Adventuring with Mum in the sunshine in September 1988.
Similar weather to this weekend, which may have some adventures going on too.
Category: Old Stuff
Phone Box Thursday: Dream Destinations #1: ‘Out Of Order’
Still no phone boxes in my life so I’ve been planning phone box tourism instead (to be fair this is not just about phone boxes; it’s going to be nice to stick my nose out of Newcastle every now and again when the pandemic eventually goes away).
Next time I’m in London (which, everything crossed, will be for the marathon in October) I would love to go and see the ‘Out Of Order’ sculpture. I’ve seen a lot of London phone boxes but not these ones!
It is probably not at all surprising that this is just one of many phone box destinations on my list…
Saturday ’80s Photo: Summer Fields
There were a lot of summer fields on my long trail race today, so these ones from Shetland in 1985 feel appropriate today. My memory doesn’t quite go back far enough to remember this particular walk, but I am fairly sure being pushed in a buggy is easier than running/walking miles and miles under your own steam.
On a related note, race review coming tomorrow!
Phone Box Thursday: Ty-Gwyn Road, Llandudno
Still no new phone box finds here in 2021 but Dad found me a cracker from the family archives. This is a slide taken in 1965 by Grandad, who used to like taking photos of trams (if you’ve ever wondered where I get all my strange forms of nerdery from, look no further than my immediate Cooke family ancestors). On this happy occasion he happened to capture a phone box as well!
(Coordinates 53°32’86.7″N, 3°83’88.2″W.)
Yes, it’s still there! As are the buildings and even the tram lines, though I’m not sure if they’re still in use. The buildings are no longer shops, but still very recognisable.
1960s shop signs always look very cartoony to me (this is probably caused by my general ‘1960s=cartoon’ vibe that I was talking about last week) and make me think they’re on a film or TV set, as 1960s productions always have signs that look like that. I don’t know why I find it hard to believe they looked like that in real life too!
Saturday ’80s Photo: Ice Creaaaam
Pretty much every photo of me from spring and summer 1987 involves an ice cream. It was clearly a warm year. Mum also seems to have partaken in a lot of the ice cream, which is surprising as she doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth! Maybe she was just holding Dad’s ice cream while he took the photo. My brother Malcolm, in this photo at least, seems to have been more interested in his own shoes. Life is simple when you’re seven months old.
This year has not been a warm year… until now. The warm weather has shown up just in time for me and Geth to swelter round our virtual half marathon tomorrow. We will be eating ice cream tonight. For fuelling purposes, you understand.
Flying Sunday post
Geth and I have been away for our first ‘coming out of the pandemic’ weekend with family the last couple of days, so I’m skipping my regularly scheduled blog post for today. Very tired after a long drive!
Just a quick note that we were thrilled to meet our niece for the first time. She is adorable.
Saturday ’80s Photo: The Ferry Bar
Pictures like this – with the beermats and the scratchy fabric chairs – take me right back to my childhood. There’s a particular smell in ferry bars (a combination of bar smell and sea smell?) that still exists today, but the chairs are more comfortable these days.
Tables with lips to stop your drink sliding about in rough seas are still a thing too!
Phone Box Thursday: Barry Basic and the Quick Escape
I’m out of real-life phone boxes, so here’s the interior of the one I drew for my game Barry Basic and the Quick Escape.
I based it on an image of a mid-century phone box interior I found online, as the game is set in 1969. The A and B mechanisms were to do with coin return (explained here under ‘Coin Boxes’).
Most of my planned games for the next year have phone boxes in. I think I’ve just been missing seeing real-life examples!
Saturday ’80s Photo: ‘The Storm’ Poster
I started primary school in 1989 and so there are lots of photos of me in my uniform posing with everyone I knew. This photo was taken in our kitchen the first time my grandparents visited after the school year started. However, what always catches my eye these days is the newspaper pull-out poster we had up on the wall of ‘The Storm’ (presumably the 1987 storm). I don’t recall this poster so we can’t have had it up for much longer.
Mum and Dad have had a corkboard on that wall for as long as I can remember, so maybe that’s why the ‘The Storm’ poster had to go!