all i can remember was the brightness. and some heat. the sort of heat that makes things hazy – like how summers used to be (or at least how we tell ourselves how they used to be).
i was laying on my back, looking directly into the sun and so it was difficult to see. but the sun was intense anyway, and so even looking towards the sun, let alone directly into it, would have caused problems.
i can’ t really remember much else apart from the brightness, the haziness and the intense heat. given that it was most likely the summer of 1966, you would have expected it to have been hot.
and then suddenly, as i recalled where i was, i remembered that i was laying in a pram, looking directly into the sun. the pram must have been on the balcony outside 119 elim estate. it had to be there because we didn’t really go elsewhere.
but that is my first memory. being outside 119 elim estate. being outside my first home. being surrounded by the heat and haziness of a mid 1960s summer. being overcome and blinded by the brightness of life.
being chris allen.
that was, and remains, my first memory.
In the words of Morrissey ‘oh you handsome devil’….
I’m sure there will be lots of funny and some sad tales told…..