I just came across this photo whilst emptying one of the many boxes I have to go through to sort out my stuff from our relocation to a totally different part of my country …So I now live in Ludlow in Shropshire .

Although this post has nothing to do with my new location. It is about my memories of my Grandfather on my father's side of my family. The Photo, taken around 1957/8 shows me with my grandad, so I would have been about seven or eight years old, we are standing outside a restaurant in Ostend, Belgium. I'm not sure who took the photo, it is basically not a very good photo technically, and probably taken using a Kodac Brownie box camera, but is means a lot to me, I was very fond of my grandpa. I had not really been aware of him until this holiday and spending two weeks away, so seeing him on holiday was a real eye opener for me, my first memory being of him siting in the resturant and him eating prawns, he wasnt peeling them he was just putting them straight into his mouth  ! 

"eeeeeeyuck grandpa your meant to take the head and the legs off "

"oh I cant be bothered with that lark ", he replied and then he turned to a plate of sliced tomatoes got a fork full put a mountain of pepper on them and stuffed them into his mouth 

"eeeeeeyuck grandpa - tomatoes with pepper ? "

"That how I like em" he said between picking a few prawn legs out of his mouth that had lodged between his tobbaco stained old teeth.

So my friendship with this man who I found fascinating had begun I guess. I had seen him at some of the family get togethers Christmas parties and seen my Dad meeting up with him for their regular Sunday drink, but I had never actually sat down a spoke with him…

Every morning he would walk down to the nearest paper stand that sold English papers, which was about half a mile for the hotel and I would go with him just chatting and asking questions, it was funny that I had two brothers and my sister on holiday but I cant remember them coming for these morning walks, he would tell me some or his war stories and how poor he was as a kid and just general chat , I am guessing he was enjoying talking to me and glad of the company. When we returned he would sit in the resturant and have a couple of beer and sit and read his papers. This routine when on pretty much every day.