Today as I watch the antics of the modern world the thing that strikes me is the way we are bombarded with stories about other people's sex lives. I apologise for introducing the 'S' word but it is a fact of life none of us can escape. Things were so different 60 years ago. In 1956 I was twenty and returned to Earby after extensive trawling of the seedier parts of Berlin with my virginity intact. The funny thing is that this seemed quite normal whereas today I'm sure many young people would have difficulty believing me. This led to what I see today as some hilarious situations.
One regular afternoon trip out was to go and help a friend of mine deliver milk to a Nelson dairy. One day as we passed through Foulridge he pulled up outside a row of houses and took me in where I was installed in the front room and told to wait while he and the lady of the house went off on some unspecified errand. As he left the room he handed me a bottle of Massey's King's Ale to keep me quiet. Half an hour later the couple returned, I had drunk the ale which was very strong and when the lady saw the empty bottle she went berserk! It was an original bottle brewed many years ago on the occasion of a royal visit to the brewery. We made our excuses and left. I can remember this perfectly and what strikes me now is that I had no interest, and never enquired, why we had called in there in the first place. I was an innocent abroad, as my mother used to say “To the pure, all things are pure” and I think that about sums it up.
How different things are today and the question I have is “Are we any better off?” I hear people arguing that it is better to be open and transparent about these things but from the allegations that are flying about concerning child sexual abuse it seems to me that openness and transparency are conspicuous by their absence!
I have little doubt that the worst excesses we hear of today have been going on since time immemorial. The difference was that there was no mechanism or profit in trumpeting them abroad. Whilst I recognise that the righting of past wrongs is a good thing which might lead to changes ensuring that they can't happen again in the same way I don't see any lessening of the flow. Indeed, with modern means of communication like the internet, if anything, the assault on us intensifies and it makes me sad. I don't want to be an ostrich with my head stuck in the sand but on the other hand life was more pleasant when my nose wasn't rubbed in these matters each day. I suppose it's a balance and I have to get used to our modern world but I miss being innocent....
The Craven Heifer, a Massey's house and originally John Kenyon. The initials JK are engraved in the frosted windows.
