The Minchins in Colour: Vic Riding’s Evocative Photos.
The Minchins in COLOUR
As a keen photographer, Vic Riding was on hand to record the Minchins during the formative post-War years. For much of this period his cameras included a Minolta and a Durst Automatica and he invested in colour film. Hence this priceless album. Naturally the majority of images are of Peggy and their three children but, when the opportunity arose, he took pictures of all branches of the family. Vic transports us back to the 50s, 60s and early 70s and reminds us of how we once were.
Bourton in the 60s. But where are the ducks?
Early 1960s. Julie and Simon enjoy ice cream cornets on a sunny day. Bourton is busy with visitors who have come by bus and train. The result is a High Street clear of parked cars and traffic. There are no jeans in view. The women are in frocks and skirts and the men wear their ‘Sunday best’ – well-pressed suits, collars and ties. CLICK TO ENLARGE ALL PICTURES.
After the visitors have left, perfect peace…
…and tranquillity return to Bourton
Julie plays ‘aeroplanes’ with Sally on the green. Worried, a policeman keeps watch in the background.
A visit to Cleethorpes
Christopher Clark and Simon Riding (in stripes) paddle in the sea at Cleethorpes beach. The water is the colour of the fine golden sand which marks the Lincolnshire Riviera.
Bill Minchin
‘THEY’RE NOT WITH ME!’ Simon, Sally, Julie and – distracted – their granddad. CLICK TO ENLARGE ALL PICTURES.
Peggy, Sally and Bill
Judith Clark makes her mark
Judith
Judith with Sally’s doll’s pram
Family shots
Julie plays peep-o with Simon
Julie (right) at the pool.
Julie and Peggy swing Simon in the woods in Germany
Julie wins a large teddy at a German fair.
Julie looking shy.
Julie and Peggy feed the pigeons in St Mark’s Square, Venice
Julie and Peggy at the window of their home in Rheindahlen, West Germany.
Simon is thrilled to be in identical dress to his big sister. He still does this whenever he possibly can.
Wild Thing! Julie goes mod. Cigarette in hand, she leans nonchalantly against the bonnet of a Triumph Herald. CLICK TO ENLARGE if you DARE.
Wikipedia 2013: ‘Many female mods dressed androgynously, with short haircuts, men’s trousers or shirts, flat shoes, and little makeup — often just pale foundation, brown eye shadow, white or pale lipstick and false eyelashes.[30] Miniskirts became progressively shorter between the early and mid-1960s. As female mod fashion became more mainstream, slender models like Jean Shrimpton and Twiggy began to exemplify the mod look. Maverick fashion designers emerged, such as Mary Quant, who was known for her miniskirt designs…The television programme Ready Steady Go! helped spread awareness of mod fashions to a larger audience.’
Nature loving, Julie explains her love of flowers to Simon and Sally.
Julie and Simon brave the waves (definitely not Cleethorpes)
1963: A Wedding.
Vic took his camera everywhere. Here the Minolta penetrates Grimsby. It is 1963 and Vic captures the newly-wed John and Susan Waite.
Susan poses in the gardens of the Conservative Club, Grimsby.
Susan.
Earlier: Caught by the breeze, Susan arrives at St Hugh’s Church, Grimsby, with her father Ken Dale.
Sally and Simon play with their Uncle Ken on the green at Bourton.
Miscellaneous…
In the garden at 12 Rissington Road: (l to r) Sally Riding, Jayne Moy, Simon Riding, Paul Moy, Andrew Moy and Nicky Moy.
Jayne, Julie, Sally, Andrew and Simon.
Peggy puts her arm around her mum at 12 Rissington Road.
Peggy holds the newly born Sally at her christening alongside Simon and Julie in matching turquoise and white shoes and socks. 
- Julie, Peggy and Simon build a sandcastle.
Germany. Peggy with Simon.
Peggy looks back aboard a ferry.
Peggy tries out a swing.
Peggy enjoys La Dolce Vita.
Reg and Thelma Clark with Sally and Simon.
Sally plays ‘horsey’ with Simon.
Sally calmly handles an itchy toe.
Simon and Sally
Julie and Sally
Sally
Julie, Sally and Simon. CLICK TO ENLARGE ALL PICTURES.
Simon and Sally
Sally
RELAXATION: On a bench in Bourton…
Enjoying the sunshine. Sarah Clark sits beside her gran May, her mum Thelma and her Auntie Peggy. CLICK TO ENLARGE.
SENSATION: On a beach in Cleethorpes
Peggy, Reg and Thelma Clark, and John Dale watch fascinated as three children attempt to build a sandcastle.
Thelma and Peggy
(l to r) Julie, Simon, Christopher, Peggy, Thelma and Sally.
Painting with light
A swan.
Azure blue waters.
Romantic Venice
The Grand Canal
Just one cornetto
Vic Riding also took some black and white photos while in Bourton. They are included here because they show life in the early 1950s, along with some further colour ones.
Bill, Julie and May in the front garden at Rissington Road. Bill liked to read the Gloucestershire Echo every weekday for the local news (and county cricket) and The People on a Sunday for a bit of spice. At 7 o’clock in the evening, he would switch on the radio and listen to The Archers, which began on the BBC Light Programme in 1951. It was billed as ‘an everyday story of countryfolk’ and was aimed at people in villages like Bourton, mixing drama with advice to help farmers and smallholders increase productivity at a time of food rationing. Like many countrymen, Bill worked hard tending his large vegetable garden at the back. Before Sunday lunch, he’d take his grandchildren outside to pick cabbages, cauliflowers, carrots, runner beans, whatever was in season. The kids would be kept quiet occupied with shelling peas and, many years later, the memory of those fresh tasting vegetables still lingers on the tongue. As for Bill, he had a peculiar liking for fat rather than lean meat, cutting off the latter and exchanging it around the table. It was a reverse of the nursery rhyme…”Jack Sprat could eat no fat. His wife could eat no lean. And so between them both, you see, They licked the platter clean.” It may be this was a learnt preference from a poor childhood when fatty pork and bacon were cheaper cuts in the village.
Bill wears his flat cap to sit in the garden and read the newspaper.
A lazy afternoon in Thame. Vic plays host to his in-laws, with Peggy.
May celebrates a birthday.
May attends the wedding of Sally Riding and Mel Northfield.
May, 7 July, 1986.
A thank-you letter from Susan Dale in Cleethorpes to her Auntie Peggy in Bourton. It is written in pencil (cheap biros had yet to become available – the alternative would be pen and ink, a messy process beyond small children). Peggy is still living with her parents, so this may well have been after Susan’s sixth birthday in 1948.
Peggy poses at the Model Village, Bourton, about 1948/9, about the time when she had sent dolls’ clothes to Susan Dale in Cleethorpes.
Paul, Andrew and Jayne Moy.
Paul, Andrew and Jayne with Nicky holding a toy gun at the front.
Ken and John Dale. They are wearing carnations in their lapels and so it was probably Julie Riding’s wedding.