Friend of Mine

~~ Dear Diary...it was my privilege to have been around in the early 1970s, some incredible memories stand out for me, though time has a habit of leaving the powers of recollection somewhat muddled, I do realise this, but still look back fondly on moments recalled.

Reminiscing, I consider 1972 as a break through. I was approaching my 18th birthday and full of the joys of getting my first car...a hillman Imp, even remembering the registration which was LRK 608D, it would be the turning point in my life, the freedom to go where I wanted in my own car, without relying on lifts.

But due to the fact I was still only seventeen, all that would have to wait. However all was not lost. My dad offered to give me and my friend a lift to South Wales, where we were booked in to Butlins Holiday camp at Barry Island; it wasn't exactly what we'd had planned, but it was the only way our parents would let us go on our own. “Until you're eighteen and you're under our roof, you'll do as we say.” My dad informed me. So Butlins it was. My first holiday without my parents and I couldn't wait.

I'd met Gina about a year before at drama club. We both hit it off straight away and discovered we had a lot in common. Not only did we have the same sense of humour, but some times it felt like we could read each others minds too, laughing about things that nobody else found funny.

We were also passionate about music and acting. Our hero was Robert Plant and the music of Led Zeppelin. We also considered ourselves Hawkwind freaks, following them and bands like Wishbone Ash...in fact we knew all the words to Wishbone Ashes songs and had many a special evening singing them at parties that drama held at their houses, which would all normally end in the early hours of the morning, with most of us passed out on the floor; listening to Bridge Over Troubled Water, by Simon and Garfunkel.

When T Rex came on the scene with Ride a White Swan, well for us Marc Bolan was a dream come true, then there was David Bowie, who sent us into raptures, whenever I play Hunky Dory, I still smile and look back on those special memories. Then there was Carol King's Tapestry and Neil Young's After the Gold Rush and the great Leonard Cohen and James Taylor, Joni Mitchell – Free – Mott The Hoople and so many more great musicians.

Anyway back to our holiday. I wouldn't say Butlins was good or bad, I was completely indifferent to the whole place. We both spent most of the week out of our faces, only sobering up to go on coach trips, or to go to the beach and explore. Although we did enjoy going to the Butlins cinema, to see Richard Harris in Camelot the musical, loving the story of King Arthur and the nights of the round table.

When we got to the camp, we arrived with trepidation; we had apprehensions about what the week would bring, after all...we'd heard rumours about organised games and keeping the holiday makers entertained, but that wasn't our scene...we didn't need entertaining.

My dad dropped us off, saying his goodbyes and wishing us a good week. We both smiled at each other, thinking of all the mischief we could get up to. First stop was signing in and to our delight, we discovered there were organised coach trips out of the camp daily.

“Hooray...all was not lost, we could escape the confines and be free, like the young bohemians we were.” So we booked up to go to Cardiff Castle and also Saint Fagan's museum. Cardiff Castle was such a treat and the grounds were amazing, a great place for a picnic and for exploring. The good thing about Cardiff Castle, is that it's in the centre of the hustle and bustle, so you never get bored.

Both me and Gina loved castles, they held a special place in our hearts. We also loved walking around old buildings and discovering their heritage. At Saint Fagan's they had a castle and an old Celtic village with very tiny cottages...they were so small and yet would have housed a whole family, to think of this was mind blowing at the time. My favourite place was the corn mill that grinds the corn, then it would be sent to the bakery. There was so much more to see, but my memory fades with time.

Once we'd signed in, we were handed our keys and made our way to our new home for the week. As we entered the chalet, there were two beds as I remember and a wardrobe, a table and chairs and that was it, well apart from the bathroom which I don't have much recollection of, “yes I did wash...by the way.” One thing that sticks out was the heating, people in other chalets took great pleasure in sending coded messages to others, by banging on the pipes, but by the end of the week we'd got used to it and even found ourselves doing it too.

Meals were held in a huge dining room and were in two sittings, we were always on the second sitting for breakfast, never getting up early enough for the first sitting. I cannot remember whether the food was good or not, it's not exactly something that stands out for me.

Being young teenagers, we spent many a happy hour getting slaughtered in the Pig and Whistle Bar. Gina had this thing about the optics behind the bar...she wanted to try them all and that she did on our first Saturday night there. It was one crazy night where we nearly got thrown out of the camp. I can remember heading for the disco, we were swaying all over the place and through a haze we made it to the dance floor and actually managed to dance and stay upright, but when it came to leaving, suddenly it was a different kettle of fish. The large hallway leading out suddenly started to spin, I grabbed for the first thing I could see, which just happened to be the curtains; I fell and the curtains came with me...boy was that a night...phew! I don't remember how I got back to the chalet, but when I awoke I was in my bed fully clothed.

Another night, we were in the disco dancing with two guys, when suddenly the music stopped, everyone was surprised and thought it was weird, the lights came on and a message came over the microphone, that two guys had broken in to the camp. Guess what? They just happened to be the two guys we were dancing with. Without thinking, they grabbed our hands and pulled us down the fire escape stairs, with the bouncers in hot pursuit. We managed to loose them very close to the swimming pool and I wanted to jump in the pool fully clothed as it was a hot night, but Gina said no...that would definitely get us thrown out and we were drunk after all, so we took the guys back to our chalet to stay the night and sleep it off. In the morning before anyone was up, they escaped back out, of what we began to call Colditz.

A lot of the time we were there, we spent on the beach sun bathing, we were so lucky with the weather, it was glorious all week. I cannot say that Butlins is a place I ever wanted to go back to, but I've always believed that life is what you make it, and we made up our own enjoyment...cause that's what friends are for.