Welcome to my blog, where I take pleasure in words and pictures, be they my own or those of others. I'm a creative individual, and the crafty side I explore on my 'other blog', Picking Up The Threads, which I hope you'll visit too. I'm sure you understand that I have sole copyright of my original work and any of my contributions, so please ask if you want to use them. A polite request is rarely refused. So, as they used to say on the BBC's 'Listen With Mother' radio programme, many years ago: "Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin."

Friday 16 May 2014

It’s in the Bag


There’s quite a lot going on in the above photo, though quite why my father chose to capture this particular moment we will never know. I think it’s a scan of one of his old 35mm slides and records a moment back in May 1987 at Anderby Creek, Lincolnshire.

My daughter is rushing over to show grandma her latest shell and my son appears to be flying a kite. It obviously wasn’t a very warm day -  no bikinis or suncream in sight - but that doesn’t spoil the fun for a family determined to enjoy a day at the beach. Mum had put on her summer frock and sandals in expectation of a warm sunny day, but she’s wearing a padded jacket over it so it must have turned chilly. She’s not filling her bag with sand, like the lady in this week’s Sepia Saturday prompt picture below, but she is digging in her plastic carrier bag for something. I wonder what it was.


It may not even have been her bag. It could have contained anything from the children’s 'flip-flops’ to a picnic sandwich; all we can do is speculate. I was probably there on the day, but I have absolutely no memory of it all; let’s hope we all had a great time and then retired to the nearest beach café for fish and chips.


Here’s the same lady in 1952 showing my brother the way to do it. This poor quality print is not worth enlarging, but once again a moment has been captured. She isn’t stealing sand to make sandbags, as the lady in the prompt picture is, and my brother isn’t wearing a sailor-suit, but it’s a mother and son beach moment just the same.

Grab your spade and dig into the past along with other Sepia Saturday contributors.

18 comments:

  1. I love the first photo! It is very beautiful.

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  2. Hello,

    The first photograph really does capture that spirit of family holidays on the beach in England. Everyone is determined to have a good time in spite of the fact that the weather is cold and wet and the wind probably creates an arctic chill factor designed to freeze even the hardiest of souls. Perfect!

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  3. And in that first picture, your daughter is wearing a 'sailor' jacket, too! But I'll say this about that photo: if my husband ever took a picture of me like that, he'd hear about it! Perhaps your mom bent down at the last second. Better to go with that. :))

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  4. Either one is a perfect match for this weekend's theme. I agree with Jane/Lance that they both convey that British determination to have a good time in spite of the weather.

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  5. I love the spontaneity and candid factor. I agree that that photo to have survived at all points to it having been hidden from the lady in question. My mom decided she didn't like to have her picture taken, so for about 20 years we have shots of her sticking her tongue out, (well, a few survived.)

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  6. Love the first photo particularly. A great photo for discussing at family get-togethers

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  7. Your first photograph captures so well of the spirit of a beach trip in "sunny" Britain, but if I was your Mum, I would have made sure the photograph did not see the light of day. But a great match for the this week's challenge, even down to your daughter's sailor top.

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  8. This brought back funny memories of my Gren, Dad's mother who never liked her photo taken - we have so many photos of her backside! hehehe

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  9. They are both good action shots that tell a story, even if you're not sure exactly what it is, and at least that first photo is taken side on rather than directly from (and of} the rear.

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  10. I can smell the sea and feel the gritty sand in those sandals! :-)

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  11. What a photo of grand,ma's backside....wonder what she thought when she saw this

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  12. I think you win the prize for the photo that most closely approximates the cue this week! I love it!

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  13. Without the kite visible the pose of your son can be a bit puzzling.

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  14. Yes, the first shot is especially nice - all sorts of speculations one can make about the subjects!

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  15. According to the Lincolnshire Echo last year Anderby Creek has broken into the top 10 best undiscovered beaches in the UK. I wonder whether the shot of grandma at the beach will now get it to number on.
    There's a lot of cold beaches on that coast, No one seems to be riding the donkeys in 1952.

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  16. What a great match to the theme photo. And it made me smile so that's a plus as well.

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  17. I bet Grandma just LOVED that picture.

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  18. Lovely post, Nell. I wondered if your mum was fishing for a scarf, given the temperature!

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