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Andy Vining shares his mother’s diaries in his new podcast. Listen to these beautiful stories on Spotify.

Andy Vining’s parents were John and Peggy (later known as Be Be).

In this episode, the name of Be Be’s father was Herbert Miller, originally Muller as he was German and became a naturalised Englishman before the First World War.

January 1948

My Father (Dad) has been quite poorly that week, and the worry of it sat quietly with me as I went about the ordinary business of the days. Still, life had to be kept moving. I went into Winchester with Betty my sister. Grateful for the small distraction of the trip.

While there we had Heather’s Polyphotos taken — she looked such a picture, bright-eyed and beautifully turned out. I bought new shoes for the children too, which cost £3 and 4d, (£160.00 Today), a sum that made me catch my breath, though it couldn’t be helped. Later, Eric and Phillip came by and we let them have the goose. It felt like one of those days full of little errands and bigger concerns, all jumbled together.

The next morning brought a small measure of relief: Dad seemed a little brighter. The white bougainvilla in the kitchen had opened fully and filled the house with a sweet, unexpected fragrance, lifting my spirits despite the dreadful weather. Rain fell endlessly, outside drumming on the windows as if it had no intention of stopping. [Read more…] about Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 -1976: Episode 2 – January to February 1948

Andy Vining shares his mother’s diaries in his new podcast.
Listen to these beautiful stories on Spotify.

Podcast Title: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 -1976

Episode 1 — Introduction

Hello… and welcome to this podcast.
My name is Andy Vining.

I’m eighty-two years old and as I record this, I I’m sitting quietly at home in Chandler’s Ford in Hampshire thinking about the past, and about the voices, people and places that shaped my life.

This podcast is not about me. It’s about our family. Memories, places, and the quiet, everyday moments that would normally be lost to time.

Most of all, it’s about my mother. And the diaries she wrote about her everyday life being a farmer’s wife and mother of five children while we were all growing up in on Hiltonbury Farm in Chandler’s Ford.

My mother was Peggy “Peg” Vining Nee Miller. Then when my brother Simon was born in 1958 she became BeBe because that’s what Simon called her.

But before I begin to read those diaries, I think it’s only right that I tell you a little about where this story truly starts… and how I come to be here, speaking to you today. [Read more…] about Andy Vining’s Podcast: My Mother’s Diaries 1948 – 1976: Episode 1 — Introduction