In case you weren’t brought up on the stories by Enid Blyton and the “Famous Five” or “Secret Seven” that was a really weak title. Those gangs Mr’s Blyton wrote about were always off to Devon to defeat some master criminals, amazing for a group of schoolchildren, think of Scooby Doo without the “coolness”. Keep going if you can, this is relevant, well, sort of. No idea why I typed that, if you’re regularly read of my blog you’ll know that it often makes no sense whatsoever. Let’s be honest, relevance seldom enters into it. We’re essentially showing some photos, discussing photography and hopefully with a kind of thread running through the post.
I tried reading one of the “The Famous Five” stories to the children a while back. The problem being that 1950’s England doesn’t really translate that well to the children of 2020. The war had not long ended, rationing was still a feature of the national diet and our famous sleuths would ask for butter on their bread…”lashings and lashings please”. Amélie and Louis simply don’t get it “What’s the big deal with the butter and sugar in this book daddy?”. Well, if there was only a place I could take them where time has stood still since, let’s say just for the sake of it 1946. Of course, let’s go to Devon for the weekend and that sleepy little coastal town of Sidmouth.
A few blog posts back I wrote about the Victoria Hotel in Sidmouth which we visited whilst staying with my sister and brother-in-law who live in nearby Budleigh Salterton. I’d say that Budleigh, by Sidmouth standards, is rather more futuristic, it’s at least stuck in 1956, that’s a whole decade. Anyway you can read that post here “Holiday Blues”. We’re still on the Jurassic Coast and there remains some dinosaurs roaming the promenade.
Our stay was at the Victoria Hotel. Just a couple of nights because we felt as though a break was needed. Some sanity amongst all the current madness. The Victoria you might remember was where my father worked in 1949. He remained on speaking terms with the manager/owner for many years and in the 1960’s and 1970’s we would have special permission to use the swimming pool along with the hotel residents. I spoke before about how I feel extremely emotional whenever I see that pool area, the Victoria’s Lido holds a special place in my heart. We were unable to get two rooms in the hotel and instead were offered a suite at the poolside. This meant that every morning I would wake up, look through the french windows that opened up to our own terrace and reminisce…happy days. Unfortunately no early morning dips as the pool was closed. I did say in that previous blog that the next time I was nearby I would get a shot, I didn’t imagine it would be so soon. Seriously it hasn’t changed at all, I can still hear the echoes of the splashing under that bridge. Anyway, something strange came over me and I decided to take a night shot. I know? What, something with a shutter speed of under 1/60sec? This is unheard of, attempting a Long Exposure, perhaps it was the wine. Here it is in Colour and Black & White at a whole 3 seconds exposure. I placed the camera on a wall and used the timer to avoid any shake or movement.
One thing I can tell you is that the hotel itself is old fashioned, the clientele let’s say are of a certain age. We used the indoor pool and we were on our own, Louis loved every second and like me at that age it was practically impossible to get him out. He’s a big fan of swimming pools, it’s practically all he wants to do. Bribery is your only answer.
Each morning and evening we would take the less than one minute walk up to the hotel for breakfast and dinner. What I will say is that their customer base certainly appears to have plenty of money to show for their long years on the planet. Put it this way, they don’t charge 1946 prices! That said, the service and food were fabulous. What’s more it was very busy, I already mentioned that we couldn’t get two rooms in the hotel and it was necessary to book for both dinner and breakfast. Here’s a small selection of photos made in the and around the hotel before we move on:
It’s really difficult to take photos when you’re on holiday. I know that might sound slightly ridiculous, surely that’s what people do when they’re on holiday. The thing is that I need to concentrate, I go off into some kind of meditative trance. Sam gets really annoyed as she becomes a single parent whilst I’m “in the moment”. With that in mind she booked herself a massage in the hotel spa. I said that I wanted to take the children across the road to a garden and the cliff tops. She said no, not near the cliffs, if you must then watch them carefully and put that camera away. Here they are, perfectly safe in my capable hands:
I took another shot because I wanted some form of Street Photography going on and I liked the different textures:
That’s when Louis decided to climb over the fence. I’m sure he does it on purpose just to get me in trouble. For a split second I thought of letting him learn a valuable lesson about falling to certain death, decided against it and instead shouted at him as I dragged him back over. I don’t know what goes on in that boy’s mind, he’s pretty sharp though. One morning at breakfast I was chatting to Sam about something or other from my past, basically boring her to death. Louis said “ Daddy’s being nostalgic again” to which his older sister replied “Isn’t that a tribe or something from ancient times Louis?”. “ No, you’re thinking of Neolithic”, then he looked at me as to say; although yes, that suits you too old man! Here’s Amélie again with that lolly which seemed to last a whole day:
I grabbed a few shots up there, but to be honest Louis’ recent brush with death was uppermost in my mind. I’d really struggle to face Sam if anything happened to him. “We’re back, did you enjoy your massage? Oh, by the way, Louis fell to his death. Shall we take a stroll into town?”!
Incidentally those two guys are Coastal Path Walkers taking a break, not homeless people.
So, into Sidmouth centre. A walk along the promenade each morning, a coffee and cake in the town. Naturally with one eye looking out for a good Funeral Director in case Louis decides to do something stupid again. I stayed in Sidmouth in the 1980’s, attending a wedding of a family member. I’d forgotten to pack a belt for my suit and had to nip into a shop to buy one. Seriously, they’re so trusting. “Just put it on Sir and go outside to ensure the colour is correct for you”. It reminded me of a T.V. comedy series at that time. The main character needed a six inch nail. Just one nail to repair something or other. His wife told him to head for the DIY Superstore, despite his protest that he only needed one nail not a bag of a thousand. He passed a small shop, a tinkle from the bell as the door opened into an ironmonger/hardware store.
“Good Morning Sir. Mr Bryce isn’t it?”. “Well yes, how did you remember, I haven’t been in here for ten years?”. “We remember all of our customers Sir. How can we assist you today?”. Rather sheepishly he asked for just one six inch nail. “Bobby, quickly, up the ladder and fetch Mr Bryce one six inch nail please”. “Come on boy, hurry up, you’ll have to go up to the attic storeroom if there aren’t any down here”. Bobby returns breathlessly, bows slightly and presents one six inch nail, backs away still bowing. “Is there anything else Sir?” the shopkeeper asks. “No, just that I’m afraid, but I promise never go to a superstore again. How much do I owe you?”. “That will be 2 pence. Would Sir prefer to put that on his account?”…
I think that sums up how things were and to a certain extent still are in Sidmouth, actually quite a few small towns around England.
I grabbed what I could as we strolled along. Rather than bore you with any other stories, here’s a few more shots taken with a Street Photography mindset. I got what I could:
We had a wonderful time. Short, but immensely enjoyable. Amélie is growing into a young lady, despite that lollipop, there’s a photos of her in the grid back at the beginning of this post. Her mum didn’t want her to wear boots with that purple dress. She did anyway, slightly rebellious, but becoming an individual with her own fashion tastes. Whilst we were there I bought her a new pair of silver earrings and a necklace, Louis wanted the cash. He was nagging about visiting an amusement arcade. They don’t have them in Sidmouth, perish the thought. So we checked out from the hotel, paid the bill which was based on 2046 prices by the look and headed home. We stopped in the next town of Seaton where there’s an amusement arcade. He was obsessed and wanted to know if he could draw more money out from his account. I tried to explain to him that although he’d managed to win 300 tickets that would just about get him a chocolate bar from the ‘Prize” collection, he could have gone to the nearby supermarket and easily purchased a hundred. Still, where’s the fun in that.
I soon tired of the arcade. Had a quick look at the seafront and some kind of sculpture. I reckon that if you spent an hour there you’d eventually get something decent with plenty of layers lining up. I didn’t, nor did I have the time, this is the best of a bad bunch. Besides, I then have to explain what I was doing for all that time…standing by some steel circles waiting for random people to line up really doesn’t cut it when the person asking is fraying at the edges whilst our son is debating legal proceedings against the Amusement Arcade owner. Shouldn’t he be stopping smugglers or some criminals with the rest of Mr’s Blyton’s gang. Oh well, to steal a title form one of those books “Five Have A Wonderful Time”. Okay it was Four, at one stage possibly Three, but a wonderful time it was.
I’m really struggling to leave you with a “great” photograph. The truth is there aren’t any glory shots, it’s simply a series of images made on a weekend break. From purely a Street Photography perspective my favourite has already been displayed earlier. Here it is again:
Just in case you haven’t seen it. I posted another Youtube slideshow last week. This collection of photos features the coast, obviously none of the shots in this post were included.
As always my sincere thanks go to anyone taking the time to read this blog.
All images can be opened by clicking on the thumbnails and are taken using a Leica M with Summicron 28mm Lens fitted.
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