On this day........

[redsimon]

1997


Labour won a landslide election victory, thanks to deep analysis in The Sun. I can't imagine that the  United Kingdom ever had a worse Prime Minister

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Gordon Brown?

[david3103]

on literally any metric you can choose that's a completely unsupportable claim.

It was not a claim, it was a personal opinion, which is a very different thing.

It´s not clear whether what you mean is that you just didn´t like him? The idea that he was a bad PM isn´t supported by any facts (things that can be or were measured at the time)

Not sure if serious?

Setting aside the Invasion of Iraq, the granting of immunity to IRA terrorists, and the selling of peerages, why would you deny us the benefit of hindsight in judging his Prime Ministerial qualities?

Self-serving, vainglorious, greedy, egotistical, the list is pretty much endless.

[tikay]

on literally any metric you can choose that's a completely unsupportable claim.

It was not a claim, it was a personal opinion, which is a very different thing.

It´s not clear whether what you mean is that you just didn´t like him? The idea that he was a bad PM isn´t supported by any facts (things that can be or were measured at the time)

It's fair to say I disliked him, yes, & I admit that might colour my judgement.

For all the good he may have done, to my mind, every bit of it was overshadowed by Iraq, & the so called WMD affair. We are still paying that bill, here, & across the world. Not sure how you can "measure" that as per your yardstick.

I can't think of a more odious Prime Ministerial pairing, either, than Blair & Campbell, nobody voted for Campbell, but his influence on Blair & Government was huge. Campbell was a horrible piece of business altogether.

It's just my personal opinion, & I respect the fact many will disagree, which is fine. If I had to rate the last 10 PM's, Mr Blair would be bottom of my list.

We could debate it forever, of course, & not reach agreement!  

Probably just as well I never mentioned who is top of my list, either, then it would have kicked off. Another thread, another day, may be.

[tikay]

1951

The Festival of Britain opened, which was the biggest event since the war, & very important to the British public.

Amongst other things, it spawned what perhaps was, & is, England's ugliest official building, The Royal Festival Hall. 

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It was a time for Street parties, too, which became quite the thing in the 50's, as the Coronation was soon to follow. Street parties were wonderful, & we looked forward to them for weeks, barely able to sleep with excitement.

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[tikay]

1968

This is Donald Ross, who on this day, carried out the UK's first heart transplant.

The patient died a month later, & the procedure was abandoned for over a decade.

In 2015, in the UK alone, there is a successful heart transplant almost daily.

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[Steve Swift]

Street parties.    I have a vague memory of going to one as a child and I definitely remember them happening.  I lived in Middlesbrough as a child in a row of terraced houses just like the one in the picture a whole interconnected door left opened sugar borrowing community.  I remember specifically my Mam (not Mum) telling me to go next door to borrow a cup of sugar or an egg...  wtf  and egg, simpler times.

I remember the coal man, I also remember carrying a bag home from the local shop when I was  a bit bigger, we normally got it on tic . I also remember doing  a moon lite flit or was it flick ?

We had a coin operated TV and radio which we didn't always have a coin for, their was many an expert in our street who could show us how to get around this.

Strange how those photos brought back all those happy memories, thank you TK.

Regards

Steve

[RED-DOG]

Street parties.    I have a vague memory of going to one as a child and I definitely remember them happening.  I lived in Middlesbrough as a child in a row of terraced houses just like the one in the picture a whole interconnected door left opened sugar borrowing community.  I remember specifically my Mam (not Mum) telling me to go next door to borrow a cup of sugar or an egg...  wtf  and egg, simpler times.

I remember the coal man, I also remember carrying a bag home from the local shop when I was  a bit bigger, we normally got it on tic . I also remember doing  a moon lite flit or was it flick ?

We had a coin operated TV and radio which we didn't always have a coin for, their was many an expert in our street who could show us how to get around this.

Strange how those photos brought back all those happy memories, thank you TK.

Regards

Steve

Lovely post Steve. I had a Mam not a Mum too. Isn't it a bugger finding greeting cards with Mam on? My daughter usually buys a batch when she's up the North.

[david3103]

Street parties.    I have a vague memory of going to one as a child and I definitely remember them happening.  I lived in Middlesbrough as a child in a row of terraced houses just like the one in the picture a whole interconnected door left opened sugar borrowing community.  I remember specifically my Mam (not Mum) telling me to go next door to borrow a cup of sugar or an egg...  wtf  and egg, simpler times.

I remember the coal man, I also remember carrying a bag home from the local shop when I was  a bit bigger, we normally got it on tic . I also remember doing  a moon lite flit or was it flick ?

We had a coin operated TV and radio which we didn't always have a coin for, their was many an expert in our street who could show us how to get around this.

Strange how those photos brought back all those happy memories, thank you TK.

Regards

Steve

Lovely post Steve. I had a Mam not a Mum too. Isn't it a bugger finding greeting cards with Mam on? My daughter usually buys a batch when she's up the North.

Loads and loads available in the multitude of card shops on Teesside.

There were lots of street parties in 1977 as I recall it.

[Kev B]

Street parties.    I have a vague memory of going to one as a child and I definitely remember them happening.  I lived in Middlesbrough as a child in a row of terraced houses just like the one in the picture a whole interconnected door left opened sugar borrowing community.  I remember specifically my Mam (not Mum) telling me to go next door to borrow a cup of sugar or an egg...  wtf  and egg, simpler times.

I remember the coal man, I also remember carrying a bag home from the local shop when I was  a bit bigger, we normally got it on tic . I also remember doing  a moon lite flit or was it flick ?

We had a coin operated TV and radio which we didn't always have a coin for, their was many an expert in our street who could show us how to get around this.

Strange how those photos brought back all those happy memories, thank you TK.

Regards

Steve

Lovely post Steve. I had a Mam not a Mum too. Isn't it a bugger finding greeting cards with Mam on? My daughter usually buys a batch when she's up the North.

I had an Irish Mum. However next door but one was my Nan. She was Mammy to her kids.

RediffusionTV if you were posh in our terraced street. Remember going to the shop for single razor blades for the old man and single saches of Bristows shampoo for my Sunday hair washing.

My first recollection of a street party was the 1977 Silver Jubilee. However in the summer the kids in our street used to have our Mum's make us sarnies wrapped in greaseproof bread wrapping, home made cakes and pop. We would then all go up the road to Hanley park and have a picnic.

[tikay]

1979

The Conservatives win the General Election, bringing with it our first female Prime Minister.

There became no middle ground in people's views of Mrs Thatcher - it was either love her, or loathe her, & if there were a poll to rate the best & worst Prime Ministers of the last 50 years, she would be voted top or bottom in all of them.  

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[tikay]

1979

Jeremy Thorpe, leader of the Liberal Party, lost the North Devon seat he had held for 20 years.

He was embroiled in a major scandal, which began with a homosexual relationship in the 60's, when such relationships were, amazingly, illegal in Great Britain.

He tried to hush it up, but it got out of hand, & he was eventually charged with conspiracy to murder his former lover, Norman Scott. Scott's dog was shot dead, but when the gun was turned on Scott, it jammed.

Now that's a proper scandal.

He was cleared of the murder charge, mainly because the witnesses were deemed to be unreliable.

He dropped out of the public eye, & later developed Parkinsons Disease. He died in 2014.


  

[tikay]

1982


HMS Sheffield was sunk by the Argies in the Falklands war.










There was no such thing as TV Breaking News in those days, but all pronouncements as to the Falklands War were made by Ian McDonald, who delivered the news in slow, measured monotone.

[Longines]

1929

Edda van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston was born.

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[RED-DOG]

Woof!

[booder]

Absolutely stunning.