Helen’s Tea Towel Story

Let me introduce you to Helen.  Helen is Rob’s husband; Rob is one of ten people I shared a house with, many many years ago.  Helen didn’t live there but I got to know her through Rob, who lived ‘next door’ to me.  Rob liked music; he was very considerate, he listened to his music through headphones.  However, Rob liked to sing along to his music.  Let me assure you, there is nothing worse than hearing someone singing along, tone deaf, to music when you don’t know the track he is singing to.  Helen’s visits were always welcome because it meant he didn’t listen to his music.  I am quite sure that I had some extremely annoying habits and I couldn’t complain if that was his only fault.

Rob and Helen moved to the north-west and became the recipients of the inevitable Christmas Newsletter.  They have followed the story of the Museum and two years ago contributed a tea towel from their Australian holiday (See Tea Towel Blog of 8 March 2018 entitled ‘Tea Time Sheep’).  It is probably more than 25 years since we had met until, out of the blue, they got in contact to say that they were staying nearby; I remember the day very clearly – Harry and Megan’s wedding day.

It was Helen who took up the challenge of being a Guest Tea Towel 2020.  I have asked if Rob was going to add his own entry but no response so far.  Here is Helen’s Tea Towel Story:

“Thank you for your Christmas letter.  I have taken up your challenge and taken a photo of our ‘oldest’ tea towel.  We bought this tea towel 42 years ago in the Algarve, Portugal.  We were staying with Rob’s family, in a villa Rob’s father owned with some friends.  It was our only visit to the villa before it was sold.  Originally, we didn’t use it as a tea towel but hung it up in the kitchen in the first house we owned in Runcorn”

However disparaging people might be about tea towels (and tea towel collectors), there is no question that they can conjure up memories and can be part of a family’s history.  Thank you, Helen, for taking up the challenge and for a picture of a very traditional Portuguese tea towel (which will appear in the Museum).