Interview with Stephen Flinn (b.1949) about moving to Bletchley c.1953, his childhood, education and teenage activities.

Stephen Flinn moved as a young child from a ‘halfway house’ in Stanmore, Middlesex to St Johns Road, Bletchley. He recalls playing out with friends with few restrictions; and ‘mass football games’ locally. There were local ‘battles’ between schools, and between locals and incomers. His dad worked on the railways and his mum at various times worked on the buses and in the cinema for extra money. He does not recall his family ever having a holiday. They lived in a sequence of three houses -in St Johns Road, St Clements Drive and then Forfar Drive, which they bought. As a schoolboy, he did a paper round and holiday jobs at Beacon Brushes & Key Markets.

He recalls the Grammar School, which he found ‘very regimented’; he didn’t like it much, but was good at rugby and athletics. He remembers going to a Youth Club, the Studio (Bletchley) and County (Fenny) Cinemas. In his teens, he visited coffee bars like Macarios, and remembers Diski the record shop. Teenage social life included discos and groups at Wilton Hall; he saw the Rolling Stones for six and threepence, the Hollies and the Animals, and went to London to see the Beatles. He travelled widely to see Tamla Motown groups, as a fan club member. Local transport was very poor when he went out in the evening; he often walked home. He listened to Radio Luxembourg & remembers hearing of Kennedy’s assassination. He became a ‘Mod’ and recalls the punch-ups on Brighton sea front.

He recalls playing football for a Bletchley Youth Club team, mostly of London incomers, and rivalry at matches with Newport Pagnell Town youth team; later he played for Derwent Park Rangers, in the North Bucks League. He is critical of the local Bletchley Town football team for which he also played at one stage, and its management.