My teenage years come flooding back

A big thank you for all your good wishes. I feel really good apart from a very slight discomfort having to have a catheter tube in for a while. Due an appointment in the next few days to remove it.

Tower Bridge has a visitor center that takes in the Victorian engine rooms, video showing the construction and at the time we visited several exhibitions. With the exception of the engine rooms everything took place in the two walkways 138 feet above the water. As you can see below a great view of skyscraper London is available.
I have included the bridge picture below because it shows a London bus  just at the point the bridge roadway splits as the bridge opens for shipping to pass. Click HERE.
Great bridges of the world was one exhibit, a second one was of art but the one that really interested me was  The Sixties. 
This just brought back so many memories of my early teenage years in Paddington.

 So before you scroll down through the highlights of my teenage years just click the video and listen to some sixties music while you move down the page.

Above  Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg from the TV series The Avengers.
 Right  Dusty Springfield sadly not with us anymore but a great influence on the sixties music scene.

Left  The Rolling Stones.  



Right Model Jean Shrimpton
                                         

 Childhood cars. Jaquar, Rover, Hillman Imp, Ford Anglia, Triumph Herald, Mini etc. etc.

Rod Stewart                                 Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament marches

Right 
Harold Wilson.
Prime Minister in 1964.





                    Above Mary Quant fashion designer is credited with the mini skirt and hot pants. Vidal Sassoon cut her hair that became very popular with the female population.                                      

The Mods on their Vespas and Lambrettas.  The motor bike riding Rockers. I could never have ridden on something powered by a lawn mower engine so no need to reveal my allegiance.

                                                Model Twiggy

Left Carnaby Street by the end of the sixties it became second to Buckingham Palace as most popular tourist attraction.
Right Not much to say, recognised worldwide.




Formula 1  Graham Hill and Jim Clark were big in F1 both winning the championship twice in the sixties. Sadly this was marred by Jim Clarks death at the wheel in 1968.

 
Left  Peter Cooke and little Dudley Moore.


Right  Peter Sellars famous as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther films.

Architecture in the sixties was a concrete jungle. If you compare this with the picture I took from the Tower Bridge I hope you agree the buildings look far superior 50+ years on.
On the left is the Post Office tower. Not sure of the middle section but on the top right is Trellick Tower now Grade ll listed because of its architectural importance.
Thirty one floors and 217 flats/apartments mostly containing family`s with young children. Commissioned in the 60`s and completed in the early 70`s. This area was my playground and I can tell you this sort of building was not the answer to clearing the slums.

I walked around the area and took the picture on the left. It shows another of two hi rise flats built in 1961 this one is Adair tower and the Trellick tower can be seen in the background. Adair and it`s twin Hazelwood tower were on my newspaper round and as a 13 year old I took my bike in the lift. At each floor I had a delivery I would leave my bag of papers in the lift doorway so the lift would still be there when I returned.
These two blocks in my opinion are far superior in looks than Trellick.
The building of these hi rises was the first steps to clearing the 3 storey slums. A lot of the streets had a mews where the  rag and bone men kept there horses and carts. Not sure of the bone part of the name but they collected rags, metal and newspapers. Some would give a goldfish in a plastic bag as payment. I know if you hadn`t read that here you would have trouble believing it. I called them totters and being a regular delivering papers was recognised and could wander without harm in the area.
Last call on the paper round was a cafe and I always got a good old fry up for breakfast free.

I could go on and on but will just leave you with my mode of transport to school the good old Trolleybus.

I must admit that quite often on a dry day I would walk and spend the fare on sweets.
A link HERE will give some idea of the area I grew up in.