HE
1950s was a wonderful decade for me. The country was starting
to pull out of wartime and early post-war austerity which was great, but
what made the decade special for me was that at the Festival of Britain
in 1951 I proposed to Valerie ... and she said "Yes". In fact,
she said "Yes, please!". I was on cloud 10 all the way home!
We married in 1954 and moved from east Kent to London when I started a
new job in one of the design offices of Rolls-Royce.Photographically I still had my Nagel Ranca, and as Valerie was showing more and more interest in photography I bought her a Super Ikonta 6x9 520/2 from a chap at work. Then about 1957 she also bought a 1936 Kine Exakta and, at about the same time, I traded in the Ranca against a Voigtländer Bessa. Then soon after I got it I stupidly dropped the Voigtländer and damaged it beyond repair so I was camera-less for quite a long time unless I borrowed either the Super Ikonta or the Exakta. All the 6x9 negatives taken with the Super Ikonta are packed away, but when I get them out again I'll add a few of the pictures I took with it to the gallery.
