Cortijada Los Gazquez - Vida en 1000m. Parque Natural Sierra Maria Los Velez. Andalucia.

My brother Paul sent me this postcard. His friend from school, Mike Brown (who I believe is one of these fantastic enthusiasts who volunteer their time to the Glossop Heritage Centre), bought it on EBAY. Isaac Jackson was our great grandfather who had a steel working mill in Glossop in the Peak District. The gentleman on the far left (in the rather fine Homburg) is the half Scottish half German from Latvia, Richard Alfred Beckmann, our grandfather. He married a daughter of Isaac.

These photos from this period instantly make me feel sad because we know what happened to most of these young men probably very soon after the picture was taken. Off to Ypres or Passendale.

But possibly not. Isaac, as a steel fabricator, was commissioned to make armaments for the war effort. Along with all these young men they were essential workers and may have avoided the call up. I don’t know for sure. It would be nice to know.

This is a bit of a departure from a blog concerning our life in Los Velez, however I couldn’t resist. You see I have this ancient book of negatives from my grandfather’s plate camera. They are not in very good condition and often the exposures are wrong. However with the aid of modern technology I am able to render them into the modern, positive world.

Grandpa was born in Latvia, of German origin, eventually marrying into an English family sometime in the second decade of the 20th century. He liked a Havana cigar, a glass of brandy and a good afternoon game of rummy.