I remember # 9

Zena Skinner (via bbc.co.uk)
Zena Skinner (via bbc.co.uk)

256. I remember ‘It’s number one, it’s Top of the Pops!’

257. I remember the heatwave of 1976, and how rain only started to fall soon after the unfortunate Denis Howell had been named as minister for drought

258. I remember the illustrated history books of R.J. Unstead

259. I remember when the 1970 World Cup sent us all out into the playgrounds trying (and dismally failing) to bend football shots like the Brazilians

260. I remember my 1970 World Cup wall poster, though the only three players featured I can specifically recall now are Bobby Moore, Luigi Riva and Ladislao Mazurkiewicz (the Uruguayan goalkeeper)

261. I remember Tyrannosaurus Rex and T Rex

262. I remember when it seemed plausible that aliens could live on Mars

263. I remember Zena Skinner, the commonsense TV cook

264. I remember the news report that said that smallpox had been eradicated from the world, and marvelling at what a different kind of a news story this was is, in theme, scale and positivity

265. I remember Roger Whittaker

266. I remember “It pays to increase your word power”, the regular feature to be found in Reader’s Digest while you sat in a dentist’s reading room

267. I remember i before e except after c

268. I remember Top of the Form

269. I remember drum solos

270. I remember looking out for the changeover cue marks at the cinema when a projectionist changed to another reel

271. I remember Scorcher (and when it merged with Score)

272. I remember Belle and Sebastian (the French TV series, not the music group, which is too recent for me to remember it at all), particularly the boy’s piping voice calling for his dog ‘Belle’ and the heavily-accented voice of his grandfather crying ‘Sébastien!’

273. I remember scratches on records and missing the particular points where they occurred when I bought CD replacements

274. I remember one potato, two potato, three potato, four

275. I remember learning poems by heart by setting them to tunes

276. I remember Judge Dread, whose banned reggae singles were much discussed on playgrounds but had not actually been heard by anyone that I knew

277. I remember Polaroids

278. I remember a rhyme learned at school: “A noun is a name, a place or a thing; Archibald, Caroline, London, Berlin” (I also remember that it came with illustrations and that Archibald and Caroline were cats)

279. I remember Noele Gordon

280. I remember going rock climbing with my father on the sandstone outcrops around Tunbridge Wells, with mugs of tea afterwards at Terry’s Festerhaunt, run by Terry and Julie Tullis (who died climbing K2)

281. I remember the Mekon

282. I remember stylophones

283. I remember our four-speed record player – 16, 33 1⁄3, 45, 78 – though we had no 16 rpm records and I do not recall having ever heard or seen one, but you could have fun playing 45 rpm records at 16 rpm speed

284. I remember hot water bottles

285. I remember paper chains

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5 thoughts on “I remember # 9

  1. Regarding old record players, did you (a) have a guinea pig or hamster as a child and (b) put it in the middle of the turntable to ‘play’ the poor bewildered animal at all those different speeds?

  2. I never tried that. I had pet mice, but mice are renowned for their tendency not to remain on record turntables for any length of time.

    Presumably you did put a guinea pig or hamster through its (different) paces in this way?

  3. I did just once with my guinea pig at the lower speed settings. My dad brought the experiment to a swift end. But, like you, I was baffled by the existence of 16 rpm.

  4. Luke,
    So pleased the festerhaunt and my parents have a place in your memory.
    Terry is still around and would love to hear from old customers. Do you have any pictures?
    Chris Tullis.

  5. I was very young (4 or 5), and no photographs I’m afraid. Just a hazy memory of man with dark hair (and beard?) serving behind the counter, a couple of rock climbing books on display, and climbers with their boots seated at small tables. That, and the best name ever for a café.

    Best wishes to your father.

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