50 years

Next week will mark the 50th anniversary of the 1974 Commonwealth Games which were held in Christchurch. I have a games commemorative number plate in my collection on the garage wall. They were truly exciting times. Christchurch turned on magnificent weather and the city came alive with all of the various events. We were so proud of our new complex QE11 Park. Sadly it was destroyed in the 2011 earthquake although the swimming pool complex has since been rebuilt on the same site. The games roared into life when New Zealand's Dick Taylor won the 10,000 metres beating the favourite, Englishman David Black. I was working,  driving a delivery van in my university holidays so could not attend. I did, however, manage to park near the stadium and, winding down the window, could hear the roar of the crowd while listening to the race commentary on a transistor radio.  And my boss thought that I was working!