Collecting Tolkien - Board Games

This is the first of a series of blog entries to go through some of my Tolkien collection.

I don't want these blogs to be a detailed look at each area, there are specialist websites for that and I don't want to do a blog entry for nearly every piece in my collection (there are 1000s), I wanted to have a general look at MY collection.

First up is Board Games because it was what sparked my Tolkien Collecting interest in the first place.

A few websites to mention:

http://www.freewebs.com/tolkienboardgamecollecting/

https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/1000/lord-rings-games-definitive-list

And this is a very good article: http://www.armchairgeneral.com/gaming-in-the-world-of-j-r-r-tolkien-an-overview-from-middle-earth.htm

Total Items: 105

The first game to mention is War of the Ring (by SPI). This game basically got me into Tolkien collecting. I was addicted to the books, but it wasn't until I became aware of this game that I realised there was more than just the books. The funny thing was, although I played this game, I didn't get my own copy until quite a few years later. I played this game when I was a teenager, as part of the our board games group, and it is a great game which catches the essence of Lord of the Rings very well. It is a hex based game (which means that movement is not fixed, you can go anywhere) and I have various versions of it, including a Bakshi Movie version. I also have the 2 single companion games Gondor and Sauron. One of the the highlights of my Tolkien collection is a Polish version of this game. I also have some magazines which feature this game, particularly the magazine Moves (one features a variation of the rules). Wanted: The Designer version and a full copy of the flat packaging version (the one I have is incomplete).

The next games I got were also from the 80s, by Iron Crown. First there was The Fellowship of the Ring then The Lonely Mountain and finally Riddle of Ring (which is reasonably rare). These are are also hex games, but with smaller boards. I then got another Iron Crown hex game, Battle of the Five Armies. I have subsequently got 2 older 70's versions of this game, one boxed by TSR (which is quite rare) and another bagged version by Lore (which is rarer still).

There are a few more bagged only hex based games from the 70's which are all very rare, I have Siege of Minas Tirith. Wanted: Battle for Helms Deep, There and Back Again (West Coast Games) and Battle of the Ring (only available from the Wargammer magazine #1).

There are a few 70s games which are all fairly rare, I have Quest of the Magic Ring (by Land of Legend), The Hobbit (by MB) and The Hobbit Game (by American Publishing Corp). Wanted: War of the Ring: The Game of Middle Earth (Fantasy Games Unlimited) and Conquest of the Ring (by Hobbit Toys and Games).

There are a few board games from the Bakshi film which I have (I do collect Bakshi stuff specifically), The Lord of the Rings, Recall and a version of SPI's War of The Ring.

I also have The Hobbit Adventure Board Game (by Iron Crown) from the 90s and a German version.

I also have another interesting German game called Ringgeister from this time period.

I didn't get many more games for a while, in fact there was a bit of lull in Tolkien games published during the 80s and 90s. The next game I got had a big release, The Lord of the Rings (by Fantasy Flight) designed by Reiner Knizia with art work by the renowned Tolkien artist John Howe, which came out just before the films. I have 2 signed limited editions of this, as well as two releases of the normal version, and the 2 extensions. Wanted: Thin box revised edition.

The first game I got following the release of the films was Risk. This is based on the traditional board game, which is one of my favourites, and I have various LOTR film versions of this game (Basic, Trilogy, Conquest (European edition) and Middle Earth). I also have the rare Gondor and Mordor expansion set.

Then there is Monopoly. Like Risk, this is based on the tradition board game. Again there are various film (LOTR and Hobbit) based versions of this. I have about 6 versions including a recently added Hobbit Trilogy version.

In the traditional games category I also have a LOTR Backgammon, Scrabble, Draughts, Dominoes and Stratego (all movie themed).

Tolkien Chess sets should be a separate area of collecting in its own right, however I don't have a lot of these. I do have a Royal Selangor Limited Edition pewter set and 4 versions based on the LOTR films.

Following the films there has been quite a lot of Tolkien based games.

Each of the LOTR and Hobbit films had its own game, there are also different games from America and Germany. I have about 12 of these games in total.

I also have various other film tie in games, Lord of the Rings Labyrinth, Battle of Destiny (I have two different themed versions), Tri-Memo, 3 Magic games (Triangle, Square and Hex), plus a few German games.

There were a few simple kid games which I have, The Confrontation (by Fantasy Flight), I also have a German and a Deluxe version, The Duel (by Kosmos), The Search (by Kosmos) and Lord of Rings (by Eagle Games).

There have also been a whole series of some larger games by Fantasy Flight which I have. The Hobbit (Wanted: Imagination version), War of the Ring (original and second edition - published by Ares Games) and 1 expansion (Battles of the Third Age) and 2 add-on (Warriors, Lords x2 - one a German version), The Battle of Five Armies, Middle Earth Quest and Hunt for the Ring. Along with a smaller game Lord of the Rings Journey to Mordor.

I also have The Hobbit: Defeat of the Evil Dragon Smaug (by Sophisticated Games) and a second edition of this game The Hobbit: Defeat of Smaug (by Playroom).

There are various factual based games which I have, Lord of the Rings Oracle, Lord of the Rings Tarot, Trivial Pursuit (2 versions) and Lord of the Rings Trivia (by Fantasy Flight).

There are a couple of Lego board games which I have, The Hobbit and the rarer Battle of Helms Deep.

Battle of Five Armies (by Games Workshop) is actually a wargame I have, however it is very limited in size and self contained (in a single box, with a few additional bits available) so I count this as a boardgame. It is quite rare.

Nazgul (Lord of the Rings), Journey to the Lonely Mountain and The Lord of the Rings Dice Building Game (by Wizkids) are 3 wargames/board/card game crosses I have, these are variations/extensions of the Heroclix wargame system.

Wizards Dual (by Games Workshop) is actually part of their wargames series, but it is a standalone mini hex game.

War games, Roleplaying games and Card games are all separate areas.

Favourite Books

I have already said how much I like reading in my very first blog entry, in which I touched upon some of the books I like, so this entry is all about my favourite books.

There are so many books I have liked, a lot by the same authors, but the ones below are those that are special to me. I have also put in the covers of the versions of each book which I have fondest memories of.

I also make no apology for the number of Fantasy/Sci-Fi on the list.

First on the list is Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien, the greatest book ever written. I have read this book many times and still love it. It is the classic genre Fantasy and it set the benchmark which no other Fantasy has reached again. It defined and introduced so much of the mainstay of the Fantasy genre. The depth of the world created is immense, with an incredible back history (a lot if it told in the also brilliant Silmarillion). The scale of the story is epic and the characters are brilliant. This book also spawned my major collecting habit.

Next is my second favourite book, Night Watch by Terry Pratchett. I could have included nearly all 40 of the Discworld series, they are just brilliant, but Night Watch is my favourite. I have read it many times and I enjoy it as much each time. I would say that you should read the preceding 5 guards novels first in order to get the full impact, particularly getting to know the excellent characters. The main character, the reluctant hero Sam Vimes, is one of the best created by Pratchett and is central in many ways to the brilliance of the book. This book has all the usual stuff in Discworld books, the humour, the real world parody, the great characters, the good writing. But what's really great about this book is the emotion, you really feel the characters and what they are going through, and they are very real. The story is excellent and the time travelling actually works, a very hard thing for a story to pull off.

To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee was one of the first classics I read when I started to read more than just Fantasy. It is an excellent book, full of atmosphere. I liked the fact that it is told from a child's nieve perspective but manages to tackle some serious race/justice issues. I also think that the film is very good (very few films of books are).

My next selection is 1984 by George Orwell. It may be a bit bleak, but it is iconic and a wonderfully envisioned view of the future. It is superbly written and very atmospheric. This was one of the first books I read in a book club.

Sheri S Tepper was an author I was introduced too when I was only reading Fantasy. Her writing is very good. I like lots of Tepper books and I will do a whole blog entry on her in the future, as i do collect her books, but Beauty is my favourite. It blends lots of classic fairy stories together into the real world (she did it long before the latest fad for this). It is very quirky and a bit weird. It is also more Sci-Fi than Fantasy. Like all of Tepper books it highlights a lot of moral issues (sexism, over population, abuse of natural resources etc) but does so very subtly and well.

I do like a lot of young adult books, although they can have a bit more simplistic style of writing. I find that they often tackle interesting and challenging topics within good story lines. One of the best is Wonder by R J Palacio. The way this book looks at the same story from the viewpoint of various characters is very interesting and very well done. It also looks at some serious issues very well.

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card is pure Sci-Fi and has one of the best endings to a book ever, I did not see it coming (It actually changed the way I read, in that I now think a lot more about where a story is going). I think the ending makes or breaks a book, it can make an ok book a good book or ruin a perfectly good book (I might do a blog entry of books with good endings). Saying this Enders Game is not just about the ending, it is well written and a good story which builds up gradually.

The next book is a book which I loved reading with all of my kids, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. It is a perfect interactive and fun way to introduce books to kids. I love the story and it is also educational.

I'm not a zombie fan at all, but World War Z by Max Brooks is just brilliant. very well written. The scope of it is huge, it presents the story in a very real, and global, way, with no aspect ignored.

One Day by David Nicholls is a great way to tell a story. I loved the yearly concept, and yes it is a bit romantic but there's nothing wrong with that. What makes this story great is its ending, such an impacting twist and you don't see it coming, very, very emotional.

Another Sci-Fi next, a real classic, Foundation (trilogy) by Isaac Asimov. This is the first real space Sci-Fi I read and was a great introduction to the genre. It really is an epic which just grows and grows with some major twists along the way. It is very cleverly thought out. I love the way it starts off small and just gets bigger and bigger. You do have to read the first 3 in the series. The rest are ok but they are a bit more drawn out and also a bit weirder.

l like unusual and quirky books and Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde has a large dose of both. Again a young adult book with an interesting concept. A dystopia where social standing is determine by a persons ability to see colour, what more could you want, just brilliant. It is very well written, humorous and a great story.

Another emotional story is Me Before You by JoJo Moyes. It looks and starts like a chick lit, but don't be deceived, it actually has great depth. Despite tackling some serious issues it still keeps a level of fun ness. Actually it is the characters which make this such a great book, along with a thought provoking ending.

The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton was a huge influence in my reading as it started my love for Fantasy. I loved this book, along with the others in the series (and also the Adventures of the Wishing Chair), and read them many times. This book may also have induced my love for reading altogether.

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi is a wonderful dystopian story about genetics, politics and corruption. It is incredibly atmospheric. The story is excellent and so are the characters. I read this book whilst on a business trip to Vietnam which was an amazing experience, enhanced by this book.

A few other books worth a mention are Day of the Triffids, Hunger Games, Wolf Hall, Harry Potter, The Help, American Gods, The Book Thief, Life of Pie and Cloud Atlas.

Terry Pratchett and Discworld

This blog entry is about my 2nd favourite author and another of my collecting obsessions, Terry Pratchett.

Everybody remembers their first Discworld book with fondness and I am the same. My first was Mort and I loved It from the start, the character of Death is one of Pratchett's greatest achievements. From then on I was hooked on Discworld.

But why do I love his books? Here are 10 good reasons:

First, there are so many fantastic characters. Death, Granny, Vimes, The Librarian, Nanny, Tiffany, Rincewind, The Luggage, The Patrician, Moist, Carrot, Angua, Dibbler etc, the list goes on and on. And they are brilliant characters, some of the best written in fiction. You really do love them.

Second, the humour. It is subtle, it is very funny and there is a lot of it.

Third, the stories. There are so many great stories.

Fourth, the emotion. A lot of the books have got real emotion to them. You really buy into the stories and situations and they pull on your emotions.

Fifth, the real world issues in a fantasy context. The way real world issues, even big issues, are explored within a fantasy, but real, setting is brilliant.

Sixth, the whole series. Although each book can be read on its own, the whole series, and sub series, links together to give you something even more special. And there are over 40 books to enjoy.

Seventh, they are unique. There is nothing like them, just try to find anything close.

Eighth, the Discworld. A flat world, on the backs of four elephants, on the back of a giant turtle swimming through the universe. What more do you need.

Ninth, there are no chapters. Just readable sized chunks.

Finally the man himself. He was such a great man. British, humble (always grateful to his fans), genuine (he didn't start out to be a writer) and principled (right to the end).

So which are my favourite books?

My top ten are:
1. Night Watch - just brilliant, so very emotional and time travelling.

2. Going Postal - great story, the Moist character is excellent.

3. Small Gods - a god trapped in a tortoise with only one believer, enough said.

4. The Wee Free Men - very atmospheric, Tiffany is a great character and it has Nac Mac Feegles.

5. Moving Pictures - a wonderful parody of the movie industry.

6. Mort - Death is a genius character and he takes on an apprentice, plus it's the first Discworld book I read.

7. Monstrous Regiment - a great story with great characters, exploring war, woman's rights and racism.

8. Guards Guards - the first of the amazing guards series, a fantastic group of characters.

9. I Shall Wear Midnight - the peak of the wonderful Tiffany series.

10. Soul Music - a parody of the music industry, with some great humour.

There are a few weaker books, still good but, in my opinion, not to the same level as the others (although some people like these a lot). I'm not a big fan of Pyramids, Eric, The Last Hero or Hogfather.

Another thing I like about the Discworld books is the original cover artwork by Josh Kirby. It is original, fun and iconic, and I'm sure it added to the books original popularity. It is a shame that he died and couldn't do the whole series.

There has always been a heated argument about what is the best order to read the books. This is mainly based on the fact that the first 2 books (Colour of Magic and Light Fantasitic) are a bit weirder than the rest of the series and people can be put off if they read these first, therefore a lot of people, me included, recommend that you should start with one of the others (I always recommend Guards Guards). The other camp insist that the series should be read in order. I have been involved in a few heated exchanges on Goodreads about this.

There have been a few tv/film adaptations of some of the Discworld books. I'm not a fan of the 2 animated films. The newer tv films are better, very well made and quite good, I liked Going Postal, but I thought David Jason was poor casting as Rincewind in Colour Of Magic and Hogfather.

Collecting Pratchett and Discworld stuff is another of my hoarding obsessions. Unlike Tolkien there is not as much to actually collect. There are the books themselves, and the various versions.

 I have all of the series in paperback (a lot in different versions) and almost all of them in hardback, in fact the highlight of my Pratchett collection is a first edition Eric (which I got from a car boot for £1).

I have a lot of the Clarecraft figures, which are excellent. It was a shame that they stopped producing them. I also have some of the Clarecraft pewter miniatures

I have also collected all the Discworld calendars since they were first published.

I do have quite a lot of odd other bits and pieces. Other books, Pratchett did write some non Discworld novels (probably my favourite is Good Omens, with Niel Gaimen), and there are some books about Discworld. I have DVDs and Videos, t-shirts, puzzles, games etc.

I must admit that I don't collect the stamps, this is a large area in itself and I haven't had the time or money.

Lord of the Rings Actors and Autographs

I have met some of the actors from the Lord of the Rings films:

Gandalf - Ian McKellan

Frodo - Elijah Wood

Sam - Sean Astin

Gollum - Andy Serkis

also signed first day cover

Eowyn - Miranda Otto

Theoden - Bernard Hill

Gimli - John Rhys-Davies

Denethor - John Noble

Grima - Brad Dourif

Faramir - David Wenham

Haldir - Craig Parker

Gambling - Bruce Hopkins

Pippin - Billy Boyd (no picture)


I also have some Actor Autographs:

Gandalf - Ian McKellen - signed drawing

Saruman - Christopher Lee - signed first day cover

Aragorn - Viggo Mortensen - signed autograph card

Boromir - Sean Bean - signed autograph card

Arwen - Liv Tyler - signed autograph card

Legolas - Orlando Bloom - signed first day cover

Bilbo - Ian Holm - signed autograph card

Eomer - Karl Urban - signed autograph card

Sauron - Sala Baker - signed autograph card

And some other Tolkien related Autographs:

John Howe (Artist) - signed limited edition games, signed lithograph.

Allan Lee (Artist) - signed Beren and Luthien book.

Hildebrant Brothers (Artist) - signed autograph cards, signed lithograph, signed limited edition posters.

Peter Pracownik (Artist) - signed Art book.

Brian Sibley (Writer) - signed Hobbit movie guide.

Bob Catley (Musician) - signed Middle Earth album.

Growing Up - The Early Years

This blog entry is a few random memories around growing up.

Growing up for me was split into 2 parts.

The first part, the early years, was up to when I was 11 (1963 - 1975) and lived next to Spencer Park in Rushden. When 11 we moved to Wymington Road Rushden and at the same time I also started secondary education, so everything changed, the teenage years.

I have very few early memories, perhaps the earliest is of a play group I vaguely remember going to in Highem, even that I can only remember the car journey and where it was.

The early years were dominated by living next to Rushdens Spencer park. Me and my brother Nigel, spent a lot of time outdoors playing football, on our bikes, hide and seek and such games. I remember the mass of leaves in autumn and a by flood once. There was a paddling pool in the park where we would sail boats. The main path way was on a raised mound and we would play lots of games along this. There was a small shop on the other side of the park Wasis where we used to by sweets. Next to the park was a big school, which we used to play around, although we were not allowed to and would get told off by the caretaker if caught. On the other side of the school were some fields and wooded area, with a steam, we would spend a lot of summer here building camps and playing crab apple races in the stream.

Two big events would happen in the park during the year. Rushden carnival was in the summer, we would watch the huge marquees go up days before and play around them. On the day the carnival would parade through the town and end up in the park, we would watch the parade sitting on the wall and throwing pennies. I was in the parade a few times, on a cubs float and once with my brother as tv's. Back I'm the park were stalls and demonstrations and I remember the marching bands. The fair was in the Autumn, we watch it arriving and being erected and played amongst the empty stalls before it opened. At night it came to life full of exciting light and sound. I could see it from my bedroom, it was always a great week. It was during carnival week that my parents told us we would be moving and I was devastated.

Our house was a 3 bed semi but was quite small. I remember our small kitchen table used for meals. I remember an arger type fire in the early years being very hot and I remember a rocking chair would be brought into the kitchen when we were ill to snuggle into and keep warm (in fact I still have that rocking chair). We had a front room which we didn't use much. I shared a bedroom with my brother, a bunk bed in an L shaped room, I had the bottom bunk. Our bedroom window looked out over next doors flat roof extension to the park, one day I bounced a power ball onto the flat roof and I could see it for until we moved. When I was about 7 we had an extension built which added a lounge and another bedroom, the layout of the kitchen was also opened up. I also remember us getting our first phone.

I spent a lot of time in the garden, my dad did a lot of gardening (I remember broad beans and marrows). We had a swing at the bottom of the garden, we used to build quote solid dens around the swing. I remember playing action men under some bush/trees. We also had some tents which would sleep in during the summer. In November we would celebrate bonfire night with people from the street with a big fire in the garden and a guy, which my mum would make.

At the top of the road were we lived was a small field, part of a hospital which had the best conker tree, each autumn we would surreptitiously climb over the railings to gather conkers.

When I was young I had meningitis and measles at the same time, I remember spending a lot of time in a remote hospital and an incidents when a nurse tried to stick a big needle in my bum. I had a lot of time off school to recover and remember getting home made get well cards from all my class, I remember having to miss a country dancing show at school which we had been rehearsing for ages. I also had quite bad allergies, animal hair and dust, but this went away as I grew up.

I went to Alfred Street Infants and then Junior school. I don't remember much about school. I do remember the walking to school through town. I remember the separation of the Infants/Juniors and watching the older kids over the playground wall. In the Infants in remember drinking milk from small bottles and being milk monitor. I remember walking across town to get to a playing field for sports, we also had to walk to the separate dinning hall for dinners. I remember dancing around the maypole and harvest festival in the hall. I remember the school being closed once due to snow and my mum had to come and get me. In the Juniors I remember spending a lot of time doing projects and producing scrapbook type books of work. I remember once being sent to the headmaster, not sure why, but I hid in the cloak room instead for a while and then went back to class, I got away with it. I remember playtime/lunchtime in the 'cages' playing massive games of football and British bulldog. I do remember some classes, at desks with ink wells, and making Christmas decorations.

I went to Cubs which was also at the school and remember it being weird being in the school with a bit more freedom. I remember doing bob-a-job cleaning windows and cars in our street. One of my worst memories from childhood is with the Cubs after a remembrance parade in a church service wetting myself because I was scarred to walk out to the loo during the service.

I remember Rushden High Street as we walked through it everyday going to school (there were a few routes back from school, we even tried to get a direct line which was through the back of the shops but you got told off if caught). I remember Thomasis newsagents where we used to get sweets and other crap when we had some money (I also got run over outside Thomasis), when a teenager they would also give me a paper round. There was Osbornes toy shop but we couldn't browse in there for long, they were quite strict. I remember the big Co Op with its toy department up a double flight of stairs. There was also another Co Op nearer home, on Higham Road bottom of Washbrook Road, which had some train sets we used to admire. I remember Woolworths which had lots of general stuff to browse. I particularly remember Christmas time, hunting for presents I could afford.

Each week the family went to Fine Fare for a food shop. I remember me and my brother would take it in turn to choose the cereal, we mainly based this on the free gift in the box. I remember collecting some Dr Who cards. We would also get large boxes to carry the stuff home in, and which we would make all sorts of things out of.

The main toy I remember having was Action Man, I used to get as much stuff for him as possible for Birthday and Christmas. I remember a parachute which we tried out by dropping him out of the bathroom window, we had wound the shoot up too tight so it didn't open and we then had a damaged action man. I remember making a lot of stuff, some from Blue Peter makes, such as a snow sledge from lolly sticks.

I remember playing with Lego a lot, it was raw bricks in those days, not kits so you had to be quite creative, I remember a lot of space ships. I also played quite a lot of board games (I remember a friend up the street, Julian Ellis, had one called Battle of Little Big Horn which I liked). We also used to make up our own games such as crazy golf around the house, lego flick a brick, show jumping and rubber band battles (with toy soldiers - spending hours setting them up).

I also remember collecting Football stickers, trading them at school, there was always one rich kid who had thousands of them.

I don't remember many friends there were just a lot of people at the park and at school. Julian Ellis lived a few doors up the street and I used to play with him a bit, although he was a year older.

At school I remember Peter and Jonathan Clarke, whom I would later become good friends with. It was not until I was about 10 when I became friends with Dominic Edwards did I have a real friend. This was when my nerdy side developed more and we played a lot of board games, particularly Scrabble. Domonics family were a bit posher, his dad was a music teacher at the secondary school, we would have chocolate spread sand witches when I stayed for tea. They also had a croquet set and, although they only had a small garden, we played it a lot.

On Sundays we went to Rushden Baptist church. There was a service and then we would go to quite a large Sunday school. I only really remember the large hall with different sets of tables for each age group.

Sunday afternoons we would go to Nan Bird's for tea (dinner). She also lived in Rushden, Washbrook Road. I remember these a lot, in summer we would have outdoor picnics (I remember Macaroons), there was a great plum tree which used to have loads of fruit. My Dad had an allotment which was near my Nans so we would do bits of work on that. I also remember watching Sunday tv in the evenings (see separate tv blog entry). We always went to my Nan's on Boxing Day.

My other grandparents lived in Wolverhampton and we used to visit them a few times a year. It was quite a long car journey, not so many a road/dual carriageways then. I also used to go bad stay with them during the holidays for a week. My Grampy Bannister was a lay preacher at the small local church at Merry Hill so we would often walk there and also to the small group of shops. Sometimes we would catch a bus to Wolverhampton centre. I remember the daily routine of lighting the real fire in the kitchen. I also remember going to see Wolverhampton Wondereres play a few times with my Dad and my Uncle Don, who also lived near my granparants. I also had 2 cousins (Caroline and Michael).

Saturday afternoons I remember watching Dad play football, at Higham Rec. I didn't watch much football but spent my time playing in the small wooded area. We would listen to the football results on the way home.

I loved the summer school holidays, mainly playing in the park/fields. I also remember some church activities where in Irchester country park and at some grounds on the outskirts of Rushden where we would play big team hunting games. I remember going to a Rushden Swimming pool quite a lot, it was outdoor, and swimming lessons, particularly doing my half and mile certificates.

We would go to holiday camps on the East Coast, first there was Corton Beach. It had some very basic 'sheds' for accommodation, very cold (no heating), I remember a plague of flies once. I remember a big food hall and a big dance hall, we played bingo in the evenings. I remember doing a catch the pennies where all the kids would run around the hall collecting pennies thrown by the adults.

The camp was split into teams and I remember various activities/games, I also remember being in the fancy dress as a clothes line. There was a great beach which was down a steep cliff. After a few year we moved up the coast to the large Caister camp, the accommodation was a bit better, but it was very similar. I mainly remember the sports competitions Putting, Table Tennis etc.

I also loved Christmas. I loved shopping for presents, I only had a limited pocket money budget and would hunt the High Street shops for hours. We made a lot of our own decorations, some from Blue Peter. Nan Bird would come round to stay and I would sleep on the floor of my parents bedroom.