Cultureshock

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Video transcript

In the summer of 1969 in preparations for the birth of his daughter Louise my Uncle Richard made a shopping trip to Manchester. So excited was my uncle that he decided to splash out the pricey sum of fifty pound on a hand made wicker basket from the House of Fraser. When my sister was born in 1977 my parents decided to buy the Moses basket and by this time my Nana has crocheted a beautiful coffin quilt that would keep many a Stienne snug in the first weeks of their lives.

The Moses basket has so far been the bed for over ten babies, and has travelled to France and Holland to be there for my cousins and second cousins. In 2008 I became a father to my daughter Josephine. However, Josephine would have to wait before she was able to play a part in our family tradition. My nephew Louie had been born two months earlier and had first rights but Josie would soon get a chance.

The Moses basket today is back in storage in my parents’ loft in Cheedle Hulme, Cheshire. It waits, is a bit more bruised and battered than forty years before, for the next member of my family to arrive.