Activities at Harton Grange Care Home

We had some special guests: a group of young mothers and their children coordinated by Bright Future and our wonderful storyteller, Elizabeth.

It was a fantastic atmosphere as the babies started to play bringing so much joy to our residents.

But everything was wrapped in the velvet threw by the storyteller: word by word we were immersed in a different world. For nearly two hours we let our minds to fly with the stories.

Of course, every story is better with some food around, so we served pizzas.

What a wonderful journey back in time! We went to Kendal, Lake District, the place where David was one of the children evacuees from South Shields in July, 1941.

David was only 7 years old at that time.

David went to Stramongate School in Kendal. We had the chance,  thanks to the headmaster, to visit the school. We had a memory walk in Kendal as well. David's daughter, Beverly, bought a new cap for her father and plenty of fruits and sweets as David enjoyed the walk. We enjoyed a hot drink, blessed by a sunny autumn sky.

David went back in time, remembered all those past times. We crossed the bridge over river Kent and, with sapiency, David said "Thank you God for my beautiful family".

We said goodbye to Kendal after we passed through Shap street, where David lived for a few years before his return. Unfortunately, the lady who looked after David wasn't one to show kindness and compassion to him.

But how to end this journey without seeing Windermere? Therefore, David was so happy to share his memories with us visiting Windermere.

David was over the moon to have in this journey his sister,  Carol, and his son-in-law, Maurice.

After an authentic fish and chips lunch, we went to St. Martin Church where, in silence, we thanked to God for this great journey.

We went back to Locomotion Museum, this time for a special ride behind a Stephenson's rocket for this year. It was an authentic steam-powered train ride and Noel, as an experienced engineer, was thrilled to see the vast collection of trains at Locomotion. David and Winifred enjoyed very much visiting the Museum and they went for a ride. “It was a beautiful experience for everyone”, said Mary, Noel’s wife.

Diane had an appointment in Cleadon Village and we took this chance to visit her village. We had a stroll along the Front Street and re-visited the pond. As Diane lived in Cleadon, we decided, of course, to visit the church as well. We were so happy to find the church open and a wonderful community there, enjoying a cup of tea after the service.

We spent a great time relaxing or singing in our Namaste room. This time we had a session in the morning and another one in the afternoon. David enjoyed very much to see the lights and to listen to his preferred songs. Jackie and Maureen asked for white wine and Anne was over to moon to sing and came again in the afternoon session. Even Thomasina, Jean and June enjoyed very much to see the lights and Joan was so happy and tried to dance.

It's Friday, so it is shopping day, not only fish and chips day... We went to Asda Boldon as Audrey used to do shopping here, years ago. Audrey invited Dotty and all three went to Asda. We had a look around and Audrey brought ice cream, chocolate and muffins - to indulge in these sweets over the weekend. Of course, we stopped for a chat over a cup of coffee in this rainy day.