Now his Jailer had an only daughter ...

Listening to On Air by June Tabor

I have just been looking at the various 360 degree photos of various places I know. I am getting quite homesick as it has been a long time since have been back here. Hopefully we will be visiting soon. The one of sledging on the hills is taken at the car park for the Western side ascent of the Worcestershire Beacon. We also used it for sledging and we have a family anecdote about either me or my brother sledging over the edge of the carpark and down into the path of the traffic on the main road below. I used to be sure that it was not me but after arguing about it for so long, the truth has been lost.

Of course I was never so mad for Malvern when I lived there; kids never like where they live until they move away from it. Nostalgia is only for the old anyway. We watched Trading Ages yesterday, part of the BBC's Time Of Your Life strand, in which a thirty-two-year-old man with no cares was transformed into a pensioner of 72. He was then dropped into various oldie clubs (day centres etc) and less wrinkly locations to give him an insight in what it would be like to be old. He was not happy and it was obvious that he was worried that he would end up like the various D&Js he became friendly with. Recently I have been aware of the rushing of time, not in any desperate sense; more like a detached observer of how age affects other people. All these 70 year olds were only 50 when I left home - that's ten years older than I am now. That sort of shift backwards through age brings home how fast things go. We all like to think we are going to remain cool and alternative in our old age, still listening to Peel (though for us wrinklies that is getting harder now he's been moved to 11 O’clock - Shame on the BBC - think about the old folks for a change) but the truth is we all probably start liking all the things we hate our parents and grand-parents liking.

Robert Brown is 40 years old, has no living grand-parents and only one parent.