Posts in MY GENERATION
For Whom the Till Tolls

It is only a few years ago now that the cash till in our local was nothing more than a wooden drawer slung under the rear counter. No one paid by card. John, the tenant landlord, would work out his cellar order with notebook and pencil and phone it in…

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Now and Then

Everyone, it seems, has a point of view about the latest and last Beatles release.

The Guardian put it this way:
“A moody, reflective piano ballad, it’s clearly never going to supplant Strawberry Fields Forever or A Day in the Life in the affections of Beatles fans, but it’s a better song than Free as a Bird or Real Love…”

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Dyslexics Rule K.O.

Depending on which research you read, dyslexia affects between 10 and 20% of people. The spread is wide because of the number of people who remain undiagnosed. I can relate to this because, until my son was diagnosed, I had no idea I was so cursed…or blessed too.

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Give Peace a Chance

Born in the wake of WW2, baby boomers are the first generation of Britons since the act of union 300 years ago not conscripted to fight. The history of conflict, of course, goes back way beyond then. The Crusades, or Holy Wars started in 1096…

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Secrets of the Blue Zones

“Live to 100. Secrets of the Blue Zones” is Dan Buettner’s Netflix series which explores communities which have significant populations of people who age gracefully and reach their century.
The Blue Zones regions are where a higher than usual number of people live much longer than the average…

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Fans

My first experience of going to a professional football match was on a cold afternoon at Boothferry Park, home to Hull City, to see a dismal, nil, nil draw. My dad and I cycled there and after chaining our bikes to a lamppost, joined my uncle and cousin on the terraces. No seating, just a rail to lean on, or swing from. This was…

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Blackberry and Apple

What ever happened to the Blackberry? I have a friend, a banker who runs the IT team, and who still has one in daily use. Swears by it. Mind you, he has a vintage Jaguar also in daily use, which says something about him. Launched in 1999, it…

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Pier into the Future

Piers, it seems, are making something of a comeback with today’s younger generation enjoying them as much as we did as children. As a child I was occasionally taken to Blackpool. If it was summer then it was buckets and spades, donkey rides and ice cream, whilst in the winter it was the…

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From Obscurity to Premier Cru

Wine drinking was a habit only for the elite in Britain, but an everyday necessity for our French and European cousins. 

In the sixties, cheap, semi-sweet drinks such as ‘Babycham’ and ‘Cherry B’ took over from sherry and eventually Portuguese ‘Mateus Rose’. So exotic was this wine considered that…

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Norwegian Odyssey

The Beatles song Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) was about an extramarital affair that John Lennon was involved in. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he said:

"I was trying to write about an affair without letting my wife know I was having one…

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Return to Base

Eighteen months ago, I posted a piece called The Great De-Cluttering Dilemma, as we moved out of our house following an underfloor leak. This week we are moving back in to the house, complete with all our goods and chattels…

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The Big Screen

My dad’s first job was as a projectionist at The Picture House Cinema in the market town of Beverly in East Yorkshire. There was no TV at the time and so news and entertainment were to be found there and he saw it all though the tiny square window of his projection booth. Then he went off to war.

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Anyone for... Pickleball?

Once upon a time and by a fortuitous chain of events, I was very lucky to have a 1-2-1 tennis lesson with Rod Laver at Wimbledon. He was such a gent he even said I could tell my kids I won. More recently I’ve tried out tennis’ rival sport, Pickleball - billed as “a game for all ages”. And then there’s the other rival Padel.

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Billy No-Mates

Billy No-Mates is the poignant title of Max Dickins new book in which he explores the problems men can have with maintaining friendships. Women it seems, are much better at it. When Max proposed to his girlfriend, he realised…

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