In summer 1968 I was stood outside "Franks Cycle Shop" Station Road,Twyford,talking to Frank,the proprietor,who only had a couple of fingers on each hand,about some bits I needed for a Raleigh Wisp Moped my Dad had bought from him a few months before.Mid conversation and without warning he walked off and left me there as he rushed across to a Rolls-Royce which had pulled up,driven by the band-leader Billy Cotton,he of "Wakey Wakey" fame and with his "friend" singer Kathy Kay in the passenger seat. Billy Cotton lived Hurst way I think and had recently bought two Raleigh Wisps from Franks,clearly making him a more valued customer...plus he was famous!......sensing Frank was going to ignore me 'til Billy buggered off,I left.......
When I was at junior School,crossing the road,where we lived at least,was fairly simple and fairly safe as you could here a Car or Bus or Lorry coming along the road long before it ever got to you. That's how it has become now to some extent with the road where we are suddenly going from having thousands of vehicles pass by daily to falling eerily quiet such that,even though Cars are more silent than they used to be,you can now hear them approaching way before you see them. In this new found silence we can hear Bird-Song that used to be drowned out by the traffic noise,hear the Frogs in the Pond croak and splash,hear children playing in a garden several Houses away,hear a Lawn-Mower somewhere and Alright Now by Free playing on someone's Radio who knows where. Our local Town is empty of people,almost all shops and businesses are shut and every day seems like a Sunday. Most of us now have more time on our hands than ever before and most people aren't making any money at t...
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