THE purpose of this column is not the chronicling of ancient history but reminiscences from the recent past not yet beyond the reach of memory.

Some people might think June, 1985, is ancient history in a fast-changing world. Thirty years ago mobile phones, personal computers and laptops were unknown and people were still arguing about the relative merits of vinyl records and compact discs. In June 1985, John Taylor stood self-consciously with folded arms on the doorstep of his home in Park Hill Drive, Allerton. You can see him here, looking shyly downwards between the hanging basket and the doormat.

Mr Taylor no longer lives there. Evidently coming across this snap recently he was minded to send it to the T&A with a few sketched memories of growing up in that part of Bradford 8, an experience which he remembered fondly:-

"Built in the 1950s, these three-bedroom semi-detached houses with their bay windows and many with garages, were a middle-class oasis.

"Occupations of people on Park Hill Drive included a builder, newspaper editor, dentist, legal executive, lecturer, school teacher, police officers, chartered accountants, shopkeeper and fireman." In recalling the lives of others he particularly remembered the kindness of neighbouring families.

"The Polish family the Lasotas gifted us home-grown fruit and the Killicks supplied us with surplus tomatoes from their greenhouse," he added.

For those unfamiliar with Park Hill Drive in the summer of 1985, Mr Taylor described it as a street of neatly-mowed lawns and modest affluence symbolised by cars, the odd caravan, and neatly-dressed residents who liked to stop for a neighbourly chat.

He said: "It was a law-abiding, nice place to live and a safe place to play out." Lots of suburban places in Bradford were like that, probably many still are. The changes in the past 30 years have been many and varied, from the number of people living in the Bradford District - more than half-a-million and heading towards in excess of 600,000 - to the amount of traffic on the roads.

Back in the 80s one of the oft repeated facts about Bradford was that there were fewer cars per household compared with many other cities in Britain. Another was that the inner-city of Manningham was one of the most deprived areas in the country. Walk round the streets of Manningham today and you'll find many big houses with posh railings and forecourts with one, two or more cars.

Thirty years ago Bradford was trying to drag itself out of the ruins of the manufacturing recession of the late 1970s which decimated jobs in the engineering sector. As if symbolising the state of the city at large, Bradford City's Valley Parade, part of which had been destroyed by fire in May, 1985, awaited resurrection from the ashes.

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