Heroes, idols and favourites.

While my sister, Lesley, was swooning over Paul McCartney and The Beatles, I was really hooked on The Monkees! I loved their music and later their TV show. My primary school headmaster would have been horrified if he’d known that the bookmark I used in my English Hymnal at morning assembly was a mini pin up photo of Peter Tork.

My brother, Robin, was and is to this day, a die-hard Chelsea fan. He would play football as goalie in the back garden with his friends and everytime he would make a miraculous save we would hear him shout “Peter Bonetti!” We were close in age so I took a competitive interest and chose to support Manchester United- I think George Best was a good enough reason-I think I had a pin up of him too!

My whole family loved tennis and we were always glued to Wimbledon every year. When I was at secondary school, I, along with my sister or some friends, would go to the tournament after school to pick up tickets from people who were leaving, so we could watch some evening matches. One memorable year we got front row seats on No.1 court in this way and saw our heroes, John Newcombe and Tony Roach playing doubles!

My childhood book memories will be with me forever. I grew up with C. S. Lewis and the Narnia series- especially The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I also have special place in my heart for The Good Master by Kate Seredy which I read with my mother and every detail of which I can still remember. I was also a great fan of Girl Annuals- Bunty, June, etc. which came out in time for Christmas which made present buying for me pretty easy.

My favourite TV shows included Juke Box Jury, Crossroads and Blue Peter- I even earned a badge once for a story I sent in. The era I recall best featured Christopher Tracey, Valerie Singleton and John Noakes. I also loved the man from U.N.C.L.E- David McCallum was another in my pin-up collection-and as a member of his fanclub, this one was autographed!

Photos courtesy of:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=the+monkees

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=george+Best

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363771/

http://www.shepherdpress.com/images/Good-Master.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Peter_badge