I just read an email from Ken, my old school friend, he said he can't believe we are 60 next year, and yes it still seems in my head that we are still 17. The days of the Mods and Rockers, Carnaby Street, Parkas and my TV175 Lambretta, I was a mod. Certainly the successive decades have been eye openers, if only I knew it would be like this, river deep mountain high, do I love you my oh my.
4 times I nearly killed myself coming off that scooter. One time I overtook 4 cars in the fast lane of the North Circ...... on my bum ...........my scooter following me. The wind in your hair, no crash helmets in those days, chrome side panels all the mirrors and racks, talking about my generation, why don't you all fade away to Itchicoo Park. Transport meant I could escape from Willesden. Hitherto it had just been a bus ride with Mum, or cycling with the Essex Road Gang to Box Hill Surrey every summer. Scooters meant girlfriends too..............but thats another chapter.
The first recollection of Ken was he was a Norman, I was a Saxon at Grammar School. I liked being a Saxon, but we were green, hate green. Norman's were red. Anyway Saxons always beat the Normans, unlike poor Harold at Hastings. In a football match we squared up against each other, I was a defender he was a forward. In the 6th year we clicked for some reason. He still looks the same these days except the hair is grey not black. He has not changed, same old grin and chuckle. WE ruled that school in the 6th 2 year as prefects. Anyone good looking and female got favours, ugly and fat or male you had no chance................
Best days were dinner queue monitoring and order on a Friday...............fish chips and cannon ball peas. Once we had to restore order during a pea slinging riot and entered the dining hall as a phalanx with dustbin lids as protection against the hail of cannon ball peas. Eat your heart out Maximus !!!
To Do is to Dare, live long and prosper, strength and honour.
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