Earlier this year The Observer newspaper published this photo of holiday makers on Blackpool Beach in 1948.
The crowding was intense, not my thing at all, but there was something about the photo that really touched me. I cut it out and put it on the inspiration board, but I wasn't sure why I found it so appealing.
Then I found this
It is taken from a slide of my Dad's side of the family on one of their pic-nics - fancy heavy deckchairs with footstools set up in a windbreak on the dunes, men in shirts with ties and bare feet for paddling, women in floral dresses and pearls.
It is a bit before I was born, though not that much I suspect - My Grandparents are the cuddling couple in the centre - my Dad in whites (asleep I suspect) on a deck chair, my Cousin John and Aunty Greta at the front (lovely dress Greta!).
Pic-nics like this were a big part of my childhood, though this is perhaps 10 years before the pic-nics I remember, I know that there will be a hamper full of tartan flasks and enamel pie plates out of shot. A link from 1948 to 1978.
Yes, it brings back warm memories of a more formal and planned out form of pic-nicing from my childhood - where pies and cakes would be cooked in advance.
Esther
Posted by: Esther Montgomery | January 06, 2011 at 05:14 PM
And there were proper knives and forks and a primus stove . . . all carted from the car to the dunes!
J x
Posted by: snapdragonjane | January 06, 2011 at 05:29 PM
Love this feature Jane, reminds me of my own childhood family gatherings!
Posted by: Heidi | January 06, 2011 at 05:33 PM
What a fab post! Your photo is great, everyone looks so contented and happy. We had so many lovely holidays as children and I don't know how my mum and dad afforded them. I suppose they would go without for us.
Posted by: Jane Cardie | January 06, 2011 at 06:22 PM
Hey Jane, here's to picnics with tartan flasks, enamel plates, little containers filled with goodies, maybe even a red and white gingham picnic cloth.
Lifes simple pleasures are often the best.
Hope the snow has disappeared and you are able to get out and about now.
All the best for a happy, healthy and creative 2011.
Claire X
Posted by: Claire Smith | January 06, 2011 at 10:15 PM