RM
Where were you? Was it at a bathing hut?

OM
No, we were stopping at a hotel.

RM
Where were you there?

OM
That was a bathing hut. You went into bathing huts then to undress and put your swimsuit on. We were just coming out. We used to go out very early in the morning to swim. We didn't like going out when people were about. Isn't it funny how things have changed.

RM
What, were you shy or what?

OM
Yes. Shy. [pause] That was a very pretty dress I had. White with red, it was shantung.

RM
What was that? Silk?

OM
Yes. It was a nice dress. [pause]
Course Doris was down there. Of course, that was the main reason we went to Felixstowe.

RM
Why?

OM
She was working there, in a hotel.

RM
Which hotel? Do you know?

OM
I can't remember. One of the really big ones, on the Sea Front. You know Doris, only the best for her. [laughs] We went there. We used to go there for lunch and our meals. It was lovely, really grand. She looked after us so well [laughs].

RM
I'd wondered why you chose Felixstowe. Its quite a way away from Tooting.

OM
I don't think we would ever have gone there otherwise. It was quite an old-fashioned place, even then.

RM
Is that the hotel?

OM
Yes. That's in the hotel. Where Doris took me.
[pointing at another photograph] We're on the pier there [laughs].

RM
Those one's in the gardens are so beautiful.

OM
They have kept well, really. '27. Seventy odd years.

RM
Mm. Seventy two years. They are old, these bits of paper aren't they.

OM
Oh, they are. [laughs] Pop's in one of those huts there.

RM
Oh yes. I like that picture, the framing looks dramatic.
You've got your hair all shingled. Is that what you call it?

OM
Shingled in those days. Yes. I'm climbing over the wall there.

RM
I think you were posing.

OM
No. I was climbing.

RM
In that pretty dress? [pause] So, it was the two of you and Doris was there too.

OM
She had a friend there too. Ivy. That's Doris and Ivy, with me in the middle, having a lark.

RM
Is that them, in the same outfit. Was that their uniform?

OM
Yes, for working in the hotel.

RM
So they were only free at weekends, I suppose.

OM
Yes, and in the evenings.

RM
What did you do in evenings? Were there dances you went to, or what?

OM
Mainly walks. Not dancing I don't think.

RM
I thought you liked dancing.

OM
Well, I did. But Pop wasn't so keen on it.

RM
I thought Dad was a good dancer.

OM
Not as much as I used to love it.

RM
Didn't you win a competition dancing?

OM
Oh yes, down at the Palais de Danse at Wimbledon. My prize was a portrait done at the High Street photographers. [points at another photograph] That's very good of Pop. There were beautiful gardens. It was very pretty down there. That was a nice coat I had, a lovely fine tweed, with a lovely big flower I used to have on the lapel.

RM
Its very posh for the beach Mum. In these days people don't dress like that on the beach.

OM
Good Lord no.

RM
You look like you have silk stockings on.

OM
I expect I have. [points at another photograph] That's a good one of Pop, its kept better. The little ones have gone off.

RM
Yes, they have a bit, although I find them very beautiful almost because they have faded so.

OM
I had forgotten it all completely. [pause] Do you want to take some pictures from it.

RM
Mmm. Yes, I like playing with old photos on the computer.

OM
Yes, do. Its only upstairs in the case otherwise.

RM
That's true [pause]
I like that one, its really sweet, you two cuddling and Dad's cheeky smile. It looks like your honeymoon, although it wasn't, was it?

OM
It should have been, I think.

RM
Did you have a honeymoon?

OM
Mmm .. No. Had it before, that was it.

RM
Well, it was the end of October when you got married, not such a nice time for going away. When did you get married?

OM
1929. So how many years is that? 70

RM
70. It would be your 70th wedding anniversary this year.

OM
My word. Doesn't seem possible.

RM
These photos are from August '27. You were what? 16 then.

OM
Born in 1910, so I was just 16, coming up 17.

RM
You look older, you look more grown up than 16.

OM
I don't know why, but you seemed to be grown up then.

RM
Well, you were working, and had been working for a few years.

OM
Started work at 14 in those days. {pause]
We had a good fun holiday

RM
How long did you go there for?

OM
I suppose 2 weeks. Doris booked us into a nice small boarding house. Nice place.
Then the next year -you would laugh - Jim's Mum said George should come with me. So we had George with us. We had a lovely time, the three of us.

RM
He must have been a bit of a gooseberry though.

OM
He mixed well. But Pop was jealous even of George [laughs].
[points at another photograph] That was a very nice tailor-made coat.

RM
I can see it was tailor-made. Did Pop make that?

OM
No, not that one. We went up to London -to Petticoat Lane, to all the tailoring shops. He used to know people in the business.

RM
I remember the time we went there and he seemed to know everyone. It was great.

OM
I don't think it (the album) should see too much light, sun-light I mean. Its fading, fading fast. Luckily its been in the case all this time.

RM
Its been very well protected. [pause] What camera did you use?

OM
Just a Kodax box camera. That's all you were able to get in our day. We didn't have all these fancy cameras that you pull out. Just a little box camera, that's all.

RM
So these were snaps you took of each other.

OM
I don't know how we got to have them enlarged.

RM
You must have gone to a High Street photographers, and got them to do them for you.

OM
That's right. We did. [pause] Gosh that's old isn't it. 1927.

RM
Well, its 72 years old.

OM
Oh my gorrah. I think they have kept well considering the time. You can go and find the other album if you want to.

[RM goes to the 'box room' and finds the second album in the old utility cardboard suitcase on the top shelf of the wardrobe.
RM and OM look at this second album together]

OM
I was always a dresser and Pop too. I loved clothes. Look at me under that Chinese parasol. That dress is white shantung silk, with a cream coat. We were so stylish.

RM
You were very dressed up.

OM
Even for holidays.

RM
Especially for holidays.

OM
Dear old Pop. [pause] I used to love this hat. I believe I made it. Crochet, white with a red trimming and flowers on the side [laughs]

RM
Is that a cloche?

OM
Yes.

RM
You are in all your beautiful clothes on the beach. That's what amazes me

OM
Well, we used to like to dress up and look our best. [pause]
Old Pop's got a cigarette in his mouth.

RM
Always I tell you, in every photograph.

OM
We had a lovely holiday then.

RM
There is a long pier in this photo, and in this one there are lots of sailing boats on the sea. I never realised it was such a nice place.

OM
It was then and it had a beautiful front with flowers. It was nice. Lovely. But its changed.

RM
Probably.

OM
Oh, so they say - its a big port now. Where do they go across to?

RM
You can go from Harwich to the Hook of Holland, I think.

OM
We are swimming there. That's Dad and that's me.

RM
Your swimming costumes certainly cover up a lot. Looks more like a tee-shirt and shorts.

OM
There's dear old George and myself. That's George and Dad playing croquet on the lawns. There was a festival on here. I got all dressed up with a big hat, like a bonnet. I think it was a flower festival, it came through the town and all along the front on a particular day. [pause]
[pointing at a set of three photographs] You know how people take your photo when you are going along the street. We had just collected a set of photos from the shop. We were looking at them as we walked along and laughing, see.

RM
They are delightful, like stills from a movie. Snap, snap, snap.

OM
Oh, it does bring back memories.