The sixties were a wonderful time for music and fashions. We had the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Cliff Richard, Elvis, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Bob Dylan, Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, Tom Jones and Tina Turner, to name but a few.

Early 60's fashion was Teddy Boys with their skin tight trousers, winkle-picker shoes, Brylcreemed hair slicked back into what was known as a 'DA' (Duck's Arse) and leather jackets. The girls had full skirts with lots of net petticoats underneath. We used to starch them with a sugar water solution to get them really stiff so they stuck out more. When you sat down on the bus you had to put your hands on your lap to stop them springing up to your chest. Stiletto heels were the preferred footwear worn with stockings and a suspender belt. The jive was the dance of the day, and stocking tops and knickers were frequently glimpsed as we twirled around at the local disco. Us girls also wore skin tight jeans, and I mean SKIN tight! New jeans were shrunk to fit by putting them on and then sitting in a really hot bath for as long as you could manage. No lycra in those days. It was quite common to have to lie down and suck everything in so as to get your jeans done up! Our hair was back-combed into a 'Beehive' and we wore masses of mascara and eye shadow. At school we had to wear a really old fashioned uniform, but we modernised it by rolling over the waistband of our skirts to make them as short as we dared. If a teacher thought our skirt was too short we were made to kneel on the floor, and unroll it till it touched the floor.

The jive became old fashioned and new dances came over from America like the Twist, the Mashed Potato, the Madison and the Hitchhiker. They were demonstrated by expert dancers on Ready Steady Go, a pop music programme which was on Fridays and essential viewing for our age group. They had live performances by the groups of the day like the Beach Boys, the Swinging Blue Jeans and the Searchers.

Later 60's fashion for lads was bell-bottom jeans, worn with Cuban heeled boots. Mods and Rockers arrived, Mods rode motor scooters and wore Levi stay-pressed trousers and smart Italian suits with thin knitted ties. The Who were their favourite band. Rod Stewart was a mod and was called 'Rod The Mod' in his early days. The Rockers rode motor bikes, and dressed in leather jackets and jeans and had long greasy hair, and used to fight the Mods on Bank holidays, at Brighton and other holiday resorts. They liked Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent. Mini-skirts and tights made an appearance for girls, but they weren't thick tights like the youngsters wear with short skirts nowadays. You couldn't bend down to pick something up, you had to squat down to preserve some degree of modesty. Maxi-dresses and Maxi-coats became very fashionable as well. Platform shoes were also around, and it was all too easy to really hurt yourself by turning your ankle while wearing them.

On a personal front life was not too rosy. At just turned 17 I was thrown out of the house by my aunt after finally rebelling against a repressed and unhappy childhood, by daring to date a boy, and stay out later than 9 o'clock. Left to fend for myself I ended up getting pregnant, and marrying the father, who turned out to be a wife-beater and a gambler. I was just turned 18 when my daughter was born, and then had two more children, both boys, before finally managing to get the courage to leave him. I then took up with another chap who fathered my fourth child, another boy, before going off with another woman. Still, at least I had my health, and although my sanity was seriously threatened I managed to survive, and here I still am to tell the tale.