And when did you last see your Father?

Sometime in 1983 is the short answer, just before he died, which means I can't ask him about this picture – date, location and so on. However, I do know he owned a James in his late teens and here he is astride the machine in a recently discovered negative from a 127 roll film.

The bike is a mid-’50s 200cc James Captain in smart maroon livery with pinstriping detail on the tank. Beyond, at the top of the hill, is what looks like a Standard Eight (’53-’59).

I love the (probably inadvertent) painting-like quality of this photograph and for me, it epitomises all that motorcycling was in the 1950s: a care-free, no helmet ride on quiet roads with the sun always shining.