Born on 1 January 1976

Back in 1976, we weren’t just living through a year; we were surviving the greatest heatwave anyone could remember. You couldn’t walk down the high street without seeing "Save Water" posters, and the grass in the park was scorched a crisp, biscuity brown while we all smelled of Ambre Solaire and Tarmac. I remember huddled around the telly for *The Multi-Coloured Swap Shop* or waiting for the haunting theme of *Dr.

Who* to start, though everyone was really talking about the debut of *The Muppet Show*. If you went to the pictures, you were likely queuing for *Rocky* or *Taxi Driver*, though the kids were all obsessed with their new Chopper bikes and those clacking Clackers that nearly took your thumbs off. We’d head to the pub for a lukewarm pint of Watneys Red Barrel and maybe a packet of salt and lineger crisps, while Brotherhood of Man’s "Save Your Kisses for Me" seemed to play on every radio from Penzance to Perth.

It was the year of the first Concorde flight and the Great Drought, but mostly it was just endless blue skies, the taste of a melting Jubilee lolly, and the feeling that the summer would never actually end.