on the beach at the Victorian seaside resort of Broadstairs, the perfect setting for a Punch and Judy Show, but one girl preferred a suntan to murder and mayhem. From, "Being English"
"Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep" runs the nursery rhyme, but this one found hers and won the Fancy Dress Competition at a garden fete in the Cotswolds, in the 1970s. From "Being English"
Pontin's Holiday Camp, Weston-super Mare, 1970s, and it's time for the Knobbly Knees Competition. I don't usually brood about these things, but with my knees, I think I should have won. To quote Marlon Brando, "I coulda' had class. I coulda' been a contender". From, "Being English"
At the Hobby Horse Festival in Padstow, Cornwall, in 2003. It's celebrated on May Day, when two 'obby 'osses parade through the town and try to catch young maidens.Tradition has it that if a woman is covered by the Oss during the chase she will become fertile and fruitful. The hypnotic beat of drums and plentiful alcohol may also help. From, "Being English"
At the Norland School for Nannies in Berkshire in the 1990s. Founded by Emily Ward in 1892, who created the uniform so that nannies would not be mistaken for housemaids. The school, now in Bath, is still going strong with no vacancies left for this year's intake. It's good to know that the offspring of British aristocrats and Russian oligarchs are being well cared for! From, "Being English"
In 2003 I went to photograph the Malham Show in the Yorkshire Dales and came across this scene on the road above the village. I'm not sure if the Highway Code covers this dilemma, but the motorist survived and got down to the show a few minutes later. From, "Being English"
I made this portrait of a Pearly King and Queen at their home East London, in the 1970s, for the magazine New Society. It was at a time when soul-less high rise flats were replacing and destroying a former, more friendly community. From, "Being English"
