Peter, together with his wife, Frances, whom he met in West Berlin during his army career, runs a B&B in Hythe which is where I met him. He cooks a 'full English' par excellence. I wondered if he would consent to be in my strangers' portrait project and the answer was yes. I took my photos in the dining room. The image on the wall behind Peter shows Loches in the Loire where he and Frances still maintain her family home.
I asked Peter what he did before running the B&B and he said 'I was a singer'. This intrigued me of course and he told me that soon after he joined the army, a private in the same regiment overheard him singing in the shower and asked him to join his ensemble in a folk music concert. Singing has been a lifelong passion throughout his army career and beyond. Peter's repertoire soon included other genres of music besides folk music 'anything I thought people would like to hear' and he still gives the occasional concert, the most recent being in Scotland with all his family in the audience, including the youngest grandchild aged 6 months.
Childhood was spent in Lennoxtown, a small village north of Glasgow. Peter left school aged 15, not wanting to stay to take the final exams and told me that he has no formal paper qualifications. During the four years after leaving school he had no fewer than nineteen jobs in diverse areas, two of which I remember: a furrier and a welder. As a Catholic he sometimes found a little difficulty finding employment.
It was the village policeman who suggested that Peter might like to join the army, which he did and never had any regrets. He joined as a clerk in personnel and served his time in the army in Germany and Holland, indulging in his love of singing whenever he could. He left with the rank of sergeant and during his 10 years 'reserve time' was fortunate to secure work in Saudi Arabia, at the time a newly emerging country, as an administration professional. He was glad of this with the Falklands War imminent in which he sadly lost some good pals and with which he did not agree. His final post in Saudi Arabia was as Director of Personnel in the establishment of a new hospital.
Peter is a Celtic supporter and told me he also loves reading, often waking up at 5 a.m. and, after making a cup of tea, becoming engrossed in a book for a couple of hours.
I am sending him a couple of photos via email, also the link to this post.
At the conclusion of our chat, I asked Peter if he has a favourite song. He thought for a minute and then said 'Annie Laurie', an old Scottish song.
and with more associated photos on my Flickr account:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/150442566@N07/40407088910/in/dateposted-public/
Oh thanks, Phil. Had to do a little processing. There was some light from a window to Peter’s left. He did offer to take off his glasses but to me they were part of him.
Suzie, thank you so much for your heartwarming comment. I do so enjoy this aspect of my photography and am always grateful to Phil @phil_howcroft for having encouraged me to begin it. He currently has some amazing portraits on his page!
A most marvelous man and story to share. Please share with him know how much we enjoyed learning about him.