baby boomer intro

What better time and place could I have asked for to be born - 1951, England? OK there probably are some better options but it is probably one of the more interesting periods/places of the 20th Century to land on this planet. I’m thinking that as a teenager, what could have been more exciting than spending it in the heart of the cultural revolution that was taking place with it’s centre right here in Britain during the 1960’s?

It was a great time to be emerging from your childhood into the adult world. Being born a few years earlier would have probably meant that I was newly married, with a couple of kids and a mortgage and out of the social scene that was spiralling to a peak of new discoveries that were a teenagers paradise. Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? Well actually it wasn’t that good but if you liked pop and rock music and all that stuff, it was pretty damn good. Being born a few years later meant I would have been stuck with listening to the likes of Brotherhood of Man and Alvin Stardust instead of Eric Clapton, CSN&Y, Santana and Jimmy Hendrix.


It’s probably just coincidence but the fifties, being half way through the century, seemed to be a turning point in our society and the sixties saw an end to a lot of things that had not changed much since our parents were children. I am old enough to remember the delights of steam trains, Dan Dare, “the corner shop”, Bill and Ben, valve radios or “wirelesses” as they were called then, and a host of other things that are in danger of getting lost from our consciousness.

I am still young enough, however to witness the fantastic discoveries and inventions of the late 20th century – computers and the internet, CD’s, man’s landing on the moon, “keyhole" surgery, etc. These things are still with us and ever present in our daily lives so it’s the images and memories of the 50’s and 60’s that I intend to invoke. If you were born later than 1965 you are probably too young to associate much with this but your parents might be able to endorse what I have written and maybe expand on it. This picture shows our little family with my grandparents (mother's side) in our front garden. In case you had doubts, I'm the little chap with his shorts pulled up to his shoulders!

I am writing this blog from a highly personal point of view, some of the images can be proven as fact and others – well, unless you were a shy, sensitive and somewhat imaginative child, you might not agree with my observations. On the other hand you might discover that someone else exists on this planet that was as bent and twisted as yourself! Buckle your seatbelts, set the time machine to “somewhere in Britain during the mid 20th century" and see where you land. Have fun.