Eccentrics
Battle of Hastings Refought. In 1966 a group of enthusiasts refought the Battle of Hastings, which actually took place at Senlac some miles outside the South Coast seaside resort. The two armies faced one another across exactly the same fields as the Saxons and Normans had done a thousand years earlier. On this occasion, however, umpires decided the battle was a draw and the Saxon nation lived to fight another day!
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Cowboys of Reading. In 1974 a group of Western fans got together in Reading to try and build a replica of a cowboy town. The project never came off but they were happy enough to demonstrate their cowboy shooting and riding skills as I photographed them clearing the land of rubbish in preparation for the construction to commence.
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Edward Blackmore an Eastbourne plumber and his wife Phylis are adopted members of the North American Sioux Indian Tribe of which he is a fully-fledged Chief. He was made a Chief in 1964 when he travelled to South Dakota to meet the tribe about whom he had become an international expert since he first became fascinated by the subject in 1919. Photographed 1967.
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The Watchman of Rye - 1965. Two men employed by the Corporation of Winchelsea to maintain the Look Out –"Chummy" Bardon (keeper from 1929 to1943) and Fred Curd - pictured -(1944-1966) - spun the yarn for gullible tourists (and journalists) that they were part of a long line of watchman employed by the Corporation since the raids of the 14th century to watch for approaching French ships. The fiction came to a head in 1964-65 with articles in papers as diverse as the Daily Express and Die Welt, and features on the BBC and other TV channels. When Fred said that he needed a new telescope, one was duly sent by a firm in Toronto. He also explained that, during WWII he had spotted two German pocket battleships – then being hunted by the Royal Navy – sailing up the channel but did not bother to report the sighting since he was being paid to watch out for the French and not the Germans. It was all too much for the dignity of the Mayor at the time and Fred was replaced in 1966, his successor sworn to kill the harmless legend.
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