In 1894, when the Rev George Coleman became vicar of our local church, he brought his Sanderson half plate camera. For the next 25 years he photographed almost everyone in the village.
I tracked the slides down, and after sorting and cleaning, selected a set I thought would interest the children in my class. They laughed at the girls’ pinafores and the boys’ stout boots and rough trousers.
After the last slide went clattering into its holder, there were a few expected questions and then a lone voice brought me to a sudden stop. “Are you on any of them, Sir?” Scorn from the others might have saved my face but none came. Then the final comment: “Of course he’s not on them - he took them!” Eric Johnson
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