I'm going to work in Woolworth's
When I grow up I want to be an astronaut
When I get married I'd like to have two children
My hearts desire is to see my Daddy
I don't want to answer that
This is no ordinary outing at the zoo
it's a very special occasion
we've brought these children together for the very first time
they're like any other children
except that they come from startlingly different backgrounds
Stop it at once!
We brought these children together because we wanted a glimpse
of England in the year 2000
the shop steward and the executive of the year 2000
are now seven years old
In 1964 World in Action made Seven Up
we have been back to film these children every seven years
they are now forty-nine
Is it important to fight? Yes!
Tony was brought up in the East end of London
I want to be a jockey when I grow up yeah
At fourteen he was already an apprentice
at Tommy Gosling's racing stable in Epsom
at fifteen he left school
This is a photo finish of when I rode at Newberry
I'm the one with the white cap
I was beaten a length and a half for third and had a photo finish
Do you regret not making it?
I'd have given my right arm at the time arm to be a jockey
but now? ...well I wasn't good enough
What will you do if you don't make it as a jockey?
I don't know
If I knew I couldn't be one I'd get out of the game
wouldn't bother
and what do you think you would do then?
Learn taxi's
At twenty-one, he was on "The Knowledge"
and by twenty-eight he owned his own taxi
It's surprising who you pick up
I once met Kojak I picked him up
and Warren Mitchell, Alf Garnett, y'know
- Have you got a girl friend? -No.
Would you like to have a girl friend?
No
Do you understand the four F's?
find them, feed them and forget them
the other F, I'll let you use your own discrimination
but I mean, this one
I tried to do the three F's
but I couldn't forget her
I went to a discotheque
he was in the pub earlier on
and afterwards we went to a disco and Tony was standing there
and I just...from there that was it
couldn't get rid of him!
We have our ups and downs, no more than anyone else
I think you've got to work at a marriage
I think all marriages go through stages
you can't stand each other
I think "Oh god I hate him I wish he'd get out"
I do
We've been to the edge of the cliff and looked over a couple of times
and we've always seemed to go back
and we've stayed the course
but I must say it's not easy being married
By forty-two Tony and Debbie had left the Eastend
and moved to Woodford in Essex
We were going to put a conservatory here
if you look along here
we've put a patio in and a pond for the fish
but the only thing I ever done was
I planted them three trees
well since you were last here we had small trees if you remember?
now they've sort of grown a bit
So why are the trees singed?
We were burning some rubbish at the back
and it set light to the tree
and there we were throwing buckets of water over it
sadly enough it's singed the tree
At forty-nine, they'd taken out a second mortgage on the London house
and sunk the money into a holiday home in Spain
I'm very pleased with the house
the progress we've made in the little time we've worked here
and to get it all ship-shape, I think it's done
to the testament of my wife Debbie
As per usual!
Debbie went to the furniture shop and picked all the furniture
all what you see is Debbie's choice of furniture and her style
the floor, we were lead to believe we had a choice of tiling
whether it's a light beige or light brown
That's the first I've heard that we had a choice, 'cause I would've had plain
I've just gone into the neighbours house and they've got all plain tiles
and I asked him and he said it was a choice that we had when we bought it
- So that was where the mistake was made - Because you don't listen
- Say that again - You don't listen - I Can't hear you
Tony and Debbie still work as London cabbies
We sold our cabs as we're going to spend more time out here
so it's not really conducive to own the cab is it? - No
because the cab will be left out on the drive, it's pointless
and we just hire a cab independently now
I'm working harder now than what I ever have done, but
I feel that it's for something
Tell me son, what do you want to be a cab driver for?
all the holidays in Spain every year but it's hard work out there
- You're not reaching me yet - I'm not getting to you?
- Be bigger, dominate me! - Son!
At twenty-eight Tony was taking acting lessons
now he supplements his income with occasional TV jobs
Oi!
That's all I've got on me
If I had a pound for every time I've heard that I'd be a rich man
Get him!
A guy contacted me from my acting agency
and I got in touch with him and he writes plays
and he's been inspired by your Up programs
which go all around the world and he saw it
and we got together and wrote a biographical play about my life story
we took one of these episodes over to New York and did a play reading
and I got up and played the lead role
and it went extremely well
and we're looking for someone to pick it up and put it on stage
Would everybody please sit round now, get on with their work
I don't want to see any backs to me
shouldn't be anybody turning round, Tony do you hear as well?
get on with your work in front
Tony!
don't turn round again
there's only one ambition really, I want a baby son
and if I see my baby son that'll be my ambition fulfilled
no one knows that, only you now!
Debbie and Tony have three children
Nicky
Jodie
and Perry
Nicky's doing quite well, he's still a French Polisher
it's an old time profession, as you know
and he's working for a firm and he's very happy in his work isn't he
He's been brought up to be very respectful to people
a very well mannered person, he's a hard worker
Jodie at this present time just relies on us a very great deal
and...
she's been very scarred with a relationship that she was in
her relationship with her first love was very turbulent
but he's the father of her kid
I'm going to make sure she gets through it
and it's been quite a strain on Debbie and I to see her in that situation
I'm very proud of Perry as well
she got in the Post Office and that's what she's doing
"Postman-Pel" that's our Postman Perry
she loves it, she works hard she's up at four in the morning
She's got a lovely boyfriend, he loves her more than you can imagine
and he's certainly got my blessing
big lad, very nice guy, loves his football, typical Eastend kid
we are the backbone for the kids aren't we
Yeah but I think you're parents are anyway, you're parents are...
you never visualise anything ever happening to your parents
you think they're there for ever
Tony's five
Harry's four, nearly five
and little Boo, she's nearly two
- Three! - She's three!
I'm a hands on grandad
I love my grand children more than you can imagine
I'd not say my own kids but in a different way
it's an obsession of love, y'know
You see these grand children and they're part of you
No grandad I'm doing that
- They're hard work at times - We don't mind though
Once you slow down and you don't realise you're slowing down
all I understand is, dogs, prices, girls
knowledge, roads, streets, squares and mum and dad and love
that's all I understand and that's all I want to understand
By the time he was thirty-five, both Tony's parents had died
I'm at the grave side I'm talking to her
I've got all the images running through my mind
saying like "Tony go downstairs and get me five cigarettes"
and I used to go in the shop
she used to throw the cotton in a hair curler out the window
and I used to tie the cigarettes onto the cotton
and she used to pull them up
and she goes... I see her in the end
"Thanks Tony, see you after school, be good" and that's the way it was
We knew my dad was terminally ill
although it still didn't make it any easier for us
when my dad died I took it really hard
I can't...
Nellie Rose is my mum as her name was Nel
and her mothers name is Rose
so my Jodie and all the family were conjuring up names to name it
Jodie, out of thin air said Nellie Rose, the name of our mums
Sometimes on Saturday morning I go to the cinema
sometimes with my friends, sometimes with him
- You don't - I do
She don't
and why did you fall in love with him?
I don't know
I don't know how you put up with me for so long
sometimes I don't know how I stand him
Who's to say in another ten years me and him might've split up
Quite possible
You don't know
When we filmed Debbie and Tony at forty-two the marriage seemed to be in trouble
I'm not proud at all to say this but
situations arise that....
I have had regretful behaviour various times
but
You got caught and that was it
I'm not lying about the fact
you could always cover it up and suggest other things
but it's true and let it be true
You caught him?
- Yeah - What happened?
well it was touch and go whether we carried on from it or not
I did wish things that were said then were never said
Perry wouldn't go to school for three weeks
she wouldn't go out the door she was quite upset about it all
and I think it was a big shock because
you are their mum and dad
We got on from there, it's seven years down the line and we're happy as can be now
Cameron told me to get my nickers here
she says they're better than Marks and Spencers
Lets hope they're easier to get off
there's ninety-six percent English here
who all bought their houses in Spain
and this is where they shop every Saturday
it's just like an old London market from years ago
what I like is it's so relaxing down here
you walk along and things are happening, the musics playing
there's an English pub there you can just go in
and it's really home from home but with the weather
from here it's about two-hundred yards along
it's going to be all commercial units here
my intention would be to turn one into a sports bar
we will put TV's around in a sports way and football shirts and memorabilia
this is tomorrow for me, this is my future here
so I'm hoping to get a business
and if I was to bring Nicky, Jodie or Perry out here
then I'll have the best of both worlds, I'll have my family here
plus, the kids can be schooled here
well they can get what they want can't they?
if you've got to work for it
and they can just ask for money and get it
and they can buy what they want
I feel that the economy will bust within five years
because people like myself have been giving and giving all the time
the hard working family type people who have contributed everything
we have to work, we have to maintain a mortgage, we have to bring up the families
and I feel that I've had enough of working all these hours
congestion charges are forty pounds a week now
zero tolerance with the police for parking tickets
we're paying and someones getting it at our expense
Does it make you sad that you're going to have to leave your roots, your country
I can't even go to the Eastend now to have a drink
the pubs are literally closing down
other cultures are buying all my old traditions up
everyone likes their own culture and I'm no different from anybody else
but in England, if you suggest this you are targeted as...
an oddball or "oh you mustn't say that"
- Safety by numbers eh - Definitely
on the contrary I would say I'm sorry
if you don't like it, it's not to be offensive it's just to let you know that
my way of being brought up was with all my own people
and I like being with my own people and I'm a traditionalist
How much do you want to play for? five pounds? - Ten pesetas
- What's the dream now? - It's to be happy, which I am
I'm happy now being healthy with all my family
we all want happy and health for our family and anything else is a bonus
and that's all I really want
and that's all I'm really after, I don't want no more or less than that
- Unlucky Tony - Unlucky
Some people from Africa come here
but when they go they put their clothes on
Jackie, Lynn and Sue all grew up in the Eastend of London
and were friends in the same junior school
with this school we do metal work and wood work and the boys do cookery
We had a teacher at school
his favourite saying was....
"All you girls want to do is walk out, get married, have babies
and push a pram down the street with a cigarette hanging out of your mouth"
I think that we all could've gone
and not any way that we wanted to at the time within our capabilities
we chose our own jobs
we only had a limited choice anyway, truth be told
we didn't have a choice of private school as we couldn't have afforded it anyway
The change is too much, our lives are changing far too much!
all of us
when you look at the seven year old "us" it's difficult to believe it is us
it's like it's someone else you're looking at, this cute thing!
- I can't remember being cute - I wasn't cute!
I would like to get married when I grow up
I don't know what sort of boy but I think one...
thats not got lot of money but...
has got some money, not a lot
Have you got any boy friends?
oh!!
that's personal isn't it!
By the time she was twenty-one, Jackie had married Mick
and moved to the outskirts of London
It was horrific really, the cake what happened to the wedding cake
it was sitting right in between Mick and myself
suddenly the columns just completely gave way and it just all fell into one
I would say on average nineteen is probably too young
By thirty-five, she was divorced
We decided ourselves, just between the two of us
we knew it wasn't going any further
we both knew we would be happier leading our own lives
She and Mick had decided early on that they didn't want children
Basically I would say because I'm far to selfish
I enjoy doing what I want, when I want and how I want
and
certainly at the moment I can't see any way around that
and this one off, here we go
had a brief but very sweet relationship, result of which was Charlie
give us a cuddle
I don't really want Charlie to be an only child
I'd love him to have brothers and sisters
but not necessarily loads of them! just one would do actually!
- right Charlie, there's yours - right
- and please eat it all up - I will
- and James - thanks mum - good boy
and last but not least
are you going to eat that one for me?
After her relationship with Charlie's father ended
she met Ian and they moved to Scotland and had two more sons
- James - Alright
By forty-two they had split up
Go on Lee, go and get him
Despite the split the family all live in the same area of Scotland
There's your dad!
Lee and Charlie's birthday's are only a month apart
so we tend to do something in between to celebrate both their birthday's
so we usually go somewhere like an amusement park
Lee's got a lot of nerve hasn't he?
and a little bit of bravado as his older brothers had said no
I think he decided "I'm going to do this one"
Has Charlie shown any interest as to his father?
No
Ian's his father as far as he's concerned
he knows and the whole family know that biologically he's not
but in every respect Ian is his father
always has been
he's done everything with him, been everything to him, taught him everything
What would you do if you had lots of money? about two pounds
I would buy myself a nice new made house
one that's all nice and comfy
Ooh, I quite like that
Jackie suffers from Rheumatoid Arthritis and lives off disability benefit
How is money for you?
Could do with more as just about everybody would say
but we manage, we cut our costs accordingly
You've got "X" amount and that's what you do
Has Liz got anything to do with that?
Liz has always got something to do with that
Ian's her son but she also says I'm here and she has three grandchildren here
that she loves dearly and that she will be there for us
James has just had a trip to Alton Towers with the school
and she'll say "you pay for the trip and I'll give him the spending money"
which is brilliant as it makes life easier for me
You've moved in the last seven years, tell me about that
because of the arthritis that I've got I had to come to the ground floor
and this area is an area that I like
it's close to Liz so from that point of view it suits
the school's across the road for the boys
good neighbours, which makes a difference wherever you live
it's how the Eastend used to be about thirty years ago
the doors would be open and the neighbours looked out for each other
if one neighbour had a problem others would help out and that's how it is here
that's what this place is like, a village
we deal with the problems with the boys when they arise
you've always got the problem of drink, drugs, smoking and not smoking
and that sort of thing
Charlie's at an age now where I can't mother him
but I can't be his friend either
he wants to work, leave school and get a car mechanics apprenticeship
but the chances of him doing that are probably very slim
Yeah well someone kept stealing my chips again!
Lee, take your time, you'll make yourself ill - ok
James tends to be a bit of a computer freak
he wants to...
produce and make his own games
Lee tends to be the outspoken one and is a bit like I was at his age
- In fact he's very much like I was - Is that a worry?
I think that's...that's terrible! how dare you say that to me!
why would that be a worry? do you think I've turned out badly?
No, sometimes you see things you don't like in yourself
then you see them in your child and you think...
I never said he'd picked up all of my traits
I think he's picked up my best traits
If you're not going to play nice...right go to bed then - No!
he has a temper which isn't as bad as when he was younger
but it is something he knows about and he tries very hard to control
Does your temper get you into trouble?
You're probably the best one to answer that, does it?
you and I have had arguments on occasions
Did you meet enough men before you decided who to marry?
What do you mean by settled down?
If you think that getting married as far as we're concerned is a case of
go to work, come home, cook tea for husband, go to bed, get up, go to work
you're totally mistaken
I like it when you shout at me!
- I'm not sure you do really - I mean, I don't know
What happened at twenty-one?
you asked me if I'd had enough experience with men before I married
and I thought that was an insulting question and I got very angry
and we stopped filming because of it
and if you look at the tapes of me at twenty-one, I'm sitting and...
to all intents and purposes I might as well not have been there
but I was really angry that you even thought you could get...
you wouldn't have asked some of the other people that question
you will edit this program as you see fit
I've got no control over that
you definitely come across as, this is your idea of what you want to do
and how you see us and that's how you portray us
this one may be the first one that's about us and not your perception of us
So how up to now have I got you wrong?
How have you got me wrong?
The last one was very much based on...
the sympathy and the illness that I've got
and
what I may or may not be able to do
it should've been about...
what I can do, what I am doing, what I will do
don't make that mistake Mike
I am no way...
I am down and I'm depressed about my illness
but I'm certainly not down and depressed about my life
and a lot of times I sit and cringe when I watch those programs
not just for me but for other people
you can ask me about Ian and you know full well I'm going to say to you..
"It's none of your business, I'm not talking about it"
there are other people on this program that don't do that
that quite of their own free will
will talk about their marriages, divorces or the state of their lives
I don't think you should be into that, I don't think you should be asking that
It's part of peoples lives and this program is about peoples lives
No, yeah but that's...
to me that's a part of my life that will never go on this program
you know I've married, my ex-husband never took part in this
- My partner now will never take part of this - But that's not my fault
No, but that's because that's the way I want it
but it still doesn't stop you trying to get that information from me
So what would you like to talk about?
if you want me to represent you, we've talked a bit about the children
What I want to do
what I hope to do
I just don't want that personal conversation
OK lets talk about what you'd hope to do and hope for the boys
What I'd hope to do?
I'd actually...
I'd like to go back to school
so that I can hold a conversation with anyone in the world and know what I'm talking about
so that I'm not stuck
"well I know a little bit about that but I don't really know enough"
I'd love to know...
actually I'd really love to start my education all over again
My mum, 'cause she's got five girls she had seven years bad luck
that's why she's got five girls
I'd like to be able to have a happy family
I know that's not possible to be happy all the time
but as much of the time that was possible
I don't know what Suzi's had, what's Suzi had that I haven't had?
Are you different from what I should've expected at seven, fourteen and twenty-one?
Maybe not enough but I've got it
I think I'm more intelligent than you thought I would be
I have reached a level...
in my life that I'm happy with
and I enjoy being me
but I don't think you ever expected me to turn out the way I have
- How was that Lee? - It was great!
Yeah, Lee's always trying to better you!
If we did all love Jeffrey and we all wanted to marry him
I think I know the one that he'd like best and that's her
I don't think I'd get married too early
I'd like to have a full life first and meet people
- I'd like to enjoy myself before I... - Yeah, before you commit yourself
Marriage means a different thing to me
I've still got my ideals about marriage I don't know what it's all about
Sue was twenty-four when she married Billy
they had two children, William and Katherine
I think that to get married young there must be things that you miss
you must miss that crucial stage of being yourself
because the minute you get married you're no longer a single being
you're a partnership and that should be the idea behind it
By the time she was thirty-five she and Billy had divorced
I've never sat down and thought...
well, what was it? was it this? was it that?
I just knew it wasn't working
there has been relationships when I could've settled
but they didn't feel quite right, so...
I've always come away and pulled away
and just waited until the right one came along
if they ever do!
#Don't you remember you told me you loved me baby#
At forty-two when we filmed Sue in the karaoke bar
she brought Glen along to watch her sing
We'd just met and things were going well but now obviously things are going very well
- Is this love? - Oh I think so yeah
We've know each other for a long time before the seven years
and we've always always liked each other
- He's good looking - He's very good looking, he's not bad is he
Everyone says he looks like Paul Weller
whether that's true or not? especially now he's growing his hair
Susan most of all likes Lesley
- What? - Don't you think?
- She keeps changing her mind though - Yeah I don't know which one really
every thing's not that cut and dried
it's not either career or family or...
but is what's in the middle, am I just going to carry on as I am now? for?
and end up ..... on the shelf?
or am I just going to get married? could be any day
I've been married and I've not got that urgency, Glen...
we say "maybe we will" we're engaged, committed and bought a house together
and to me that's a big committment
every house needs money spending on it when you move in
to have a wedding you have to put some cash into it
when I got married the primary reason was because I wanted a child
the two to me went together
Have you and Glen thought of having your own child?
well Glen got with me when...
we got together when I was in my forties
and you don't have a baby when you've just started a relationship
I didn't want to do all that again, I would've loved to have a baby
'cause he would make a wonderful parent but the timing was off
- So she's your baby? - She's my new baby yeah
my kids are my babies but she's my new baby
she's our baby! mine and Glens!
she's a wonderful terrier, she's got such character
- What does she do? - Well she watches TV with us
she's got her own favourite programs
and she adores Rolf Harris, absolutely adores Animal Hospital
and if she's at the top of the house and the music comes on
she runs down the stairs and sits in front of the TV for Rolf Harris
- The house looks nice, are you pleased with it? - I am very pleased with it
it's a lovely step for us, we feel like we've got more space around us and...
we've got to do everything inside but we can build on it and that's what we want
we've been promising to have a house warming party since we moved in
we've been here four months now so I thought it was about time
people are just starting to arrive now
So you left the Eastend, why?
Well I've always wanted to move out
but you don't do that or the opportunity isn't there when you're on your own...
with two kids, I wish I'd done it before
but it's timing, now is the right time obviously
and the Eastend has changed, it's changed a lot
mum comes down to me, it's so easy they can just jump on a train
and the station is within walking distance so it's worked out wonderfully
some people are just born into rich families and they're lucky
I don't see why they should have the luck when people have worked all their lives
and haven't got as much as they have, it doesn't seem fair
So have you moved up a class now?
Well it's difficult to say, "upper" or "up a" class
I suppose it feels like that to me
now I've got the sense of pride, my own house
and I feel like I'm building for the future
I've been a single parent for a long while and I've brought them up on my own
because Katherine was only two when Bill left
it's been extremely hard and sometimes very lonely
I only had to have one filling, that was all I had done
William's a computer addict, he works in the industry
he also constantly has a computer on indoors
yeah smiley faces and windows...
he could've gone to university and he knows that and I know that
I do regret that for him
but I've been there, I can remember I didn't want to do that either
and Katherine's temping as she wants to do a bit of travelling next year
people say she's me reincarnated, she looks a bit like me
and her mannerisms are exactly like me
and she likes to enjoy herself
to go into a relationship with someone with two teenagers
it must've been very difficult for him and they do clash occasionally
I hate it because I'm an easy going person and I don't like strife
they're doing things the way I brought them up
which isn't the way that Glen would like things to be done, so...
you've got to learn to live together in the same house
it'll always be a learning curve!
I'm a peace maker!
When the children were old enough to go to school
Sue went back to work and had a series of office jobs
she now helps run the MA courses in the university of London
I still work for the college but we moved to central London
now I'm the main administrator for the program...
instead of an assistant and I've got a couple of people who help me with that
Hayley, could you fax that to Mary for me please?
- So you like the resposibility? - Yeah I love the resposibility
I think I was born for the responsibility, yeah I love it
- Well I've never been abroad - No, nor have I - I have
- Oh yeah 'cause you went on that cruise didn't you - Yeah
once a year we go to Cornwall or Devon
we try to find a different spot every year and we bring the dog
it's just such a lovely place
every time you turn a corner there's a different sight
you never know what you're going to find, everythings so beautiful
we both had childhood holidays here and good memories
and we decided to come back and we've been coming ever since
it's nice for us just to be a couple for a week
when we retire or maybe before if we get lucky
this is the sort of place we'd like to come to
that one there right in the middle nearest the beach, that would be ideal
absolute perfect, the perfect place
oh that was a good one!
*speaks Latin*
Yes speak up, fill up the gaps on the board
When he was seven, Bruce was at a pre-preparatory boarding school
at fourteen, St. Paul's school in London
They don't enforce being upper class
and things like that at St. Paul's
they suggest that you don't have long hair and do get it cut
and they teach you to be reasonably well mannered
but not to sniff on the poorer people
At twenty-one he was in his last year at Oxford reading maths
You can show that this is irreducible
then you do a transformation on this point and X = T + two
Good that's a nice way of doing it
particularly using Eisentstien down here, his test is very powerful
At twenty-eight Bruce was teaching maths in East London
Well going to Africa
and try and teach people who are not civilised
to be more or less good
At thirty-five, he was teaching in Sylhet in Northrn Bangladesh
then I've also got the chance to learn a bit of Bangla
which is very difficult, I'm not doing very well at
*Speaks Bangla*
By forty-two Bruce is back in the Eastend
running the maths department at a girls school
at forty-nine he's teaching at St Alban's
a large boys independent school which has girls in the sixth form
I sing in the choir twice a week on Monday's and Friday's we go to the Abbey
because in the early days the school was in the Abbey
going back to 948
- 948? - Yes, so...
the head likes to say "we're in our third millenium"
- So the school's over a thousand years old? - Yes, in one form or another
- What's the first thing we do? - I multiply by three
You don't multiply by three, you divide by three
Tell me what's exciting about teaching here?
There is a higher academic level to teach
then you can see pupils at a more developed level
that flash of recognition
and engendering their love of the subject that I had at their age
there is a class society
and I think private schools may help it's continuance
Has this been a compromise of political principles for you?
I would say, have a million angels infront of every teacher
who is prepared to slog away at an inner city school
make way, this is somebody who is prepared to turn up each day for this job
Where's the graph?
Sixty right
that motto "water weareth away a stone by dripping on it, not by smashing it"
was a motto for teaching in that you kept on teaching them and
that eventually it would get through and pupils would change and learn and so on
but in the end the reverse happened
that water dripping on me, wore me away
I just thought
I don't think I can do this until I'm sixty and so I have to do something else
Do your old friends give you a hard time for what you've done?
They certainly do, they say...
"have you joined the Tory party, the golf club, the Masons?"
"you're driving a much better car than you used to" and so on
well my girlfriend is in Africa
and I don't think I'll have another chance of seeing her again
- Have you got any girlfriends? - No, not yet
I'm sure it will come but not yet
I do think a lot of people think too much about it
I think I would very much like to...
become involved in a family, my own family for a start
that's a need that I feel I ought to fulfil
and would like to fulfil and would do it well
yes I haven't got married or whatever
and I suppose that would've been something which I'd hoped had happened
Well you're getting on a bit, are you getting worried?
Well not really, I'm always optimistic who knows who I might meet tomorrow
and in the middle of a conversation about something completely different
he just asked if I'd like to marry him
and if I hadn't been listening carefully I would have missed it completely
- To love and to cherish - To love and to cherish
- Till death us do part - Till death us do part
- Is this a beetroot or something? - I think it's just a weed
Do you enjoy gardening?
Well under Penny's directions I do whatever she asks
I don't know what to do here or what order to do things in
she and her mother are quite good at this
So you're the labourer?
Yes, I'm the unpaid labourer, the serf
the Feudal Vassel or whatever, Penny will give you the correct medieval term
We don't argue very much
Not really, we haven't really had a full blown row
Our arguments tend to be two sentences and I go off and sulk for 24 hours
- How are you doing dear? - Fine thank you
one positive influence on him, I've stopping him apologising
when I first knew him he kept saying "sorry, sorry"
and apologised for things that didn't need apologising for
maybe it's just 'cause we weren't married then
- You see I was winning you over then - Yes that's right!
- Were you the world's greatest cook? - Well only pasta
If you have emotional issues will you talk about them?
Well I have the usual male reticence about that kind of thing
If Penny wanted to give me a hard time she'd say "talk about your feelings"
that would be worse than a 24 hour sulk
We may have children I don't know
if in seven years time or so we're living in a slightly bigger house...
with a young family that would be nice
I don't want to pin all my hopes on it and nothing happens
we are quite old
I can see bringing up teenage children in your fifties might be a bit strange
come on then Henry, get on
is it more tiring than you thought?
until you're doing it you don't realise how sleep deprived you get
and how totally exhausted you are all the time for several years
- That came as quite a shock - Sometimes I go to bed at 8:30!
which is ridiculous
infact, I sometimes go to bed before Henry and George!
He looks like his father doesn't he
Hmm, George has got the cheek bones that run in Bruce's family
and what have I got?
eh?
ooh!
that's hard to answer darling
We're at my first school where I was from about five to eight
and this is where I stayed for three years
I can remember being happy there
I can remember also being miserable
because I can remember crying
I always seemed to be beaten on and never used to understand why
Squad halt!
- You were here because? - My parents were seperated and divorced
and just to give me a stable place to be and be educated
it was a solution to all those problems
my hearts desire is to see my daddy
who is six thousand miles away
I did miss contact with my father, and
although I say it as a joke to Penny "time to send them boarding, as I was"
and she says "over my dead body" but I wouldn't want that either
Five years ago the family moved from the Eastend to be near Bruce's new school
it's very quiet, it's child friendly and it just feels very safe
and that's very important when you have small children, that the area feels safe
what can you give them that you didn't have?
contact with a father that is loving
and they can realise that and show that love to other people
and realise when they're letting both themselves and me down
I can be a guiding light for them
Do you want any more children?
Well...
Bruce was originally talking about a cricket team
but he's got his opening batsman and that's going to be his lot, frankly
I want you to play tomorrow, I'm not going to drop you from sarcasm!
I run one of the junior teams here, the under thirteens
nearly two-hundred boys there doing that on a saturday
rather than other things that could waylay them
so that combination of playing in a team and the ability to back each other up
and form friendships that's such a nice thing
At weekends Bruce plays village cricket
We don't really mind who wins and loses, we obviously prefer to win
and we go on tour every year and go down to Devon
it's such a nice bunch of mates and I've known some of them for twenty-five years
you can play it at a reasonable level until your in your sixties
and what about your batting skills?
I'm mainly a bit of a slogger so I tend to bat down the order 6,7,8
it can be brief but the last time I played I got fifty
Do you have fears for the future?
I'm kind of worried that the boys will turn out alright, I hope they avoid drugs
to see them sleeping or carrying them around is just fantastic
and the smell of them and the look of them is just...
you just want to protect them from everything that's harmful to them
When you look back at yourself at seven can we see you now?
I can't really recognise myself, he looks a little bit lost and sad, I think
I'm quite surprised to be contented and reasonably happy
Do you have a dream?
I would've liked to play international cricket but I wasn't good enough
one's dreams go in the day to day living of ordinary life
and family life takes over
I think we just sort of live without our dreams
I don't like
the big boys hitting us
and the prefects sending us out for nothing
When he was seven, Paul was in care in a children's home in London
were you happy at the children's home in England?
We didn't mind that really as we didn't know what was going on
'cause I was a bit young then
well my mother and father separated originally I think
they eventually got divorced
I went to the boarding school for one year, then we emigrated to Australia
Paul settled with his father and step-mother in a suburb of Melbourne
what mark has it left on you, the fact you were brought up in a bad marriage
The only thing I can say may have came from that is my lack of confidence
and being able to show my feelings
Would you like to get married Paul?
- Tell me why not - I don't like ....
say you had a wife
say you had to eat what they cooked you
and say, I don't like vegetables, well I don't
I know I prefer to be alone really
I can't say I don't want to get married, 'cause I think I do
but I want to be happily married and therefore I want to make sure
What was it that you fell in love with, what is it about him?
His helplessness I suppose, brings out the mothering instinct in me
can pick him up and cuddle him and
he's also very good looking I think but he doesn't agree with me
and in the summer he's got this cute little bum in shorts
I can tell quite a few stories here but
the one that really irritates me the most is when we have an argument he says
"that's it, leave me" and I say "fine alright, I will one day"
We had our twentieth wedding anniversary just before christmas
Which was a life sentence
Yeah! everyone reckons we should be out of jail by now
To a certain extent we started thinking "do we really know each other now?"
because you just get into the routine of..
going to work, coming back home, taking the kids here and there
I don't think you mean to but you probably stop thinking of each other alot
I find it hard to express emotion most of the time
although I'm getting on top of that
I'm more than happy now
just the simple things to say to Susan, like "I love you" or something like that
I mean I can tell you about it but
I really haven't been able to say it freely to Sue, y'know?
It's a bit hard to talk about but I did have to get a bit of help
it wasn't directly due to our relationship, it started at work sadly
which brought my self esteem down which affected everything else
and I was very fortunate that I saw a local doctor
with her help I started properly coming back to normal thinking
I was feeling a little worried about the relationship
as I felt I hadn't progressed and I was going backwards
and I still believe that
I was thinking that "why would Susan want to be with someone as...."
it sounds funny but "as boring as me"
'cause there was nothing there, what do I do?
How do I say it?...
it was a shock that he got that low and doubted the relationship
because one thing I've always known is Paul's never doubted his love for me
it's always been there and I've never doubted it either
Did the physical side of your marriage suffer?
I think it did
- I think it did really - For a little while
But we promised ourselves when we first got married that...
we'd never stop touching or being affectionate towards each other
and infront of the children, we've always been...
even now with the children, we still embrace a lot, both Katie and Robert
Katie will sometimes say "Mother....stop it!"
I was going to be a policeman but I thought how hard it would be to join in
I just haven't made up my mind yet I was gonna be a gym teacher but
one of the teachers told me that
I had to get up into the university
At twenty-one, Paul was a junior partner for a firm of bricklayers
by twenty-eight he had gone out on his own as a sub-contractor
When I started working for myself things were looking good for me
I was out of school, it was something I was very enthusiastic about
and I was chasing the dangling carrot but never got there
really, I'm a worker and not a business man
by the time he was forty-two, Paul was doing factory work
making signs for a plastics company
What's the future for you at work?
Well the job's still there
I've had talks with them about whether they're ushering me out the door
they say they're not, not that I'm that old but it's a bit of a worry...
about getting a fulltime job with my skill levels
Sue had been a hairdresser for most of her working life
but at forty-nine she has a new career
as an occupational therapist at a retirement home
you might be in your forties and getting older but you still have a lot to add and...
and you can learn to go in a different direction, I call this my sea change
- Do you have ambitions? - Not really now
I've been in this job ten years and never asked for a payrise
that's just what I've always been like
Has it affected home life at all?
It has affected a little bit because...
I'm not there at home as much as I used to be for when Paul got home
it can be, and I'm sure I'm not the only one....
it can be quite startling when you get home and think "there's no one here"
- When I've been here for 30 years to come home to - It's really different
By the time they were twenty-eight, they had two children, Katie and Robert
Katie did well at school and got a place at university to study archeology
they're photos of the dig in Cyprus that I went on
and we were digging in bronze age tombs that are around the village
You're the first person in the family to go to university, was it a struggle?
It was a bit as I had to do it all by myself
I had nobody to help me as mum and dad couldn't help me with my essays
What does university mean?
I'm pretty happy with Katie
and I'm not having a go at Rob but I've got fears for Robert
'cause he's struggling a little bit
Robert has trained as a car mechanic
He's got reading and writing difficulties and he's coping with that
we'd like to see him doing a literacy course now he's a bit older
but just day to day troubles with making ends meet with money that's always hard
He went nuts at me for using the phone
"there's enough in that fucking garage you cunts you fucking do this all the time"
What's Robert got that you gave him?
Moodiness, I think he's even a little bit more moody than I've ever been
he's not your average relaxed twenty-one year old
What you doing?
We only had two children as we thought we couldn't love any more children
as much as we loved our two and now we have our two grand kids and we love them
- You love them as much, really do - As much, yeah
With Rob and Stacy we don't know how long they're going to last for
and I keep my fingers crossed they will last
we can only hope that they work at it like we do
That's better, thank you
In their twenties Paul and Sue sold up bought a van and travelled Australia
I think it brought us closer together because we really got to know each other
and we relied on each other so much
One of the most important things we ever did with our kids was spend time with them
and particularly when you've got holidays
which a lot of parents do, go camping with them
we've been camping there now for 19 years
as Robert was two when we first went there
So does this beat the old van?
This is the Hilton compared to that old van
So have you got any plans for any big trips now the children have gone?
I think we'd like to do something again but...
you need to have the finances to support yourself for a few of months
and the monitors up in the wash room sends the nurse out
"well there's no talking" "no I wasn't talking today"
I'm more at peace around the horses and the animals
I can be upset and on edge and come down to the horses
and within three or four minutes I've forgotten everything
so it does calm me down
The last time I came you had the horses, what's happened to the horses?
Well we gave Poinken away to some people because it was a little bit expensive
and also the fun went out of it basically
- How do you get that peace now? - I think I got it through running
Well most Sunday mornings we go training when Paul's doing marathons
when he runs great distances I follow on the bike as a bit of support
and I take drinks for him so he doesn't get dehydrated
it's something we can do together so we do that
We're not doing any great distances...
I have an injured knee, I'm just building it up so it gets used to running again
I did the Host City marathon, that was my first marathon I did
up in Sydney they trialed the Olympic course and it was open to anyone
so I figured if you were going to do a marathon that would be the one to do
I nearly died but I enjoyed it!
happiness to me is a love for life and a love for people
When you look back on the marriage and the family, any regrets?
No, we wish we'd had more children but who knows if we'd had them...
- We'd have said "too many!" - We might be both in the nut house!
Without a family what have you got? nothing
well that's the way I feel
- More than work and achievements? - Yeah
You've got nothing unless you've got family and health anyway
it would be awfully lonely without family I think
Tell me, do you have any boyfriends Suzy?
Yes
Tell me about them
Well he lives up in Scotland
and I think he's thirteen
Have you got any boyfriends Suzy?
What is your attitude towards marriage?
for yourself?
Well I don't know, I haven't given it a lot of thought
'cause I'm very, very cynical about it
but then you get a certain amount of faith restored in it
I've got friends and their parents are happily married
and so it does put faith back into you, but
me myself I'm very cynical about it
When I last saw you at twenty-one you were nervous, chain-smoking, uptight
and now you seem happy
what's happened to you over these last seven years?
Well I suppose Rupert
- I'll give you some credit - Thank you!
I'm not a chain-smoking person
I think, you can't just walk through a marriage
and think once you get married it's all going to be roses and everything forever
y'know you have...
well everybody has their rows, but
we've never yet had a row that we haven't managed to sort out
it's very hard to actually say what it is that goes on between a couple
it's either there or it's not
We've been married twenty-seven years now
any marriage has its ups and downs but somehow
whether through luck or determination we've worked through the difficult times
he's just always been there for me, and...
I know I can rely on him and...
he's my punch-bag in the same way I'm probably his
but it works
When I get married I'd like to have two children
I'm not very children minded at the moment and I don't know if I ever will be
- What do you think about them? - well, I don't like babies
At twenty-eight, Suzi had two sons, Thomas and Oliver
by the time she was thirty-five, Suzi had a daughter, Laura
- Mummy - Yeah? - Laura wants you
So what are the children up to?
They are...
Tom is living in London having graduated and now working and living in London
Olly is working and living at home
and Laura is doing her AS exams
it was difficult when they first started to move away
all those memories of the children growing up
it's like a closed chapter now as you can't bring those days back
what I admire about the young today is their confidence
and that's what I wished I'd had
they just seem to take life and deal with it
What sort of things do you do?
Ride, swim, play tennis, ping-pong
and I might play croquet
something like that
I did have a privileged childhood
but you have to take responsibility for your life somewhere along the line
and some people take responsibility earlier than others
I was just a bit later in taking it
maybe now is the first time that....
I actually feel happy within my own skin, it's taken me a long time to do it
but I feel that I can accept wrong decisions that I've made in the past
I'm comfortable with it now, I can live with it
So what's it been like for you being in these films?
Very difficult very painful
not an experience I've enjoyed in any way
every seven years it throws up issues that...
we all learn to put into compartments
and then it all gets opened up again and it's difficult
we were all landed in it and most of us for whatever reason have chosen to do it
I'm not an outgoing confident person
I like my privacy, I don't like...
however many million people picking over my life
and is that what they do, you think?
I think for a couple of minutes, yes, then it's yesterdays news
and people seem to read into what they think we all think
which I find very hurtful
as most of them come up with things that are not like what's going on in my head
I think she might be alright
What's the point of people going into peoples lives and saying
"Why do you like this and why don't you?" I don't see any point in it
So have you had enough of being in the film?
who knows in seven years whether it will be done again but...
this is me saying
hopefully I'll reach my half century next year and I shall bow out
When I grow up I'd like to find out all about the moon and all that
Nick, a farmer's son, grew up in the Yorkshire dales
I said I was interested in physics and chemistry, well I'm not going to do that here
at fourteen he was away boarding school
and at twenty-one reading physics at Oxford
So what career are you going to pursue?
It depends whether I'll be good enough to do what I want to really do
I would like if I can to do research
By twenty-eight he had moved to America
and was doing nuclear research at the University of Wisconsin
The fusion reaction gives off energy and produces the power that would
be turned into electrical energy and sent out to the consumer
- How hot is it in there? - In there, it's about ten million degrees
at thirty-five he was an associate professor
and at forty-two, a full professor
and I've spent the last year and a half writing a couple of books
my ambition is to be more famous for doing science than for being in this film
but unfortunately it's not going to happen!
Over the years, Nick's research hit trouble
and by forty-nine he's had to abandon it
because the containers needed to store the hot gases couldn't be developed
Was there a moment when you realised all you'd been doing wasn't going to work?
I think it was more gradual, I didn't want to admit it for quite a while
I really believed in it, it was a huge let down
so the area that I'm looking at is this times this
I don't know why I have a compulsion to teach, it was always there in me
I just wanted to do it, I thought I'd be good at it
when I go into a classroom I try to explain to them...
why they might want to do it, that's my attempt to open a door for them
so I'm hoping you will remember me being very stupid and saying...
"Ow, there's arrows coming out of here" can we do that?
they can get information from a book
I have to make the information more interesting than a book
I'm doomed to do this over and over and over....
and nobody's ever said that I was a typical engineer
the under-graduates tell jokes about engineer's, the only one I can repeat is
How can you tell if an engineer is an extrovert?
and the answer is - He looks at YOUR shoes when he's talking to you
somebody had a theory that scientists and mathematicians are almost autistic
I could easily be borderline autistic!
I don't quite understand how other people feel about things at times
Do you have a girl friend?
I don't want to answer that
I don't want to answer those kind of questions
I thought that one would come up because when I was...
when I was doing the other one somebody said
"what do you think about girls?" and I said "I don't answer questions like that
is that the reason you're asking it? yeah I thought so
the best answer would be to say that I don't answer questions like that
it was what I said when I was seven and it's still the most sensible
but I mean, what about them?
Nick was only seventeen when I first met him
If you've been somebody who...
who had fixed ideas of a woman's role in marriage that meant...
dinner on the table at six every evening
Didn't I tell you about that?
His wife Jackie also taught at the university and they had a son, Adam
six years ago they divorced
Well it was incredibly hard
what I concluded, and I've talked to other people who have gone through it
I'm not sure if they feel it as strongly as I did but it was like a death
Anything could happen, we could easily drift apart
there are so many pressures on people
If your spouse died you could look back and say "it was wonderful while it lasted"
but in a divorce you can't look back and say...
"these are all happy memories"
it wasn't my decision
she went to England, her father was ill
by the time she'd landed he'd died and when she came back...
it was like a different person came back
was I responsible?
I could've been braver about some things
but if I'd been braver it might've ended sooner
you can talk to me by myself outside but I'll just meet you by the garage, ok?
- Alright - Alright bye
It's enormously hard to deal with, the worst part of it was...
seeing how it would affect my son
- How old was he? - Ten
when he was first told he was terribly, terribly upset
then he just pulled himself together and didn't want to talk about it anymore
he's made the most of it, I mean the best of it
made the best that he can of it
take it easy Adam, the main thing is not to crash
- Really? You don't like me crashing? - No!
- How does he deal with it now? - He doesn't talk to me about it much...
at all, he's a private person
it's very, very hard for me to be...
spending a large part of my time with him not around
Hey Graham
what you doing?
I had to go to a graduation, one of my students was getting his PHD
and he insisted I go there with him
and I looked around and the person behind me was Chris
Hey Graham
who is my new wife
are you ok?
- Did you fall in love quickly? - Immediately
Except you decided that if I couldn't find you I had failed the test
I decided it was his work to find me
we did shake hands at the end of graduation
stood up and said who we were but he immediately forgot
he couldn't remember
"ok I know who she is so I don't have to worry about that anymore" so I forgot!
I do! that's very me
she came down to the school to meet me and I barely knew what she looked like
I looked at her and thought "I guess that's her" and I looked and did this
and she did a mirror image of that gesture and I thought...
I can't explain but I felt very strongly drawn to her by that little gesture
and there was no way I would say no to being married to this man
I wanted to be with him
has he changed my life? dramatically
have I changed as a person? I hope so
I don't mean to be superficial but she's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen
- Is he sexy? - Hell yes!
absolutely
didn't you have fun with that one?
I only have one child, Courtney and he only has one child
there's a symmetry with that
Would you ever have wanted a child together?
well absolutely but it's not exactly practical
- So we're just.... - No...
and Graham's added an element that's just joy
and I know Nick likes little guys, he just likes little kids
they'd like to come out for a holiday in the country
when I'd like to have a holiday in the town
it is very difficult being in a place where you're...
far way from all your background and you don't have any support network
my parents are alive, they've both had very significant health issues
my father keeps pointing out that old age isn't for sissy's
you need a secretary
Nick has two younger brothers back in England, Andrew and Christopher
Christopher, the deaf one got divorced and he said to my mother...
"that if Nicky could do it then so could I"
so that changed
Are you missing England?
I always miss England
I was really not the sort of person who should ever have moved very far
When he was forty-two we took Nick back to where he grew up in the Dales
What did you learn here that you've carried with you?
I feel as if you could look deep somewhere inside me
I feel like there's some of this in me somewhere
I think of it as being magnificent but rather grim really
it's very uncompromising and sometimes it's rather tragic
but it makes other places you go seem rather trivial as well
We call it one of our Dales rooms
we have things that reflect the Dales, we have cards that we've framed and...
some of the china from Nick's family is displayed up here
well we're driving from Madison to Minneapolis
as Chris lives in Minneapolis and I live in Madison so...
we go up and down alternate weekends
does it put stress on the relationship, these separations and re-uniting?
I would say absence makes the heart grow fonder really
Chris lives in Minneapolis, a five hour drive from Madison
where she's an associate professor in the department of education
Hey, want to see something?
- Work's a big part of both of your lives? - It is - Yes
So we're both workaholics
Is there anything in him you would like to change?
Well that would be a really risky business wouldn't it
I thought you had changed...if...no?
Y'know, you don't mess with mother nature
in terms of little things like how someone does their toothpaste
those silly nonsense things
he would not just say yes, he immediately attended to it
I'd never been with anyone who did so I have to be careful what I ask him to do
Oh go easy on the butter please, alright
okay
I could see it being a slippery slope
I didn't want to go that way in terms of my...
- ordering his life - She didn't want to make too many demands
I didn't want him to be a different person
If I could change the world, I'd change it into a diamond
I think this film is extremely important
it's important to me but it seems to be important to other people as well
that doesn't make it an easy thing
it's an incredibly hard thing to be in
and I can't even begin to describe how emotionally draining and wrenching it is
just to make the film and to do the interviews
and that's even when I'm pretending that nobody else is watching it
I think it's a heavy reminder that he's missing his roots
there's an awful lot of emotions...
attached to having a scrap book that's as vivid as this
I'm going to work in Woolworths
Lynn is the third of our Eastend girls
she went to primary school with Jackie and Sue
but chose to go onto a grammar school
at twenty-one, she set out on a career as children's librarian
in a mobile library in East London
- Have I stamped yours? - Yes
I've not stamped yours
Sleeping Beauty
Teaching children the beauty of books
and watching their faces as books unfold for them
is just fantastic
to work with children of that age you've got to love them
and I love children
Because of cuts in the education budget the mobile library was shut down
at forty-two, Lynne was working at Bethnall Green library
you can draw, better than I can
At forty-nine, she's still there
Good morning, well what about you?
good morning, are you going to say hello?
How much of your work is with people like this?
Probably five percent, it's a very small part of it
but probably, currently the most challenging part of it
- Elephant? - He's an elephant, where's the elephant?
We still get six other schools regularly send classes in here
it's busy most days
Well I know he loves her and he loves her
I don't I love him
I've been married a year and...
a couple of months
you do think "christ, what have I done?"
When she was nineteen she married Russ
We married young but because we wanted to go out and have fun together
thirty years and we're still together, he's my soul mate, he's my partner
we respect each other
hence, he is not here and you will not see him on this film
because he has always felt that the....
intrusion into our private life that this causes is too much
I wanted, white wedding, all trimmings
Russ would've been satisfied with very little
Are you in love?
very, very much
he knows how much I love him and in my heart I know how much he loves me
I put him on the spot sometimes
if I could I would have two girls and two boys
Yeah so would I
Lynne and Russ have two daughters, Sara and Emma
Emma's an installation co-ordinator for the company
Sara is an accessories buyer
it's a family run business
At forty-two the girls were both doing very well at school
- Alright darling? - Yeah
- Neither of the girls went to university? - No
- Was that disappointing to you? - No, their choice
we discussed it, it's what they wanted to do
they felt that the academic side wasn't for them
you have to accept that it's their lives
and you can only guide and be there for them
- Oh you big boy - Where's your drink
- So you've got a grandson? - He's a lovely lad, he really is
I'm watching him in the same way from...
twenty-one years ago when I held Sara up, when she was just born
and now I'm watching Emma, and what goes around comes around
as Emma now says that she says things to Connor that she heard me saying to her
that still catches me out when I hear me say something that was purely my mum
So was the arrival of Connor a shock to you?
No! well yeah! but...
as soon as Emma was expecting Connor
I got the phone call "mum I need to meet you"
so she told me face to face that she was expecting, fine
she was nineteen, she's old enough
when she was thirty-five, Lynne was having health problems
they stuck all these tubes up inside me
and discovered that I've got these veins
up here, that shouldn't be there
- In your brain? - Yes
- And what can they do about it? - Not a lot at the moment
No change
it's not going away but it's no more problems, nothing...
you have the aches and pains of getting older
I've got bi-lateral carpal tunnel syndrome in both my wrists
guess who had it? my mother!
but it comes and go hence the magnetic bracelets which help
but you have to overcome it
- What's white? - Red
Yeah we know that's red
for the last thirty years I've been banging my head against a brick wall...
to maintain children's services but this time no ones listening
we've just done purple
they say that the work that I do, that anybody can do it
- Blue - Blue
there would be no specialist running it
one
I may not have a job
- Hern loves Tintin - Hern absolutely adores Tintin
It's cost cutting
- So that's what it's about? - Yes
they would deny that
are you going to speak to me today?
- No? - No?
lets hear you!
- Is it emotionally very demanding working with people like this? - Yes
but it's so fulfilling
that it.... beyond belief
Azir, can you say it for me? I know you can
but are you....no!
you're not going to do it today
Azir spoke to me on the phone a couple of years ago
the first time he had ever spoken to me
and it really got me
it's extremely difficult for him to speak...
and when he does you know he's making so much effort
and it gets me
excellent
- Well done Azir - Thank you Azir
- Come a long way since the back of a van - I was on the back of a bus yesterday!
we took a bus out to a school that was having a book week just around the corner
and...
I had forgotten how much it sways
where's your stamp?
- It's been a hell of a commitment for you hasn't it? - Yeah but....
but it will end
- Has it been worth it all? - Yes very much
Come on , speed it up
all these things that I have said over the years are flying through my mind now
but yes, it has been worth it
and you better cut it 'cause otherwise I'm going to cry
What do you think about rich people?
Well... not much
Tell me about them
Well they think they can do everything without you doing it as well
Simon was brought up in a children's home
the only child of a single parent
Rich people have all different things
they have everything they want whereas poor people don't have anything
and they know they haven't got anything so they know they're missing something
What are you missing?
Well I'd probably say a bike and...
a fishing rod
Twenty years ago
when I was born
an illegitimate child
that's something that's only whispered about
people feel strongly about it in those days
but nowadays it's..
it's not a serious matter
the serious point is whether you stay with someone or you leave them
since twenty-one
I've got married, had a couple of kids
By twenty-eight he had married Yvonne and they had five children
well I don't think there's anybody else I could've ever married except Yvonne
she gives me my life really because
we're together, we have the children and everything
By thirty-five they were divorced
at forty-two he had married Vienetta
we used to go out when we were younger, we met in the laundrette
- Once a week! - Once a week in the laundrette!
One stage we went to a marriage guidance 'cause the...
pressures of being together were getting to us as we are two very different people
I'm very laid back
as she always says, if I go any further back I'll fall over!
when two people are together after both having separate lives it is hard
silly things like leaving the toilet seat up
or if I put something here I expect to see it here and Simon can be very untidy
he'll take everything of and fling it around the house
- Sorry dear - I don't want it all mixed up
Is he romantic?
If we've had an argument and he doesn't know, as I will shout and he'll think...
"what have I done?"
and I'll be here, like now, and I'll see some flowers
and a bottle of wine or something
and he'll say "I don't know what I've done but I'm sorry"
Vienetta already had a daughter, Miriam
and she and Simon have a son, Daniel
Is there anything of you in him?
his dashing good looks, that's me! and his love of sport as well
he goes to school in Slough as that's where they do grammar schools
he's doing very well there
They say "Where's your father then?"
y'know when your mums out at work "Where's your father?"
and I just tell them I ain't got one
they've got everything then
they've even got what I never had
- Which is what? - A father isn't it!
so they've had everything
at one stage they all stopped seeing me at all
but now, a bit older, a bit wiser...
and I'm a bit older and wiser and now three of them see me
Jessica has been very busy, she's got her work and college
- Who do you support? - Man united - So your lot came second?
Jonathon's been in a transitional period with changing jobs and ...
building up his new life
the two that don't see me, I can't really see their point of view
So what's it like being a grandfather?
It's bloody easy actually! you can see them all day long and then they go back
- and you've got one? - Two actually
one that I see
and one that I would only see if I kept going round to see him
otherwise I wouldn't see him so I'm waiting for a return visit now
before I'm old enough to get a job
I'll just walk around and see what I can find
I was going to be a film star, but
now I'm going to be an electrical engineer which is more to reality really
By twenty-one Simon was working in the freezer room of Walls sausages in London
I know I can't stay at Walls forever, it's just not me
I couldn't stay there for that long, my mind would go dead
I'm quite happy to stay there
it doesn't look like it's going to close down, so I mean...
better the devil you know isn't it
Walls did close the factory down
since then he has worked near Heathrow airport handling freight
the only reason I went there was to work near to where my son went to school
so I could take him there
Do you feel you could've done more with a career with your work?
If I'd pushed myself at school probably I could've done a lot better
Does that give you pause for thought?
No that means I was a lazy sod when I was younger
somebody said "you don't live to work, you work to live"
and that's how it should be
A couple of years ago Simon and Vienetta decided to train as foster parents
I went to boarding school when I was young and I felt that was regimental
they didn't allow for personal cares, for loving from the adult carers
so I wanted to do something like that in my own home
and we always say to foster carers
"please do not cut the children's hair without the permission of the parents"
What's the toughest thing about being a foster parent?
You're taking a chance when you do it as you really don't know what you're getting
one child had two knives in her hand as she didn't want to stay in this country
- Two knives in her hand! - Did she threaten you?
No she was just a threat to herself
some of them come back, they phone you up and say "hello auntie and uncle"
they come and have Sunday dinner and visit us which is good
at least you know you made a little difference to that child's life
we have Heathrow in our area
and that gives us extra things foster carers might need to do
So where are these children coming from that come to your house?
All over the world
- Anywhere - Anywhere
when they come off the plane they expect to meet somebody
but that person doesn't turn up
Simon had been at the children's home with Paul
so we brought Paul back from Australia to re-unite them
- was it good though? - yeah yeah
and you can see Windsor Castle from there
oh wow, look at that
we don't actually see or touch each other but we're living each others lives
every seven years it all comes back
and we get up to this far and we've done this and you've done that
When they were twenty-one
we took them back to where they spent some of their formative years together
- Yeah - He was a real bastard
I do try to be disciplined but...
I actually hate discipline
I believe the school has taught me that
There's always been a bit of turmoil inside
I believe that ......................
I can get on well with my mother sometimes
we talk very well with each other
but it's..
sometimes not quite as mother and son
When he was thirty-five, Simon's mother died of cancer
there was so many things I never actually said to my mum
just things you think about afterwards, it's too late because they're not there any more
What sort of things?
Just, I love you every day, and...
Later on in life I did realise she got depressed as well so...
that was probably a bigger reason than not being able to look after me
My mum wrote to me when I was twenty-one and I never had any contact with her
When I was twenty-one she came out an visited
I did grow up without her so it was like looking at a total stranger
I didn't recognise her at all
so there was no real indepth feeling there
Come on get in there next to him as well
come on, let me get you organised
Are these two guys very alike?
Well I think they are as...
they don't rush into things, they stand back and have a look at it
you make them enjoy their self's, like..
when we went for a walk yesterday I said...
"You ARE coming and you ARE having a good time" and he did have a good time so...
they're both very family orientated
- and they've both married noisy women! - That's true!
that works for me
I had a dream when all the world was on top of me...
and everything was on me, and I just about got out
and everything flew up in the air...
I still look up in the sky as I don't know any better
everything I have, I always think...
"Is that OK? is it right that I should have that?"
people are undecided about you
they can be friend one day and not the next
I wanted to be a boxer, actor....but...
but I never actually really wanted them
I just wanted to be liked
That's all Paul wants out of people
people to like him for who he is and what he is
without having to put on any false pretences
so I think that's why he doesn't open himself up to people
- Do you have any regrets? - Yes I do...
that we didn't get together earlier
- I think marriage is good for me - What does she give you?
Hot dinners and a warm bed!
I don't know!
she gives me a balance in my life because...
on my own I would probably be your typical slob
men behaving badly
we do get things done and we do things together
...multiply by four and divide...
Is it tough for the two of you being in these films?
I will say that I do love watching everybody else
but I always hate them and by the end I hate you lot too!
direct all of my anger in one place y'know!
I read the Financial Times
I read the Observer and the Times
What do you like about it?
Well I like...
I usually look at the headlines then read about it
At seven years old, John, Andrew and Charles...
were in a private preparatory school in London
What's the point of the program?
it's the point of the program is to reach a comparison
and I don't think it is
- Good point - Because we're not typical examples
and I think that's what people seeing the program might think
falsely
That's one of the troubles with this sort of program
I don't really think that people like us
Unless we're seven and being rather funny, have very much to say that's...
very interesting, because I mean...
we don't know very much
Well we didn't know very much when we were seven
- But we were still quite funny - We were at least funny!
What do you think about girlfriends at your age?
I've got one but I don't think much of her
They're no longer just bores
"We won't play this" or something
they're the other half of the community and they're there
and you can begin to talk to them
I don't think I financially come from the same background
Andrew didn't go for a classy debutante, he went for a good Yorkshire lass
but obviously he knew what he wanted
Does money concern you a lot?
No I think as long as one has enough to be comfortable
that's really what one should aim for
What's the most difficult thing about keeping the marriage together?
I don't think it is particularly difficult actually
we seem to manage alright
- Would you say? - I think so, we talk don't we
So how is married life?
Well I still Love him if that's what you're asking
and likewise
I'm going to Charterhouse
and after that, Trinity Hall Cambridge
Andrew went to Charterhouse and Cambridge, where he read law
I'd like to be a solicitor
and also fairly successful
at twenty-eight Andrew was a solicitor
What qualities do you think it needs to be successful?
Well you have to have a legal ability in my business, obviously
by thirty-five he had become a partner
In a couple of weeks we're having a legal conference in Dublin
At forty-nine, Andrew has left the law firm
I've moved to a large industrial gas's company which makes...
oxygen and nitrogen, hyrdrogen, things like that
Were you taking a chance?
Ye's, I've been at the same firm for over twenty years
but it's not very challenging
and changing like this
particularly quite late in your career, stretches you
I think it's not a bad idea to pay for schools
because if we didn't
schools would be so nasty and crowded
Yes, so do I think so
and the people in the schools wouldn't... and the poor people would come rushing in
and the man in charge of the school would get very angry
and he would get bankrupt
he wouldn't be able to pay all the teachers if he didn't get any money
education is very important
and you can never be sure of leaving your children any wordly goods, but
at least you can be sure that once you've given them a good education
that's something that no one can take away
Andrew and Jane have two sons, Alexander and Timothy
Alexander's at univeristy in his first year at Newcastle
and Timothy's at boarding school
I think he'd like to go to university but that's as far as he's thought
over the summer holidays we might talk about other universities
Andrew and Jane live in London but they have a second home in the country
Well we bought it just when we got married
it was a two-hundred year old barn we bought in an auction
completely derelict, nothing in it at all except for manure
and slowly over the years we've just been converting it
but it's really taken us up until recently to do that
Holly come on
there's a railway line that runs along the bottom of our land
there's foxes down there, we've been seeing a few cubs recently
What sort of hobbies does Alexander enjoy?
Well on the odd occassion he's quite keen on doing what we call...
dangerous sports
and we're going to treat him to a balloon ride
in advance of his birthday which is coming up soon
- Here we go - See you later
I have been in a balloon once myself, it was for my fathers birthday
it was all going well until the end when we managed to hit some trees
Oh don't tell me that now
and the basket landed on its side
It's very high, very high
When we landed there was a request that....
that all the ladies go down wind so that we could land on top of them
Once I had a talk to Grevil, he was in my class
and
I asked Sir if he could put him out of my class as he was always getting minuses
Do you think life is tougher for your children than it was for you?
Yes certainly, I think it's much more competetive for children
When I leave the school, I go to Broadstairs, St. Peter's Court
when you look back at us at age seven and I was saying what I was going to do
it's as if my life was mapped out for me
you could never get a child saying that now "I'm going to go to Cambridge"
things have become less certain as a result
- and you three had huge opportunities - we did, absolutely yes
Well I think boarding makes you feel self-sufficient
and also it teaches you to be away from your parents
who was the big influence in giving you a sense of proprotion and value?
Well obviously it's your parents
they bring you up for your first eighteen years of life
Well I have my bath at six o'clock...
Do you ever look back and wish anything differently?
perhaps as the children were growing up I'd liked to have spent more time...
at home with them , rather than in the office
but obviously that's too late to do now
So everything we say, they'll think
"well that's a typical result of the public school system"
when we were seven, fourteen and twenty-one we were prepared to say what we thought
but we've become more guarded over the years
What are you guarded about?
I'm guarded about being guarded!
Here we go
- So did you have to fall on the ladies? - No the lady fell on me
but it was my wife so that was good
When I leave school
I'm going to The Dragon School, I might
and after I might go to Charterhouse Marlborough
I don't particularly want to be rich but I'd like to have enough money
Charles went to Marlborough and then onto Durham university
since twenty-one he's taken no further part in these films
when I leave this school I'm going to Collet Court
and then I would be going to Westminster Boarding School if I pass the exam
and then we think I'm going to Cambridge and Trinity Hall
John went to Westminster and read Law at Christchurch Oxford
I'm thinking of following a legal career...
with a view to ending in parliament
Might be in the courts
Doing what?
Perhaps Chancery practise
I now have a career, I'm a Barrister
other than that life chugs along in varying degrees
well in a sense nothing's has changed in my job in the last fourteen years
I'm still a barrister, I still wear a curly white wig
the only visible difference is I wear a silk gown as I'm now a Q.C.
- Are you ambitious? - Yes
- What for? - Fame
and power
- what sort of power? - political power
I'd quite like to go into politics but that's easier said than done
I have thought about trying to get myself on the candidates list
but who knows, I haven't written myself off as a potential politician...
even though I'm already forty-nine
I worry about the quality of our democracy, I worry about this government
not because they're socialists and will round us all up and take us off
Trafalgar square to face the guillotine, far from it...
Tony Blair is a very good conservative as I see it
but rather because of the insidious damage they are doing to our constitution
The rich children always make fun of poor children
it's very irresponsible as we all want more money as much money as we can get
The acquisition of lots and lots of money is not something I set much importance by
I'm not money minded in that sense
Obviously it's nice to have a fair amount of money
and it does enable you to go on nice holidays, buy nice things, but...
as a goal in itself? no, who want's to be the richest corpse in the graveyard?
By the time he was thirty-five, John had a house in London and one in the country
I seem to spend a lot of time gardening furiously
trying to tame the wilderness that we inherited there
I'd have laughed if ten years ago you'd have told me that
I'd spend most of my time digging herbacious borders and things
but that's what I seem to do and I enjoy it
one good thing about having a large house in the country now is that
I've taken up playing the piano
Its a very nonchalant little theme, butter wouldn't melt in its mouth
Take it very quietly and let it just present itself
A couple of years ago I did start again and even practising, but I'm afraid...
I've lost an awful l ot of dexterity
whether it's old age and arthritis or it's falling off horses too many times
I don't know but I don't feel I've got quite the dexterity in my fingers
Certainly I can never tell the difference between you playing and the CD playing
- When I'm out of the room, he's very good - She's very diplomatic
No no it's true
When boys go around with girls they don't pay attention to what they're doing
for instance my grandmother had an accident, because
a boyfriend was kissing his girlfriend in the street
By thirty-five John had married Claire
the daughter of a former ambassador to Bulgaria
It is coincidental that we met but..
it's obvious that the Balkan connection was a strong mutual interest
We have a charity, Friends of Bulgaria
which started in 1991
which made quite a lot of money we then invested and took out to Bulgaria
we support some children's homes in Stara Zagora
an institution for disabled children
and we make donations to other charities
people who talk about the government butchering the National Health Service
I think should come over to Bulgaria
to see what being kept short of necessary supplies and funds really does mean
we've been told in some places it's impossible to do operations
albeit they have the operating theatres and excellent doctors
for want of simple anaesthetics
Up until then there had been no provision for education of disabled children
so we started what was called a Parralleca
which is parrallel education for the disabled
and we've now got two classes here
Claire and I have been giving prizes to the most talented children in town
this school that we're in was built by my family at the end of the 19th century
and they also used to present prizes...
to the best children each year right until the advent of communism in 1944
I come from a very old family
with big traditions of service to this country
and
when I come here I feel very proud of them
as I feel in so many ways they've helped build Bulgaria
this church is quite interesting
it was built by my great great great grandfather in 1835
they say he made off with eight tons of gold
and even today the mountains are full of treasure hunters
who keep digging up all the caves in hope of finding the treasure
I wish I could find it
once I'd refinded my equitable life pension fund
I reckon...
shoot the horses, shoot the wife and...
and only drink Bulgarian wine I may be able to retire aged 94 or something
Straw McAnessy got three minuses in a day, he's a pest
it has to be said that I bitterly regret that the headmaster of the school
where I was when I was seven, pushed me forward for this series
because every seven years a little pill of poison is injected into...
Oh no!
Well that's just the truth
there are times when I've felt appearing on this...
may get causes near to my heart a bit of publicity
and certainly, when you came to Bulgaria for the 35up program
that did lead to us getting quite significant assistance
which possibly we wouldn't have got
well I think it's a very good system
I suspect that why this program is compelling and interesting for viewers
and I quite see why it is because really....
it's like Big Brother or I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here
it is actually real life TV
with the added bonus that you can see people grow old, lose their hair, get fat
fascinating I'm sure, but does it have any value? that's a different question
Well we pretend we've got swords
and we make the noises of the swords fighting
and when somebody stabs us we go "ARRGHHH!!"
Neil grew up in a Liverpool suburb
he had dreams of going to Oxford but didn't get in
instead he went to Aberdeen university
but dropped out after the first term
at twenty-one he was working on a building site
and living in a squat
I would like to be somebody in a position of importance and I've always thought this
but I don't think I'm the right sort of person to carry the responsibility
for whatever it is, I always thought well I'd love to be...
possibly even love to be in politics or something like this
by twenty-eight he was homeless
wandering around the West coast of Scotland
if the money runs out then for a few days there's nowhere to go to
and that's all you can do, I simply have to find the warmest shed I can find
How do people regard you here?
Well I'm still known as an eccentric
I'm not claiming that I feel as though I'm in some sort of Nirvana, but
I'm claiming that if I was living in a bed-sit in suburbia I'd be so miserable
I'd feel like cutting my throat
At thirty-five we found him living on a council estate
in the most Northernly part of Britain, the Shetland Islands
it's an environment which sustains me, it's one in which I can survive
and the reason I don't feel safe is because
I think I'm getting more and more used to this lifestyle
which eventually I shall have to give up
and what would you like to be doing say in seven years?
I can think of all kinds of things I'd like to be doing the real question is
what am I likely to be doing?
What are you likely to be doing?
That's a horrible question
I think most likely I'll be wandering homeless around the streets of London
but with a bit of luck that won't happen
I'll just point out some of the considerable disadvantages
first of all they are geographically isolated
by 42, Neil had moved to London and was a liberal democrat on Hackney council
While I was in Shetland I felt strongly that I should become involved in politics
simply because I felt I wasn't acheiving things in the way I wanted to
I didn't expect to see you driving Neil
Well neither did I, if you'd asked me that question...
a few years ago I'd have been surprised
but it was my brother's wife's car
and fortunately she was about to change vehicles at the time
and they let me have it without charge which was a very magnimious gesture
At 49 Neil has left London
moved to Cumbria in the North West of England
and become a member of the local district council
chairman, fairly simple, it was a committee decision, a majority decision
his own group on the establishment committee agreed with the decision
Councillor Hughes
For Councillor Nyam's information
Councillor Cook has reconsidered his opinion you ventured at that meeting
I'm a liberal democrat, I'm standing for the county council
for this seat which is 400 square miles in size
so it's a huge constituency
- and this is one of the 84 seats - and who has this seat at the moment?
it's a conservative councillor at the moment
- a big majority? - significant
there's a lot of work for me to do and if not this time maybe next time
what are the chances this time?
I'm doing my best
funnily enough, when I first came up here
I was considering giving it up altogether
but after only two days I just got involved again
maybe it's impossible to give up politics
I have a lot of respect for the liberal dem's but don't think I'll vote for them
because I'll vote for Mr McClean
and he's keen on preserving our way of country life with hunting in particular
it's already disadvantaged us since the problems with foot and mouth
well certainly more people vote
perhaps they see the impact more starkly on their lives than those in London
I found in many parts of London there was a huge apathy because...
because it seemed like they used to say
"it doesn't matter who you vote for, the government always gets in"
So when I saw you 7 years ago you seemed content and happy in London
so why the change?
I neither felt that I was satisfying...
the community around me, nor did I feel I was satisfying myself
and that was obviously not an ideal situation
at 42 when Neil first arrived in London from the Shetland Islands
he lodged with Bruce
he was a model host
although he did always insist on
measuring the amount of bathwater there was in the bath!
and I'm not quite sure why that was
he'd find the fridge a bit noisy so he'd turn it off!
I had occassions where he'd walk round the block or...
No I accept that I wasn't the model lodger in every way
however that only emphasises how patient you actually were
I've had little contact with Bruce, we've exchanged one or two letters
but
maybe ours was a friendship which had flourished
it was a genuine friendship in the circumstances...
in which we found ourselves in London
I think that's what happens in life, you...
people you are close to and then circumstances drift you apart
and you find other peopleand ...
you wonder sometimes what's happening to them and hope they're alright...
but that's what happens in life
in the winter if you live in the country
it would just all be wet and there wouldn't be anything for miles around
I feel, especially sometimes when I'm on my own
that I'm losing touch with the way other people live
Do you worry about your sanity?
Other people sometimes worry about it
Like who?
As I said I sometimes can start behaving in an erratic fashion
sometimes I get very frustrated, very angry
for no apparent reason, for a reason that won't be apparent to people around me
Do you ever think you're going mad?
Oh I don't think it, I know it
well 'cause...
we're not allowed to use the word mad but you know...
I think most people are mad here, really
How's your health?
It's probably very good at the moment and living in this rural setting...
is obviously healthier than living in a city
there is less stress
I ended up with a former council flat
which is nothing luxurious but I was lucky to get it
and as soon as I could see the view out of my window
across the stream and trees and the hills in the background
I knew I was in the right place
I know that many people say they feel closer to god in the countryside
I wouldn't want to be simplistic about it but because...
one is much closer to natural life
one is therefore much closer to the springs of life
- Yes I'd say I believed in god - Are you religious?
Well I go to church with my parents on Sundays
well I don't know now even if I believe in god or not
I've thought an awful lot about it actually
and I still don't know
And how's he been treating you?
Well I said to somebody last week
that I preferred the old testament to the new testament
because in the old testament, god is very unpredictable
and that's how I've seen him in my life
#my jesus#
#my saviour#
#lord there is none like you#
#tower of refuge and strength#
remembering Jim and Ann
Bruce and Julia
- and Doreen as well - Doreen
I was first a Lay Reader in London
after completeting more training I was re-licensened by the bishop of Carlisle
nature's lovely, nature's made by god
it gives me the peace of mind to accept when things don't go the way they want to
politics can be a very bruising game
- I will maintain my faith, I will continue to trust in god - Yes
I'm absolutely sure that my faith has helped me through these difficult times
Would you ever see you having a career in the church?
While I have a dedication to the church I haven't experienced what I would call
a calling into the priesthood or anything of that kind
so the answer is no at the moment
when I grow up I want to be an astronaut
but if I can't be an astronaut I think I'll be a coach driver
if the state didn't give us any money, it would probably just mean crime
and I'm glad I don't have to steal to keep myself alive
Neil spends one day a week doing voluntary work for Oxfam
I enjoy doing this, it's relaxing, I love books and I enjoy the company here
I'd much rather have a fulltime job where I was being paid
but because of the coucil work I do...
I really want a job in the rest of my time that isn't too stressfull
well these are all ?:99 new so I'm putting them in at ?:99
I get just over ?00 a month allowance for being councillor
on top of that I get ? a week job-seekers allowance
and I get my housing benefits as well which pays my rent
and I did some teaching of French to young children last year
and that was a very useful income while I did it
When I go home, I come...
I come in and mummy gives me a cup of tea...
I don't think I was taught any sort of policy of living at all by my parents
this was probably their biggest mistake
that I was just left to fend for myself
in a world which they seemed completely oblivious of
what I'd like most of all would be...
to be able to do something for my parents when they are older
to be there when the time is neccesary
well my father died five years ago
I do feel however that I'm a little nearer to my mother since then
both geographically and possibly emotionally
it's never been an easy relationship and I'm not claiming everything is healed now
but I feel I can speak to my mother
Do you miss your dad?
I had a great relationship with my father when I was much younger
my relationship with him did deteriorate as I got older
I sometimes felt that he'd made the wrong decision in advice he'd given me
or things he'd done but then obviously he had his own life to lead!
just a few months before he died we went together to a cricket match
well we had what I knew would be the last long talk we would have
because he was dying at the time then
and we were both relaxed as we were doing something we enjoyed doing
which was relaxing in the sunshine and watching sport
so I felt that some bridging of the gap did take place that day
when I get married I don't want to have any children because
they are always doing naughty things and making the whole house untidy
I always told myself that I would never have children
Why?
Because
children inherit something from their parents
and even if my wife were the most...
high spirited and ordinary and normal of people
the child would still stand a very fair chance of being not totally...
full of happiness because what he or she will have inherited from me
no I've never married and I don't have a girlfriend at the moment
it's one of the regrets of my life actually that I've not met...
somebody of the other sex I thought I could have a permament relationship with
but
I'm probably not the easiest of people to get on with
I did have one girlfriend for close on two years
so maybe I'm not as completely hopeless a character as might seem to be the case
Do you miss a physical side, a sexual side in your life?
I am a physical person
so I imagine I could be happy in a lasting relationship with somebody
but you have to make do with reality
and there are many things that might've happened in my life that haven't happened
and there is little point in being regretful and angry about that
You seem to have a much stronger sense of purpose to your life than before
I see that life comes once and it's quite short
and you have to appreciate what's good in it
and if I could just tell a short story...
I was sunbathing and a butterfly landed quite close to me
beautiful wings, deep red colours and white circles on them
and
these creatures don't last very long but it landed very close to me
it didn't seem frightened
and it just seemed to delight in opening and closing its wings
and just being beautiful for that period of time enjoying the sunshine
perhaps there isn't anything more to life than that
than just being what you are
realising that life goes on all around and...
there's millions of other living creatures who all have to find their paths as well
At the end of their very special day in London
after their trip to the zoo and the party
we took our children to an adventure playground
where they could do just what they liked
those from a children's home set about building a house
there's Nicholas
and Tony
Andrew
John
and Bruce
Suzi
Jackie and her friends
give me a child until he is seven
and I will give you the man
this has been a glimpse of Britain's future