Saturday Scratch #18

I didn't fly for the first time until as late as 1993, but during the 1960s, Dad would occasionally take me out to Heathrow Airport to watch the planes taking off and landing. In those days there was an open-air gallery on the roof of a nearby building offering uninterrupted views across the terminal and runway. It was quite an adventure to see planes so close and loud and one that I enjoyed and appreciated more and more with each visit.

I recently had all of my family's ciné films from the 60s & 70s transferred onto DVD and among them is a great sequence on that very Heathrow roof from around 1966, where Dad follows a plane along the runway to take-off only for my 6 year-old head to bob up in the way at the vital moment! Judging by the look on my face, Dad was none too pleased at me for spoiling the shot and, suitably chastened, I quickly ducked back out of view.

I was probably 10 or 11 the last time Dad and I made the trip to Heathrow, but the first time, I was a mere 2 months old! I'm not quite sure what he thought I would get from such a noisy environment at such a tender age, but the trip is immortalised by a strip of images from a photo-booth at the airport, the best of which is this one.

I don't know if I was spooked by the flash or the noise, but whatever it was, made for an amusing photo - I haven't changed a bit!

Mum and Dad flew just twice in their lives, to Jersey and back for a holiday in 1991, but looking back on our trips to the airport in the 1960s, I sense that Dad had an unfulfilled hankering to explore further afield. Mum, however was less than impressed by the whole experience! Indeed she recorded the following in her diary immediately after her first flight, 'Didn't think much of that!'

Tomorrow it will be five years since Dad passed away. Here for him, from his over-excited little boy on a noisy rooftop a lifetime ago, is an appropriate pair of Lee Perry produced David Isaacs singles from 1969.

Enjoy your weekend.

Previously on Saturday Scratch.