Jill Sparrow

It's supposed to be dictated by the genetics of the female line, male pattern baldness. Looking at your maternal uncles, if any, should give a good idea of what may befall your own follicles, if you're a bloke.

#3 Bess of Hardwick? My middle name's Elizabeth!

#1 I don't like the 21st century and I didn't like the 20th either. I'm a Tudor at heart...but a feminist Tudor!

#46 Too right, FLY. There has to be some intelligence behind the humour. A wordsmith like Barker, for instance, had more talent in his little finger than most so called comedians but it was never obvious. Also loved Dave Allen who could make me laugh before he even spoke.

#43 Freddie Davies, I thought, was better as a serious actor. I saw him in one or two tv appearances when he was older. I didn't find him funny as a comedian, nor Mike and Bernie Winters either. I have a strange sense of humour and the obvious doesn't appeal to me. I can roar with laughter at the likes of Mike Harding and Ronnie Barker but most so called comedians leave me cold.

Clark rings a bell, Mess. I knew someone would know. My mother obviously knew him and must have meant my sister was at Berridge with Nicholas who, from the dates you've given, was her contemporary. I will ask her about him but her memory isn't brilliant. I've often felt guilty about my irrational dislike of that poor chap who, unlike most people I take a dislike to, had done nothing to deserve it!

#42 Love it, love it, love it. Remember seeing this on the news a few months ago. They're all ginger. I have a ginger kitten and Richard has a very feisty ginger female name of Molly whack-it, the jolly ginger psycho puss. She whacks anything that moves, with her claws out and she hates me!

Can't look a stick of rhubarb in the face to this day. It was all that grew in great aunt Lily's garden. It meant rhubarb pie, crumble, turnovers...for days on end! Sis ate it raw, dipped in sugar. Another friend liked eating raw potatoes! Her mum gave one to me once as if it was a rare treat. I thought she was potty. Like mine mashed with butter and cheese or roasted...anything but raw!

#30 Sounds about right, Ian. Remember Two Way Family Favourites while mum was getting Sunday lunch ready or while my sister and I were at great aunt Lily's house on Reydon Drive being piled up with rhubarb...yet again! Alan Freeman used to drive my father up the wall. He couldn't abide the sound of Freeman's voice. When he started advertising OMO on tv...and also Brentford Nylons, dad would get up and switch him off!

#17 Welcome to Nottstalgia, Rachel. Hope you will enjoy this site as much as I do. I went to primary school with a Christopher Fox but doubt he's related to you as it's the wrong side of town.

As a young child, I went with my grandfather on Thursday mornings to collect his pension from Hyson Green Post Office. The postmaster there in those days was a chap with a bald head who, to me, seemed quite old. For some reason, I took a rabid dislike to this chap, whose name I can't recall. On occasions when my mother went in to buy stamps or birthday cards, which they sold on the opposite side to the post office counter, I insisted on remaining outside, such was the level of my dislike! On one occasion, he came out to talk to me and I virtually stopped the traffic on Gregory Boul

That's what I remember too, Ian. Don't remember a song at all and it certainly wasn't Freddie Parrot Face Davies.

#20 What a lovely post, Ian! Remember all those, especially Listen With Mother which I loved. Mum and Dad holding hands and listening to Sing Something Simple on a Sunday evening with The Cliff Adams Singers. Dad also loved The Navy Lark. There was Woman's Hour and Mrs Dale's Diary too! We also had a Rediffusion radio exactly like the one you describe. Happy Days!

#8 Wonder what it was, KJ? A pannier? Empty Fortnum & Mason hamper? I hope it wasn't a manger!

#25 It's still there, Loppy. I've some friends who live just down the road from it. Don't think it's a maternity unit these days though.

#18 I had no idea your eldest child was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, Loppy, aka a member of The Grand Order of Bulwellia! I am suitably impressed. The daughters of a friend of mine sent for a free sample of Tena Lady products which arrived, addressed to her, on her 50th birthday! Cruel!

#24 It never fails to make me smile, Loppy!

#15 You look as though you're about to give someone a rocket...or there's something in your nappy (that's a diaper to you, Loppy!) you want to have removed!

#22 I've heard it said that George III wasn't so very barmy because he gave away America! What? What? Only joking!!

#2. ? Has the thread numbering gone awry? Is that you in the pram, Chulla?

#8 Was it a bassinet, KJ? According to the news item, a solid gold bassinet is available for well heeled parents to purchase. I don't know how much it costs. As they say, if you need to ask the price, you can't afford it!

Apparently, or so I'm told by a speech therapist friend, there is a real problem with children who cannot communicate verbally nowadays because no one ever talks to them. Incredible and extremely sad.

#20 Couldn't we do it QUIETLY?

I also had a wooden high chair, another hand me down from my sister! It was plain hard wood, no upholstery whatsoever. It was hinged in the middle and could fold in half to form a low chair on wheels. Trapped my little fingers in it more than once! Saw the identical model in an antiques centre in Matlock a few weeks ago! As for play pens, we didn't have one of those. I was just very closely supervised by the maternal eagle eye, entertained and chatted to as she did her daily chores. Probably explains why, by the age of 18 months, people were telling me to be quiet!

Just been reading the news about the current Baby Show at Olympia. Astounded at the price of designer baby beds, etc. I spent my early months in a wicker moses basket on a stand. It had been used by my older sister eight years earlier and the same mattress, blankets and sheets were no doubt pressed into service again for me. The same applied to my pram and cot. There was no messing around with cot bumpers which have been declared safe/unsafe more times than most babies have had hot dinners and I also had pillows which are now a definite no no! As to the hot water bottle I snuggled