Why I Don't Take Milk In My Tea
Stories of my young life growing up in Fleetwood, a small fishing town. With a splash of family history and some ancestors to sweeten the brew.
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My journey has also taken me back to my beloved Fleetwood, the town where I was born and brought up, where my early years evoke such happy memories. I left Fleetwood with no regrets when I was 21 and have now nearly 50 years later reconnected to a history that I wish I hadn’t abandoned for all those years. There is something about Fleetwood that makes it so special and I think it is the people who were born and bred there and understand the ethos of the town. These people have experienced the town’s dramatic change from a thriving fishing town to one of unemployment with all it entails but they can also remember the kindness of neighbours, the busy port and the many shops that supplied all our needs. It was a town that understood the loneliness experienced when your men were out at sea, it was a town that mourned with you when those men didn’t return. It was a town that did its best. I do take comfort in the fact that I have managed to document many facts about our ancestors for my Fleetwood extended family to hopefully enjoy and appreciate. Many of these discoveries have given me a connection with my ancestors whose feet have walked the pavements I have walked on, played in the places I have played in, and who have faced the same adversities my family have faced, so maybe now I can be forgiven for this abandonment. Fleetwood is my town and I will always want it to be remembered as such, even though my own family live on the other side of the world. Some of my memories are very short, so there may be only one sentence, some of my memories are painful which I will share, but many of my childhood memories are happy and remind me of what a loved family we were. I can now appreciate how hard it was for my mum and dad to provide for six children, what a grand job they did with so little money.
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About the Book
This book is about revisiting the past and awakening memories that have been trapped in your heart for years. It takes a journey of discovery using the genealogy research of this family to discover history has a way of repeating itself over and over. It is an honest account of being raised in a large family where money was scarce but life was fun and one cannot miss the love for the town of Fleetwood. There are glimpses of what it was like to live in the town throughout the 1950’s giving small snippets of history to give background and interest for those who want to delve further. At the end of the book there are stories about ancestors and their link to Fleetwood and some of their stories are heart wrenching to say the least. Above all the book is a personal account of facing up to memories and circumstances that can’t be changed and at times these are raw.
About the Author
Jennifer Rowe emigrated to New Zealand in 1969 with her young family but has never forgotten the town she was brought up in. She has written a book about her young life growing up in a small fishing town in Fleetwood and the relationship between her family members. Her story is linked to the research she has done on her family tree which has served as a mediator to self-discovery and introspection about those younger years. The book is both funny and sad but displays an uncanny way in which history can repeat itself in tragic ways. Jennifer has now retired and lives in Perth, Western Australia with her husband Dave.