Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Guest Post – Who has influenced you the most in your life? – Aunt Vera – WWII, BBC, Sweden, Africa, Spain by Sue Wickstead

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This series is about the person you feel has had the most influence on your life and has shaped the person you are today, and what you have achieved.  That might be in reaching personal goals or to do with your career.

This is of course also a marketing opportunity for your blog and books, and a showcase of your writing skills.

At the end of the post you can find out how you can participate in this series.

Today a lovely tribute for a beloved aunt by Sue Wickstead.… certainly an adventurer well before her time.

Vera

My Aunt Vera is one of the people who has had a big influence on my life.

Aunty Vera was certainly a very special aunt; she was full of wonderful stories from her many adventures.

Vera had no family ties, so she was our aunt and not shared with anyone else.

During the Second World War, Vera had been a telephonist on the local switchboard. She told a story about how she had been selected by General Montgomery and assigned the task of linking him up with dozens of Army Officers on the brink of the Normandy landings. It had been a four-hour job, and she said that the following day, the troops stationed in the local area had all disappeared overnight.

After the war, Vera had been a telephonist at the BBC. Then, at the age of forty-three, she became a teacher. She worked for a while in London, then she and her best friend decided to apply for teaching posts overseas.

Her friend had gone to the Falkland Islands while Vera had taken a teaching post in Sweden. She had taught first in Stockholm and then in Kiruna in the Arctic Circle.
Vera would be back and forth to Sweden, so her visits were even more special.

Me, Aunt Vera and Jane

Jane, my older sister, and I once spent a week visiting Vera at her flat in London. She would take us out each day to visit the sights. Every morning, she would check the newspaper to find information on where we could go that day.

We would travel mostly by taxi. She took us to the London Zoo, the Tower of London, Bushy Park, and Buckingham Palace. Every day was a thrilling adventure.

I loved staying with Aunty Vera, and I remember sitting in her living room under an umbrella tent playing with my teddy ‘Mac Mac’, my panda and a doll as well as Vera’s wooden monkey ‘Ali Pally’. I still have ‘Mac Mac’ and have inherited ‘Ali Pally’.

I remember she let us wear her cross-country skis from Lapland. We would walk up and back down the corridor, and she would try to teach us how to turn them around, laughing at our attempts as we became tangled up in the process.

I loved hearing all about her adventures in the Arctic Circle and her meeting with ‘Jack Frost’.

She would tell us stories of snow and ice, of learning to ski. She told us how she had asked the children in her school how they got up when they fell over in the snow. They had looked at her quizzically and answered, “We don’t know, Miss, we never fall over.” She remembered once being overtaken by a three-year-old on skis.

She described Swedish food and traditions like ‘Herring Fest’ and drinking ‘Goose blood soup’, both of which smelled unpleasant but tasted better than expected.

She told us stories of wolves and bears and lost gloves.

Once on her way home late at night, she had seen a dog walking across her path. She had wanted to pat it on the nose, but it was late, she was in a hurry, and her case was in her hand. As she walked by, she suddenly felt the hairs on her neck stand on end and realised that it could not have been a dog. Dogs would not be allowed to roam the streets. So, she realised it must have been a wolf! She had, at the time, felt no fear.

Aunt Vera’ hat and boots.

Vera told us all about the Saami people of Lapland and their costumes. The Laps in Kiruna wore a hat with a large red bobble on the top. She had a coat and a bright blue coat to go with her hat. She said that the Saami wore bright colours so they could be easily seen across the white snow. They wore a very wide, thick leather belt around their waists to protect their kidneys from the cold. She also had a pair of specially made reindeer skin Lap-boots.

After six years in Sweden, with four years in the Arctic Circle, Vera came back to work in London.

She bought a lovely big house in Blackheath. Then she went off to teach in Africa, in Liberia. Her stories here were of scorpions and snakes and freedom rings.

A bundle of Kissi pennies at the Brooklyn Museum.

African sculptures, ‘kissi pennies’ (A form of Liberian currency) and a snakeskin handbag.

Vera had many African and Swedish artefacts around her house, and we loved hearing their stories.

She always seemed so full of interesting tales, and nothing about Vera was ordinary.

I certainly wanted to be a teacher just like Vera.

Her last teaching job was as an ‘English as a second language’ teacher in London. This was a groundbreaking role, which, many years later, I learnt this EAL initiative had come from Sweden. I often wondered if this was where her ideas and knowledge came from.

One day out of the blue, Vera announced she had married, and in 1973, she and her husband decided to retire to Spain.

They found a villa complex near a pretty town called Javea, and in 1974, together with her stepdaughter, I went for a holiday, helping her make the place her home. We would drive off around the area, exploring the locality. It was my first time abroad, and I loved the country.

Aunt Vera in Spain.

I continued to visit Javea, as often as I could. It was mainly for a holiday but also to visit Vera.

She had a lovely place, but we were surprised when suddenly she decided to move to the small fishing village of Moraira nearby.

My parents visited Vera in Spain, and with Vera’s advice and help, decided to buy a small property of their own, but sadly, my dad died before he could live there.

We saw many changes to the village, but it still retained its Spanish charm. It was a special place for my mum, who could visit many times on her own with her sister, Vera, nearby.

We would always tell Vera she should write down her memoirs, but she preferred to tell them, and we loved to listen.

The local English paper interviewed Vera and published four double-page articles about her exploits from Sweden.

After Vera passed away, I inherited some of her artefacts and used them as a teaching resource in school.

Kiruna church lit up

Last year, in 2025, there was a news report on TV about the church in Kiruna being moved to a new place in the town. The church was transported on huge, wheeled trucks. It gave me a chance to tell Alexander all about Vera, and he, in turn, created his own Lego church on wheels.

I think Vera would have liked that.

The Freedom Ring

On one of Vera’s returns from Africa, she brought back a ‘Freedom Ring’.

The ring, said Vera, was an African Freedom ring. It was given to black Africans as a symbol that they could not be sold as slaves but were free. Liberia, where Vera taught, had been the main place where slaves were shipped and transported across to America.

The ring was gold but had no hallmarks; it was shaped like a ‘V’, like a wishbone ring, but the ‘V’ on the front of the Freedom ring was longer than the ‘V’ on the back.

Vera wore her plain gold ring until the day she got married, when it broke in two.

On the day Vera came to visit us to tell us that she had got married, I was sitting on the floor. As she left, she held out her hand to me. I thought perhaps she was offering to pull me up. But no. She took my hand and put the ring on my finger, telling me about how it had broken on her wedding day.

She had a family now and a companion with responsibilities, so I think she felt she was no longer ‘Free’.

I have worn the ring ever since she gave it to me, taking it off only for minor repairs.

It is, for me, not just a treasure from Vera; it has become a symbol of my independence and a great story to share.

For me, the ring is a symbol of who she was and her free spirit. She was quirky, independent, and unique.

I like to think I am a free spirit, too. The ring is my symbol that I can be myself too, an independent person in my own right, just like Vera.

©Sue Wickstead 2026

A small selection of books by Sue Wickstead

One of the reviews for A Ticket to Ride

Simon
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant book of stories and Poems

I have been reading Sue’s books from the very beginning to my eldest daughter and now my youngest little girl and we have all loved them, so when Sue told me about this one I knew we had to have it to add to our collection. My youngest daughter is now 8 and she loved this book, especially as it has short stories and poems which we can read together or she can read on her own. She really liked mouse maze as it is written in such a way that you have to turn the book to read it, which she found hilarious, as well as the bee poems, and also the jokes dotted throughout the book. We also loved all the drawings in the book and cannot wait for Sue to write her next one. 

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US – More reviews: Goodreads – Website/Blog: Sue Wickstead – Facebook: Stories Sue – Facebook: Teacher Page – Twitter: @JayJayBus – LinkedIn: Sue Wickstead 

About Sue Wickstead

Sue Wickstead lives in the UK and writes children’s picture story books.

Her stories relate to both her experiences as a teacher as well as her play-work adventures with a Playbus.

The Playbus was a real double-decker bus full of toys, arts and crafts, as well as a lot of fun to play on. She wrote a photographic social history book about the project which led to her story telling and her writing.

All of Sue’s books do have a bus included in them somewhere.

When not writing Sue builds models with Lego, she also loves spending quality time with her young grandson and enjoys creating models to share with him on his visits.

Her grandson features in her book ‘Barty Barton; the bear that was loved too much’ which was published in 2020.

Two of Sue’s most recent books were written about her younger brother David and his imaginative play adventures. Perhaps Nanny and Alexander might have a few adventures of their own one day too.

Many of Sue’s books have been entered and shortlisted in ‘The Wishing Shelf Book Awards’, the book ‘A Spooky Tale’ was a silver medal winner in 2019. The story was written with her class in school.

For more information about the author as well as play adventures with her grandson and her Lego why not visit Sue’s website:

Some guidelines.

  • If you look back at your life, who would you say had the most influence on who you are today or your life’s achievements?
  • It might be a parent, grandparent, or other relation, perhaps a teacher, employer or someone who you only encountered for a brief period, but changed the course of your life in a positive way.
  • It might be someone you have never met but influenced you in another way such as by their actions or a book that you read by them. This is a tribute to that person.
  • It can be a post your have already written or one that is unpublished.
  • If already published just send me the link.
  • I will top and tail the post with the usual links and a recent review etc.
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What I need from you sent to my email sallygcronin@gmail.com

If you are have been promoted here before.

I just need your word document 1000 to 1500 words and two or three photographs to break up the text.. perhaps of you at that stage in your life or one of the person who you are writing about.

If they are an author then an Amazon link so I can copy the cover of their book or books with a link.

If you have not been featured on the blog before

  • In addition to the word document and photographs for the post I will need your information.
  • A profile photograph, up to date  biography, social media links for website or blog, Facebook, Twitter, or Linkedin.
  • If you are an author your Amazon Author page, Goodreads and Bookbub if you are there too.

Once I have received your post

  • I will schedule and let you have the date.
  • On the day of publication I will send you a link for the post.
  • It would be great if you could share your post on your social media.
  • I ask that all comments are responded to individually as it does make a difference to the number of times the post is shared.
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I am looking forward to discovering the amazing people who have inspired you and sharing them here in this series… get in touch… thanks Sally. 

 

94 thoughts on “Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Guest Post – Who has influenced you the most in your life? – Aunt Vera – WWII, BBC, Sweden, Africa, Spain by Sue Wickstead”

  5. I really enjoyed reading about Ms. Wickstead’s Aunt Vera. She sounds very brave and adventurous. I’ve never heard of any of my friends having such an aunt, lucky Ms. Wickstead!

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  6. What another wonderful story about a very important person, which all children should have during their early years of life. It`s so relatable how this aunt had positive influences on the later life. The role model function simply cannot be underestimated. Thanks for sharing this very interesting story. hugsx Michael

    Liked by 2 people

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  7. I loved Sue’s wonderful share here today. So relatable, how Sue’s aunt was so symbolic as was my own Aunty Sherry. So relatable. And I loved the story of the Freedom Ring. Thanks for sharing Sue. 💜

    Liked by 3 people

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  11. Sue, I loved reading about your Aunt Vera’s incredible life. How wonderful that her teaching took her abroad and I recognise much from Sweden- not surprisingly! 😀 I followed the moving of the church in Kiruna – they had a live feed of the actual move and amazing that the whole town is slowly being uprooted! Haha! I wouldn’t want to be that close to a wolf. When staying in the summer houses in Sweden we sometimes hear the wolves but I try to convince myself that they’re relatively far away in the opposite side of the lake. Sue, no wonder your aunt meant so much to me and it definitely sounds as you have her sense of free spirit! Sally, thank you for sharing this beautiful and heartfelt post. Hugs xx ❤️

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    • Thank you Annika. My grandson was certainly curious about the church, which I showed him. He was building a house on wheels which he changed into a church ⛪️ he wanted to take it into school but I ended up writing a little book about it instead. Mummy and daddy were not sure he would be allowed to take it in.

      maybe his next project could be a floating church.

      Vera did say that the Sami laps were not really scared of wolves 🐺 but they were of wolverines.

      Liked by 3 people

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  17. Thank you Sally for posting this, my aunt Vera certainly was very unique.

    I loved visiting her, hearing her tales and seeing all of the treasures she brought back.

    Liked by 2 people

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  18. This was absolutely fascinating! From General Montgomery, to the Arctic Circle, to Liberia, to teach EAL in London, and finally married and in Spain. Very few women of her generation would travel on their own, let alone to such ‘unfamiliar’ places. The Sami hat and boots are wonderful as is the information about Kissi pennies. Here was a woman who loved children and knew the simple pleasure of making an umbrella a tent. You must be so proud to wear her Freedom ring. xx

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  20. Your Aunt Vera was a wonderful role model. I loved this story about her so much. You could write a full-length novel based on her wonderful life. We retired to Spain 11 years ago and live about 2 hours from Moraira. It is such a lovely spot. Thanks for sharing your memories of this very special aunt who lived life to the fullest.

    Liked by 3 people

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    • Thank you Darlene. Vera most certainly was a wonderful aunt. We often told her to write her memoirs but she was always happier to share it orally.

      she was a good storyteller.

      I have written about her in passing on occasion and spoken about her.

      definitely a very brave lady to have gone off to both Sweden and Africa.
      she certainly had a lot to speak about

      Liked by 2 people

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    • The little village of Moraira is a place we still visit. Vera lives at Sabaterra her house was called’Estavera’. Supposedly a combination of her name and her husband Steve’s.

      but we think it ishere is Vera’ there was even an Aloevera plant outside, we loved that!

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  21. Pingback: Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Guest Post – Who has influenced you the most in your life? – Aunt Vera – WWII, BBC, Sweden, Africa, Spain by Sue Wickstead – MobsterTiger

  23. Aunt Vera was certainly an amazing woman and I find it intriguing that she spent six years in northern Sweden where I am from originally. She even participated in the herring feast, I assume that is the fermented herring feast a very north Swedish thing. A great story and great memories.

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    • yes, she said that she returned from a teaching trip to discover that the herrings had been kept for her. She said that they smelt awful but actually, after she bravely tried them, they didn’t taste that bad.

      Kiruna is the most northern she said. The mining company employed her and I think it was the same mining company that took her to Africa ( Liberia).

      I would love to visit but I think it would be too cold for me.

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      • That is interesting Sue. Yes Kiruna is the most northern city in Sweden. However, there are many other places further north. The world’s largest ice hotel is in Jukkasjärvi. It is a fun place to visit. I should say that in summer Lappland is not too cold. The fermented herrings smell terribly, but they are not too different from pickled herring when you eat them, which is why you open the can outside, pour out the juice, and then bring it in once the smell has settled.

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