Looking Back

I've kept a number of my diaries and from time to time, I look through them. Most of them I used when I was working and as I leaf through the pages, I see to do lists, meetings and appointments and post-it notes full of reminders to call people I once knew. My, wasn't I busy then... Where I've written notes, I am able to rekindle events in my mind such as when I was particularly busy at work, on-call and earning ridiculous amounts of money. I recall meetings with friends and girlfriends, long before I became married and a father. I remember with fondness days when I could do anything, buy anything and not worry about putting petrol in the car. I would drive for miles simply for the hell of it and not think twice about spending another £30 or £40 on a tank of fuel. My diaries speak of a different age and a different life, though scarily not that long ago.

I'm so glad I that wrote so many notes. I would moan about the hotel I stayed in, for I stayed in hotels for three months during my move from London to Peterborough in 2001/2. I would write about the food I'd eaten, the places I had been to and the people I had met. I would record when people I knew had died and I would note important world events.
Looking through my 2001 diary, I reach the page marked 11th September and see that I was busy building computers for use at my new Peterborough site. I see that I have written 'WTC bombing' and highlighted it in bright red. I'm surprised I didn't write more, but what could I write? I was in shock, we all were. The event was too big for words. On that day, everything stopped for a while and I joined the rest of my Churchill IT colleagues to watch live coverage. In the days after, life went on. The pages for the rest of the week show meetings, appointments and things to do with work that I needed to remember.
The pages from my diaries speak of a time when my life was dominated by work, by responsibility and of money. It all feels so alien to me now and I feel when I read the diaries as if I am reading about the life of somebody else, rather than me.
As I look through the pages of my 2001 diary, I find the day when my budgerigar 'Rubick' died - Tuesday 29th May. I see also the day my mate and colleague 'Blob' returned to work with us after a stint running his own company. I see that on the 23rd April I won £359, though I've no idea how or why. I also find the week when my Nan died and recall how left work early and drove like a maniac to get to the hospital in time.
Most of the pages in my diaries haven't been opened since the day they were written. Little did I know then just how valuable they would be to me in the future. Of course they are personal to me and most of what I've written will be meaningless to most people. Many of the entries made carry with them their own particular memories and recollections - some good and some bad and that I'd rather forget. There are things I've written which I don't understand such as on Monday 25th May 1998 were I've written the words 'Suffolk' and 'Dump'.
Amongst all the scribbles, the arrows and hundreds of phone numbers is a record of my professional past. It was a different world back then. Of course, it wasn't perfect but I lived for the day and didn't need to worry about the future. My diaries are a window on the past, my past and the way I used to live and work. They are the only link to who I used to be and the people I used to know... I'm glad I've kept them.

Domesday Reloaded

Today the BBC have unveiled 'Domesday Reloaded'. I expect few people will remember the Domesday Project of the mid-80's. I do. It was a project headed by the BBC to record what life was like in the UK during 1986. It involved many thousands of people contributing articles and photographs, all of which was put together into a vast electronic library and written to laser disc. Unfortunately the cost of the machines needed to play the discs placed the Domesday records out of the reach of most people except the odd school, library or museum. But now, the data has been converted to today's standards and it has all been released on the Internet for all to enjoy - 25 years after it was produced.
I do remember the hype surrounding it and I also remember our school submitting material for it. It was a big event but back then I didn't realise just how important it was. It was something the grown-ups were doing. I do recall not longer after, seeing BBC Micro computers springing up in libraries and I recall seeing one at our central library down in Bromley - where I grew up. Of course by todays standards, it was basic but back then it was way ahead of its time and cutting-edge.

I've had a browse through it online and I'm amazed at what has been captured. Unlike a typical reference site, the information is made up of small articles. They are all written in a very basic format - as if by youngsters and provide a vaulable nugget of information for any place in the UK during 1986. The photo above shows Raglan Road, the road in which I went to school. The houses are typical of where I lived and grew-up.



It is all the more fantastic as all the articles are based on random everyday things. One such article reads;

We found that most of the shops
that are in Chatterton Road do not
sell food. Some of the older people
that we interviewed said that they did
all their shopping here because you
can buy everything you need and it is
such a friendly place.
Some we interviewed said that they
found the shops a little more
expensive than in Bromley ad so they
did their main shopping at large
supermarkets nearby.
In Chatterton Road there are four
takeaway food shops, a chemist and
Post Office in the same building and a
supermarket. There are several shops
which sell household goods and car
accessorioes. There are quite a few
service shops such as an estate
agent, two hairdressers, dry cleaners,
travel agents and hire shops.
The road is often very busy.

For instance, the M25 is mentioned as being not quite complete. The A17 bypass near to where I live hadn't been built and the subsequent traffic through the village of Long Sutton is mentioned.
It really is an amazing accomplishment and I take my hat off to all involved.
Another wonderfully written article gives a view of public transport in Bromley at the time...

Our transport these days in London 10th
July 1985 is not very good.The
transport takes too long to come_
that's buses.They are always late and
when they come the buses are packed and
they say only one on top sometimes.
The old people sometimes have to go up-
stairs and when their not even half way
up he rings the bell and they could
easily fall and hurt themselves.And
when somebody's running for the bus the
conductor does see him or her and rings
the bell so that the bus goes.Some
people jump on the bus and they could
easily fall and hurt themselves.On the
rectangled buses there are 28 seats
downstairs.And they let them still
stand on the bus.

So wonderful. This is another example of a genuine article;

Today 1985 their is alot of electric
equipment about. eg televisions, light,
microwave ovens. I will explain which
each one is about:
TELEVISION: This is a form of
entertainment. Actors and actresses
perform; films, soap operas, music
plays, series, and things like that.
Television has been around for about
since the 1950's.
MICROWAVE AND OTHER COOKING EQUIPMENT:
Microwave is a oven but this cooks
food quicker. A kettle is something
you boil a cup of tea or hot drink in.
Oven's and hobbs are something that you
cook your meals in. soda stream is a
fizzy drink's maker. Mr Frosty is a
milk shake maker, there are lots more
kitchen appliances but they are not so
well known.
VIDEO: A Video is connected to the
television and it can record things

I recommend a visit to this unique window on our past: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday