Shades of the past

I'm in decluttering mode just now and clear out something every day. This morning I removed from the loft a bag of 10x8 black and white contact sheets in their hundreds. I used to put FP4, HP5, XP1 films in the camera, develop them myself and make prints in a homespun darkroom. I bought film in  bulk rolls and used a lightproof bag to feed 36 frames on to empty spools. When I think of it now it boggles my mind!

This shot shows part of a sheet of Ilford HP5 with photos taken at the Anstruther Gala, Fife in 1979. I identified this frame of the three guys in their Polynesian hula hula outfits as a shot worth enlarging. (See insert.) It still makes me smile.