Spiralling Histories

To start this spiral I needed to repost the "full circle"  story I wrote in 2018. Back then, I thought it was a closure, a completed circle of personal history. 

I was wrong

Last year my seemingly complete ring began to spiral in the most unexpected and wonderful way. It started with us taking a dear friend on holiday to see the Fochabers Folk Museum. We'd actually never been there ourselves. Most times Fochabers is a town we drive through travelling to somewhere else. 

First of all I can say it's a surprising Tardis of a seemingly small museum, full of unexpected twisty ways leading to all sorts of fascinating things. We all enjoyed it, but it was at the end, talking to the ladies who volunteer there, that the real magic happened. 

They have a display for Allen Wilson. If that name means nothing to you, then please read my blog post Full Circle or look up the Shangani Patrol. 

And this is where the circle became a spiral

My father's father, Gabe Frost, found a British Cavalry sabre from the 1800s Matabele wars, out in the wilds of Matabeleland in the 1950s. This is a photo of him. 

 

After my grandfather died, my dad became the owner of this beautiful sabre. I'm afraid to say, I used to sneak it out of my dad's wardrobe and have imaginary swordfights in the garden. I grew very adept at beheading my mother's flowers. But mostly it has stayed hidden away, wrapped in cloth and stored in chests and wardrobes. 

 

But no longer

 

 This month, August 2025, I donated it, and a military bugle, to the Fochabers Museum. They were very pleased. And today they phoned to say that they are going to wall mount it above the Allen Wilson display. Not just a full circle, but an ever spiralling portion of our mutual histories. 

I can feel my dad and his father smiling