Remember

I remember a time when you could only buy ready salted, salt and vinegar or cheese and onion crisps (chips for the American audience). The introduction of beef flavuor was a wonderful thing. Now we have salsa flavour amongst hedgehog and probably pea soup.

I remember when the boxy shaped Ford Transit was brought out and my father bought one. Wow, you'd struggle to exagerate how cool I thought this was. I deeply admired the cab and the size and the newness. It fuelled a great desire for commercial transportation a passion that has dwindled.

I remember when the M27 was turned from woodland to road. I walked about 4 or 5 miles to watch the construction equipment in action. There's only one thing more exciting than a new Ford Transit and that's the site of a mechanical digger, I believe excavator is the right term, loading a one of those earth moving trucks with big wheels. Hours of fun watching the heavy machinery at work.

Don't get me started in tractors. The Ford County, what a magnificent beast. This was the first I knew of tractors with all four wheels the same size. I remain particularly fond of John Deere, big fords and of course my favourite Massey Ferguson. On the lead up to my sixteenth birthday I carefully planned and nurtured dreams of having a tractor, I really did. I honestly thought this was a feasible aspiration. Knowing that you could drive a tractor on the public road at 16 this was my ticket to freedom. Needless to say I was disappointed.

Then I remember dreams of high yeald vegtable growing. My father very kindly rented a large maching for rotating the earth and I transformed a plot of land from waste to production. From my large pile of rotted rabbit manure I fertilzed the ground and produced a bumper crop of broad beans. I had great farming plans. From the library I got books out about sillage making and cattle husbandry and made mental plans. Hours and hours of mental plans involving farm machinery, sillage, a large farmhouse and a life in the country. I kid you not this was the mind of the foureteen year old Adrian.