Beano

I can't finish this year without a mention of 'BEANO' my favourite comic that celebrates 70 years this year! I still buy Beano, especially when i'm on holiday.

Back in the 60's I eagerly awaited the paper boy or girl pushing it through the letter box at 7.00 on Thursday morning. Before going to school I would sit next to the fire in the kitchen and read part of the comic, but save the best till I got home from school. The best bits were always 'Bash Street Kids' and 'Q bikes.'

Q Bikes always had a soft spot for me, they had bikes with Radio Transmitters fitted and an aerial on the back. They wore a helmet with a microphone so that they could communicate with each other. Q Bikes originally had five members and later six. I even tried to form my own Q Bikes club and put a stick for an aerial on the back of my bike along with a tin for a transmitter!

How things have changed...

Now we use digital mobile phones to communicate, cyclists can use hands-free kits to talk to anyone in the world.

I can still picture the Q Bikes badge that my Uncle Bill designed one Sunday afternoon and we talked about transmitters. I think this was the beginning of something that captured my interest in analogue technology back in 1967.