Born on 1 January 1964

Back in 1964, it felt like the whole world was finally turning from monochrome to Technicolor. If you’d walked into a pub like this one, you’d have found us hunched over a pint of mild or perhaps a Watneys Red Barrel, with the jukebox absolutely buzzing—usually to the tune of *Can’t Buy Me Love* or Cilla Black’s *Anyone Who Had a Heart*. It was the year of the "Mods and Rockers" clashes down at Margate, but in our living rooms, we were all united by the telly.

We’d huddle around the set for the very first *Top of the Pops* or hide behind the sofa when the Daleks turned up in *Doctor Who*. Food was simple but changing; you might treat the family to a Vesta Beef Risotto if you were feeling posh, or a Wimpy burger if you were out on the town. It was a cracking year for cinema, too—everyone was whistlin' the tunes from *Mary Poppins* or talking about Sean Connery’s silver Aston Martin in *Goldfinger*.

The kids were obsessed with their new Action Man or those brightly coloured Slinkys, and despite the "Great Freeze" of the year before, the summer of ’64 actually gave us some decent sun for the bank holidays. It was a proper, optimistic time, you know? Like we were all standing on the edge of something big.