I recently celebrated my 42nd birthday  and as I marked this I decided to dig out the old photo albums and take a trip down memory lane. 

My partner Emma and I enjoyed looking at photos from bygone days; my  childhood trips to theme parks and fun days out in the 1990s when a child’s ticket to Thorpe park cost just £6.

I also uncovered my record of achievement book which I was given in 1998 when I left school. I don’t think I’ve looked at it since. 

This book contains all my GCSE certificates and statements I wrote about my time at school, including my work experience at Sainsbury’s in 1997. I was described as an asset to their company but sadly they didn’t offer me a job, much to Emma’s amusement as she works for Sainsbury’s.

I also found an old copy of the News & Mail from May 1996. 

My parents had kept this issue as it contained a photo of my brother, who was then aged 12, and his scouting escapades at the May Fayre. 

Looking through the paper, which cost 28p and was broadsheet, it was interesting to see adverts for now defunct companies such as Allders and Robinsons .  

On the front page  there was a photo of the Mayor of Surrey Heath Gordon Parris, who took part in a mountain climb challenge but was unable to complete it due to health reasons. Still, he was pictured on the front page with Anneka Rice so that’s an achievement in itself. 

Elsewhere  there were articles about the Lib Dems grabbing control of Woking, and a campaign to encourage us to use buses, with free tickets on offer. 

Seeing what was making the headlines all those years ago in the broadsheet News & Mail reminded me of the time around 1997 when my brother and I used to deliver the paper in our street. When a lady called Brenda dropped off the papers and delivery list each week with an envelope with wages in cash we felt like millionaires,  a first taste of earning money in my own right!

Listen to the Sunny Sessions, the inclusive radio show from The Sunnybank Trust, on Surrey Hills Community Radio Monday and Thursday at 11am. Sunny Sessions is also on Radio Woking every Wednesday at 9am.  My Radio Woking shows are Wednesday breakfast 7am-9am and Sunday mornings 9am-noon. 

If you want to take part in my radio shows you can reach me at [email protected]