25 September 2019

Relic

There's a little antiques shop in Middleton-in-Teesdale. It was closed when I arrived in the village and also on the morning of my stay. But a notice in the window told me that it would be open when I headed back from my long walk higher up the river valley.

I had spotted some old bottles in the window and figured I might buy another one for my little collection. In the event, I thought they were overpriced but noticed something else of interest in a display cabinet.

It was a newspaper clipping about the clearance of Hannah Hauxwell's house and next to this there was an old and rather unremarkable invalid cup. I spoke with the proprietor about this object and she confirmed that it had come from Low Birk Hatt Farm in Baldersdale where Hannah spent most of  her life.

Should I buy it? It was overpriced. I wandered around the shop for a further few minutes - agonising about parting with my dough. After all the invalid cup had not belonged to Winston Churchill or Elvis Presley or Queen Victoria - it had been used in a remote Yorkshire farmhouse by a humble family and had finished up in the possession of the last member of that family - Hannah Bayles Talentire Hauxwell (1926-2018).

The silver haired owner of the antique shop seemed a little like Hannah. A beatific smile and a scarecrow's sense of fashion. I fully believed her explanation of the provenance of the invalid cup and how it had come to be in her hands. Apparently there had been other items from Low Birk Hatt but this was the very last one. Furthermore, the proprietor had met Hannah on several occasions.

Suspecting I might regret walking away, I decided to buy the invalid cup - joking with the shop owner that one day my wife might use it to nourish me when I am lying in bed wasting away, preparing to meet my maker... The Almighty Google.

30 comments:

  1. You did the right thing. You would have regretted not buying that cup forever.
    Good on you!

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    1. Maybe I should have tried to barter but bartering does not come naturally to me.

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  2. How lovely. I'm so glad you bought it.

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    1. Given jow poorly you have been recently, you may have had use for this cup!

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  3. Yes, you would have regretted not buying it. An item that is, in its own way, of just as much historic (historical?) value as if it belonged to Churchill or Queen Victoria. I shall tell my mother-in-law about this, she and I have been talking about Hannah Hauxwell before.

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    1. I feel that the invalid cup brings me closer to Miss Hauxwell. I have a little piece of her life.

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  4. It's lovely, so much nicer than what's used in hospitals nowadays

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    1. The Red Cross used to produce them for hospitals and theatres of war.

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  5. If you wanted it then it was a good purchase. I think it is quite beautiful.

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    1. I struggled to remember the combination numbers required to open my wallet.

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  6. I loved the books and the tv programmes on Hannah, I believe that she lived to a good old age.
    Briony
    x

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    1. She died in a nursing home at the age of 91 - just last year.

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  7. Very nice. I was annoyed at first that you'd got the last one but it's all right because they tell me they'll be getting some more in next week.

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    1. No doubt you'll be after a pair of Hannah's bloomers - preferably unwashed.

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    2. When you use it, just think who else's mouth has been round that spout.

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    3. Do I detect coarse innuendo?

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  8. Let's hope you don't need to use it for many a year yet!

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    1. It will help to prevent spillage on my pyjamas as I lie in bed listening to Radio 4 all day.

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  9. I would have done the same. An invalid cup, I never knew what they were called. I love old nursing paraphernalia, and old nursing books, the really old ones.

    I remember when I was very young, maybe 12, I was with my friend and her mother at a salvation army store and I was admiring an old ceramic pot. My friend's mother looked at it and said, "Piss pot" and my education began.

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    1. Was you friend's mother referring to the found item or to her daughter's new friend?

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    2. Hopefully the pot but now you've got me thinking:)

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  10. Maybe skepticism is in the air we breathe nowadays, but I would be wary of silver-haired owners of antique shops, especially ones with beatific smiles. If you should find yourself in Middleton-in-Teesdale again one day, I would make it a point to check out that display cabinet once again. Don't be surprised if there is another "last item" of Hannah's waiting to be fetched up.

    In other words, Tasker Dunham makes a valid point.

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    1. Actually I think it could be OK but that comment was too good an opportunity to miss. I wonder whether if YP looks through the TV programmes he might be able to spot it in her cottage.

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    2. At 65 years of age, I usually sense when I am faced with dishonesty and I am 100% sure that the story I was given was true.

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  11. What a wonderful item. I have only one objection: It really should have two handles! (or else it could get really complicated if for some reason you can't use your right hand...)

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    1. That's a good point DT. Perhaps there are left handed invalid cups too!

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  12. What a find! Like others have said, I think you would regret it if you had not bought it. I have never seen and "invalid cup" before but it makes sense. Congratulations on finding a collectible item that you can pass down in your family.

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    1. I hope you won't need an invalid cup for many years to come Bonnie!

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  13. I won't have a chance to read these and choose until later tonight....my pick will be forthcoming! 🙂

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  14. What a cool find — especially for you, fan of Hannah that you are!

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