I AM well past my retirement age but I will always remember the days when I was a young teenager.

There was no televisions in those days. Dick Barton special agent, and his two friends Snowy and Jock were on the radio at tea time.

This programme kept us glued to our seats until it was bed time.

Our carpets were made from old clothes and called clippy mats.

They were lovely and warm in front of a nice coal fire.

Big coal fires kept the house warm in those days. It was also handy for roasting potatoes on a cold winter’s evening.

I remember during the war the air raid warden would often knock on our door and say you were shining a light out of your windows.

There was a happiness and a feeling of togetherness in those days because, I think, we were all in the same boat.

We all had nothing together, but what we had would often be shared with our next door neighbours.

Will those 1950s days ever return? I hope not.

The past should be left to the historians.

Jimmy Taylor, Coxhoe.