Back in the Day by Melvyn Bragg

 

Melvyn Bragg was born in 1939 so just five years before me. So there was much that I found familiar about the story of his childhood and youth. So this review is not just about the book, but other personal stuff that I conjured up from my past. So when he starts with his grandmother when he was six, I am remembering mine. Mine were polar opposites. My father's mother had pretensions of grandeur while my mother came from a family of miners and steelworkers. So mum and dad had hugely different backgrounds. When my brother and I went to stay with my mother's parents, there was an outside lavatory and the toilet paper was newspaper cut into squares.

There is a note about manager of a bank who lived in the flat above. Ours was above one of the shops that my father used to work for. The first at Alton in Staffordshire, then in London and finally in Braintree in Essex. I enjoyed reading about Bragg's childhood when his parents ran a pub. There is one terrific chapter that records the fights there, all sorted by his father. "It was only later, much later, I appreciated how strong my father was". Then chapters on playing football in the park (Kensington Gardens for us), holidays at home, books (Biggles, Jennings and Just William. But no Enid Blyton for us), The Goon Show on the radio (we listened to The Navy Lark, Educating Archie and Hoirney into Space, but these were a little later). But Melvyn and I were listening to Radio Luxemberg at the same time, crackly reception and all. And we both had bags of chips from the fish and chip shop. Marbles in the gutter, for us a drain cover. Bonfire night.

When Bragg goes to grammar school he remembers all the names of his teachers. More than I can. He plays rugby for the highly successful Wigton Schools and their brilliant coach Jimmie Morton. Going unbeaten in the north west for four years! In the 6th form he knuckles down to working hard. If only my teachers had been half as good. (See separate post). His Saturday night dances were at Wigton Market Hall. Mine were at Great Dunmow Jazz Club. But his huge commitment to study with the support of some excellent teachers brings huge success in his "A Levels". This leading to an entrance exam and interview for Queens College, Oxford, with an offer for a scholarship after his National Service. Only shortly after he was no longer needed to join up. An alternative for Wadam College is again successful. All because, as his teacher tells his father, he has "a rare capacity for hard work". Thank goodness it's rare as I only found such commitment in my career.