Fakenham columnist’s memories of childhood birthdays
In his weekly Wensum column, Fakenham writer Jim Harding takes a look back at childhood…
As a child I used to get very excited when my birthday came around. It was just a few days before Christmas so occasionally presents would cover both important dates. One year the present from my parents was not wrapped in colourful paper. It was a football and as soon as I spotted it I knew there was no-one else in the family who would get such a treat. Certainly not my sisters and my brother was hardly keen on kicking a ball about.
As we lived at the quiet end of a road with a playing field close by I recall grabbing the ball and heading out on my own to dribble with it and create my own goal posts. The imagination had to do the rest. Nowadays, of course, things are somewhat different. I still enjoy birthdays but in an entirely different way.
Before this Christmas just gone it fell on a Friday and I loved it. Son James, who lives in Newmarket, drove over to join us, his company much appreciated. I kept to my class up at the Fakenham gym during the morning which I always hesitate to name with such words that give the wrong impression. Our group is elderly and inclined towards dementia but continues to be active and lively. The gym staff are brilliant and often join us to take part. We sit around, chat and more or less relax. Christmas cards were made in the run-up and we even played bingo, not my favourite pastime. But it proved to be fun and prompted much laughter.
My memory is definitely not what it was but I've learnt some poetry which, significantly, often sticks in my mind. So on the day itself I got up in front of our group and conveyed half a dozen verses from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, managing to recall the lot. My audience was very attentive and sat silently throughout.
When hitching across northern Iran back in 1963 I was lucky enough to meet on the roadside a man who was anxious I visit the nearby monument to Khayyam in the hamlet of Nishapur. Totally ignorant of what I was in for I did so and spent the night sleeping on the floor of the library there. Its walls were adorned with many of the verses from the Rubaiyat which made a great impression on me. I remember copying some of them down in my diary. Only later did I find out that their translation into English had been made by a Suffolk poet, Edward Fitzgerald, whose name lives on as much for this achievement as anything else.
Anyway, back to my birthday. With the family for company and a cake made by my wife, we sat in our front room and reminisced after I'd managed to blow out all the candles- no more than eight - in one go. Yes, it might have been low key but to me, simply ideal. It may be a sign of age but I no longer choose to eat out, much preferring the company of family at home.
As for sporting highlights to come, the first race meeting of 2025 is on New Year's Day. I try never to miss a meeting and with children still on holiday from school there's bound to be a big crowd, weather permitting. This regular event -we have about a dozen meetings a year - really concentrates my mind, putting together a report for the Lynn News a particular priority.
I do get to know or recognise most of the jockeys and plenty of the trainers but there's no guarantee that such familiarity guarantees picking a winner. My luck on that score is about the same as most others who enjoy their day out. Fakenham's track has been a bit unlucky this season on a couple of occasions when the weather has interfered but it continues to be a very popular venue, attracting competitors from distant corners of the country. Long may that continue to be so.