Hello, it's Revd Jude here for Revd Rhian - get well soon Rhian!
As I child in the 1960's I was given a transistor radio by my mum and dad. That radio became like a best friend. I remember listening to Family Favourites on a Sunday. I learned quite a lot too. I listened to music mostly but also the news - I remember listening to the Apollo missions and I remember hearing about Senator Edward Kennedy's assassination at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in 1968. I also listened to Wimbledon and the 1970 FIFA World Cup, managing to learn all the names of the Brazilian and Netherlands players.
When my family took a journey in the car, as we didn't have a car radio, I took my transistor along and had the brick sized radio pinned firmly under my ear to listen to Radio 2 or, if it was night time, Radio Luxemburg. I found that I enjoyed many genres of music along the way, although I never really understood Jazz and my ears never really appreciated heavy metal!
As a new mum at home when Mike and I moved from our comfortable life in the Midlands surrounded by family and many wonderful friends, I reconnected with the radio and would listen to Radio 4 - particularly women's hour and the afternoon play.
These days I am usually tuned in to Classic FM but I still enjoy Radio 2 where we can hear punk one minute and bluegrass the next, or even a 'phone in about the news story of the day.
The wireless radio, which grew from the telegraphic communications - a game changer in the 1800s for communication across the world - was attributed to Marconi but there were so many others involved in the production of the eventual wireless radio like the one I used as a child. Names like Hertz and Tesla jump out of the history pages but my favourite has to be the following:
In 1994 an inventor named Trevor Baylis (CBE) invented the amazing wind-up radio. Instead of relying on batteries or external electrical source, the radio is powered by the user winding a crank. This stores energy in a spring which then drives an electrical generator. Mr Baylis invented the radio in response to the need to communicate information about AIDS to the "people of Africa".
Of course we can have solar powered radio nowadays but I will always have a soft spot for my battery operated Transistor Radio.
Our lovely friend, Penny Snowden, has sent me some thoughts to include today - many thanks Penny!
Do you remember when ... On collecting your milk from the doorstep you made the discovery that the silver foil tops of the bottles had been pecked to reach the creamy top of the milk underneath?
This has become part of British folklore but it’s a sight that is rarely seen nowadays. The culprit was the blue tit. They are well-adapted to gardens and towns and will visit bird tables and peanut feeders. So how did the blue tit learn to peck the milk bottle tops and why did it stop? Blue tits are sociable and flock together and this appears to allow them to learn faster and increase their chances to evolve and survive.
By the 1950s the entire UK blue tit population had learnt how to pierce the bottle tops to reach the cream. With the introduction of semi-skimmed and skimmed milk and the decrease of doorstop deliveries this phenomenon has practically died out.
At this time of year the swallows and house martins are leaving us and the weather is changing. Our thoughts turn to warm firesides. The outdoors is less favourable and indoors has its attractions for those who really belong outdoors! There have been reports of a bat in a bedroom and field mice infiltrating outhouses and garages, poised for a chance to join us. There are also a lot of daddy long legs inside which like to fly towards us with their long spindly legs. Beautiful golden days and low sun match the leaves turning.
