The last day of Becky’s May squares, and I thought this photo of my aunt, Evelyn Ashford, somehow sums up the themes of renewal and moving forward. It shows such spirit, doesn’t it; a sense of hopefulness and forging ahead.
I’m guessing it was taken in tough times too, around the start of the war in 1939. Evelyn would have been seventeen. But it’s possible it was taken earlier. Her very ‘grown-up’ tweeds may be explained by the fact she was employed in the dress department of a big Guildford store. She had started her working career aged fourteen, apprenticed to the local draper in Cranleigh where the Ashfords lived.
I don’t know who the photographer was, possibly my father, but a bit of sleuthing has revealed the location as the trig point on Pitch Hill, Surrey, not far from Cranleigh. Evelyn is taking flight over the South Downs.
Evelyn Mary Ashford 1923 – 2013
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You can find her story in an earlier post The Many Faces of Evelyn Mary Ashford
And more at:
Tish Farrell 
Love it. Your family sounds as if all of you were moving forward with vigor and panache, the perfect way to end Becky’s renewal challenge.
That’s a very lovely comment, Janet. Thank you.
well she had an amazing sense of balance didn’t she – loving her energy and her moving forward. What a fabulous way to finish
Many thanks, Becky. She was quite a gel.
Great picture and a great memory Tish!
Many thanks, Anne.
😊
These characterful photos are so very different from the rather static – staid even – photos of the time. No wonder she grew up interesting! I’ll look forward to looking at the extra blog posts when I get home. It’s so faffy on the phone, my only ‘tech’ here in Spain.
It’s very nice of you to contemplate catching up with the other posts, Margaret.
Tish, what a forward looking young woman in the photos with such interesting tales about her and your grandfather which I’d missed perhaps having only caught up with you sometime after 2015. Such interesting reading for a book
p.s. My father retired to Cranleigh so am familiar with the area and Guildford where he lived before
Interesting how we keep finding little connections, Laura. And it’s nice to hear you’ve caught up with my walled garden tales.
who knows, one day our paths might even cross!
🙂 🙂 🙂
What a happy girl! No one ever put me on a pedestal, Tish 🤣🩷
She was such strong character. I miss her.
I’m just impressed that she could climb up on that trig point! She sounds like quite an interesting woman and certainly knew how to pose for the camera. Great photos.
She did pose rather well, didn’t she 🙂
Such an inspiration to you.
She is and was, Jennie 🙂
🙂
I am in awe of this woman. I hope she puts these pictures on her dating profile!
For matches made in heaven, obviously 🙂
Obviously.
What a great photo!
V. special, methinks 🙂
Fabulous photos! (When I was younger, I always thought I would call my daughter Evalin after my two grandmothers’s maiden names Evatt and Lind… but it never happened… I see the name now and I feel a murmur of regret at the lost opportunity!)
Linda 🙂