please empty your brain below
I wonder, on some distant future version of a tea-time archaeology show, if they will be pulling up those stupid buckets out of strata of mud and patiently explaining how folk in the 21st century used them for serving sliced fried potatoes, all complete with a shiny info-graphic.

Burntweenie | 10.03.17 - 7:08 a.m. | #

Nicely described memories.
I often wish I had similar experiences with my parents at that age, but by 25 I had long since left them behind for the dubious pleasures of girls, and drink. And more.
Only now with the perspective of a parent myself, do I fully understand that this was most likely a cause of some regret for all of us.

Frank F | 10.03.17 - 7:12 a.m. | #

Happy that you enjoyed your birthday,DG.
No soup or profiteroles? Shame, but they are a bit difficult to produce,aren't they?😉 I was rather surprised that you didn't go for the prawn cocktail,steak'n'chips and black forest gateau or is that the menu of thirty years ago?
( btw doesn't it make you feel old when the servers are so young!)

Jo W | 10.03.17 - 7:18 a.m. | #

If you are the only steakhouse in Croxly Green - why describe yourself as 'one of the best', perhaps legal advice.

So the conclusion is that there is a stable sustained market for steak in Croxley Green.

Still anon | 10.03.17 - 7:39 a.m. | #

New term learned from today's blog: mill race. Every day's a school day.

I had to ponder a moment about the Blue Peter garden in the Olympic Park - I'm guessing you mean the Great British Garden. Was it designed by a viewer?

martin | 10.03.17 - 8:06 a.m. | #

In 'things that make you realise you're getting old', I was shocked on a recent pub/restaurant visit to discover that people called Chelsea are now old enough to work behind the bar.

Sarah | Homepage | 10.03.17 - 8:07 a.m. | #

Maybe by 2043 the Croxley Link will be open

J G STYLES | 10.03.17 - 8:19 a.m. | #

The first time I went to Fort William, I found a small area of green grass with an obelisk in the middle. On the obelisk was written, "In loving memory of Peter Cameron". Quite disconcerting!

Peter Cameron | Homepage | 10.03.17 - 9:07 a.m. | #

This must be why you keep a diary! I can't remember from one year to the next what I did, never mind from half a lifetime ago!

But it's doing these sorts of things that make it extra special. I'm glad you had a day filled with good memories.

Cornish Cockney | 10.03.17 - 9:17 a.m. | #

I do always laugh at those "one of the best" claims. My favourite for years was Archway Kebab's bold claim that they were *probably* the best kebab in the UK. (Google Streetview tells me that they sadly no longer make such a claim)

Chz | 10.03.17 - 9:18 a.m. | #

DG this post brings back many happy memories of my childhood in Swiss Avenue, Watford and my time at Rickmansworth Grammar School. Mainly of doing crossing country runs from school along the valley of the River Chess.

Tones | 10.03.17 - 9:37 a.m. | #

I'm another one that had long flown the coop by the time I was 26.
After 21, a birthday was a birthday and I only have one birthday since then that I can recall what I did.
It was my 40th, the night of which I spent in the Presidential Suite of the Bela Vista in Macau.
Breakfast was extra which annoyed me somewhat....

Chris | 10.03.17 - 10:19 a.m. | #

Going back to a place which sires up memories can some times be a mixed blessing.

A few years ago I decided to visit my old child hood home in Ruislip, I had left in 1963.

I was standing outside everything was totally different, but I still could make out the old neighborhood. Standing there I could suddenly remember the names of the neighbors and their dog.

The present owner must have got a bit nervous, she came and told me that she was going to call the police. I excused myself, I told her that I had lived in the house as a child. I even had an old photo. She relaxed and was quite OK with me taking some photos of the house as it is now.

Michael | 10.03.17 - 11:25 a.m. | #

@Chz - the competition on the other side of the road at Archway used to claim they sold "the best kebabs on the planet". Can't remember if they qualified that with "probably".

Meanwhile in New Cross you can get Ferpect Fried Chicken. I wonder if they just switched the letters round after someone complained that their chicken wasn't perfect.

Leo | 10.03.17 - 4:32 p.m. | #

Londonist has a picture from an old article on that rivalry. Planet Kebab made no such qualifications about being the best kebabs on the planet. And to be fair, they were the better of the two.

https://assets.londonist.com/uploads/2008/02/i730/2702_kebabs.jpg

Chz | 10.03.17 - 4:58 p.m. | #

I really do hope it wasn't 'half a lifetime', otherwise you've just snuffed it !

Gerry | 10.03.17 - 6:15 p.m. | #

Well not exactly. A "lifetime" can mean the time between birth and death, for someone for whom those dates are known, but it can also mean the time between birth and the present day - which I trust is the way DG is using the term.

A great nostalgic article which probably provokes much pondering among those of us for whom 25 was quite a long time ago. I cannot remember at that time even contemplating dates where the year might begin with a "2", let alone supposing that I might spend time looking back at my young self. But it was not a bad time, all things considered.

Malcolm | 10.03.17 - 6:54 p.m. | #

I go to the Scotsbridge Mill every now and then but haven't been for a while. I love getting a table by the mill race. What sort of place doesn't serve soup or profiteroles though, and surely it's still in Ricky not Croxley Green?
The snack shed by Batchmoor Lock has changed hands and is going great guns by the way.

dg writes: The parish boundary appears to run along the River Chess, which would mean I was sitting in Croxley and BestMate was sitting In Rickmansworth.

Andrew S | 10.03.17 - 7:11 p.m. | #

You have an amazing memory. I have no idea what I was doing half a lifetime ago. Set me thinking though.
Happy birthday.

Sally Hirst | 10.03.17 - 9:59 p.m. | #

Great post DG. Reminded me of my family's once a month trip to a Chinese restaurant in Burnt Oak. We lived in Colindale and all six of us would pile into a small HA Vauxhall Viva. It seems strange to say now but we all regarded it as such a treat. My Mum would pay the bill with lots of 2/6d Luncheon vouchers. Wonderful memories.

Bernie | 11.03.17 - 10:27 a.m. | #

@ Andrew S - Batchworth, not Batchmoor. /pedant (sorry)

I'm sure the mill was empty when I was a lad and only became a Beefeater after I left Croxley in 1990. I've only ever had the pleasure once since, when I walked the Croxley Green Boundary Path a couple of years ago. Lovely building.

THC | 11.03.17 - 11:57 a.m. | #

Happy Birthday! :-)

Kathryn | 11.03.17 - 8:37 p.m. | #

No sign of the vicar?

| 11.03.17 - 9:58 p.m. | #

Thanks for going to the "new" place so I don't have to.

Adam Cummings | 12.03.17 - 7:15 a.m. | #

This is honestly my favourite blog.

louise | 14.03.17 - 2:01 p.m. | #











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