David is an author of fantasy novels and a writer and producer of rock music. The site provides information of his creative works and has a regular blog of news of his latest work and insights into his life and past.
A few weeks ago I was remembering how my father had modernised our house and so many other aspects of our lives have changed during my lifetime. My Grandma’s house, … Continue reading ‘Cup of Tea Tales’ – Ch,Ch,Ch,Changes, Heating, Bath Time, Laundry and the Coming of Mod Cons in the late 1950s! My Grandma’s in Chapel Allerton.
I believe that school dinners were first introduced into the UK in 1906, but not all local councils provided them. When I attended primary school in the late 1950s, Harehills … Continue reading ‘Cup of Tea Tales’ – School Dinners – Harehills County Primary and Roundhay School. Treacle Sponge, Manchester Tart, Spotted Dick, Jam Roly-Poly – the origins of our hardening arteries!
For some reason colour seemed to come in to my life at the start of the 1960s. Apart from the dabbling with some dreadful wallpaper and curtains, before returning to … Continue reading ‘Cup of Tea Tales’ – Fashion – How Fancy We Thought We Were in the 1960s and 1970s. Boodle-Am, Loons, Afghan Coats, Clogs and Budgie Jackets.
In a surprisingly short period of time the homes that we live in have undergone quite major changes. My parents’ first house was in Lawrence Avenue and I imagine it … Continue reading ‘Cup of Tea Tales’ – The Changing Home – Years of Modernisation, Technological Advances and Some Truly Dreadful Decorating Fads.
As a youngster I had gone with my older brother to watch the matinees at the Clock Cinema. The cinema was an impressive building and had an art deco feel … Continue reading ‘Cup of Tea Tales’ – Adolescence, Freedom, Cinemas, Courting and Snogging -1960s and 1970s. The Clock Cinema – What a Place to Watch and Not Watch Films.
From, probably, the fifth form at Roundhay School I extended my nights out from just the Chained Bull, and Phoenix Bar at Roundhay Mansion to later nights out in Leeds … Continue reading ‘Cup of Tea Tales’ – Leeds Nightlife, Pubs, Cinderella Rockerfella’s, the Hoffbrauhaus, Intime and Leeds Colleges
Scarborough has a firm place in my heart as the town has made me welcome at various stages of my life. As the largest of the Yorkshire resorts it was … Continue reading ‘Cup of Tea Tales’ – Scarborough- More than Just the Beach and the Front. History, Culture and Punch and Judy!
I am never sure what I am going to write about until I have actually started and often the tale ends up very different from the one that I intended. … Continue reading ‘Cup of Tea Tales’ – Roundhay Park, Leeds – Part of My History and a Glorious Gem of a Place!
To say that I have spent the whole of my adult life in education, I was far from a model student at Roundhay School. I entered the school in 1966, … Continue reading ‘Cup of Tea Tales’ – O’ Levels and my total lack of preparedness – Latin, French, Chemistry and other disasters – Exams and the Dreaded Results!
I seem to remember clearly that the year before I left Leeds to go to Borough Road College in Isleworth, London, the summer was long, hot and dry. I am … Continue reading ‘Cup of Tea Tales’ –Holiday Jobs at WASS Hunslet Road, Budget Rent a Car, Smokey and Spaghetti – the Gift that Keeps Giving!
Now I am sure that many looking at this will have shared similar experiences, whether male or female, as sport seemed to hold a special place in a good education … Continue reading ‘Cup of Tea Tales’ – Rugby – The only thing that truly mattered in a Boys’ School. The Good and Bad of Adolescent Boys!
It must have been in the late 1950s when I was first taken to what we called Bardsey Woods. My younger brother wasn’t born when we first went and it … Continue reading ‘Cup of Tea Tales’ – Hetchell Woods (Bardsey) and Crags – A Special Piece of God’s Own Country!
