Your letter from Pat Stevenson (11 January) highlighted my long-held suspicion that our recollections of political occasions in our childhood are depending on the political ambiance wherein we’re raised.
With a seven-year head begin in your correspondent, I can bear in mind (aged three) Hugh Gaitskell’s election to guide Labour, the Suez disaster (4), Labour’s rejection of unilateralism (eight) and Harold Macmillan’s “winds of change” speech in 1960.
Earlier than my retirement, my colleagues of an analogous age had no such recollections. However they didn’t develop up in a working-class dwelling with a father steeped in native Labour get together historical past, who was extra more likely to talk about Rab Butler or the allocation of tax liabilities within the impending finances than he was to sentence pop singers who mumbled their lyrics.
After all, it may all be genetic, this retention of early recollections (sure, Pat Stevenson and I are siblings).
Anne Cruise
Swindon, Wiltshire
I bear in mind clearly the day King George VI died. My sixth birthday fell on 6 February 1952, and I used to be excited as this was my first birthday at toddler college. However we weren’t allowed to have playtime that day trip of respect. Not been a lover of the royals since.
Sally Bunyan
Billericay, Essex
An abiding reminiscence for this pensioner is the ecstatic cheering of my dad and mom when the outcomes of the 1964 election got here in. Equally for my sons in 1997 and hopefully my grandchildren sooner or later.
Bob Epton
Brigg, Lincolnshire
