Sunday, 29 October 2023

Spirit of the Sixties

The post title is also the title of the jigsaw described in today's post, 29 October 2023; and what a meaningful and colourful representation of the decade it is. The artist is Steven Binks. I recognise this era of 'mods and rockers', the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, as I was part of it; (I'm giving my age away now). I was lucky, as I owned a car, and three friends always accompanied me to night clubs and other venues and parties. A fourth friend preferred to follow on his Vespa scooter, festooned in all sorts of polished chrome regalia and lamps (the scooter, not him). We always holidayed together also. Short hair styles and grey herringbone suits were the order of the day when we 'smartened up'; no ties though. You can tell that I thoroughly enjoyed assembling this puzzle, a 1000-piece example from Falcon.
The locomotive in the puzzle is a 'mogul' type - of 2-6-0 wheel configuration - built under the administration of Robert Riddles, for British Railways. No.76033, (built c1953 and withdrawn from service in 1967), was a member of a class that eventually numbered 115. Also in the picture is a Ford Consul car, a Lambretta scooter and a motorbike (BSA)? - with riders and passengers - all representing the 'spirit' of the decade. The scooter and motorbike riders appear to be socialising closely, but in real life, this was not always the case. Also in the picture is a multitude of flags indicative of the football world cup held in England in the summer of 1966. Also included in Steven's almost hypnotic composition, are a man kicking a football, a girl in a mini dress and another in shorts, and another man enjoyng his pint outside 'The Lion' pub. NOTE: If anyone can 'ID' the motorbike please email me and I will add the info retrospectively.