Apparently, I was such an outstanding success as a baby that my parents decided to have another one! I can even remember the day Philip was born, because I was upstairs when the midwife arrived. I wanted to see who it was that had just entered our house, so I stuck my head through the banisters – and promptly got stuck.
Of course, little brothers are all very well, but they don’t stay babies for ever – a fact that my parents seemingly neglected to tell me! In any case, after a while (where does the time go?) the little oik seemed to be able to move around under his own steam. Time to hide all my toys, then!
After a while, it became apparent that I would have to share the garden – and other stuff – with this now fully mobile, albeit smaller, person. Photo opportunities with Dad were also no longer the sole prerogative of yours truly, as you can see.
As time passed, I became resigned to the fact that this smaller (but not so good looking!) version of me was in it for the long haul. At least he would be useful when it came to shifting the blame for the not inconsiderable number of misdemeanors I was planning to commit . . .
When our dad made us a tree swing in the garden, I naturally volunteered Philip to be the "test pilot". Well it makes sense doesn't it - you can't risk the safety of the commanding officer (me) on a mission of this nature! And in any case, my theory was that because he was not as heavy as me, he would be less affected by gravity in the event of a "coming-down-to-earth-with-a-bump" scenario occurring.
Nan was often left in charge of us kids during school holidays when Mum and Dad were both out to work. This was a good thing because she always brought sweets, and she was not as strict as our parents. Not that we were ever badly behaved . . . perfect little angels in fact!
Nan would often accompany us on family outings, many of which were partly educational in nature. I believe that the large round thing in the picture (no, not Nan!) is the Giant stone Globe in Durston County Park, Dorset.
Sometimes Nan would take us on outings on her own. I remember one time, when we were on holiday at the seaside (I don't remember which seaside town it was), it was raining, so Nan took us to the cinema. My mother was not best pleased, because it was a James Bond film (Dr. No). Much more fun than the boring family films we usually got to see though!