memories
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It wasn’t until I was sorting out my bureau, ready for a house move, that I realised how many programmes I’d amassed over the years. Looking back, I think it’s a habit I picked up from my father. Right from when I was a little girl, wherever we went, whether it was a trip to
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And the Certificate is Awarded to… When I moved a little while ago, I came across a pile of certificates from my childhood. I loved getting a certificate. I wasn’t a very confident child and being given a certificate made me feel I’d achieved something. It was there in black and white and couldn’t be
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A Royal Obsession It was in 1981 that I first took an interest in Princess Diana. I was nine years old and we were on holiday in Torquay. There was quite a furore in the guest house where we were staying: Prince Charles and Lady Diana were getting married that week, and everyone staying there
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My Days as a Duranie I couldn’t believe it – more than thirty-five years after I first fell in love with the pop group Duran Duran, I was going to see them live. My partner had surprised me with tickets as a Christmas present, and I couldn’t wait. Alas, Covid had other plans, but in
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Memories of My Special Grandparents I was twelve when my grandad died. So I only have a few memories of him. I wish I had more. Grandad and Nan had moved away some years before so we didn’t see them very often. He’d also had a stroke when I was younger and Mum always said
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When I was three, I loved watching Andy Pandy and wistfully yearned for a doll like Looby Loo. I sang Humpty Dumpty over and over, completely out of tune much to Mum’s dismay. I had teddy bear pictures on my wall and wore frilly dresses. For today’s three-year-old, it’s a little different and it certainly
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When I was fourteen, we used to visit my nan most Sundays. She lived a good hour or so away so Mum, Dad and I travelled by car to see her. I didn’t like travelling by car as I’d often feel car sick, but I coped with it by listening to music on my Walkman
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I looked at the frail form lying so still on the hospital bed. Tears threatened to fall. I blinked them back, but they wouldn’t have it. I let them come. This was it – time to say my last goodbye to my dear, dear grandad. I held his hand, savouring the life still there. I
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I’ll never forget the excitement of when I lost my first tooth. After all, I was the last one in my whole class, the whole year in fact, to lose their first tooth. I remember my friends telling tales of being left money by the tooth fairy. “You put your tooth under the pillow and
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In 1986, my favourite TV programme was Top of the Pops. Every Thursday night, I could be found glued to the TV waiting to hear if my favourite song had made it to the prestigious No.1 slot. Mum and Dad used to moan and groan about the ‘hideous racket’ coming from the TV, but they
Esther Chilton 