A second foray into our secret cupboard and another random photo wallet extracted. This time I will scan four selected photos and write about them. All were snapped and printed before I acquired my very first digital camera which was twenty years ago so these prints are now very much historical.
Long ago I wrote on the "Quality Prints" wallet "Britanny June 91 & 92 + Loire and Normandy 87" so I am expecting a bit of a mixture when I dip inside.
Above - pictures taken in the north of France but because I never wrote on the back of my prints I cannot tell you in which little town I spotted the old black Citroen car. And maybe it was the same day but there's our Ian at the age of eight or nine with an interesting lace curtain behind him. It depicts two children walking in rain. I guess I will have said to him - "Just sit down there son!" before clicking the camera button.
Below, that's me - half a lifetime ago with my little darling daughter - Frances Emily. We were sitting by rocks on the north coast of Brittany. She would have been three in that photo - a few months younger than her own daughter - Phoebe Harriet is right now. Frances was such a sweet child blessed with natural intelligence and kindness - foreshadowing the woman she would become.
We had four French holidays that involved driving to campsites where tents were already set up and fully equipped with camp beds, fridges, cooking stoves, pans and cutlery etc.. Below, I believe that "Sunsites" tent was on the coast of Britanny and there's Shirley, Ian and Frances under the parasol. Ian is wearing the Hull City shirt I bought him. They were great family holidays but harder to remember with each passing year. No matter how we try, we cannot hang on to the past. Before you know it, it will become just a bunch of old pictures in a photo wallet, hidden in a cupboard .
It's nice to just go through old photos, remembering that time. Your children were blessed to have you and Shirley as parents.
ReplyDeleteWe loved being parents to our boy and our girl. It was a happy duty that we relished.
DeleteSocks in sandals! In my (Australian) childhood we thought that a very English thing.
ReplyDeleteSandals with socks makes a cool fashion statement in my view. David Bowie usually wore socks with his Oxfam sandals.
DeleteI have many very similar photos taken with the 35 m camera. Sadly someday there will be no one to look at them and know what it was all about.
ReplyDeleteI see my pictures in the same way Red. One day they will just be chucked away.
DeleteBut I bet the pictures bring back a lot of memories and emotions!
ReplyDeleteActually, they could easily be pictures from someone else's life Bob.
DeleteStill, precious memories remain in your mind; sometimes all that is needed is a trigger in the shape of a certain scent, sound or sight such as a photograph.
ReplyDeleteOn the picture where Ian sits underneath the window, I could just as well imagine that he was ready for a rest and/or an ice cream while you were exploring the place :-)
"Oh Dad! Do we have to explore places? When will the smartphone be invented?"
DeleteI've mentioned before that I put all my photos in scrapbooks and label them so that I know where they were taken and what you can see in the picture. I often go through them and look at them so I relive those moments from time to time
ReplyDeleteDo you want a job as my archivist Addy?
DeleteThe pictures are lovely and the much younger you looks a little familiar, I must have known someone in my past with similar looks. Frances then looks much like Phoebe does now.
ReplyDeleteDid you know Ned Kelly?
DeleteNo, don't think of it like that. It is a valuable historical record to someone at sometime, more valuable because you've named names and places. Future historians will have a lot of chaff to sort through, but then come across your blog, and bingo, it brings history to life.
ReplyDeleteIt's a wonder your son didn't become a gay after you placing him under lace curtains.
He did become a vegan.
DeleteOh! Is that how you became gay Andrew? I bet the curtains in question were very frilly.
DeleteI have a box of old family photos. They always make me sad when I look at them. You have some lovely holiday photos YP.
ReplyDeletePhotos are about hanging on but in the end everything slips away doesn't in Dave?
DeleteWhen I first moved to France I found an old Citroen 'traction avant' in the barn. Sadly it was in a poor state and not repairable, so I asked the previous owner to take it away. He did, and dumped it in nearby woods. It remained there for about 30 years.
ReplyDeleteI guess that animals were able to shelter in it.
DeleteWell, you know I love old pictures, so I'm always happy to look at posts like this! That's a nice rented tent. I might not mind camping so much if I had a tent like that. VERY cool old Citroen.
ReplyDeleteIt savede a lot of trouble travelling to a pre-erected tent with pretty much everything camping-related that you might need.
DeleteThey are lovely reminders of holidays past. The grandchildren will love looking through them and probably having a quiet giggle.
ReplyDeleteI showed Phoebe the middle picture today and she was quite baffled by it.
DeleteYou didn't mention French campsite toilets.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah! Those ceramic "bear pads" - where you just had to crouch. So difficult for the refined English to use.
DeleteThe photo of the Citroen reminds me of a photo my parents took of their Volkswagen when my Dad was stationed in Germany. It, too, was a black and white street scene. The photo of you and your daughter and the connection to today is so heartwarming and full of love.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that these photos had some personal resonance for you Diaday.
DeleteSocks and sandals, a Brit on vacation in the 90's. I was living in Orlando, we could spot the Brits at Walt Disney World from across the room. Great photos. I love the French cars (I owned a Renault for a couple of years in the 80s.)
ReplyDeleteI don't use the term "Brit" David. It is a modern affectation that I never voted for.
DeleteThese are great! I read a lot of English novels and I love seeing some of the things in them come to life here. Little Francis looked a lot then like her children do now. And Ian looked so darn sweet. I really hope that everyone in these pictures was as happy as they appear to be. I bet you were a good daddy.
ReplyDeleteAnd Shirley was an excellent mummy - very practical with oodles of common sense. Happy days.
DeleteI think I recognize the town in that first photo: were you ever in Bayeux?
ReplyDeleteYes. We were in Bayeux Vivian but I am sure those picture were not taken in Bayeux. It may have been in that region so the stonework may look familiar.
DeleteI thinks photos and family movies are helpful and trigger our memories, Neil. These look like sweet holidays and these photos will help all of you cherish those moments.
ReplyDeleteIt's tragic that happy days in the heart of life can run through our fingers like sand.
DeleteI’m loving that car
ReplyDelete