As mentioned elsewhere, my Auntie Wendy has become the unofficial Schofield family archivist. Yesterday my dad and myself drove 150 miles (240km) to the house in the countryside near Cambridge where she lives with her husband to collect some photographs, scrapbooks and other family-related bits and pieces so I can scan a few things and start looking into a serious historical-type project. My dad’s dad, Harry Methuen Schofield, was the footballer/pop star of his day, being a test and stunt pilot in the 1920s after a short but distinguished career as a pilot during WWI. I go much more than I bargained for, including originals of his Christening certificate from January 24, 1900 to the receipt for his cremation from the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth, dated January 10, 1956. Among the things I was expecting to see as I ploughed though the scrapbooks in the car on the way back I came across some extraordinary gems such as two cigarette cards in perfect condition and featuring none other than our Harry to a small album of black and white photographs of a holiday my grandma and granddad took in what must be around 1920 in Eastbourne of all places, including several shots of the pier (my grandma walking on it, my grandma rowing past it, my granddad sitting in a deckchair with the pier in the background etc). My dad was entirely unaware of the existence of both the photographs and the holiday, and was amazed to see photographs of his dad having fun (more of that as the project takes off). What an extraordinary coincidence, Eastbourne and Eastbourne Pier. And what on earth is this chap doing flying through the Eastbourne sky in this extraordinary and bizarre photograph? (a photograph almost certainly taken by my granddad, who, as it turns out, graduated with a total of 82% marks as a photographer (Photographic Flying) with the RAF on June 24, 1924. No time to waffle into my blog any more today. Much more to follow. This is fun.
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