What men do in England
My father showing his Belgian wife in 1947
Françoise, Kenneth's new wife, was sufficiently impressed to take the photo. The snapshots Kenneth and Françoise took of each other around the time of their marriage are what you'd expect: trying to look sexy for the other, or finding the other sexy and taking a photo. Taking photos in 1947 wasn't the simple matter it is today either. Nobody knows the circumstances of this picture except that Françoise took it and there is only one like it. It's great.
Kenneth was at Oxford University finishing off his degree. When the photo was taken they had not yet moved to "Mrs Constable's" in Banbury Road in Oxford (when Françoise became pregnant with me). They had rooms in a large stone house in Toot Baldon, a village about five miles outside Oxford. The house still exists at latitude: 51°42'11.12"N, longitude: 1°10'52.25"W. I suppose it's possible I was conceived in that exact spot – or even perhaps straight after this photo. More about Banbury Road here »
