All our yesterdays 27th June - 3rd July

 This time, we're looking back to the week of 27th June - 3rd July

On 27th June 2007,  After having served as chancellor of the Exchequer (1997–2007), British Labour Party politician Gordon Brown became prime minister of the United Kingdom.

On 28th June 1997, In a boxing match for the heavyweight title, Mike Tyson was disqualified after he twice bit Evander Holyfield's ears; as a result of the infraction, he temporarily lost his boxing license.

On 29th June 1974, While on tour with the Kirov (now Mariinsky) Ballet in Toronto, Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from the Soviet Union, citing artistic reasons, and he later settled in the United States.

On 30th June 1936, American author Margaret Mitchell published Gone with the Wind, a sweeping romance set during the Civil War; the novel later won a Pulitzer Prize and was adapted into a hugely successful film.

On 1st July 1997, The crown colony of Hong Kong officially reverted to Chinese sovereignty, ending 156 years of British rule.

On 2nd July 1937, The aeroplane piloted by American aviator Amelia Earhart disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean during her attempt to fly around the world.

On 3rd July 1969, just weeks after being fired from the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones was found dead in his swimming pool.

And finally, this week in 1969, The Beatles were having their third and final week at Number One in the UK with 'The Ballad Of John & Yoko."

If you can't see the video, click here

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Remember the 'Top Of The Pops' LPs - I re-created them, but with the original artists.

During the lockdown, whilst trying to think of something to do, I came across one of the old 'Top Of The Pops' albums that seemed so prevalent years ago. And it gave me an idea.

I went on the Discogs web site, and found that all of the albums and their tracklistings were available to buy or just check out on the site.

I didn't want to buy the albums, but I did wonder how the albums would sound if you heard them in the running order, but by the original artists.

I've got a pretty decent sized music collection and felt that I probably already had 80% or the original versions of the songs and that given the time, I could re-do the albums using mp3 versions of the songs.

So I started with Volume 1. Of the 12 songs featured on the album, I had 9. What I decided to do was replace the songs I didn't have with songs in my collection that would keep the same spirit to the album.

Having put together the first album in the same running order as the LP was released but with the replacements, on playback, it sounded really good, so I did volume 2.

I ended up redoing all 92 albums in the collection in the same way. It gave me a pretty good representation of the music we were listening to over the years.

It took a lot of time to complete them, but as we had the lockdown in place, I had plenty of time to spare.

And I have to say, I'm really happy with the results.

Admittedly there are songs missing across the complete collection, but the songs I've replaced them with do not harm the integrity. How could they? I now had the albums with original versions by the original artists.

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All Our Yesterdays 13th - 19th June

 This time, we're looking back to the week of 13th - 19th June.

On the 13th June 2005, After a 14-week trial that became a media circus, American pop singer Michael Jackson was acquitted of child-molestation charges.

On the 14th June 1982, The surrender of the large Argentine garrison at Port Stanley to the British military concluded the Falkland Islands War, which was fought for the control of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and its dependencies—territory long disputed by the warring nations.

On the 15th June 1215, The Magna Carta—a charter of English liberties that occupies a unique place in the popular imagination as a symbol and a battle cry against oppression—was sealed this day, under threat of civil war, by King John

On 16th June 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina V. Tereshkova became the first woman to travel in space, having been launched into orbit aboard the spacecraft Vostok 6, which completed 48 orbits in 71 hours.

On 17th June 1994, American gridiron football hero O.J. Simpson was charged with the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, though after a sensational trial he was acquitted the following year.

On 18th June 1940, Broadcasting from London after France fell to the Nazis, French General Charles de Gaulle appealed to his compatriots to continue World War II under his leadership.

On 19th June 2013, American actor James Gandolfini, who was best known for his portrayal of Mafia boss and family man Tony Soprano in the HBO drama series The Sopranos (1999–2007), died of a heart attack while vacationing in Rome.

And finally in this week in 1966, Frank Sinatra spent his third and final week at number one in the UK chart with his hit, 'Strangers In The Night.'

If you can't see the video, click here

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Missed opportunities...

When I first got married back in 1982, videos were just coming into fashion.

I fancied getting a video shop - I found a suitable shop just outside the showman's yard where we used to stop in the winter.

I found that you couldn't buy videos at the time, you would have to rent them from the companies on a weekly basis it was a minimal amount.

I worked out how much it would cost to kit the shop out with racking and get it ready to open.

When I did the sums, it was going to come to £3500 which we didn't have at the time.

I wanted to get a loan, but my wife didn't as we'd only just got married and was worried in case we come unstuck.

So we didn't take it any further.

A couple of months later, a video shop opened in exactly the shop I had targeted.

I went in and became a member on the 1st day. The one-off membership fee was £10 + the price of the films you were going to hire.

I signed up and got my card. I was member number 376, This meant that on their first day of business, they'd taken in at least £3760, without a film going out of the door.

Not doing it was a BIG mistake - within 6 months the owner opened another shop in Camberley and did the same thing.

Over a short period, he built a profitable business.

He also managed to sell the shops when the towns were starting to get flooded with Video shops.

Within a couple of years, he was in and out of the business and diversified into other things and ended up quite wealthy.

I've often looked back and wondered "what if?"

And it's why I believe that it's better to take a risk and go for it than not. From experience I've learned that I'd rather fail than look back 40 years and wonder "what if?" Regretting not taking a chance ate away at me for years.

My advice...if you have a gut feeling, follow it. It's usually correct.

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All Our Yesterdays 6-12 June

This time, we're looking back to the week of  6th - 12th June.

On the 6th June, 1968, While campaigning for president, U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy died of a bullet wound from assassin Sirhan Sirhan.

On the 7th June, 1982, Graceland—Elvis Presley's home in Memphis, Tennessee, where he died in 1977—was opened for public tours and became one of the top tourist attractions in the United States.

On 8th June, 1949, British author George Orwell published his dystopian classic Nineteen Eighty-four, a warning against totalitarianism that introduced such concepts as Big Brother and the Thought Police. It may not have happened then, but a lot of what he wrote seems to be coming true now.

0n 9th June, 1983,  Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, buoyed by victory in the Falkland Islands War and by deep divisions within the opposition Labour Party, was easily reelected to a second term in office.

On 10th June, 1940, Italy, under the rule of Benito Mussolini, declared war against France and Great Britain, entering World War II.

On 11th June, 2001, Timothy McVeigh—convicted of the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, which killed 168 people in what was then the worst terrorist attack in the U.S.—was executed 

On 12th June, 1991,  Boris Yeltsin was easily elected president of Russia (then part of the Soviet Union) in the republic's first direct, popular elections, and he was president of independent Russia until the eve of 2000.

And on this week in 1965, Sandie Shaw was spending her second of three weeks as the British Number One with her hit, 'Long Live Love'

If you can't see the video, click here

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All our yesterdays 6

This time, we're looking back to the week of 30th May - 5th June.

On May 30th, 1913, the Treaty of London signed by the Great Powers, the Ottoman Empire and the victorious Balkan League (Serbia, Greece, Kingdom of Bulgaria, and Montenegro) bringing an end to the First Balkan War.

On May 31st, 1962,  the State of Israel hanged German official Adolf Eichmann, who had escaped from a prison camp in 1946 and spent some 14 years in hiding, for his part in the Nazi extermination of Jews during World War II.

On June 1st, 1967, The Beatles released their new album, 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'. Spurred on by the Beach Boy's album, 'Pet Sounds,' this album blended pop, symphonic and Indian musical forms to become a classic.

On June 2nd, 1953, On a cold and wet day in London, the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place in Westminster Abbey.

On June 3rd, 2017:  A terrorist attack as three men wearing fake suicide vests drive a van into pedestrians on London Bridge then run to Borough Market where they stab and kill seven and wound 48 before being shot by armed police. 

On June 4th, 1940, Following a massive rescue effort that included civilian boats, the withdrawal of Allied troops trapped at Dunkirk, France, was completed on this day during World War II; more than 300,000 soldiers were saved.

On June 5th, 1981, AIDS was reported for the first time, following the detection of a rare form of pneumonia in five homosexual men in Los Angeles.

And in this week in 1975, Tammy Wynette spent her third and final week as the UK's Number One with her hit, 'Stand By Your Man'.

If you can't see the video, click here

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The Beatles...and a trip back in time.

This week, I’ve found myself struggling with Gout, which, when I get it, leaves me in a great deal of pain. I get it in my foot, which means I struggle to move about. On Wednesday, it was so bad that I couldn’t even get a shoe on my foot.

Not being able to do what I wanted to and being in pain meant that I couldn’t really concentrate on much.

The upshot of that meant that I decided to have an afternoon in front of the telly.

Not knowing what to watch, I went back to an old favourite, The Beatles’ film, ‘A Hard Day’s Night.’

Being a huge Beatles fan, it was an easy choice. I love all the songs, know all the words and can sing along. It’s amazing how that little act can take your mind off the pain you’re suffering.

But here’s the thing, the minute one of the songs came on, I was transported back to my childhood.

In 1965, my parents moved us to a little Somerset town called Burnham-on-Sea, where we took over an amusement arcade on the seafront.

And my Dad piped music through the arcade to keep the punters entertained while they played on the machines.

We had a room at the end of the arcade, that we basically used to take breaks and Mum would cook dinner in there. It had a kitchen, table and chairs, a settee and some seats.

And on top of a unit, was my Dad’s reel to reel tape recorder and a record player from which he played the music in the arcade.

The Beatles were often played in the arcade and the ‘Hard Day’s Night,’ ‘Beatles For Sale’ and ‘Help’ albums were constantly played.

And hearing those songs again took me back to being a 5 year old and being in that arcade.

It was where my Mum taught me how to deal with money. She’d play games to teach me about giving change, how to give people the appropriate money for the machines. There were 12 pennies to a shilling, 24 for two shillings and so on. We’d sit at the table and she’d say “Here’s 10 bob. I want a shilling’s worth of pennies and a shilling of sixpences. What other money should I have in change?”

And that’s how we’d play. Then when she thought I knew what I was doing, she’d take me into the change desk and let me do it for real with her at my side until she was sure I’d be able to cope on my own.

And those are the kinds of memories I had yesterday as I heard the words of ‘I should have known better’ and ‘I’m happy just to dance with you’ were being sung in the film.

The Beatles were part of the soundtrack of my childhood. We had all the LPs.

In fact, the first LP I remember buying with my own money was ‘Revolver’ in the summer of 1966 with my birthday money.

A few years ago, I re-bought all The Beatles LPs again.

I’d had them all on vinyl when I was growing up, but when CDs came in, I bought them all again as CDs. But it was never the same. A CD didn’t feel the same.

During a period when I needed the money back in the 1990s, I sold all my Beatles LPs, after all I now had them on CD, but it was never the same, and so a few years ago, I started buying them again, one by one until I had them all again.

And so this morning, I’ve got the LP out of the rack, put it on my record deck and given it another spin as I’ve written this.

The Beatles remind me of how lucky I was as a kid. Their albums remind me of a golden time, of spending time on the beach helping John Tandy on the donkeys (I probably hindered more than helped), of playing on the beach with my friends, of being in the arcade, with my Mum and Dad, my brother and sisters and so much more.

Just hearing those songs reminds me that music has an ability to bring back those little important moments of my life, moments that, without the music, would have gone and never been forgotten.

But because of these wonderful songs, I get to go on a flashback trip to the past, a past in which I still have my Mum and Dad, a past in which, I have such precious memories.

And hearing those songs will probably always have that same effect.

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The Music Of My Life 33

Most people will have first heard of Anita Baker through the TV show 'Moonlighting' when her song 'Sweet Love' was used in one of the programmes.

Over the years, she's become my favourite female singer. And this album was a constant play in my car during the the end of the 80s, alongside the 'Rapture' and 'Compositions' albums, which I feel are her three best albums.

Her voice is just gorgeous and I can't be the only one who thinks it with 5 platinum albums and a gold album to her name.

Just stunning.

If you can't see the video, click here

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I'm back on a nostalgia trip

 This week, I’ve had good cause to go a nostalgia trip.

In the week, I was given a 1960s Fergusson, reel to reel tape recorder. My old one died last year and after taking it to have it repaired, it came back worse than it started. It seems to me that these days, not too many know how to repair old technology. But that’s a different story.

A friend of mine in Scotland was after an old tape recorder recently and went on one of the numerous free-ads sites and asked if anyone had an old tape recorder in their attic that they no longer wanted, and he was offered two which he then collected. He advised me to do the same.

I put a post on our local village reuse and recycle group and asked the same thing, and a day later, a lady got in touch and said that she had her father’s old one in the attic and that if I wanted it, I could come and collect it. However, she wasn’t sure it still worked, but I was welcome to take a chance on it.

I went and collected it the next day, brought it home, plugged it in and hoped for the best. I’m pleased to say, it came on and when I tried it, it played, although somewhat slow. It could fast forward the tapes and rewind. So there was hope.

The reason I wanted another tape recorder was not to record music on to, but to play the tapes I already have to see what’s on them, to compile tracklists of what’s on them, and then make new compilations on mp3 using the many tracks I already have to put on a hard drive or my mp3 player to enable me to hear them again whenever I want to.

The little matter that it played slowly didn’t bother me because all I need to hear is enough of a song to recognize it and enable me to write the song on a piece of paper, then run forward to the next and repeat.

But what actually happened, was that in doing so, as it’s an old valve tape recorder, the longer it was running, the warmer the tape recorder became, which resulted in the old oil on the motor components warming up and going from being congealed to liquid again, which freed the components up and allowed them to run more freely.

Now the tape recorder is running at the correct speed again.

Playing the old tapes again and reminded me of when I recorded them all those years ago. 

There are tapes I recorded when I was aged between 10 and 16 and then from when I was in my 20s (all of which were disco and club classics that I played on my ride when I was travelling) and finally tapes comprising of all the singles that were in the local hospital radio station at Weymouth, that for two years I was Chairman of.

And so hearing those songs have given me some great memories of the past.

It’s going to take a while, but I’m really looking forward to having those songs available at the click of a button on my computer or in my car on the mp3 player in the future.

As for the tape recorder and tapes. I’ll either keep them or gift the tape recorder to someone else and hopefully sell the tapes with the exception of the four tapes that were my Dad’s and were my initial introduction to music as a baby all those years ago.

Those four tapes are my dearest possessions and I don’t think I’d ever be able to part with them.

One other joy of this old tape recorder is that as it has a valve amplifier in it and the whole unit gets warm, it emits an old, much loved smell from the tapes as they play, one which I haven’t smelt in years. They used to be the same when they played on my Dad’s old Grundig player, all those years ago.

Happy memories keep on coming back to me.

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All Our Yesterdays 4

 This time, we're looking back to the week of 16th - 22nd May

On the 16th May, 1986, The action blockbuster Top Gun was released in American theatres, and it made Tom Cruise an international star.

On the 17th May, 1973, America watched in fascination as the televised Senate hearings on the Watergate affair opened. The first witness testified that Nixon's re-election campaign leader, Jeb Magruder, had hidden vital papers within hours of the burglary. The White House denied that President Richard M. Nixon's administration knew about the break-in at the Democratic Party Headquarters the previous June.

On the 18th May, 1874, India exploded a nuclear device in the Rajasthan desert It created nervousness in neighbouring Pakistan, which was severely beaten four years earlier in the third war between the two nations.

On the 19th May, 1935, Retired hero T.E. Lawrence died, five days after sustaining a fractured skull in a road accident. He was racing his motorcycle down a Dorset lane when he swerved to avoid two boys on bicycles and crashed. He never regained consciousness. Lawrence was better known as Lawrence o Arabia following his exploits as a dashing, young intelligence officer who let the Arabs in a guerilla war against the Turks and finally captured Damascus.

On the 20th May, 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis were granted a patent for using copper rivets to strengthen certain areas of trousers, notably pocket corners; the patent was credited with giving rise to blue jeans.

On 21st May, 1966, Cassius Clay is still The Greatest - British contender, Henry Cooper failed to deprive him of the world heavyweight boxing title. Clay knocked down Cooper in the sixth round in a bout in London. It was their second fight.

On May 22nd, 1098, Wilbur and Orville Wright patented their flying machine, four years after their historic first powered flight at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina. That day, the 'Flyer I' made four flights, the longest-lasting a minute and covering 852 feet. They are still using the same machine, very much improved to make flights of 40 minutes, travelling up to 25 miles at altitudes up to 150 feet.

And this week in 1983, Spandau Ballet were spending their second of three weeks at number one in the UK chart with their song, 'True'

If the video doesn't play, click here

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All our Yesterdays 3

 This time around, we're looking at the week from May 9th - 15th

On May 9th, 1968, 21 people, including The Krays are charged with offences including conspiracy to murder and Fraud.

On May 10th, 1940, Following a furious argument in Parliament over military bungling in Norway, Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as the British prime minister and formed an all-party war government.

On May 11th, 1981, Bob Marley died of cancer. He was 36. Born in the slums of Jamaica, Marley went on to bring Reggae and his religion to world attention.

On May 12th, 1971, Rolling Stones singer, Mick Jagger married Nicaraguan Bian Perez Morena de  Macias, in a Roman Catholic ceremony in the South of France. Guests included Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton. Bianca had met Mick six months earlier at a Rolling Stones concert.

On May 13th, 1981, A crowd of 20,000 people in St. Peter's Square in Rome saw Pope John Paul II shot four times by a Turkish gunman. The gunman, Mehmet Ali Agea, aged 23, had escaped from Turkey where he was apparently being held for Murder. He shot the Pop in protest at 'American and Russian imperialism.'

On May 14th 1973, space exploration entered a new era as the US space station 'Skylab 1' basted into orbit. Successive there man crews will live on the space station for weeks on end. 

On May 15th, 1998, it was 'Goodbye to 'ol blue eyes' as veteran singer, Frank Sinatra, died after a sparkling career of 60 years in show business.

And in this week in 1968, Louis Armstrong was spending his second of three weeks at the top of the British charts with his song, 'What A Wonderful World.'

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All our yesterdays 2

 This week we're looking at the week of May 2-8 

On May 2nd, 1980, Pink Floyd's hit single, "Another Brick In The Wall" was banned by the South African government because rebellious black schoolchildren had adopted it as an anthem. The young protesters were chanting the lines: "We don't want no education, we don't want no thought control." Banning the song, however, didn't stop them from singing it!

On May 3rd, 1951, The South Bank of the River Thames was lit up as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth opened the Festival Of Britain. The five-month festival was designed to disperse the grey post-war cloud with a bright vision of Britain's future. Festival entertainments included a large fun-fair, sculptures, a railway and the Festival Pleasure Gardens.

On May 4th, 1970, US National Guardsmen shot and killed four students at Kent State University in Ohio. The dead students, two men and two women were taking part in a massed anti-war protest when the soldiers fired into the unarmed crowd. Nine students were wounded. Two more students were shot dead at Jackson State University, Mississippi. The killings followed three days of student rioting. The demonstrations erupted after President Richard Nixon sent US troops into Cambodia the week previously.

On May 5th, 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the remote British island of St Helena, He was 51. Apparently, his last word was, "Josephine" his empress who he'd rejected in 1810 because she hadn't given him a male heir.

On May 6th, 1954, Roger Bannister a 25-year-old medical student, broke an invisible barrier when he ran a mile in three-fifths of a second less than four minutes. He was running at the Iffley Road track in Oxford, representing the university against the Amateur Athletics Association, with two fellow students setting the pace. Experts had long held the opinion that it was impossible for a man to run a mile in less than four minutes. In doing so, he'd taken two seconds off the previous record, set by Swede, Gunder Hagg in 1945.

On May 7th, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies and the War in Europe was ended. German Chief of staff, General Alfred Jodl signed the instrument od unconditional surrender at 2.40 am and delivered his nation "into the victor's hands, for better or worse." He was met by Britain's General Montgomery, US Chief of staff, General Bedell Smith and Soviet General, Suslapatov at General Eisenhower's headquarters, a small schoolhouse in Rheims, France.

And on May 8th, 1987, Democratic front-runner Gary Hart withdrew his bid for the presidency of the United States following allegations of marital infidelity. The Miami Herald reported HArt's alleged affair with Donna Rice, a 30-year-old model, with whom he was seen in Washington and onboard a yacht named 'Monkey Business.'

And finally in this week in 1969, The Beatles were having their second week at number one in the UK with, "Get Back." It stayed at number one for six weeks in all.

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I've been writing a book...

For years, people have been telling me that I should write a book about my life. They’ve read my Facebook recollections and think that my life has been interesting and that people would like to read about it.

At the beginning of this year, I decided that perhaps it was time to do it. I’ve just finished Chapter 13 and I’m at Boarding School.

But I haven’t enjoyed the process and I’m not ‘feeling’ what I’ve written. Yes, I’ve got the bare bones of the story down and to me it’s just drab and I can’t see why anyone would want to read it.

I also have parts of my life that are so personal to me that I don’t want to share them. The problem is, they are very important in explaining the person I am, they are integral to the story of my life. And yet, they were painful to live through and I certainly don’t want to talk about them publicly. And I can’t say I’m looking forward to telling my story and skipping over what were such important parts. Without them, it would change the essence of the story.

I’ve been sending each chapter to a close friend of mine to read as I’ve gone along. He was the first person who put forward the idea of me writing a book.

Yesterday, I wrote a Facebook post about parties we used to have in the shed when I was a teenager, and it led to my friend inboxing me and mentioning that he felt my Facebook writings felt different to the ones I’m writing in the book.

It got me thinking and questioning why they would be different. I think I know why.

When I started writing my story, I did loads of research. Asked relatives questions and started to put my story together. I’d go in the office and I’d start to write about a particular section of my story.

My Facebook writings come from a totally different place. I never spend time researching what I’m going to write.

More often than not, the ideas are sparked from a song on the radio. A song that takes me back to a certain time, a certain place, certain people or certain events that I’ve become emotionally invested in.

What I write on Facebook comes from the heart. Something has moved me enough that I want to write about it, to tell a story, to share some feelings. It’s altogether more personal.

I can wake up in the morning and half an hour later something has brought a story back to my memory or something I've thought about spurs me to write about it. A story that chokes me. A story that I need to tell. And so it just spills out. No effort, no researching. It’s all there at the forefront of my mind, fully formed and ready to tell. And I tell it as I see it. I'm not saying I'm right, it's just what I'm thinking at that given moment.

A glance down my Facebook timeline gives glimpses into my life, written with more feeling than I could write in a month of Sundays of going into the office and mechanically getting it down on paper.

I’m a heart on my sleeve kind of person. I write better when it’s coming from that part of me that cares enough to write about something. Anything else is just going through the motions.

It’s for that reason, I’ve decided that I’m no longer going to write the book.

I know people like the things I write. They tell me often enough. I love that my writing resonates with them, interests them and moves them enough to tell me so. And I’m really grateful for that.

I’m a sharer of memories and thoughts. Not an author.

I don’t feel comfortable writing in that way.

What I write on Social Media, either Facebook or in my blog, is something I need to say. It comes with my whole feeling.

And until I can write a book in the same way that I write my posts and blogs, I think I’m going to give it a miss.

If I can’t share my story in the way that I feel comes from the heart, then it’s not worth doing at all.

It’s just a waste of my time and would be a waste of yours because you wouldn’t be getting what you were expecting.

Therefore, it looks as though you’ll just have to put up with my writings on an ‘as and when’ basis. At least they’ll be from the heart, even if they do jump from one part of my life to another.

And what they’ll also be are my own thoughts, feelings and opinions that were strong enough that I felt they were worth sharing.

And that means it’s going to be ‘glimpses’ and 'flashbacks' from here on in. Just as it’s always been.

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A lesson learned early.

Last night as I was trying to get to sleep, a memory came into my mind which has played a huge part in making me the man that I am. I hadn't thought about it for a couple of years and it hadn't really made that much impression on me until last night.

I was 5 or 6 at the time, and playing on the beach behind our arcade at Burnham on Sea. I had a bucket and spade and I was digging a hole (as you do).

A much bigger boy came over to me, punched me a few times and chased me away.

I ran back to the arcade to my Dad, and was crying as I told him what happened.

What he said and did at the time has greatly influenced the man that I have become.

I can't remember the exact words, but basically, he made me go back and fight the bigger boy and stand up to him. He followed a little way back to make sure I didn't get a good hiding as the boy was much bigger than me. Dad made me point the boy out and then he said something that has stayed with me throughout my life.

His words went like this, "Don't come crying to me that someone's punched you. There won't always be someone to sort it out for you. You have to stand your ground no matter how big they are."

Weeks earlier, I remember my brother Bill had come home bleeding after having been beaten up by some of the local teens. He stood out because he had a London accent in a town full of Somerset accents and he was well dressed. If you like he was a minority.

Anyway, Dad made me go back. I went back down the beach (scared as anything I might add) and went up to the boy and told him I wanted my bucket and spade back. He told me I couldn't have them, so although scared, I ran at him and hit him. The punch knocked him over (I don't think he really expected it) and we started grappling on the sand and he started to hurt me again.

After what seemed like an age, my Dad separated us and we came away with the bucket and spade.

Since that day I've never liked fighting, but I've always stood my ground, never backed down and fought when I had to. And as a showman's son who went to boarding school, I had to fight a lot. I was called a smelly gyppo, a pikey. in fact, any derogatory term that could be used, was.

The fact is, it toughened me up and made me stronger. It also made me more aware.

Whenever I was in a situation where I thought a fight was going to happen, I always looked around me and surveyed the area, checked out who the people that were causing the trouble were, and decided who I was going to hit if it all kicked off and how I was going to get out of the situation unscathed.

In today's environment, with knife crime, as it is, I wonder if I'd still be here to tell the tale.

My Dad's words all those years ago and the things he taught me along the way, have made me the man that I am. I'd like to think that I've always stood up for myself and not backed down (and I'm not talking about fighting).

I've never gone looking to cause trouble and if possible, I'd rather not argue either.

But I will not be put down. So those things my Dad said to me have stayed with me to this day. He was a wise man, my Dad.

I'd much rather be like I am than one of the namby-pamby grizzle arses that many people have become these days.

Mind you I've never understood what makes people bully or why they have to make others feel inferior either. I don't suppose I ever will.

 

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