Snippets of memories

I've been scanning old photos again...this one from the late 1980's!

I'd almost forgotten that i'd once met this old fellow

Isn't it surprising what one finds in one's 'nostalgia'  box   suitcase.

I wish I could remember the name of the artist who drew this pencil sketch of me.

I remember it was a friend of a friend who came to visit me with aforementioned friend in about the year 1976 .

I remember I was sat on a chair in my little London council flat while he sketched from the settee.....and that is about all I remember ...oh and that he was quite good-looking

It wasn't too bad a likeness either

I still have the heavy lidded eyes, they were there in my childhood photos too,
 I still have the nose that veers off to one side with one nostril  wider than the other and I still have the same indentation of the lower 'split' lip which formed after years of  it splitting due to the cold northern winters of the 1950's.

Only one criticism though and that is that he drew my top lip too thinly....only one can't complain as I can't remember posing for too long...couldn't stay still for long in those days  Xx

Compare a photo of me taken around the same time

Just a thought but why don't all you bloggers over forty years old post a photo of yourself when you were in your teens or twenties

I'm enjoying watching Crosby, Stills and Nash at Glastonbury on BBC4 TV.
It reminded me of when I saw them at Wembley Stadium in 1974 (along with Young)
Joni Mitchell was also on the bill..and the Band!!
I loved Joni back then and the first album I ever bought was this one of hers.

Flyer

The memory is a bit hazy....i'll have to start posting more on this blog before I forget the lot!!!!

Edit
They've just finished the gig with 'Teach your children well'...wonderful
Here they are in 1977 looking more like I remember seeing them back in 74

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.......

btw... Lulu came to the Wembley concert with me, she was aged four

When I was born, back in 1948, my parents lived at my grandmother's house, gran was an active member of the Salvation Army so it followed that I was christened by them. It didn't follow that I went to the Sally Army services during childhood though but I do remember waking up to the band playing in the 'ring' outside our 'new house' (actually it was a pre-fabricated bungalow hastily erected after the war for new families to live in )very early on a Sunday morning and dashing out, sometimes in my jimjams to throw a copper in the tin.
No, When I was about eight or nine I was sent to the Ebenezer Gospel Hall Sunday School with my elder sister who took charge of me while mam prepared traditional Sunday roast dinner and looked after our youngest sister who is seven years my junior.

We've all got them, most of us with kids anyway, the photos of ourselves and/or the children standing next to a famous person or failing that A WAXWORK at Madam Tussauds.

So, come and tell me, who have you been photographed with? either a waxwork or in person.

...and if you've any waxwork pics you'd care to share, post them on your blog, i'd love to see them

What do I remember about my infant school-days?

The disgrace was so bad that it penetrated my core and I couldn't be a thief now even if I was so inclined as the risk of getting caught would be too much to bear

We only ever got the one "large" present each but we always got an orange,an apple and a bag of nuts and if we were really good we might get a net bag of choc 'gold coins' .

"I'm going to need a new flat cap soon" said t'old man "this one's about had it's day"

T'old man has always worn a flat cap in the winter months although more for weather protection than tradition, unlike the men in the pit village where I grew up who wore one come hail or come shine outdoors and just as often inside.

Miners in the 1920's

The wearing of flat caps has gone on for centuries The style can be traced back to the 14th century when it was more likely to be called a 'bonnet and they were almost universally worn in the 19th century by working class men throughout Britain and Ireland, and versions in finer cloth were also considered to be suitable casual countryside wear for upper-class English men (hence the contemporary alternative name golf cap). Cloth caps were worn by fashionable young men in the 1920s.
The stereotype of the flat cap as purely 'working class' was never correct as hey were frequently worn in the country, but not in town, by middle and upper-class males for their practicality.
"A cloth cap is assumed in folk mythology to represent working class, but it also denotes upper class affecting casualness. So it is undoubtedly classless, and there lies its strength

The first person I ever saw wearing one was my dad in the 1950's.
I haven't got a pic of dad in his flat cap but this is the typical style I remember on a random man in the 1950's/60's

In British popular culture the flat cap has been particularly associated with older working class men, especially those in northern England, as personified by Fred Dibnah
and comic strip anti-hero Andy Capp.

The popularity of the flat hat also remains strong with fans of English country clothing, rural and agricultural workers, the country set or those who simply find them practical, though it tends to be associated with an older generation of wearers, some younger members of the Royal family have been seen to wear flat caps too

Throughout the eighties, nineties and this decade media stars have gravitated towards the humble flat cap making a fashion statement as these pics of Maddona and Bond star Daniel Craig show.

Children can wear flat caps effectively, and teddy bears too

Is that enough pics of flat caps now???
..Oh just one more
..From the mid 1970's

IT'S ME...I wore a flat cap then too
It was the 'heroin chic' look before it's time, looks like i'd had a late night the night before

Honestly, i've no shame...i'll use any subject as a post so's I can post a photo of myself .....now where was I?..ah yes..i've got to go buy t'old man a flat cap

A couple of years ago my daughter Lulu, as a hobby, used to run a 'scrapping crop' which is a weekly group meeting for people interested in scrap booking and card making; so when she asked me to scan and e-mail her a selection of both old and recent photos of mine I wondered what she was up to!
I finally found out last week when she presented me
with a gift ........ I opened the box

Have you ever had a snake wrapped your neck
I have and i didn't like it

About seven years ago myself and two friends were sat in the hotel lounge in Tunisia watching the cabaret, a snake charmer.

After a while, he finished charming them and headed over our way

Suddenly I was sitting by myself, my mates had scarpered

Happiness is mostly a by-product of doing what makes us feel fulfilled.

As a baby of the late 1940's suckling at my mother's breast was all that was needed

As a child of the 1950's just riding a tricycle  created happiness         

In my young teens the school gatherings of the early 1960's gave illusions of happiness 

Late teens/ young adult in the late '60's and early 70's ..no more to be said 

Adulthood and  we think materialism brings happiness , the money God 

It's all a false illusion as we search for the elixir of life             
        

   and that one may drown                

                  
      One can still pursue happiness by going on holidays, dancing on tables etc.and one still does

but at the end of the day priorities change and now my motto is

IF MY KIDS ARE HAPPY, I'M HAPPY

 

  Happiness is the ultimate realization that everything was, and is, exactly as it should be."

                                        

Blog friend Adamantixx has posted about his admiration for natural red-heads, http://adamantixx.blog.co.uk/2008/07/22/flame-4485545

Then when Lulu became a teenager she went through her goth phase and wanted to dye it black!!..I put my foot down so she didn't just then, but as soon as she reached adult-hood she covered over the colour of her crowning glory never to give it remission to this day
Her latest 'concession' to her natural colour came last week and although not the ginger nut I remember, I did quite like it

Pan Stik! ... Doesn't anyone under forty years old know what pan stick is?

... were what we wore at my old Grammar school!!

Recently I was reminiscing about my school days again and I came across a name I recognised.
The name was in an old programme which had the cast list of the School Variety Show of 1962.
I was in the show that year acting in a little fantasy play which was set in the roots system of a plant. In this roots system there was a board room and I was playing the part of the Minister for Pollination ..and that is about all I can remember about the plot although I do have one little reminder of the performance and that is this litle ink-stained photo which is the only school photo I actually have in my possesssion (as opposed to finding pics on the net)

..i'll let you guess which one is me.

I was rummaging around in the garage looking for the key to an old bicycle lock when I came across this old button tin which I must have had for over thirty years  

Do people keep button tins any more?....I mean apart from the ladies who do dress-making professionally or as a hobby. Does the button tin have a place in today's home as remembering to cut buttons off old clothes now seems to be nought but a chore. 

Oh, I remember now..it's because I also throw obsolete keys in the tin too just in case I ever need them again

it's been a long day today, whiling way the hours until we depart at 11pm tonight in order to catch our plane to Nimes.
I've had my bath, ive cooked the main meal, i've defrosted the fridge, i've checked the bags in case i've forgotten anything and then inevitably I ended up browsing on the computer.
I wasn't searching for anything in particular but somehow I landed up on a site which an ex-pupil of my old Grammar school has created.
It was fascinating and I have spent a good couple of hours down memory lane as there are plenty of photos from the early 1960's (of which I have none) on the site.
I recalled the chemistry room and how I used to giggle at the back, the gym, the grounds, the school plays...I read articles from the old school magazine and relived many events that I had long forgotten...I found a picture of the long jump pitch which I had jumped the length of many many times ..I saw a photo of the hockey team I was briefly a member of (before they threw me out) and recognised two of my best friends from back then who I haven't seen since, which is nearly 45 years ago...and strangest of all amidst the random selection of form 'class' photos I discovered one which included ME taken in 1962!!

Only four hours to go now before we lock the doors to the house for five days... what should I do now

So I said to t'old man on a wet April afternoon 
"while i'm stuck indoors, i'll wade through all those old programmes and souvenirs that i've got stashed in boxes"
The idea being to free some cupboard space and incorporate a bit of spring cleaning.
So I got them all out, scattered the various 'piles' all around and a spent a lovely couple of hours wallowing in nostagia

When Lulu was just a little girl she was given penicillin to treat a common childhood illness. She developed a rash and very large blisters all over her body so immediately on return to the doctor's surgery it was written in her medical notes that on no account must she be prescribed penicillin.
35 years later and she hasn't been prescribed penicillin since, at times it has been difficult as she often gets slight reactions to other medicines too.
She has suffered with asthma too since childhood although it wasn't diagnosed properly 'til she was a young teenager and took many years for it to be properly controlled....she likes cats and still has two even though she is probably allergic to cat hair.

In the early 1980's on the wall, behind my head, in my computer room where I am sitting now, there used to be a huge poster of Robert Smith of the Cure...something like this

It was there because this room used to be Lulu's bedroom and when she was about 14/15 she was a massive fan of The Cure.

Moral to the story is...ALL THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT!!

I wouldn't say that Jane is my best mate but she is probably the one i've known the longest
It was around 1973 when she was about 17 and I was 23, we were hitch-hiking to a camp-site in Dorset..the driver of a 'taupalin covered' lorry stopped to give us a lift.
Jane was a smoker at the time and during the course of a pleasant chatty journey where we were perched at the front of the cab with the driver she tossed her lighted tab end out the window (as you do/did).
Five minutes later, still cruising along, we heard a car horn peeping loudly.
The driver looked into his rear mirror and saw a cloud of smoke.

It wouldn't be funny if it wasn't so true... Julie Andrews turned 69 - To commemorate her 69th birthday on October 1, actress/vocalist, Julie Andrews made a special appearance at Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall for the benefit of the AARP. One of the musical numbers she
performed was "My Favorite Things" from the legendary movie "Sound Of Music."

(Ms. Andrews received a standing ovation from the crowd that lasted over four minutes and repeated encores.)

In homage to the millions of novice guitarists who practised and practised Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven'
Take a listen to this
It gets better as the video progresses.

Some old folks having fun" was the parting line of Jon Snow as he closed the channel 4 news programme tonight.
He was referring to a feature on the Led Zeppellin concert.

Oh and did you see Joni Mitchell on tv last week?
I saw her in concert in the early 70's and she personified everything I thought a modern young woman should be back then, so pure and natural ...so it was scary seeing her as this post middle-aged lady now dressed all in black wearing a black fedora instead of a bandana, smoking away while being filmed and who revealed that she had been smoking cigarettes since she was nine years old
Joni's comeback album has arrived courtesy of the coffee chain Starbucks's label 'Hear Music'. She was unrepentent when asked if there was any difference between a major record label and a fast-food multinational these days, as there is something a little odd about a woman who complained long and hard about the exploitative nature of the music business throwing in her lot with Starbucks, a company that has, over the years, faced a series of charges of unfair labour practice.
"well", she said "It was a very good deal"
Ah well, as Jon Snow just said "Some old folks having fun"

Mischief night seems to be a Northern thing - November 4th, the night before Bonfire Night has always been known as Mischief Night in Yorkshire for as long as I can remember; I'm not certain of the origins of the tradition but perhaps it was because on this night Guy Fawkes placed the last of his gun-powder underneath the Houses of Parliament (very mischievous)
What we can be certain of, is what will go on tonight because kids across the county will run riot, dustbins will be tipped over, pets might be at risk and even extremely dangerous activities such as throwing lighted fireworks through letter boxes have been known to happen.
When I was a kid in the 1950's I remember indulging in the relatively harmless pranks of knocking on doors and then running away, the removing of house gates etc...I actually thought it was legal - 'coppers can't arrest you on miggy night.' That was the folklore."
Nowadays the most common prank is the throwing of eggs at house windows,so much so that the supermarkets have now stopped selling eggs to under 16's in the run-up to mischief night.
Then after all this it is bonfire night
We spent weeks assembling our Guy, stuffing it and attiring it in Dad’s old clothes, then we would take to the outside of the working men's club, probably with dad inside (would be an outcry now) and on the night, we burnt him (the guy not dad)in a blaze of glory and traced our names with sparklers then dancing around the fire singing

Bonfire night, the stars are bright
Three little angels dressid in white
One with a fiddle, one with a drum and
One with a pancake stuck to it's bumtarara..bumtarara

PS
After recalling the fun we used to have asking for 'penny for the guy' when I was little, I felt a real heel yesterday when I had to request that a young lad aged about nine (with his make-shift guy) to move along from outside the main supermarket doors.
Unfortunately even registered charities have to book a slot with the event's co-ordinater when they wish to collect in-store.
Even though this seems a little mean, it is necessary, 'cos if it wasn't regulated hundreds of kids in the area would be in all corners of the car park accosting customers right left and centre and believe me there would be mayhem!!

Lulu was born in late 1970 so by the time the mid 1980's arrived she was a fully fledged scary teenager.
She had naturally curly long red hair throughout all of her childhood
then what did she go and do aged 16?...she shaved it up at the back and developed what looked like a D*cks A**e (ask a teddy boy)at the front, only this D.A wasn't greased, more back-combed and lacquered which seemed to go on forever covering most of her eyes.
She developed a liking for Goth fashion from the look pioneered by the Gothic punks she liked listening to..like Siouxie and the Banshees and the Damned, I remember she had a massive portrait poster of Robert Smith from the Cure on her bedroom wall. Black was uniform, with fishnets and short skirts being later replaced increasingly by a more slinky vampiric look. She left home aged 18 to go nurse training and her look was toned down somewhat although I do remember around about then that she had a phase of having lots of piercings done, mainly on her nose and eyebrows but in other places too .
She's 37 years old now and her 'making a statement' phase seems to have long passed. She is happily married now with a senior nursing position in the NHS and has no desire to have children.
So what does she do for relaxation?..well she has bred siamese cats in the past although she doesn't any more and now she spends hours 'scrap-booking' and 'card making'
She came to visit last Tuesday and told me that she was going to Whitby for five days with a group of female friends..the occasion being Whitby Goth weekend which is an annual event which takes place there every year and is immensly popular, with guests booking hotel rooms up to one year in advance...the same scenario as when the August folk festival is held, an event I used to love taking the kids to when they were small.
Anyway I digress..she came to visit and we hauled out the plastic sacks and old suitcases in which I have piles of old clothes stashed.
She waded through them and took a black velvet cape, a shabby lacy dress and various other odds and sods in which to re-create the lost Gothic look of old to accentuate the long black wig she has bought specially for the weekend.
I gave them to her gratefully and told her I didn't want them back and besides her plan is to make it a yearly event so she can wear them every year...and guess what?...the final look must have worked 'cos I received a text message yesterday saying:-

I've just had a look at the on-line Whitby gazette and here's a few pics from the April goth event which she also attended HERE

I met t'old man in 1980, he was between overseas contracts and was living in his brother's house whilst his brother was away working in Poland.
It was the year that the electrician Lech Walesa rose up and formed 'Solidarity' the movement that led to the occupation of the Gdansk shipyard by Polish workers in 1980, demanding recognition of their independent trade union which was instrumental in the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union and the primary catalyst that would transform Poland from a repressive communist state to the EU member democracy it is today.

Another piece of media news about Poland I spotted this week was a snippet in the metro newspaper...

POLAND; Fed up housewives are calling for the closure of their village pubs and off-licences because their husbands are 'drinking like there's no tomorrow'. In a letter to the Mayor of Bedzelin they said: "Drunken groups cluster outside the off-licences at all hours. Alcoholics pee in nearby gardens and sing songs.
We need help fast"

hehehe.. I can imagine the Polish housewives singing to their flowers in the garden to make them grow then the drunks come along and pee on them hence killing them off!!..no wonder they need help

Oh dear...I should have known there could have been another reason for t'old man's interest in Poland..looks like i'll have to keep him away from the villages eh!

It was 1967 and I was on the receiving end of what seemed like unrequited love.
He was a student at the local art college, we would meet in town every weekend at the pub, he with his friends me with mine, we would drink, laugh and be merry and afterwards he would always be the one who would walk me to the bus station where I would get the last bus home.
I knew he liked me 'cos our passions were aroused many times but alas our lust was never completely consummated for lack of opportunity.
This went on for many months until I despaired of us ever getting together in a 'proper relationship'.
Being from the same crowd we would always meet at the same pub each weekend, we were always at parties together and even went camping at the seaside ..but always with groups of friends.
I remember him soulfully playing his harmonica and he once talked of his dream of living in a fishing village mending fishing nets and raising two little girls who would skip along in red shoes with buckles on.

WELL ... yesterday... I put his name in a google search and *guess what*..I found him his name, address, e-mail, phone number, the address of his studio, the lot...and... there's even a photo of what he looks like now
He looks his age, he will be about 57 now with silver white hair but lots of it, he's wearing an earring in one ear and he has a kind of rugged handsomeness..of course I won't do anything about it 'cos I've got t'old man now and he lurves me as I do him.. but I can dream and maybe one day I will go and have a little holiday at a fishing village on the south coast...after all you never know who you might bump into

Silk material for Wedding Dresses was very limited after the war but at the end of the war there was a surplus of parachute material and ladies were encouraged to purchase this material for Wedding Gowns. In order to entice the 'brides to be' to purchase surplus material, a bundle of the material was made available along with a pattern for the Wedding Gown.
I found this example on a web site...isn't it lovely? Would you wear a wedding dress made from a parachute? What if that parachute had saved your groom's life?

This is the story behind this gown,
made from the nylon panels and cords of a parachute that helped a man safely escape a burning plane during WW II. According to the Smithsonian (where the dress is currently housed), "Maj. Claude Hensinger, a B-29 pilot, and his crew, were returning from a bombing raid over Yowata, Japan, in August 1944 when their engine caught fire. The crew was forced to bail out. During the night he used the parachute both as a pillow and a blanket. He kept the parachute and used it as a way to propose to Ruth in 1947. He presented it to her and suggested she make a gown out of it for their wedding."

I don't know much about wedding dresses, so I have no idea if this is good-looking or not. However, sometimes it's not the garment itself, but rather the story behind it, that makes it worth wearing -- and this story is just about perfect.

Besides, at least it wasn't a camouflage parachute. That might have been slightly less romantic. ;

Bella's mentioning of a 'vintage' shop got me thinking of the old clothes I have got in an old suitcase in the garage and being at a complete and utter loose end today, I got it out and took a look.

In the late '60s/early 70's when I lived near Portobello road I used to pick up the odd 'rag' for a few pence. Most of these items are long gone but one or two remained in the suitcase for the best part of forty years. Why these 'bits' are still in my possession I have no idea as they are probably worthless and useless.

This is handmade from the 1950's it is a sort of heavy silk material with velvet flowers I only wore once or twice as it was a bit tight around the waist.

This cape is velvet with gold thread motifs...I can't date it but when I aquirred it in 1969 I was told that it was 'old' then.

I remember Lulu dressing up in it one halloween night.

I turfed this out of storage after reading about the use of parachute silk being used straight after the second world war so this was probably about twenty years old when I first picked it up at the Portobello market stall it is a plain day dress made out of parachute silkalthough I did wear it once or twice back in the early seventies it has been in the suitcase ever since.
----------
I found this example of a parachute silk dress on a web-site-

Silk material for Wedding Dresses was very limited after the war but at the end of the war there was a surplus of parachute material and ladies were encouraged to purchase this material for Wedding Gowns.
I wish this was mine, Bella would look lovely in it

------

Oh yes, the title....When I was little in the 1950's I remember the rag and bone man coming down the street with his horse and cart shouting out loudly.."rag and bone, any ol' rag and bone"
On reflection I can understand the call for rags, but no one seemed to give him bones. The rag and bone man must have had a struggle to earn a living as there were precious few rags available, even when clothes were completely worn out but somehow though, some could usually be found for him, in anticipation of a piece of crockery in return..or if we were very lucky maybe a balloon.

The Pope's visit to York remembered
The Pope arrived on British soil at Gatwick Airport on May 28, 1982. He bent to kiss the tarmac, by now a trademark of his papacy, before heading to take Mass at Westminster Cathedral.It was a visit that many thought would never happen.
Just a year earlier, the Pope had been gravely ill in hospital after being gunned down by a fanatic in Rome.
The outbreak of the Falklands War also threw the trip into doubt.
Over the next three days, the Pope's schedule was relentless. He visited the Queen, held a service at Canterbury Cathedral, took Mass at Wembley, Coventry Airport and Liverpool Cathedral, and toured many destinations in between.
Finally, York's big day, Bank Holiday Monday, May 31, 1982, arrived.

Cannabis confessions

A slew of MPs have confessed to smoking cannabis in their halcyon student days following Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's declaration that she has taken the Class C drug in the past.
A glut of Cabinet ministers – including Chancellor Alistair Darling, Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman and Skills Secretary John Denham – have now admitted to being high on more than just life.
But they are just the latest in a long and highly distinguished line of puffing politicians who have publicly confessed to dabbling with dope.

So in the interest of absolving myself from any future prosecutions...it was illegal back then too as I recall.. I hereby ask for clemency for the misdemeanor of smoking Pot on occasions during the years 1968- 1972.
There now, done it conscience absolved
I hope it won't affect my position as a respected pillar of society, the Honourable Store Greeter.

Anyone else wanted to come clean!! LOL

Lulu, my eldest daughter thinks she's getting old at age 36
She sent me this 'You tube' vid to watch entitled
"If you remember any of this then you have lived"

She remarked that it brought back some memories for her

What it seems like only yesterday to me

I watched a local band called the 'Durbervilles'at Cleckheaton FF and they cited The Flying Burrito Brothers as one of their influences.
The music is sort of 'Country rock' and this got me reminiscing back to the late '60's, early 70's when I distinctly remember someone playing their F.B.Bro albums over and over again. I can't remember who it was, it wasn't the "EX" as he was more a Lou Reed, Velvet Underground 'white light, white heat' sort of guy, nevertheless, I used to enjoy listening to them.

Take a listen here, filmed in 1969
Listen to the clip 'til the end as it has an unexpected finale

This other track used to be one of my favourites and is more appropriate for my mood of today.
Dark end of the street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VYxdqt4k3A

Remember this advert? (not many I suspect)

Don't forget the Fruit Gums Mum!
Don't forget the Fruit Gums Mum! (1956)

The authorities later forced Rowntrees to change the slogan because of unfair pressure on mums. They cleverly came up with "don't forget the fruit gums, chum" instead. (The actor was Denis Gilmore )

Advertisers were submitting to 'pressure' as far back as then!

To see some of the old '50's adverts follow this link.

http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/tv/adverts/commercials.htm

This cider advert was one of my favourites and didn't entice me (as a nine year old) to go out and drink some either!

Altogether now!
"Coates comes up from Somerset, where the cider apples grow.....!"

Having just read a comment by Pompadour about the Lowry museum I decided to research it and was delighted to find that it is not just a gallery, not just a venue but a complete destination.
The following is from the Lowry website

Set in a magnificent waterside location at the heart of the redeveloped Salford Quays in Greater Manchester, The Lowry is an architectural flagship with a unique and dynamic identity. Rising from the regenerated docklands, it is a welcoming building, designed to reflect the surrounding landscapes and flourishing waterways, in its glass and metallic surfaces.
The Lowry opened on 28th April 2000, bringing together a wide variety of performing and visual arts under one roof. Opening its door to the best in entertainment and education in the arts, The Lowry aims to give everyone access to new areas of creativity and to embrace its broad community.
The Lowry houses two main theatres and studio space for performing arts (1,730, 466 and 180 seats respectively) presenting a full range of drama, opera, ballet, dance, musicals, children's shows, popular music, jazz, folk and comedy and gallery spaces (1,610 metres of floor space); showing the works of LS Lowry alongside contemporary exhibitions.
Movement into and through the building generates an air of theatricality, festivity and anticipation. The layout of The Lowry encourages visitors to explore and enjoy the variety of facilities housed within it, throughout the day and evening. An open ramped route with dramatic views connects the theatre foyers and gallery spaces, forming a public promenade around the building, linking all activities.
A restaurant, cafes & bars are situated along the southern side of the building, with spectacular waterside views and in fine weather can extend out to quayside terraces overlooking the expansive Manchester Ship Canal.
A breathtaking new international landmark, The Lowry is a "must see" tourist attraction - not just a venue, but a destination. The Lowry increases opportunities for social interaction within the community and generate a spirit of participation. Above all, it is an exciting and stimulating venue for education, recreation and creativity.

How come i've not visited there before?
I've decided the next time I go see Bella in Manchester we'll be joing the crowd as that's the place we'll be visiting

The Club Trip. West Yorkshire in the 1950's.
A day at the seaside

A busy day on Bridlington's Marine Drive (North Bay) in the early 1950s. Fun City Amusements, Bridlington's first purpose-built amusement arcade, can be seen to the left.

As a precurser to my next post which will appear soon, here is a picture by L.S Lowry.

AT THE SEASIDE - 1946

It's strange how obscure,seemingly insignificant little events can be resurrected from your memory bank for no apparent reason.
I've just thought about a little girl who Lulu went to playschool with over thirty years ago.
This little girl was rather waiflike and withdrawn, one day she was watching me blow bubbles from one of those little play soap bubble blowers. Her eyes lit up when she saw the rainbow bubbles floating in the air, so at the end of class I gave it to her to take home.
Her dad met her and when he saw what she had got he said "What's that you've got now....another load of rubbish to clutter the house with"

I can't tell you why I suddenly remembered this but there's probably some simple explanation

As I sit here looking at the tv listings to choose my viewing for tonight my mind goes back to my childhood days when myself, my dear mother and my sisters would gather around our little black and white tv set, huddling round the open coal fire to watch "The White Heather Club". This was a BBC television programme that existed as an annual New Year's Eve party (1957 - 1968) and also as a weekly early evening series (1960 - 1968).
The compere of the "White Heather Club" was the late
Andy Stewart (30 December 1933 - 11 October 1993)
He was a Scottish singer and entertainer who revelled in tartan patriotism and stereotypical Scottish humour and my mother just adored him .
He had several hit singles including "Donald where's yer troosers?".
I can visualise my dear departed mother now, singing the song at the top of her voice as we three sisters jigged around the living room trying to do the highland fling.
I guess that tonight, i'll be watching the present day equivalent of the 'White Heather club', 'The Jools Annual Hootenanny' like I have done for a number of previous years. The line up is usually good and they do start the show with some Scottish Pipers!
I wonder if in forty years time my kids will reminisce and remember when "mum" used to free dance around the living room on New Year's Eve.

I can remember when My sister and I shared a sweetie shop like this, one Christmas in the late 50's I also remember getting a Post Office similar another year.

One year I got a black baby doll whilst my sister got a white one. I'd never ever seen a black person back then in the mid 1950's and was very intrigued.

We only ever got the one "large" present but we always got an orange,an apple and a bag of nuts.

I first saw Eddi Reader when she was in the pop band Fairground Attraction, it was 1989 at Cambridge folk festival. I only caught the end of the act and thought they were very middle of the road.
Their no.1 hit back then was called 'Perfect' and I guess it wasn't too bad as far as catchy pop songs go.

The second time was in Leeds 2003 at the city varieties theatre. She had her own backing band and her live performance was amazing you really have to go to a concert to get the power of her voice.
I bought the 'Eddie reader Live' CD and I love to listen to it when i'm alone. My favourite track is called 'Wolves' but I couldn't find it on You Tube so I have posted another track showing her performing at a more recent concert.

Prodigal Daughter

Another track from the CD first released in 1994 is called 'Patience of Angels'

Giddily joining hands with friends,siblings,parents,neighbours; forming a circle around the blazing fire and chanting

"Bonfire night when the stars shine bright
Three little angels dressed in white
One with a fiddle, one with a drum, One with a pancake stuck to its bum ...tarara, bum tara"

My....How bold we felt!

Seeing as THE BLOGGERS ARMS is closed today and I was going to ask the landlord to play one of my fav tracks from my youth, then i'll play it myself.
I must sift through my old LP's which are tucked away in the garage and not fit to play even if I did have a deck, just to remind me of what I used to listen to and to try and find my favourites on You Tube.
Here's the first one

The Doors...People are Strange

People are strange, when you're a stranger
Faces look ugly when you're alone
Women seem wicked, when you're unwanted
Streets are uneven, when you're down

When you're strange- faces come out of the rain (rain, rain)
When you're strange- no one remembers your name
When you're strange, when you're strange, when you're str-ange

Seeing as over on Teri R's blog they're 'aving a bit of fun at us northerner's expense.
He doesn't bathe like that much nowadays but he sure as hell remembers when he did!! Five siblings all lined up to take their turn, youngest first. LOL

Autumn 1969

This is the cover of the first album I ever bought. It had been released the year before but I never had any money to buy it then. I was attracted to the 'voguish'art work as well as Joni's beautiful voice.
It is a concept album divided into two halves, "I Came To The City" and "Out of the City and Down to the Seaside". The first two tracks deal with her
bitterness having left a relationship and her hopes for a new love. "Night in the City" is a celebration of nightlife, and "Nathan La Franeer" ends side one with the true account of a bitter citydwelling taxi driver Joni once encountered. Side two takes on more natural, organic themes.
I had just arrived in London after a season living down by the coast and considering the experiences that a wide- eyed late teenager fresh from the confines of a small mining community has, I guess I must have identified with the concept somehow

At the time I was staying in Clapham common at a friend of a friend's flat who had took pity on a young destitute Isadora. I soon got a job in an upmarket laundry in Bond Street (my stint in the shirt factory came in useful, eh ) but when I excitedly and rather selfishly rushed out to spend my first weeks wage on LP's and such like he was non too pleased.
I paid him some back dated rent with my second pay packet so all was sweet For a while......

I've been to Granada twice before, once with T'old man and Lulu (eldest daughter) and then again last year for Corpus christie celebrations just me and T'old man.
The first time we visited Granada, the Alahambra and Generalife gardens were at the top of the agenda but last year the queues were so long, it being fiesta week, you had to book well in advance for tickets so we didn't bother.
This impending visit however, I am going with a female friend who has never been before and whose ambition has always been to visit the Alhambra, so once again it is at the top of the 'attractions to visit' list.

I've been rummaging in the old photo box and found a photo of me when I was six and a half months pregnant taken at the Alhambra in 1983.
Then I went rummaging in the old clothes bag (the kids called it their dressing up bag) and found the same poncho that I wore back then!!!...So i've set myself a task.
I am taking the poncho to wear next week, I am going to seek out the arch with the view and take a similar photo (hopefully) with me wearing the poncho over 23 years later.
Do I need to get a purpose in life or What!!??

I never consciously plan to visit the same place over again, it just happens sometimes, but it will probably be the first time an item of my clothing has made a return trip 23 years later!

Just a little post to commemorate T'old man's 65th birthday and his official status of becoming an old age pensioner, with a real pension too

Blimey, what a month to be born in and he's been "battling" ever since

September 1941

September 4 - World War II: The USS Greer becomes the first United States ship fired upon by a German submarine in the war, even though the United States is a neutral power. Tension heightens between the two nations as a result.
September 6 - Holocaust: The requirement to wear the Star of David with the word "Jew" inscribed, is extended to all Jews over the age of 6 in German-occupied areas.
September 8 - World War II: Siege of Leningrad begins - German forces begin a siege against the Soviet Union's second-largest city, Leningrad. Stalin orders the Volga Deutsche deported to Siberia.
September 11 - World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the United States Navy to shoot on sight if any ship or convoy is threatened.
September 11 - Charles Lindbergh, at an America First Committee rally in Des Moines, Iowa, accuses "the British, the Jewish, and the Roosevelt administration" of leading the United States toward war. Widespread condemnation of Lindbergh follows.
September 12 - World War II: First snowfall reported on Russian front.
September 15 - self-government of Estonia, headed by Hjalmar Mäe, is appointed by German military administration.
September 16 - Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran is forced to resign in favor of his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran under pressure from the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.
September 27 - The first Liberty Ship, the S.S. Patrick Henry, is launched at Baltimore, Maryland.

A Road roller is an engineering vehicle used to compact soil, gravel, concrete, or asphalt in the construction of roads and foundations. I remember the old steam roller working on the road outside our house I can't remember when they changed over to diesel but we still called them steam rollers anyway.

This is a 1950's vintage ,dinky toy meccano steam roller and is the image I visualise in my mind when I think back.
In the hot summers which we would get more frequently back then, I can remember sitting on the kerbside chewing the melting tar from the side of the road. I thought this was peculiar to me but my husband (who was born and bred in the same village) assures me that he used to do this too

Over half a century ago and it really does seem like another lifetime ago.

SOUNDS

The chants of us children playing games in the street, hop scotch, skipping rhymes, Hide and seek............
" Coming, ready or not!!!".. was the cry.

Early Sunday morning in the 'ring' (cul de sac), the Salvation (Sally) Army would have us hanging out the bedroom windows to listen to the trumpets and tambourines that they played with gusto.

The cries of the rag and bone man with his horse and cart.."any old rag 'n bone".

The sound of the miner's hobnail boots going down the street to go to work at the colliery.

The songs we sang at sunday school "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam."

SMELLS and TASTE

The smell of the coal fires which was the only source of heating and the smoke from the chimneys.

The smell and taste of the Sunday roast dinner being cooked. There probably wasn't a household in the village who wouldn't be cooking one.

The smell of the beer and cigarettes on dad's clothes when he came in from the working men's club.

The taste of the pop and sweets, particularly licorice allsorts which were my favourites and which my siblings and I would devour when we had our weekly treat called "The Spice Party".

SIGHTS

The colliery pithead and the 'loads' of miner's coal which was tipped in the street which we kids would then help shovel into the 'Coal Ole' for a small reward (if we were lucky).

The families congregating in the small train station waiting for the steam train (buckets and spades in hand) which would take us to the seaside on the annual sunday school and working men's club day trips. The only hint at a holiday I would ever have as a child.

Finally I remember helping granny with the weekly wash, usually on a Monday. She used an old fashioned Peggy tub and a huge heavy mangle and as she worked, her "mad dog" would be barking and rearing up at her and she would pick up the sweeping brush to fend him off.

Although this image is not of Granny (she was a much bigger woman, a bit Ena Sharples'ish') the curlers, the pinny and the equipment were more or less the same.

By the beginning of the next decade, the 1960's, things had changed quite significantly

Edited from todays 'New York Times'