired by the work of sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, a prodigious talent who died aged just 23 in the trenches at Neuville St. Vaast.

Earlier this year I visited an exhibition at the Graves Art Gallery titled 'We the Moderns', which features a selection of pieces by Gaudier-Brzeska.  I was amazed by the quality and quantity of work that he produced during his brief but remarkable career - no wonder my father found him an inspiration!

I plan to write more about my dad's life and work when I have time.