Memories

I attempted to do a little sorting out today, but household jobs got in the way a bit and I didn’t get very much done. I know it all needs to be drastically reduced before I’ve sold the flat and can move permanently to Tiptree, but I find it hard to go through things from Mum and Dad’s life there while at the same time being fully aware that it’s not possible to keep everything. It feels somehow disrespectful, even though I know they don’t need their earthly possessions any more. And so the procrastination has dragged on for many months. I have to regularly remind myself that Mum actually told me more than once to put my own stamp on the place and make it my own if I decided to stay there. I’ve also got my own lifetime’s worth of stuff to sort and pack up at the flat.

My Blip for today is a combination of my own and the BBC’s history. It’s a souvenir booklet from the BBC’s 50th Anniversary exhibition in 1972 at the Langham, across the road from Broadcasting House and then owned by the BBC. I was 12 years old, and Mum and Dad took me up to London to see it. Five years later I was there again to take a few tests in shorthand and typing inside the Langham and, after an interview, I was offered a post as a secretary at the World Service. Another eight years after that I had finally landed my dream job as a Radio Studio Manager, and was back in the Langham learning the ropes in the BBC’s training studios there before being let loose on live programmes for the next thirty years. What memories!

The original paper bag which the souvenir book came in is shown in my extra below.