ICDS – Maidstone 1955

By shendyNo Comments
Similarly to the production that the Imperial College Drama Society put on in Cheltenham in 1954, they did the same in Maidstone in 1955.Mr & Mrs FletcherLes and Ursula on stageI think that the first shot is of the landlord & landlady in the pub that they adopted during their stay - there are several photos that appear to be in the pub.I suspect that my father wasn't acting in this particular play, as this was taken from above the stage. I don't know what play they were doing - surprisingly enough his records don't say.I suspect the reason I never really became interested in the theatre (drawing a discrete veil over my appearance as a Munchkin) is that I was subjected to too much Shakespeare as a small child. My parents were (and my mother still is) long-standing active members of the Masque Theatre amateur group in Northampton, and they were always involved in the annual open-air productions. Being...
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Rowing, 1955

By shendyNo Comments
Head of the River Race, 4th VIII throwing the boat.Imperial College 3rd VIII at Walton Regatta, my father 2nd from right in the front rowAlong with the Drama Society, my father also rowed for Imperial College, competing in the Head of the River race two or three times. I'm not quite sure how he managed to combine both of these activities along with studying for his degree, but he seemed to manage it!Interestingly enough, three of his interests were photography, cycling and rowing - I do the first two and have done the third. Something went wrong though, as I've never been interested in the theatre....
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Coronation, 1953

By shendyNo Comments
Westminster Abbey   Whitehall & Houses of Parliament   Piccadilly Circus A special bonus of three images this time, to round off the detour back into the really old 40's and early 50's stuff, before my dad had his own camera. I think these "half-plate" shots were taken on his mum's camera - I seem to recall him saying that he borrowed hers for the cycling trip to France. I have also just looked through another set of "half-plate" sized negatives that I brought back the other week, and these look even older. It looks like one of the associated prints is dated 1920, so these will presumably have been taken by my grandfather, or maybe even his father. There must be getting on towards 100 of them, so that's ramped up my scanning a bit more! Anyway, these three images are, as the title of the posting says, from around the time of the Coronation in 1953. I'm not quite sure what everyone is queueing for...
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Col d’Izoard, 1953

By shendyNo Comments
In 1953, my dad went cycling in the Alps with a friend (I don't know his name unfortunately). It seems that they read an article about a tour over some of the Cols that the Tour de France used, and they decided to do it - without really knowing that much about what they were letting themselves in for. Information about the Tour was pretty scarce in those days, although he did have some wonderful French Tour magazines from the 50s.They got the train down to Grenoble, then cycled over the Lautaret, down to Briancon, over the Izoard, then the Col du Vars and the Col de la Cayolle - one Col per day - and then about a 50 mile coast down to Nice.They obviously passed very close to the bottom of Alpe d'Huez as they went through Bourg d'Oisons, but didn't really know that it existed or what a famous climb it would become. The Tour went up...
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Tennis Player

By shendyNo Comments
Spring 1951. Who even knew that he ever played tennis? There is a really old tennis racket at home, which me and my brother used to use when we were children in the 70s and early 80s, and it's quite possible that it's the same one. Given his hoarding instinct, I think it's very likely!...
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"Malham, 1950"

By shendyNo Comments
From a trip to Malham in the Yorkshire Dales in 1950, quite possibly Youth Hostelling.Not really sure where this waterfall is, as a quick Google search for waterfalls in Malham doesn't come back with anything looking much like this. It would seem that Malham is close to Gordale Scar (it's not an area I know at all), but there is a different photo that looks like the waterfall there. Any ideas anyone?...
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