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I recall a pair of green cotton shorts which I first had when I was about 11; I wore them on the beach after I'd stopped wearing shorts as my normal trousers. I'd had several pairs of brightly-coloured shorts - brick red, dark blue, and then these green ones. You may have noticed from some of the other images that I liked bright colours! I suppose khaki or similar colours were more common for boys' shorts; I'd had a couple of pairs myself in shades of brown. A lot of boys wore shorts like this during the summer. They had boxer-type elastic waists, but with a fly. I remembr them quite destinctly and some of the other colors boys wore. Not only do I remember them quite destinctly, but we have quite a record of them. I wore them on vacation with sandals. We took trips each year and dad took lots of vacation snaps. Here is a series showing me on holiday in various parts of Britain, Wales and Cornwall. This series shows me wearing the same pair of shorts in three consecutive years, and I didn't grow much between the first two.
Each summer we spent a fortnight on holiday near the sea. We tended to stay in one place for a few years and then move elsewhere. In 1962 we stayed at Cricieth, in North Wales - rather a wet summer! - and then from 1963 to 1969 we went to Cornwall, before my parents finally moved to live there when my father retired in 1970. Over those seven years, we stayed at two farms, about 2 miles apart at opposite ends of a VERY narrow lane, and about 4 or 5 miles from an excellent beach. My father took lots of photos, a few of which show me. Here is a series showing me on holiday in Wales and Cornwall. These photos show me wearing the same pair of shorts in three consecutive years, and I didn't grow much between the first two."
Here we are On holiday in Wales (August 1962). Again, this time looking round Boston Lodge works on
the Ffestiniog Railway. I'm wearing a short-sleeved shirt with a pullover on top, shorts and sandals without socks. The shorts are again fairly long. Note that there are two older boys wearing shorts. The steam engine has since been comprehensively rebuilt and now looks rather different.
Here we are on holiday in Cornwall (August 1963). . About the time I stopped wearing shorts, except during the summer holidays. Pretty much the same clothes as I had in North Wales the year before. Judging by the length of the shorts, I'd not grown much. The scene is the bridge at Ruan Lanihorne in the days when the
River Fal ran white with china-clay waste. The ground my mother and I are standing on is
part of several hundred million tons of industrial waste, washed down the river over 2000+
years of mining upstream. The river was cleaned up in the mid/late-1960s. Note that Cornwall is not, geographically, part of England - only administratively. I find the photo rather interesting, in that it shows an aspect of industrial pollution that you won't find nowadays -- the rivers don't run white any more, thank goodness! Though it does make one or two local names a bit obscure. There's a "White River Bridge" in St Austell - don't know what the tourists make of it, there's often a traffic queue there so they might notice.
Here we are on holiday in Cornwall again (August 1964). Still the same green shorts, but I've started growing at last! I'm sailing a boat in a tidal pool created by the sandbar across Porthluney Cove.
