TREASURE FOUND

One of the real joys of researching our family story is the discovery of rare photographs. For many years I searched for a picture of the mysterious "Uncle Dick" my grand mother's second husband. Just as I was beginning to think I'd never find one, cousin Alvin found that he'd had one all the time. I particularly wanted to find a picture of the Highgate Empire, the first cinema I ever visited. I happened to mention this to a friend who helps run the White Bus film club in Southend and he came up with one within days so I was able to share it with you in my article on Holloway Road in our companion blog DOWN THESE STREETS.  Again it was Alvin who discovered on the internet some wonderful pictures taken from the top of The Archway Tower in the sixties which showed such streets as Annesly Road and Anatola Road, which were so important to our family story. Cousin Bern in New Zealand posted a very rare picture of my grandmother (his great grandmother) on the internet.  My recent visit to Upper Holloway uncovered a wonderful picture of the Archway area taken from the air in 1934! which will be appearing on DOWN THESE STREETS very soon.  I continually find photographs in my own collection which, although familiar to me, take on new significance as my research reveals more of our history.  Over the past few years many of you have been kind enough to share photos with me - Alvin, Sue, Sandra, Carol, Bern and Peggy.

The reason I am writing about this now is that today I received from cousin Alva some very rare pictures. They arrive just in time so that I will be able to share them with you when I write my article about Alva and Alvin's dad, Arthur, in a couple of weeks. Alvin has already shared with me some wonderful photos but what was missing were any pictures of Morton's Fish Shop which Arthur managed for many years. Now, thanks to Alva, we have not only a picture of the shop but four other pictures showing Arthur in the shop with the fish and  members of his staff!   Well done Alva!

Who knows what other gems will turn up in the future.