Gran And Gramps Latimer ... The Cruisers

[jones jones]

My maternal grandparents were avid travellers ¦ my mom used to call them cruisers because come every December ¦ our summer ¦ granny and gramps Latimer used to go on a cruise to somewhere or other ¦

Of course this was before the containerisation age and the Union Castle Liners sailed weekly between Southampton and Cape Town and the Lloyd Triestino cruise liners mv Africa ¦ Europa and Italia I think also called at our ports on a regular basis ¦

My mother was one of six children so there was a whole heap of grandchildren around which precluded any of us being lucky enough to be taken along ¦

My gramps was a real gentleman who would not sit down to a meal ¦ even breakfast ¦ without being dressed in a three-piece suit and a carnation in his buttonhole ¦ where he always found those carnations is still one of life’s great mysteries ¦ to me anyway ¦

Gran on the other hand was very superstitious ¦ we were never allowed to put new shoes on a table when she was around ¦ knives were never allowed to be crossed on a table and if a dove flew over our house and she saw it ¦ OMG! Of course if it actually SAT on our roof or god forbid if an owl sat in a tree within a hundred yards of our house ¦ someone was going to die!

Then she would grab one of my five sisters ¦ why it had to be a girl child I don’t know ¦ and run around the house three times with them in her arms ¦ much to the delight of the child involved who thought this to be too exciting! ¦ not sure if she ran backwards or forwards it was that long ago ¦anyway whatever it was it staved off the until then inevitable demise of one of the family ¦

But I digress ¦ getting back to the cruisers ¦ when granny and gramps Latimer invited us all down to the harbour to “see them off ¦ all the way in the car my old man would mutter darkly about them spending their children’s inheritance ¦

Anyway once aboard ship we would as kids do ¦ run amok all over the vessel until it was time for “all who were going ashore to go ashore and then my parents and grandparents would frantically search for their brood ¦ mom and dad probably hoping some of us would not be found before the ship sailed while our grandparents would be equally determined that none of us would accompany them on the cruise!

Then upon their return some three weeks later our grandparents would visit all their children in turn to show their slides and hand out little souvenirs to all and sundry ¦

I have posted this thread because a while ago I came upon a dinner menu from one of their many cruises ¦ it makes interesting reading ¦

I will post it in a separate thread after this one ¦