Many many moons ago in a previous incarnation when I was a young officer in the department of the Town Clerk of Liverpool (for those who live outside Britain or are younger than about 50, that was the legal and administrative department of local government) I was at a luncheon sitting next to a young (and ferociously bright) Jon (now John) Sergeant who was a reporter with the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo. It was an inspection of some of the Corporations assets.
The other day I came across his book 'Give Me Ten Seconds' published in 2001 which I read some years ago. Coincidentally I also came across a photograph taken after the luncheon when the Liverpool Corporation bus which was taking everyone on the inspection broke down.
So the ferociously bright Oxford PPE graduate witnessed some of those who would become Liverpool's great and good (and me) push starting a Leyland Atlantean double decker bus.
SO which one is you...bespectacled second one in?
ReplyDeleteYou got it in one Fi.
Delete1960s? (I'm thinking, judging by the women's clothes and hairstyles...)
ReplyDelete2 September 1965 Monica. Spot on.
DeleteAhhh....a great photo...it makes me smile.
ReplyDeleteI wish you a very Merry Christmas Graham...I hope you have a wonderful Christmas shared with those near and dear to you. Take good care...relax and enjoy. :)
Thanks Lee. Your Boxing Day is almost over now so I'm a bit late with antipodean greetings for Christmas. I'll try and do better for the New Year. I hope you had a happy Christmas. I did thanks so your imprecations obviously worked.
DeleteWell, in that day the vehicle would start with a push. I wonder if today's modern wonders would start with a push.
ReplyDeleteI doubt many of them would Red but then the Health and Safety elves would have a hairy fit if we tried to do that these days.
DeleteA grand photograph and I suspect that you had all enjoyed a liquid lunch.
ReplyDeletePerish the thought Adrian! Although come to think of it......
DeleteLike Fi, I'd like to know which one is you, and my first guess was the same as hers :-)
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, Graham!
Yes Meike you got it too.
DeleteExcellent picture! Its is still a fairly usual occurence in India!
ReplyDeleteSometimes Ruby I think that the simpler things are the better. Modern vehicles here are so complex that even home servicing is no longer easy.
DeleteI'm really wondering which one is you!! Merry Christmas, happy new year - and see you (virtually, at any rate) soon!
ReplyDeleteJenny I am the bespectacled one second from the right. It was to be several years before I grew my beard.
DeleteThe suspense is killing me, is that you in the glasses, the second one in, as others have guessed above? What a great photo, I love they point out that the woman in the hat (Ruth Dean I think it said was her name) was much amused! :-) Happy Christmas to you and Happy New Year! Now, don't go around pushing any buses today, okay? :-)
ReplyDeleteKay you are correct: a very young me. Ruth Dean was regarded as clever, funny and very attractive: she became Lord Mayor of Liverpool. I think my bus-pushing days are over.
DeleteWhen I say THREE...... PUSH!
ReplyDeleteYes Cro. It does seem quite strange that we should try and push-start a double decker bus which, when fully laden with almost 100 passengers, weighed about 16 tonnes. Looking back I wonder how it was possible though not because of it's weight: I thought they had semi-automatic pre-selector gearboxes.
DeleteAs others have suggested, I think you are the younger fellow second from the right. You have a distinctive profile that has not changed through the years.
ReplyDeleteA distinctive profile eh YP? That takes me back to schooldays and being called 'peanut head'.
DeleteDon't recognise any of them! Only kidding - I obviously know my brother and so, it seems, does everyone else despite the passage of the years.
ReplyDeleteYes CJ: the passage of years and the growing of a beard and the loss of my upper-head hair and I still can't disguise myself.
DeleteYes that's you alright...what a lovely head of hair....oh for those days again....the simple days of eating lunch with colleagues and push starting buses.
ReplyDeleteYes Virginia I did have quite a lot of hair in those days: not any more I'm afraid.
DeleteThe days of our youth, what a fun and memorable time!
ReplyDeleteSo true Cat. Although, to be honest, I had more fun in my sixties the I recall having in my 20s.
DeleteFun story and photo.
ReplyDeleteThanks Terra.
DeleteMy apologies, Graham...I missed a couple of your responses to my previous posts...having only just discovered them today, 4th January. I have, however, now left a response to your responses. Better late than never it has been said! :)
ReplyDeleteLee don't worry about it. I know how easy it is to forget to comment or miss a comment even when one has read it in the incoming emails. I'm afraid I often take too long to respond. It's one of the problems of being retired: too much to do!
Delete