My Grandma Parkes was everything a grandmother should be. She was kind, a patient teacher (I learned numerous crafts from her), cuddly and a great cake baker. She was a professional musician all her life, working as piano accompanist to my grandfather Cecil, who played the violin. I was very fortunate to have been able to spend one night a week with both my grandparents for the whole of my final year at Loreto, Mandeville Hall. Ceramics was not offered there at that time, so I went each Wednesday night to classes at Hawksburn, a short walk from Grandma and Grandpa’s home. We invariably had chops and boiled veggies for dinner.  I loved it!

This photo of May Parkes (née Broderick) was taken in the late 1980s for a passport for a trip to New Zealand. I wish she had stepped into a photobooth more frequently as I’d love to have one or two booth pics of her as a young woman. She was a most attractive lady in her heyday.