He Was Not Alone

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE. REPEAT IF REQUIRED.

Fly in gladiolus

Here is myย third photograph in the seven day Filling Facebook with Nature project. I posted it after lunch. It first appeared in Walls, my post of 21st September 2014.

On another wet day, I scanned some more black and white negatives from October 1983. These covered a trip to Covent Garden, and another to Bulcote in Nottinghamshire. Since only the first set is complete, I will just feature them today. The others will follow when I have covered the rest of that collection.

Punch and Judy 10.83

While the Punch and Judy man was setting up there was not much interest shown in the top-hatted gent in the striped box. Maybe the man in the foreground was letting him know where Punch was hiding.

Punch and Judy crowd 10.83 1Punch and Judy crowd 10.83 2

Once he got going, however, the audience was engrossed. Perhaps not the woman in the foreground.

The renovation and resurgence of this popular tourist venue was in its early stages in those days. Thus all the shops, restaurants and other outlets were quite new then.

Ponti's smoker 10.83

It was also possible to sit at Ponti’s enjoying a cigarette or two.

Ponti's couple 10.83 1

Covent Garden couple 10.83 2

No. This gentleman was not alone.

Ponti's smoker 10.83 2

Really, he wasn’t.

Ponti's couple and child 1

There was just another call on his companion’s attention.

Ponti's couple and child 10.83 2

I am always careful about drawing conclusions about strangers, but I think we can safely assume that this was a close little family.

For our dinner this evening, Jackie combined her delicious beef stew with sausage casserole surplus. Potatoes, onions, and mushrooms were added, and a glorious meal was the result. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Fleurie.

37 comments

  1. Great stories with the pictures. And, yay to Jackie for being such a thrifty cook!

  2. Always love your black & whites. This post is so interesting in what it captures from those days! Thanks for sharing ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. The only time I’ve ever seen a pantomime was in Venice! It was Jack and the Beanstock, organised by some Brit ex-pats. The Italians in the audience were bemused. ๐Ÿ™‚

  4. Isn’t it lovely to see these old B & W images where people actually talk to each other (instead of glued to their iPhones or texting).
    Nice shot starting this post off ๐Ÿ™‚

    (Sometimes I feel like gathering up everyone’s mobile phones and throwing them in the nearest rubbish bin).

  5. Great set of photos, Derrick. It really bothers me when I see a small child with parents who both smoke, though. I think of all that passive smoking the child must be subjected to.

  6. B&W photographs always provides a whole different feel to street scenes – yours tell of a fun time, lots of activity and the best was the couple at the end (very cool and iconic with the smoke drifting through shimmers of light).

  7. If the man in the top hat looked a bit scruffier, he could come right out of a Charles Dicken’s novel. At least that’s the way they show them in the movies.

  8. I always enjoyed Punch and Judy presentatipns, (Renaissance fairs here) as well as the Topo Gigio French mouse, Derrick. In our country, I liked (adored) Shari Lewis with her sweet Lambchops sock puppet who could suck in her hand to make it look like Lambchops was eating his words! ๐Ÿ™‚

Leave a Reply