his eldest son Mark. At age 79 he took a rowing boat on to the meeting place of the holy rivers Ganges (Ganga), Yamuna and Saraswati. After a mixed career in the RAF, Proudfoot became an NCO and served in the education branch where he was responsible for providing basic instruction in English, mathematics and technical skills to new recruits, many of whom came from an educationally disadvantaged background. As a Training Instructor he "… taught hundreds of conscripts stuff they weren't really bothered about. He took it as a challenge to interest them and keep them entertained – an achievement he still remembers with pride". Proudfoot married Margaret "Peg" Mary Jackson (1922-2019) in 1950 and the couple had three children (two sons Mark and Ian, and a daughter Lyn). Jackson had served in the Second World War as an army sergeant and later developed a career in marketing and ink sketch advertising. She undertook work for many high profile clients including Vogue magazine, Harrods, Jenners department store in Edinburgh and New York department stores; where her clothing artwork was published in national advertising campaigns. She was supportive of Proudfoot's business ventures and played a significant role in all of them. Proudfoot Supermarkets After leaving the RAF in 1946, Proudfoot invested £300 from his RAF gratuity together with funds borrowed from family sources in buying a former blacksmiths in the village of Seamer, near Scarborough and fitting it out as a supermarket. He developed the business using the self-service and high volume/low price model that he had observed at Broughs in the 1930s and on an extended working trip to the USA in the mid-to-late 1950s. In 1954 he was able to open a second branch at Eastfield and by the mid 1970s the business had grown into a chain of 20 shops around North Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. Although, many of these were small convenience stores. Proudfoot acquired a large family house in Scalby Road, Scarborough and established his business headquarters in an annex of it. In 1981 the Proudfoots bought a villa in Spain for use as a holiday home. Control of the Proudfoot Supermarkets business (G. W. Proudfoot Limited) eventually passed to Proudfoot's sons with Mark and Ian Proudfoot acting as managing directors until they both retired in March 2017. By 2008 some shops in the chain had been sold off strategically