This is Grange Hill station. I remember walking past it before when I was several years younger, so I probably had some mints in my pocket. I remember they used to sell mints called Pacers which were square and chewy and came in stripy white and green wrappers. I remember another minty green food, a pack of meringues they used to sell in Marks and Spencer, I think they were chocolate coated, my Mum sometimes let us buy them as a treat. I remember getting them from the back of the old store in Queens Road Watford, although that's all a great big shopping centre now. I remember we went to the Harlequin just after it opened and a pane of glass fell from the roof, thankfully nobody was hurt. I remember a pigeon once dumped on me under a bridge but it was OK because I had a handkerchief. I remember hankies often used to come with initials embroidered in the corner although we don't do that so much these days.
This is Grange Hill station. I remember before they installed barriers at stations when you could just walk straight through although there was always someone checking the tickets back then. I remember they used to punch a hole in your ticket to show it'd been used whereas these days they often just scribble on it in pen. I remember when hole punches were an essential part of every stationery cupboard, back in the days when everything needed printing and filing away in ring binders. I remember almost injuring myself when closing a really thick ring binder because those metal prongs could do real damage. I remember my bank used to send me special folders to keep my statements in and they all came with ready-punched holes, those were different times. I remember queueing at the bank to get money out, it was funny but I always seemed to choose the slowest queue... that at least never changes.
This is Grange Hill station. I remember being surprised when I first heard the station was in Essex, but it's only just inside because one platform's right up against the Greater London boundary. I remember another borderline trip to Essex when I was very little, we had family in Nazeing and I don't think the house had mains electricity back then. I remember when plugs used to have red, black and green wires, now it's brown, blue and stripy which is much safer for colour blind people. I remember when appliances came with bare wires and you had buy the plugs separately and fit them yourself. I remember when every high street had a hardware shop, usually overseen by a man in brown overalls with a pencil behind his ear. I remember how important it was to have a well-sharpened pencil, nowadays people just type stuff and handwriting has gone completely downhill, I got through a lot of Quink ink back then.
This is Grange Hill station. I remember the first time I passed through the station which was in January 1980 with three schoolfriends, my Mum was really upset because we got home late and on the return journey we found a bottle of whisky on the train. I remember when you could drink on the tube, I even remember when you could smoke on it too, they had special carriages. I remember everyone just used to take for granted that their clothes would stink of other people's smoke when they went out, it's just the way things were back then. I remember a white polo neck jumper I had in the 1970s and I hated it but you can't go against parental clothes choices when you're nine. I remember on my ninth birthday we went to see Captain Pugwash at Watford Palace Theatre, not the cartoon but a swashbuckling stage version. I remember being sceptical there was ever a character called Master Bates and indeed there wasn't.
This is Grange Hill station. I remember going to another station called Grange something but that was Grange Park which is in Enfield. I remember the planters and flowerboxes outside looked very pretty, they won Enfield in Bloom in 2018. I remember when communities took real pride in their surroundings, that's everywhere and not just Grange Park. I remember the parade of shops nearby had a proper family butchers, those were the days when you queued daily for your meat and a man in a stripy blue apron chopped it up for you and you went home with a bag of bleeding flesh. I remember the excitement of buying lamb because that meant there was going to be mint sauce, it was always a great Sunday roast when we had mint sauce. I remember listening to Family Favourites over Sunday lunch, maybe even being allowed a glass of Blue Nun, but they never read out a request for anyone I knew.
This is Grange Hill station. I remember getting the bus past it, that would have been the 462 probably when they extended it past Fairlop. I remember another bus route ending in 62, that would be the 162 which you used to be able to ride with a Red Rover ticket and they were only 50p a day. I remember 50p went a long way in those days, you could buy ten ice creams from a van, you can't even get the Flake for that these days. I remember that woman relaxing in her bath with her chocolate as the water sploshed out, they don't make ads like that any more. I remember the Smash robots and the Cresta bear, whatever happened to Cresta, although the artificial colourings probably made you hyper and the sugar rotted your teeth. I remember when going to the dentist used to be a lot more traumatic but I try not to remember that.
This is Grange Hill station. I remember seeing it on the tube map when I was very little, it was a separate shuttle back then like it is now. I remember the day the Space Shuttle blew up, I found out on the way back from a university lecture as the news spread by word of mouth and everyone was so shocked. I remember when University Challenge was on ITV, I think it used to go out on Sundays, it may even have been in black and white. I remember watching snooker in colour for the first time which was quite an eye opener. I remember playing pool in a Youth Hostel in Derbyshire when I was 16 but I'm pretty sure I lost. I remember when a packed lunch with a bag of crisps was the most exciting thing ever, although salt and vinegar was still blue back then. I remember the little blue bag with the salt, although obviously they were only bringing it back for nostalgic reasons and my Dad remembers it for real.
This is Grange Hill station. I remember taking photos with a wind-on camera and having to wait a week to get twelve blurry shots back from the chemist. I remember winters used to be snowier, Wagon Wheels used to be thicker and rice pudding used to be served up with a dollop of jam in the middle. I remember when people bought evening newspapers, most women wore hats and coal was delivered by horse and cart. I remember writing letters to penpals, living without central heating and thinking garibaldi biscuits contained squashed flies. I remember power cuts, sexual inequality, leaded petrol and casual racial slurs. I remember when people looked to the future rather than endlessly harking back to the past. I remember when I was 12 making time to watch the first episode of a new children's series set in a comprehensive school because if you weren't in front of your TV at the time you never saw it, but I can't remember what it was called.
