As the autumn drew to a close, I remember reflecting on what a year it had been.
There had been two general elections, one in February and the other in October, both of which had resulted in minority Labour governments. The price of oil had quadrupled, and the stock market had lost a uniquely awful TWO THIRDS of its value. The year had started with the end of the three-day week, and in October the country ran out of sugar; you just couldn’t buy it in the shops. This meant I had tea and coffee without sugar for the first time ever, and have never added sugar to either of those beverages since.
During exactly the first half of the year those months marked the final wearisome days of Girlfriend 26, and of course I had worked for money in a modern manufacturing industry. I had also sat on two juries.
Most of the space in the car when I travelled to university was taken up by the 320 LPs I had, the Garrard SP 25 record deck, an Amstrad amplifier, and two fairly massive Wharfedale speakers. These days, of course, you could transport a whole load more music in a device not much bigger than a postage stamp.
Anyway, amongst the most recently added LPs was that “Live” Fairport Convention one, to which we shall return next time.
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