The situation we find ourselves in at the present time is something that not even Mystic Meg could have predicted. Nevertheless it’s where we are, and it’ll bring out the best in most - but unfortunately the worst in many too. On a personal note - and totally in keeping with “A Time To Remember”, I have the greatest sympathy with the many, many people to whom the mention of the Corona Virus will strike dread, even terror, into their minds. Fifty two years ago now, I unfortunately had a nervous breakdown, and although it wasn't caused by what was current in the news at the time, what was current did have a marked effect on my daily life.
Russia’s Nikita Khrushchev was deploying nuclear missiles in Cuba - The Cuban Missile Crisis. And the world held its breath. I feared the worst - that we were heading for a nuclear holocaust. I couldn’t bear to watch or listen to the daily news for months, years even. So I can’t imagine what some individuals are experiencing now. If you come across anyone who is suffering similarly, and there will be some, bear with them. They can’t just ‘snap out of it’ as everyone thinks they should. If you break your leg, you know you’ll be ok in a few months time. Not this though. Two other things current at the time (1967), Procul Harem were top of the pops with ‘Whiter Shade Of Pale’, and Francis Chichester (to be later knighted by the Queen) sailed round Cape Horn in Gypsy Moth IV. They’re times I certainly remember....mention 1967 and I’m back there!
Luckily, two pastimes pulled me through it. Firstly I joined, of all things, a pottery-making class at Nuneaton Technical College, and soon afterwards started attending a club called Nuneaton Moviemakers at their HQ in the Abbey Theatre in Pool Bank Street, Nuneaton. I can thoroughly recommend pottery - throwing clay onto a revolving wheel is one the most absorbing and stress-relieving occupations you can think of. While you’re concentrating on trying to centralise the clay on the wheel, you’ve got nothing else on your mind at all...nothing!! Absolutely wonderful therapy for any stress related problems.
I attended at the ‘Tech’ in Hinckley Road, Nuneaton, under the tuition of Ken Whittingham. Loved it during my time there. In those days, one could attend on the class on a casual basis, you still had to pay - but you didn’t necessarily have to be a student at the college. After a number of years though, the system changed. I could have stayed on - provided I took exams at the end of each year, otherwise - out! I didn’t want that. To me it was a therapeutic hobby, and I considered it wasn’t really a hobby under the pressures of looming exam conditions. Sadly I finished there. I’ve still got many of the items I made. I used to scratch my name and the date made on the base of each piece. The table lamp was made in November 1972, while the other piece bears the date, as you can see, 6/72. I’ve do still have many of the items I made. The whole point of all this though is that I feel we all need to be doing something positive during this challenging period....actually, is there the gist of a short documentary here? Hadn’t thought of it in that way before.