Early 1970

 Early 1970 or perhaps the transition between 1969 and 1970 is the earliest period I have clear childhood memories of from playing near the railway line at the back of our house and with the wood louse near the trees between our garden and the busy road we were told never to cross on our own.

There were comics like Sparky that my Nan who lived two houses away bought me and I'd watch with my brothers Crackajack, play school at weekends as by that point I was in Infants and Blue Peter on the hazy black and bluey-white tv that stuggled in our area a to get a good enough BBC 2.

Another show we tended to watch together and this continued for quite a period after we moved was Top Of The Pops which would be followed up on the radio on Sunday evening by the official chart rundown.

Musically it was a cross over as we had still hits from the likes of Herman's Hermits and the Dave Clark Five and the Beach Boys although a group with connections to the Beatles being on their label Badfinger had their first hit, Come And Get It that sounded very much like a Paul McCartney song.

Indeed it near lt fooled me.

There were two records by new artists that make lasting earworm memory with me the first being Love Grows by the Edison Lighthouse.

The other was The Same Old Feeling by Pickettywitch.

Observant eyes will have spotted they were both written Tony Macaulay but with different co writers.

Perhaps the biggest suprise from that year was as we moved into it Two Little Boys performed by Rolf Harris got to the number one spot a tale of long lived boyhood friendship and as we left that year into 1971 Grandad by Clive Dunn who we all new from Dad's Army, the WW2 Home Guard based comedy show on BBC1.

It too was a song with enduring theme and message and that was sharing past events and lessons he'd learned along the way, valuing what older people had to offer in society and how that can help us grow so perhaps this image of an older Top Of The Pops audience sat around listening to him isn't so surprising as that's what as younger boys and girls we did around our own.

Just imagine what the nations grandads felt about mini skirts and hot pants!

It also was the era of the open season with me and my many Cap guns playing cowboys and indians with the smell of burned mini capsules on a roll having been fired following me in fairly short short trousers.

Back then boys playing in the garden or your own street with silver cap guns was less an issue as was going around with a pen knife.

Perhaps inadvertantly my folks had discovered the secret of getting me more mallible???