Lee picnic, South Wales, 1955 (South Wales)

Lee picnic, South Wales, 1955 (South Wales)
Originally uploaded by Miranda Hine

The photo was taken in August 1955 when I was passing through the UK on my way to the seminary and university in Dublin. My Mother, who was 'home on leave', as they used to say, from Trinidad at the time, took me to visit relatives, including, of course, Grannie and Grandad who had quite recently moved from Bishops Stortford to Clehonger in Herefordshire (where Annabel visited them in 1960). Clehonger is about 4 miles SW of Hereford town. The Cottons lived a couple of miles further on, at Kingstone.

Also visiting were Starkey (i.e Aunt Stella Craven) with her three: Tim, Jane and Matthew. I think Mother and I had been staying with them in Suffolk and Starkey drove us all from there in their van (?the one with the accelerator between the clutch and the brake?).

It must have been Tig (i.e Aunt Ruth Cotton) who organised a trip over the border into South Wales which included the picnic immortalized in the photo. As neither she nor Mother is in the picture, I'm assuming that one of them was the photographer. (Knowing Mother, I doubt that she was the one. Maybe someone else who was there can settle this question.)

In the picture from left to right: Grandad, me, Grannie, John, Starkey, Pete, Matthew, Tim and Jane.

Boyd Reid, July 2010