The case in question

This is it - the case of memories that inspired me to finally start a blog.

My husband Tim and I inherited it very recently when his mother, Pat Knight, passed away. She was quite poorly in her last week but we spent a lot of time in her room at Mount Ephraim House, a wonderful residential care home in Tunbridge Wells.

That was when I discovered it tucked away in a corner. Pat was sleeping soundly but we spent a happy half hour going through the case, marveling at the contents. I very much regret not finding it sooner and being able to ask her about the people in the photos. Sadly we know who very few of them are.

A lot of the photos and documents belonged to her father - there's even a tin of his old tobacco in there.

I wanted to find out more and share what I think is a wonderful piece of history so my first outing with the case was to see Mr and Mrs Anke. Tunbridge Wells experts and history fans, it was lovely to see their enthusiasm. In fact, I have them to thank for the name of this blog.

They pointed me in the direction of historian Ian Beavis at Tunbridge Wells Museum who was able to tell me a little about the well known photographers that had captured a lot of the images I showed him. I was amazed to hear that some of the photos date back to 1880.

Clearly someone has cherished these bits and pieces for years - and now it's our turn. I'm sure there must be people who will be able to help fill in the blanks but I hope as I post pictures of the contents (which I promise will be better than the attempt above), happy memories will be stirred for other long term Tunbridge Wells residents.