Coining It

Did you know that the pound coin is now 21 years old? I didn’t. The Manchester Evening News today has an article about it, including the changing attitudes towards the coin since its introduction, and also a comparison of its buying power now to then. Interesting reading.

Orange

Out of interest, why do people of a certain age insist on dyeing their hair such bizarre colours? They just look ridiculous, trying to cleave to a self-image that clearly is no longer theirs, and probably never was.

I’m not talking about skater “kidz”, but instead those at the other end of the generational timeline. Today has been the day I witnessed an orange rinse talking to a blue rinse. And I really do mean blue. Not “silvery white” but blue. Although I’ve still only seen a green rinse once. Thankfully.

Five Years – Part 3 – Regeneration

I was interested to see in today’s Guardian that Grimethorpe is to get a new housing development. Grimethorpe was one of the Yorkshire mining villages that was virtually crippled by the miner’s strike, and never really recovered from it, particularly once the mine itself was closed down. In fact about the only surviving “industry” has been Grimethorpe Colliery Band.

My grandparents lived in Grimethorpe, and my grandfather was a miner at the pit. Personally, I loathed the place, even before the strike and closures. The last time I was there was five years ago (this seems to be a developing theme this week) for his funeral. At that time, my father said “that’s it. I’ll never come back here again” – he still hated it, even after 30 years away from it. I can’t say I blame him. (Oddly enough, I’ve just done a search for photos of Grimethorpe, and these two are actually taken from the same road my grandparents lived on, and probably within 5 houses of theirs.)

From as far back as I recall, Grimethorpe was a grey, polluted town, and that was after the Clean Air Acts and so on had already cleaned it up. Since the mine closed, it’s an area that has just gone further and further downhill, becoming the perfect definition of a depressed area. I hope that the Park Springs project and these housing developments bring some new life (and new money) into the place, but I know it’s not somewhere I’d choose to return to, let alone live in.