Helen came from a reasonably big family consisting of four sisters and a brother who died in infancy. Her family’s life was never a settled one with all the sirens and bombs constantly going off. The Yorkhill area my nanna stayed in was of one of the worst hit in Glasgow as it is situated very close to the Clyde shipyards and an army barracks. By the time the war had ended Helen was now a young adolescent, fourteen years old. Helen started work at the age of fifteen as a printer in the Glasgow Numerical Printing Company. She worked there for 9 years. During this time she had many hobbies and interests one of which was hiking. She often walked for miles upon miles and settled down for the night in a local youth hostel. Her walks often took her to places like Artgarten and Aberfoyle. She also climbed Ben Arthur, (locally nicknamed “The Cobbler”) which is located between Arrochar and Artgarten at the head of Loch Long. The Cobbler was a long, treacherous and dangerous climb to its 1500 meter summit. Unguided and kitted out with very basic climbing equipment, Helen stumbled up at a steady pace.
After the nine years she spent at the Printing Company she started dating her husband to be, James Cusker. They dated for two years and then got engaged at the 1953 Coronation Cup at Celtic park. They got married a year later at St Simons RC church in Partick, just a few minutes from Yorkhill. For their honeymoon they went to Dublin as that was a place she liked very much. They spent one week there before returning home and within a year their first baby, Marion had arrived. Just over a year later their second Baby, Patricia came alongside Marion. With a longer gap between Marion and Patricia, (8 years to be precise) Helen Marie came into the world kicking and screaming at 10 past midnight on the 20th November 1962. Helen also has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I am her grandchild along with my sister Therese and my 4 cousins Barrie, Brian, Donna and Maria. All of her great-grandchildren come from Donna and Therese. Donnas’ children are Declan, Liam and Steven. Therese’s daughter was born just 1 year ago. Her name is Erin Louise. My nanna was partly responsible for picking her name as she comes from Irish origins. Erin is the poetic word for Old Ireland.
Her small part of the family, Helen and James, are outgoing people. In the good weather they like to go camping, walking and climbing. They have already completed the west highland way, which is a 95 mile walk from Milngavie in the northern outskirts of Glasgow to Fort William the capital of the west highlands, on three separate occasions. Each time took them just under one week which meant they were walking at an average speed of 14 miles per day before camping overnight at a nearby campsite. Helen surprised everyone when she kept up with them for most of the walk. She enjoys walking and any outdoor activity that she can participate in. When they go camping, they usually go to remote countryside villages like Arrochar where the old enthusiastic hiker used to enjoy her childhood walks. She has planed to do the West Highland Way again this summer if the weather is good. They are all looking forward to doing it again, especially Helen.
Her hopes and ambitions for the future are to keep fit and healthy like she has throughout her life. She hopes to enjoy many more holidays, walks and camping trips with us, as do we.
