The Grimshaw family took delivery of our first ever television in 1972, it was a rental set from the DER shop in Pudsey and even though the signal left a lot to be desired we were connected to the delights of BBC1 & 2 and ITV and our lifes changed forever with this wonderful new medium in our front room.
One of the features on the BBC back in those days was the “brief interlude” when we were entertained to watching a potter moulding a piece of clay into a bowl while a piece of instrumental music is played. In preparation for writing this thought I watched the interlude on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F4n90yiBrM and found it relaxing, although in my teenage years I found it unwelcome as I waited for Top of the Pops or Wheelbase, the precurser to Top Gear, two of my favourite porgrammes of the day.
It is years since the interlude was used, according to Google the interlude was introduced in 1953 and was to cover the many intervals in programming, to allow for changes between studios, or for the all-too-frequent studio breakdowns andd whether we were watching the potter, or a kitten playing with a ball of wool, they were moments of calm and relaxation.
Watching television today we have a council worker sweeping the litter away from what looks like a street market and rather than finding it relaxing and quaint, I find it extremely stressfull. Checking social media I find that they are also frustrated, but their angst seems to be related to the fact that the council worker is using the brush incorrectly and there are pages of comments about that, which to be honest I hadn’t even noticed.
My problem is about the ignorant cyclist who must be able to see that the council worker is sweeping the street and cycles right through the rubbish he is clearing up with scant regard for the efforts of the other man. I was always taught good manners as a child and I think that the BBC are promoting total ignorance, I rant at my poor wife every time I see the filler between programmes as an announcer informs us what other delight are awaiting us. Of course there is nothing my wife can do about it and it is possibly a reminder to me that life had changed immeasuarably in fifty years and I am far less patient today than I was back then.
The older I get, the more important the interlude becomes in my life, whether it is completing a Sudoku puzzle or playing cards on my phone, doing jigsaw puzzles on the computer, or sitting and making Lego models. Watching the potters wheel takes around six minutes and the interludes I need in my life these days get shorter. Life seems to move at such a pace today and we all need to step back momentarily, put the kettle on and have a short break.
During my time in Ipswich we developed “Bite Sized Church” a ten minute service which is published every Wednesday morning at 10am and can be found using the following link. https://methodistic.org.uk/category/bitesizedchurch/
The idea was always to give a short interlude in the middle of the week, it takes but a few minutes but is the Methodist Churches Interlude and can be viewed at a time that suits you best.