100 Years Ago Today....

It's probably fairly safe to say that December 22, 1909, was a bitterly cold, snowy day, probably with a bright prairie sun shining down upon Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, when their first-born child, Phyllis Hilda (Phyl), was born to Harold and Maud Hier-Davies. This intrepid couple had left England in 1906, to respond to the call to settle the west, and had already spent a couple of years in the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan area, before heading west to Edmonton, Alberta. A small house had been erected, and it seems the plan was to stay there for a while before continuing further west to British Columbia and the west coast. However, this was not to be. Poliomyelitis in the early 1900's was still a killer, and that was what took the life of Phyl's father, when she was just 10 months old. Raising a child on her own was not an option for Phyl's mother. so a return to England a year later was the only solution.....

Fast forward one hundred years to Chipping Sodbury, England, where again the sun is shining brightly, 'snow has fallen, snow on snow', and the temperature is chilly (though not Edmonton- frigid). In an hour or so the time of celebration begins for Phyl, the mother of Jim and Di (Diana) on the occasion of her 100th birthday. The staff of 'The Heathers' have been busy preparing - the room is decorated and the buffet is being prepared, the 'birthday girl' has had her hair done, and is taking a 'beauty rest' in anticipation of the afternoon's excitement.....and it's time for the daughter of the 'birthday girl' to head off up the hill to 'The Heathers'!