Thursday 27 September 2007

today50

I used to listen to Radio Luxembourg on head phones in my school dormitary - with Kid Jenson - in the 70s I loved T rex, Slade, Mott the Hoople, Lindisfarne, Rod Stewart, David Bowie, Elton John, I didn't get to many concerts prior to 1979 as I was either at boarding school, or under strict control in Berwick, although I did see Van der Graf generator in Edinburgh when I was about 15. Later on I went to see lots of bands when I was at university. I didn't really understand punk and was always more of a hippy - but I had quite a few friends that were punks. I still enjoy a lot of music now - and also enjoy a lot of my daughters' music - Athlete, Jack Penate, the Long View etc - which is probably very different from my parents' view of our music which was generally along the lines of: "What's this? Sounds like a load of rubbish to me. Can they not actually make something that has a tune? Can you turn that racket down!

today50 technology

I can't believe how much technology has changed our lives, but for those of us born in 1957 I think it's probably been quite an effort to keep up (or maybe I'm just speaking for myself).

Not having learnt about computers, word processing or even typing (typing is just for typists, dearie) at school, after a long stint trying to get myself a job when I lived in rural Northumberland with 2 small children, I decided that being able to type would help me find work. I took myself off to Northumberland College in Ashington and enrolled on a course to enable me to type and "word process" . It did the trick as I got a job with the Design Council in Newcastle and then a job in TV with a TV production company in Newcastle in 1994. From then on, because I was working - I just became swept along with technology as it was introduced.

I got my first mobile phone in 1995 - am very proud that I still have the same number (apart from the 077 which was introduced later) - It took me ages to work out how to use it. It still takes me a long time to work out how technical things work - but once I get going I'm fine. I had technology overload last year because I had to master an eye pod, a digital camera, a DAB radio, an attachement for my Ipod to connect to my car radio and last but not least ....contact lenses. What a stress it all was - however I'm more or less up and running on them all, although the contact lenses still cause a little trouble now and again. Some of my friends are up and running technically too - but surprisingly many are not - some of them don't even text and don't know how the internet works. I think it's all to do with feeling safe with what you know.

I happen to know a very comfortably off lady who still uses a twin tub washing machine (this is what I've always used - so why would I want anything else?)

My mother (now aged 77) has a computer and emails people - she also has a mobile phone.

It's difficult for people who aren't used to new technology - I think the longer you leave it, the worse it becomes, and the less confident you become about it.

today50 holidays

My first holiday abroad was when I was 11. I was so excited and kept a "holiday book" with ice cream wrappers and drawings of the scenery, which I still have. My mother bought a brand new outfit for the flight - very smart black trousers, a grey and white shirt and a big red cardy. She looked lovely. We went to Austria - to a tiny village called Alpbach - which I think is a large ski resort now. My parents and younger brother wanted to walk and we girls wanted to party. My elder sister Alison took a fancy to a German guy called Wolfgang but didn't dare tell my father as he had been at D Day and lots of his friends had been killed in the war by Germans. Alison escaped out of the bedroom window one night for a secret rendez vous with Wolfgang. She was 15 - I was full of admiration.

As I wasn't allowed out to sample the local nightlife I had to be content with life around the hotel so I took a fancy to the swimming pool attendant/cleaner outer - he was called Helmut - had very black hair and wore a green overall - I didn't ever manage to speak to him but loved him from afar.

today50

My family home was a beautiful old Georgian house with 9 bedrooms and a huge garden. My father had bought it in 1960 for the princely sum of £7,000. By today's standards, it was quite scruffy internally, but we didn't notice at the time. It was absolutely freezing - although again we didn't notice until we were older. There was no central heating at all and the only warmth we had came from 2 small coal fires - although only one of them was used and only lit after 4 pm (the other was in the vast "drawing room" and was only used on special occasions).

If we ever happened to complain about the cold, my father used say jovially "well you haven't got enough clothes on - go and put another jumper on!" The result was that every year from October to March we all used to resemble small Michelin men with layers and layers of vests, T shirts, polo necks, and then a couple of chunky home knits on top. Our parents must have eventually felt the cold though, because in about 1973, they acquired 2 "night storage" heaters - one for the dining room - and one for the playroom. My elder sister Alison used to spend her days draped across it listening to Radio Luxembourg and developed a heat rash all over her body.

The best game I had inside the house was when my other sister, Tinny, used to drape a rug right over me, including my head, then spin me round and lead me by the hand all over the house, up the front stairs, into the attic, down the back stairs - into the back kitchen - and then at any given moment I would have to tell her what room we were in. I often just used to be able to tell by the smell of each room - not that it was dirty at all - but each room had a particular scent. I can still remember the particular way each door handle would open every door in that house. The drawing room door handle had a pretty porcelain handle with a painting of pink flowers on it and it would wobble and growl when it was opened.

I didn't like my bedroom - because although it was the first room you came to at the top of the stairs and had a huge window - it had yellow squiggly wallpaper, a rust brown carpet, turquoise curtains, and loads of old fashioned furniture. Although the furniture was probably very good and probably antique - I hated it and wanted a nice girly bedroom with pink curtains. I was very messy. In fact I used to collect frogspawn every year with my brother Robbie and used to keep them in a bowl on my window sill. We loved watching them change into tadpoles and later on in the summer I often would have tiny frogs hopping around my room. My mother just used to shut the bedroom door.

We had a massive walk in larder where inevitably there was the odd hare or pheasant hanging up that my father had shot. I would creep in to stroke them and talk to them because I thought they were very sad. We would eat them for Sunday lunch. Pigeon, pheasant, partridge and jugged hare was staple Sunday fare.

We also kept hens - in deep litter - which was fairly disgusting. My brother Robbie and I had the job (for 10p pocket money a week - or 2 shillings before we went decimal) of feeding them and collecting the eggs. We used to get a new "batch" of hens every 2 years - my father used to wring the necks of the old ones. Inevitably for every batch, there was always one very aggressive one that used to fly at us - this one was always called Johnny - for some reason. Deep litter is revolting as it's basically peat which the hens live in and it simply rises and rises up with the hen poo - by the time we were on to our 6th batch of hens, they were practically hitting the roof.

It was fun collecting the eggs until you had to shoo an agressive hen off the perch. Then they started eating their own eggs and leaving a terrible mess. Robbie hit on a cunning plan to empty an egg - then fill the shell with hot mustard - he thought that would put them off the eggs for life. Not a bit of it! They simply ate the lot! After that we used to go in to the henhouse with a big stick. one time when we were away at boarding school my mother went in to feed them with her "Dr Scholes" on and she got stuck in the gate trying to get out (because the deep litter was getting so high) and the hens pecked her toes for around 15 minutes before she could escape. Robbie and I did a good joint party piece which involved being hens - I can still do hen noises quite well.

My parents sold the house while I was at University and moved to a smaller house in a small village. I went back to a wedding to our old house in the early 80s. The house was transformed and unbelievably smart. In the old "washhouse" there was a gym and a sauna, jacuzzi and spa room and there was a big thick carpet that was laid throughout the house - even into the attic. Our old (very small) kitchen had been knocked through into the playroom and back hallway. I was so pleased that someone was looking after the old place - it would have been far worse if it had lain neglected.