The Fifties Replayed: A Norfolk Youth at Leisure

Colin Miller was born in 1940 at Rollesby, a village near Great Yarmouth in the heart of the Norfolk Broads. In the 1950s, entertainment in rural Rollesby was provided by the radio, socials, and whist drives in the village hall, or visits to dance halls and cinemas at Great Yarmouth. By 1960, leisure time activities—especially for the young—had altered dramatically owing to the influence of television, rock and roll, and a developing youth culture. This study chronicles these changes through the eyes of a Norfolk teenager. This honest and thoughtful account also includes extracts from newspapers and other contemporary material to illustrate aspects of the daily life of working families and the changes in leisure time activities experienced by the author from the 1950s through to the 1960s, a decade covering his teenage years, his transition from boy to man, and his progression through grammar school and on to university in Leicester. This memoir will bring back memories for anyone who grew up in the 1950s and will not only remind subsequent generations of the extent to which entertainment and leisure has changed since the postwar period, but also illustrate how different life was just 50 years ago.