The End Of Childhood

The sad news that Oliver Postgate has died has finally reached me despite it being all over the news. I should think that most people between the ages of 30-60 probably grew up with their favourite characters from kids telly and Oliver created Bagpuss, often noted as the most favourite of all kids telly shows.

I'm a bit too old to have any fondness for Bagpuss - he appeared about the time I considered myself to be too old for programmes like that. My allegiance goes much further back, back to Noggin The Nog, Ivor The Engine (and yes, I can still make sound of the steam train), the mythic Pogles Wood and those mad aliens, the Clangers. The true artistry of these series isn't state of the art animation or anything like that, it's the power of story telling and characterisation. You don't need flash whiz-bang stuff to make me believe in Noggin and his Viking world or Ivor in the valleys.

I pop on over to the Dragons' Friendly Society every now and then to see what's happening in that rather charming and old fashioned world. It's nice that sites like that exist in the web.

It's only when something like Oliver leaving that starts people thinking and remembering, or at least that happens to me. It takes me back to sitting in front of a roaring coal fire on a chilly afternoon as it got dark, curtains twitching and closing, and watching Noggin or Ivor on our black and white telly. Very sentimental, I know, but that's allowed sometimes.

Thank you, Mr Postgate.