Heroes and Mentors

We all have people we look up to and people whose opinions we trust. People we admire in whose footsteps we'd like to follow. In the end though, we come to a point where we acknowledge the effect these individuals have had on our lives but have to stand on our own two feet and face the world alone, with our own definite purpose in mind. My number one hero and mentor is my Dad, who I still have such great respect for, but I have realized he wasn't always right, just walking by the light that he had! :)

My father was an amazing individual; recently I was reading what friends and family wrote about him at the time of his 70th birthday. One said "Always your concern in life has been to help, in whatever way you could, those who were in need or going through difficult experiences. You have listened to people's problems and sought to give counsel when asked. Not only that but you were prepared to get your hands dirty, doing and giving practical help when necessary." No wonder he is my number one hero and someone I want to emulate.

My maternal grandfather Harry Turner gave me so much of his time and encouragement too! He was someone who desired to share with me the wonder of nature, the joy of family and to let me know of the potential he saw in me. I had many happy hours learning from him the awe with which he regarded life. He is number two on my list. I cannot underestimate the effect of other adults who were involved with my young life and would make special mention of Rev T. Stanley Clayton, and also Raymond and Peg Watkins.

There are of course many others Kenny Baker, Winston Barraclough, Eric Blenkin, Donald Phelps, Tom Saunders, John Worsnop and Graham Swallow who all treat me with respect and as an equal when I was in fact many years their junior. They made me feel good about myself something I aspire to do for others today. I will mention these names again in my blog from time to time. I am thankful that people took time to show an interest in me and mentor me, they are part of the reason why I am the person I am today.

People who I have met in my adult years have also been a source of encouragement and helped me to be determined in taking the paths I have pursued; they will get a mention too! People I admire who I have not met include Gandhi, JFK, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Larry Norman, Arthur Blessitt, John Lennon, and Muhammad Ali. Professionally I aspire to follow in the footsteps of Earl Nightingale, Wayne Dyer, Tony Moore, Tony Robbins and Bob Proctor and in some cases for different reasons than seem likely.

Heritage

In my early teens I took an interest in my family tree. It was a good time to do so as I was able to quiz my grandparents and their sisters and brothers. My grandfather on my mother's side Harry Turner was extremely supportive and interested in my efforts to find out about my heritage. In more recent times I have used ancestry.co.uk to confirm many of the snippets of information I was given and in some cases find out other facts that are further back in time than the memories shared with me.

My Great Grandparent's families were mostly from the North of England, although the Smiths themselves originate in North Berwick, Scotland about 15 miles east of Edinburgh. In 2005 I visited North Berwick, which is a beautiful fishing village on the estuary of the River Forth and wondered why my namesake Andrew Smith, a tailor by profession, had ever left there to move to Bradford, a mill town? :) 

Andrew my Great Grandfather who I was named after, was born in 1844 in North Berwick and moved to Bradford before December 1871. I know this because that is when he married Elizabeth Sharp, who was from York. These two were the parents of four girls and three boys, amongst them my Granddad John William Smith who married Annice Pogson in 1912. She was from a mining family that originated in Stalybridge, Lancashire. Both her father and grandfather had died in mining accidents. Sadly I know nothing of the Daveys, my Great Grandma Pogson's birth family.

My Great Grandfather Joseph Turner, born 1859 was a Journeyman Mason. The son of John Turner the village cobbler of Great Horton, Bradford. They lived in a house in Crossley Street, the one that had a natural well in the cellar. Each morning the neighbors came to the house to get their buckets filled with water! Harry Turner and his 3 brothers and 4 sisters, Joseph Turner and John Turner were all born in that house. Joseph Turner married Kate Jameson on Christmas Day, 1887 at Bradford Cathedral. Kate's father was the caretaker of the Opera House in Harrogate and the Jamesons lived in Parliament Street in the first house to have gas fitted.

My maternal Grandmother Daisy Fisher's family were from the Bradford area. Her father Ernest married Rosanna the daughter of Henry Carter and Rosanna Dykes. Henry was a Cabinet Maker from Huddersfield and the Rosanna Dykes was from Norfolk. The fact that all these people lives were involved in bringing my parents into the world, so that I could be born is an amazing heritage and my ability to learn much more than I have written here about them is a blessing to me. I know my roots are not just in Bradford but in other parts of the UK. The fact that I live in Sheffield seems to me like just another unfolding of my families story! :)

Beginnings!

I was born by "C Section" on 2nd November 1957 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK at St Luke's Maternity Hospital in Little Horton. In those days fathers were not allowed to be present at the birth of their children, instead my Dad was invited to look through a glass window into the nursery as the nurse held up the babies for the new dads to see. I was born almost three weeks late and as a result I was the largest of the babies with the littlest of the Dad's (my Dad was just 5 feet 1 inch tall). All the other Dads were claiming me as their son, till the little fella was told, I was his! :)

About a week later I was taken home to Noble Street in Great Horton where my parents lived and this house was to be where I would remain until the age of almost 23. My parents married a little later in life than some, my Dad was 33 and my Mum was 24 at the time of their wedding in August 1955. My Dad served in the Army for 12 years from 1939 to 1951 when he left his rank was drill sergeant. With his identical twin brother, they were allowed to serve together in R.E.M.E. for the duration of the Second World War, this was because they signed up before their "call up" papers arrived; they were aged 17 at the time!

My Mum left school at age 14 and went to work in the bakery at the local Co-op Grocery Store, she was larger than life and as a result was the center of attention in her large group of school friends, work colleagues and local church members. It was at a church social in October 1954 where my parents first met. They had both been sitting on a bench, when everyone but my Mum stood up, the bench became unbalanced and as a result she fell on the floor, so being the chivalrous type my Dad went to pick her up; it was love at first sight! You could say "she fell for him!" ;)

My Dad was from a large family, he had two brothers and three sisters, and my Mum was an only one! However my mother's extended family was large as her parents were both from large families. So when I began this life I was surrounded by Aunts and Uncles and many cousins! My Dad worked as a boiler man at a city center textile mill (Bradford was known globally for its woollen and worsted mills) and my Mum worked at the local Summerseats Post Office. In Noble Street and round the corner in Dirkhill Street were many elderly neighbors who were known to the family, it was a close knit local community and no doubt I was the center of attention for quite a while. :)

I have said "I was born at an early age my mother being present at the time, they called for hot water and I've been in it ever since!" but now you have heard a more detailed introduction to my life! We all have to begin somewhere and our parents, their families and the local neighbors have a major input in those formative years. It is so easy to take for granted all the blessings that surrounded us as we grew up and still surround us to this day. I am taking time right now to be thankful for the wonderful beginning this life had for me, surrounded by the love of my family and their friends. :)