A Very Important Dog

A topical (slightly late) story.

I was born in Windsor and my parents were friends with one of the staff at the castle. He and his wife became my godparents.

There are pictures of King George VI and the royal family at Windsor. Some of them include the royal dogs. There are the famous corgis and a little hairy one called Ching. There is a good image in the Hulton Archive (Getty Images).

As Ching got older he couldn't keep up with the corgis so he went to live with my godparents in their mews apartment in the castle grounds.

My parents used to take Ching out for walks. I remember my dad telling me that he was reading a story in the paper that Ching had died, there was Ching asleep in front of the fire in my godparent's front room.

This is Ching with my godmother on the left and my grandmother on the right.



Ching at the feet of my godfather and his children.

Tavistock

We used to live in Tavistock when I was young. A short walk led us to the edge of Dartmoor and we used to go for picnics there.

These must have been taken on the same day.

There is me, mum and our little dog Asta.





I use a cropped version of this last one as the profile photo for the blog. I remember my dad taking it, he asked me to turn around like that so my hair would swing out.

Penzance

Went to Penzance yesterday. My usual book and charity shop hop.

Not that much on offer, a slightly battered copy of Gutenberg Galaxy by Marshal McLuhan was all I found.

As it was Thursday had a curry in the Tremenheere.

Someone has a sense of humour though.

On The Beach

Found some of me on the beach at various times.

The first two are at Newquay.



Studying the physics of wave motion!



I remember that horse, it belonged to my cousin.



I remember that swimmming costume too, they were all the rage then.

A Cap of Awesome Proportions!

Found this photo of my great grandfather in the box.



I don't know if oversized flat caps were the fashion in those days.

My (Short) Musical Career

Someone asked me recently about my musical taste. That reminded me of this:




The one with the long hair and big glasses is me, I was 16.

It was a fundraiser for the chapel coffee bar. This was before I sided with Richard Dawkins.

Serendipitous Discovery

Just realised that the the brooch my grandfather is wearing as a tiepin in one of the photos I uploaded.



Is below. The pin had broken off so I had a small ring soldered onto it so I could wear it on a chain. I wore it when I got married.

Cheltenham Part Three

Still in the Twilight Zone!

Spotted these rather disturbing shop dummies.





Revenge of the Triffid Women. There's a Dr Who storyline in there somewhere!

Cheltenham Part Two

These come under the heading quirky.

Old sign


The personal is political


The Hare and the Minotaur. Why a Hare and a Minotaur? Why not!

Sophie Ryder

We went for a coffee in one of the shopping precincts. We were sitting under an escalator, it had mirrored panels on the back. I had a brief 'Art College' moment. It soon passed!

On The Beach

Found a couple of photos of the family on the beach in the '20s or '30s



From left to right. My grandmother, my grandfather and I think the other woman is my great aunt, she was married to my gran's brother.



Not too sure about who is in this one. My grandmother is on the right, so the child must be my father. The man on the left is my great uncle (I think), so the other two women could be my great aunt and her sister.

I am putting these photos on my blog as they may be of interest to fashion historians.

Cheltenham Part One

Visited Cheltenham recently. Armed with my trusty camera I went in search of the unfamiliar, the interesting and the absurd.

These fit into the last category.

A Banksy-esque installation near the railway station. My son calls them the Random Charlie Chaplins.





Across the road is the imaginitively named...



Next to...

You've guessed it!

Little Cherub

Me. Those curls weren't natural!

My Grandfather Again

Seated in the centre.


With my Grandmother

My Grandfather. A Cool Dude

My Grandfather

Photos of my intrepid Grandfather.



Going for a spin with the Cornwall Aviation Company. He's in the middle.



An outing in a charabanc. He's the man with his elbow over the side of the car.

charabanc



Driving a very ancient tractor.

Family Photos

Started to scan my family photos from the box. Not a moment too soon as they seem to be fading.

These are of my Dad on the beach in the '20s. He was born in 1921.

Don't know which beach. Could be Paignton or Newquay.

Old Photos

I've got a box of old family photos and found these images in them. I don't know who they are, I don't recognise any of them as being in my family. Must be some friends of my parents in there somewhere.

The London Lunatics tag comes from the writing on the box beside the kneeling man.

What I do know is that they were taken in Penzance in the late '50s or early '60s. More than a little Goon show influence there I think!






I presume the London Lunatics were so named because they frequented the London Inn at the bottom of Causewayhead in Penzance (it explains a lot!)

I think the photos were taken outside there. The pub is still open.