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For those of us that grew up amid the heady throws of Britpop, there was no escaping the nationalistic fervour that seemed to penetrate all areas of life. Labour was ‘new’, Britannia was ‘cool’, and the union flag proliferated. It was all too easy to get caught up in the optimism, my own memories of this time take place in an eternal summer, often in a beer garden. The tunes were good (honestly, they were), and they made me want to jump up and down… a lot. In hindsight of c

The heady days of ‘80s toy merchandising was a glorious era when toys were still just that… toys. It was also an era of the toy shop, a Saturday staple for millions of children desperate to relieve themselves of their pocket money. The toys were brought to be played with – no adult collectable here – to be bashed, thrown and generally be put through the ringer. For me as a child, the primary reason for existence was the acquisition of Star War s toys, Transformers (especiall

Going to the cinema during the ‘80s was like stepping into a different world. My formative film education was at the Regal in Leamington Spa and that experience couldn’t be more different than it is today. For a start, the Regal had the sum total of one screen, and you absolutely had to queue. And I mean – stand for ages in a huge line snaking around the building – queue. A family trip to the cinema was an event, more akin to a military manoeuvre of planning, parking, herding