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Post by loes on Jul 11, 2011 23:27:17 GMT
She is Dutch, and lives in Amsterdam ...
My husband came from Salford. In the late 60's he "fled" to Amsterdam. The only things he missed were his gran, who had died, and Man United. That only lasted a few years until we got cable tv and the BBC with it. he could tell me great stories about the "old" Salford.
His childhood hero was his uncle Lawrence Foulkes, who was shot down in 1944 and lies buried in the Netherlands.
I was invited to add some information to the photograph of the Foulkes family grave on this forum. Which I did.
For a couple of years I have been building my husband's family tree. He would have been happy to know he had a gt gt grandfather who served in India.
Loes
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Post by shred on Jul 12, 2011 17:24:22 GMT
Thanks for the introduction Loes.
I am intrigued by the words "fled to Amsterdam", it's not so bad to live in Salford. Is it?
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Post by loes on Jul 12, 2011 22:04:34 GMT
His step parents moved to Somerset and he joined the RAF at 15. Later he was in the merchant navy for a while. Knowing the world a bit he could compare!
When I first set foot in Salford - on my own - I was absolutely lost. Having peered on the old maps so much for this family research ... I thougt I knew the place. Not.
I must say, reading memories of older Salfordians, they are like those of the older Amsterdammers. That must be the same in every city.
But they didn't knock down half the city here ...
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Post by shred on Jul 12, 2011 23:06:17 GMT
Fair comment.
Agreed, I am proud to be born in Salford and I am always glad when I read that others are proud of their own cities, villages etc..
I am sorry to see lots of the old buildings and streets of Salford being demolished but some people look at the past with rose tinted spectacles. I hear, and I know, that people could leave their doors open years ago without getting robbed. That is mainly down to the fact that we had nothing worth stealing. Communities were ripped apart in the 50's and 60's when they moved people in to high rised, poorly built flats. Mistakes have been made and no doubt will continue to be made. But cities need to evolve quickly in today's world to supply employment, good housing etc.... things change quickly. While these changes take place we need to consider our past and look to preserve as much of it as possible, whether that is sympathetically using the facade of an old building to create the new or preserving contents of old buildings within the new.
I was told by certain people 15 years ago that the Salford Quays development would do nothing for Salford and that all the jobs would go to outsiders. The same people now speak of the Quays glowingly. I am hearing the same about the new Media City complex. How that will be seen in the future time will tell.
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Post by loes on Jul 14, 2011 19:11:27 GMT
Don't get me wrong, it was an attempt to a joke. Here too a lot has dsappeared, and often that was a good thing. I also realize that Amsterdam's history differs a lot from Salford (and Manchester). For one thing, the influence of the wars. During WWI Holland was neutral, and it took a lot less time and effort to recover from WWII. There had been bombs on Amsterdam, but nothing compared to Rotterdam and some other cities. And of course there was the aid from the americans afterwards, while Britain had to pay off their debts to them. In the 1950's the Dutch were probably a lot better off than the English.
Husband's flight was mostly due to family matters, the big changes in the 60's came second.
Loes
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