Northampton Early 1973

By shendyNo Comments
What a vibrant, exciting place Northampton must have been in early 1973... Who am I trying to kid - it was the early 70s! Anyway, there was a lot of building work going on in the town, with the old Chronicle and Echo building being demolished and replaced by that modern invention - a shopping mall. And we ended up with the Grosvenor Centre, attached to a bus station of such monstrosity that in 2005 Channel 4's "Demolition" programme shortlisted it for the worst building in Britain - beaten out only by such excrescences as Cumbernauld Town Centre in Scotland. Then there was the construction of the multi-storey Mayorhold car park, and the modern looking Saxon Inn hotel. And I almost forgot the Carlsberg brewery! I always understood there had been a fire while building it, but I did some googling to find out more. The modern brewery is on the site of the old Phipps one - they were bought out by Watneys, who were then...
Read More

Last 1972

By shendyNo Comments
As we move into 2012, here are the last photos from 1972. These first ones are from the Caswell Christmas Party - Plessey put on a children's party each year, something I remember fondly. And yes, that's me with Santa. Remember that this is 1972 and they've got a video camera - you can tell it was a technology research centre! These others are from the family Christmas in Rugby - to be honest, I can't remember this or who the relatives there were - it's obviously my father's side of the family as we're with his parents but other than that, no idea. I know the front row apart from the gentleman on the left, but don't recognise the back row at all. I expect Mother and/or Auntie Susan will be able to shed some light on who they are....
Read More

Normandy 1972

By shendyNo Comments
My parents' holiday in Normandy in 1972. Not entirely sure where each of these is from. The covered market is from a film labelled "Chartres", but a quick bit of googling suggests it could be Lyons-la-Forêt. I think that the bearded monk is standing on the steps of Chartres cathedral. The ruins are probably Jumieges Abbey. And finally one of the Hovercraft coming into Calais....
Read More

London

By shendyNo Comments
A couple from one of the big things in London in 1972 - the Tutankhamun exhibition. I was too young and got left behind with the grandparents, while The Brother fell asleep in the queue. And a separate trip in '72, down to stay with my father's sister in West Dulwich. This is me on the train And this is in their garden - we spent many hours on that swing!...
Read More

Playgroup

By shendy1 Comment
Some photos from the playgroup that I used to go to. The lady who ran it was Mrs Chamberlain, and that's about as much as I can remember. I seem to recall something about Mother doing something with the Tufty Club, which taught children about road safety and the Green Cross Code - to my surprise, it still exists!...
Read More