Those of you at our monthly meeting in September will have enjoyed the interesting talk by Nick Bailey, covering his career in radio broadcasting from pirate radio through to Classic FM. Nick also used a number of musical snippets to illustrate his talk.
Music has that powerful ability to remind us of past events. I’m sure that Georgina and the Psychology group can explain why this is, far more eloquently and intellectually than I can, but those small pieces of music certainly took many of us, present in the hall, on a trip down memory lane. I know a number of you shared the same experience as I did when he played the theme music from “Family Favourites” – we were, suddenly, back having Sunday dinner, the roast on the table, jug of gravy in hand and listening to the radio in the background play requests for people in BFPO 19 or other, seemingly, far flung places around the world.
The same came when he played clips from old pirate radio stations – for a fleeting moment we were teenagers again, listening to music on an old transistor radio (Radio Luxembourg in my case) kept under the pillow so our parents wouldn’t know.
I know we’re sharing similar such experiences in the new “Vinyl and Vino” groups – people are choosing old albums they haven’t played for 40-50 years and listening to those elicits memories of where it was bought, who we listened to it with etc. It is certainly a great way to stimulate thoughts and discussions about all sorts of things.
Music isn’t the only thing that does that, as I was also reminded of in another group I’m a member of. For our birdwatching group, Steve has planned a trip to Old Moor reserve, which is near Wath upon Dearne. In the early 1980’s I played rugby for Sheffield Oaks, and Wath was one of the teams we played, regularly. Now I can’t recall whether their pitch was in the shadows of the Maggot Factory, but on certain days it certainly fell within the “Odour Zone”. Steve’s email notifying us of the trip stimulated and reminded my olfactory senses of those days – he assures me the reserve is nothing like that!
Of course, not all smells stimulating memories are unpleasant. We also used to play a team near Guiseley, Leeds. Some of you might know that Guiseley was where the original Harry Ramsden’s fish and chip shop was. On a freezing cold, wet, February afternoon, being stuck on the wing where the ball never reached (because
everyone kept dropping it) but, with the delicious and warming smell of fish and chips wafting across the pitch, it was both glorious and a form of mental torture at the same time!
I hope some of the activities in the groups you belong to also helps to unlock those happy memories of
people, places, and times gone by.
Mike Freemantle Chair