Gordon Tucker's Memories of Mexico

Gordon Tucker first came to Pachuca in about 1939 with his parents Daphne and Winston Tucker. Daphe was of Canadian origin and Winston was from Jamaica. Gordon was born in Mexico in about 1932. He and his parents lived in the grounds of the Loreto Mill in Pachuca in an apartment above that where Florence Ough and her eldest son Sydney lived. Gordon and Sydney had both been afflicted in early childhood with infantile paralysis. Sydney was forced to get about on crutches, whist Gordon managed without this support but had a very bad handicap and limped. In those far off days, families were much closer and the foreign community in Pachuca was small. It was inevitable that the Ough Rule and Tucker families became firm friends and

Gordon and his family used to join with the Ough and Rule families for holidays in Acapulco in the early years before it was ruined by tourism and unplanned development. The following photos show the Ough family "Chevvy" with Audrey Martin and Charmian on way down to the coast, the Caleta beach then the hotel with Martin and Gordon with two friends then Gordon on the beach and Sydney, Charmian and Walter on Caleta.Halycon days indeed with many happy memories

The following photos show Gordon with various groups of friends in Mexico at picnic places near Pachuca in the state of Hidalgo. The middle picture in top row shows Margaret Ough, Daphne and Winston Tucker, Cecil and Amy Rule with Gordon Tucker, Martin Ough, Noel Rule and Charmian Ough in front row. The picture dates from about 1940 and may have been taken in the Rule hacienda of Chavaria before it had been sequestered by the Mexican Government in 1938.

School for the children of the employees of the mining companies in Pachuca was the British/American School which was located in the Hacienda La Luz . The following pictures taken by Gordon Tucker were of the school sports day which included races on donkeys.The lone rider in the first photo is Noel Rule, son of Cecil and Amy Rule and brother to Audrey.

The following two photos are of a disaster in the Loreto Mill of the Real del Monte y Pachuca mining company. Three of the 24 "Pachuca" tanks had collapsed as a result of rust and general lack of maintenance during the war years.

Mexican holidays included the Day of Independence,One of the ways it was celebrated was to decorate the clock tower in the central plaza of Pachuca. The mechanism of the tower had been donated by the Rule family in about 1910 and mimiced the chimes of Big Ben in London. At the same time the local Boy Scouts de Mejico went on parade and inducted new recruits. Most of the pictures were taken in the school grounds of La Luz. and date from 1944 or there abouts.

On the left below is a picture of Sydney Henry Ough and his mother Florence Ough. It was taken in the old home in the Hacienda Progreso of the long since defunct Maravillas Mining Company. The date was about 1939. The next two photos are of Winston Tucker and his second wife Anita (nee Ralph). The bottom photos show Winston and a friend. Also of Winston as a young man with his son Gordon

Ough Family Memories
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