Longtime Ago People

The Vicarage Boy: The Longtime‑Ago‑Person Is Me

The Vicar - John 1958 father/son “The Longtime-Ago-Person is Probably Me” When I sit down with John, I’m taken straight into a childhood that feels almost impossible now. He grew up in a vicarage on the edge of Dartmoor, the kind of place where a boy could walk out after breakfast, vanish for the entire day, and nobody thought to worry — partly because there wasn’t a phone to reach for. As we talk through his own mind map of longtime ago people, the memories return with astonishing clarity: the huge lawn and orchard, ponies on the moor, bikes as transport, and the absolute normality of knocking on a stranger’s door for water and maybe an apple. Being a vicar’s son in a small Devon village gives the story a unique texture. Sundays meant church, whether he liked it or not, sitting among older parishioners while his dad — the most recognisable man in the community — did the work of keeping people connected. John reflects on faith, on the tension between everyday humanity and spiritual authority, and on how those early years shaped his sense of community, care and responsibility. Then come the stories that make rural 1960s Britain feel wonderfully alive: open fires that smoked out the room, ice on the inside of the windows, hot water bottles, the post office that doubled as a sweet shop, returnable bottles swapped for treats, and the pub hatch where children bought sweets — or sometimes just knocked and ran. John talks about camping with his younger siblings in a farmer’s field, a whole day spent wandering in search of an osprey that never appeared, and a perfect culture clash when teenage him played Black Sabbath’s Paranoid to his vicar father just to see the reaction. If you love British nostalgia, Dartmoor history, village life, or the bigger question of what childhood freedom does to a person, this episode will speak to you. Hit play, share it with someone who grew up pre‑mobile, and leave a review telling us what you miss most about the analogue days. Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2503597/fan_mail/new] “Follow Longtime Ago People wherever you get your podcasts.” Everyone has a story, what's yours? Copy this RSS feed and paste it into your podcast app.  https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2503597.rss Instagram: @longtimeagopeople [https://www.instagram.com/longtimeagopeople?igsh=MTlkZ2lqMnNya3UxbQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr]  Blog: longtimeagopeople.com [https://longtimeagopeople.com] Have a story echoing through time? I’m listening—300 words or fewer [longtimeagopeople@mail.com].  Memory is Fragile  "In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

The Count of Lanzarote

Rhys 1963  son/father/count/dj/islander   When I catch up with Rhys — or “The Count”, as he’s known on air — I’m taken straight back to 1976, when two twelve‑year‑olds (we are the two twelve-year-olds) walked into a school classroom and realised they were the entire class. From that moment, a friendship was built on shared trouble, fast laughs, and the kind of music discovery that rewires your brain for life. I trace the soundtrack that shaped him: early punk, the Sex Pistols, The Jam, and those late‑night sessions with Radio Luxembourg under the pillow. We talk about the ritual of taping the Sunday chart, praying the DJ wouldn’t talk over the intro, and the thrill of buying your first record with pocket money. There are stories of Sid Vicious, chapel rebellion, and the gigs that still live in your chest decades later — from the emotional punch of Live Aid to festival moments that turn grown adults into emotional wrecks. Then the conversation widens into real life: leaving school, scraping together work, joining the Merchant Navy, even getting deported from the US, before eventually building a long career in a trade that somehow keeps brushing up against pop culture. The biggest pivot is Monster Radio Lanzarote, where Rhys explains how a modern community station really works: no playlists, real presenters, giveaways, listener interactivity, and a commitment to local charities. It’s a brilliant reminder that radio is far from dead — it’s simply evolved. If you love music podcasts, radio stories, 1970s and 1980s nostalgia, or honest conversations about how songs help us carry joy and loss, you’ll feel right at home here. And if you’re listening, share it with someone who still remembers their first Walkman, and leave us a review with the one song you’d play to your younger self. Bits & Bobs * Sex Pistols [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_Pistols?wprov=sfti1#] * Pistol - TV Mini Series [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13823494/] * The Jam [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jam?wprov=sfti1] * Listen to The Count on Monster Radio as he counts down all the number ones from his birthday in April 1963 to the present day. [https://www.mixcloud.com/MonsterRadio/friday-s-number-ones-from-1963-0nwards-with-the-count-on-monster-radio-24042026/] * George Thorogood - Get A Haircut [https://youtu.be/a9qIPAdLhfI?si=rp9pnq_kAjmjvi6D] * https://monsterradio.tv [https://monsterradio.tv/] * Monster Radio App [https://apps.apple.com/app/id6499032011] * My Isle of Wight Festival 2013 Boomtown Rats [https://youtu.be/1aAJc9yuK2U?si=4lWipKqJkN184ZWP] Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2503597/fan_mail/new] “Follow Longtime Ago People wherever you get your podcasts.” Everyone has a story, what's yours? Copy this RSS feed and paste it into your podcast app.  https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2503597.rss Instagram: @longtimeagopeople [https://www.instagram.com/longtimeagopeople?igsh=MTlkZ2lqMnNya3UxbQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr]  Blog: longtimeagopeople.com [https://longtimeagopeople.com] Have a story echoing through time? I’m listening—300 words or fewer [longtimeagopeople@mail.com].  Memory is Fragile  "In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

Ten Lives, Countless Echoes: Season Two Epilogue

Season 2 Epilogue — Longtime Ago People Season Two brings me back to what I’ve always believed about memory — how it hides in music, in family stories, and in the everyday influence of people who shaped us long before we realised it. Looking back over these ten conversations, across places, eras and lives, I’m reminded again that who we are is never just about us. This season has taken me from the Welsh Valleys to the Somme and far beyond, meeting people whose stories carry humour, heartbreak, courage and connection. 1. Russell talked about a life shaped by central Scotland — the divides, the love, the work, and the lessons that carried him forward. 2. David traced a path from oil rigs to Wall Street and Napa Valley, built on mentorship and sheer resilience. 3. Sean brought London family stories to life — disinheritance, laughter, and a surprising cheeky reveal after loss. 4. Ian shared a cross‑continental family history marked by childhood loss and an enterprising grandfather known as “Smuggling Jim.” 5. Rupert took us deep into David Bowie’s world — the personas, the albums, the cultural pull that shaped a generation. 6. Matt unravelled a century‑old mystery, honouring his great‑great uncle through research and a moving Royal Marines ceremony. 7. Sarah celebrated her Welsh roots, her family’s resilience, and her community‑driven life on the Isle of Wight. 8. Steve reflected on loyalty, hard work and the people who helped him build a family business from the ground up. 9. Lee walked us through a life lived in motion — Navy diving, African overland journeys, DJ nights and tribute‑band touring. 10. And Loz brought us back to a carefree Southampton childhood, and into an honest conversation about reinvention and mental health in adulthood. If any of these stories remind you of someone — a parent, a friend, a teacher, a neighbour — tell them. Or tell someone about them. That’s how memory stays alive. Thank you Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2503597/fan_mail/new] “Follow Longtime Ago People wherever you get your podcasts.” Everyone has a story, what's yours? Copy this RSS feed and paste it into your podcast app.  https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2503597.rss Instagram: @longtimeagopeople [https://www.instagram.com/longtimeagopeople?igsh=MTlkZ2lqMnNya3UxbQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr]  Blog: longtimeagopeople.com [https://longtimeagopeople.com] Have a story echoing through time? I’m listening—300 words or fewer [longtimeagopeople@mail.com].  Memory is Fragile  "In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

Half‑Built Estates and Full‑Hearted Memories

Loz 1964   son/father/grandfather  A noisy pub outside Petworth becomes a time machine the moment Loz starts talking, carrying us straight back to Southampton in the late sixties and seventies. We get into street football with one car a day, climbing trees, roaming until hunger called you home, and the wild logic of exploring half‑built housing estates with absolutely no health and safety in sight. If you’ve ever wondered what childhood freedom used to feel like in working‑class Britain, his memories are vivid, funny, and occasionally a little alarming. Music threads through everything. We swap the songs that pull you back in an instant, the ritual of Top of the Pops, and the Sunday chart countdown you tried to tape without the DJ talking over the intro. From there, the conversation widens into class and expectation — being nudged towards trades, being told what you couldn’t do, and how rarely anyone explained a route to bigger dreams. Then we shift into mental health and the pressures that arrive later in life. Loz speaks openly about anxiety and panic attacks, what sets them off, and the habits that help: slowing down, talking to someone, choosing the road over the sky when flying feels impossible. And at the end, a simple lesson lands with real weight: enjoy your days, treat people well, and if you feel the pull to change course, take the plunge. If this episode resonates, subscribe, share it with a friend who’ll relate, and leave a review with the memory — or the song — that takes you straight back. At 9:45 there is a slight loss of sound for a second, “it’s not you, it’s me”. Bits & Bobs * Mud - Tiger Feet (Live TOTP 1974) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQfidTOTsLo] * Anxiety Help [https://www.anxietyuk.org.uk] Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2503597/fan_mail/new] “Follow Longtime Ago People wherever you get your podcasts.” Everyone has a story, what's yours? Copy this RSS feed and paste it into your podcast app.  https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2503597.rss Instagram: @longtimeagopeople [https://www.instagram.com/longtimeagopeople?igsh=MTlkZ2lqMnNya3UxbQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr]  Blog: longtimeagopeople.com [https://longtimeagopeople.com] Have a story echoing through time? I’m listening—300 words or fewer [longtimeagopeople@mail.com].  Memory is Fragile  "In a world where you can be anything, be kind."

A Life in Motion: Diving Deep, Travelling Far, Playing Loud

Lee 1951   grandson/sailor/traveller/DJ/adviser/musician  A quiet corner of Sussex opens the door to one of the most wide‑ranging life stories I’ve ever recorded. Sitting with Lee, we begin in 1950s Great Yarmouth, where summers meant guest houses, seaside theatres, and helping his nan run a busy holiday season. His dad worked the beachfront with a camera, and Lee’s first taste of performing came early — a singing competition in 1957 that he won before he even knew what a stage really was. Boarding school followed, and with it a fiercely independent streak that would shape everything that came next. That independence carried him into the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, where engineering skills led unexpectedly to diving. Lee talks about the cold, the darkness, the pressure, and the discipline of ship’s diver training — and the extraordinary moment he became one of the early divers on what’s believed to be the Mary Rose, long before the world watched her rise from the Solent. From there, his story widens again: driving a Bedford truck across Africa with twenty passengers, months on the hippie trail through India and Sri Lanka, and then four surreal, electric years in Montreux as a full‑time DJ. He crossed paths with rock royalty, worked with Queen, and even narrated a film for HR Giger about the making of Alien. Later came the hard lesson of losing his home to soaring interest rates — and the decision to become a financial adviser so others wouldn’t fall through the same cracks. Eventually, he sold his business and spent a decade touring the UK as ‘Robert Plant’ in a Led Zeppelin tribute band. If you enjoy personal history, Royal Navy stories, Mary Rose diving, overland travel, Montreux nightlife, and the art of reinvention, this one’s for you. Press play, share it with a friend, and tell me which chapter of Lee’s journey you’d have said yes to. Bits & Bobs * The wreck of the Mary Rose was located in 1971 and was raised on 11 October 1982 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Rose#:~:text=The%20Mary%20Rose%20was%20a,against%20France%2C%20Scotland%2C%20and%20Brittany.] Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2503597/fan_mail/new] “Follow Longtime Ago People wherever you get your podcasts.” Everyone has a story, what's yours? Copy this RSS feed and paste it into your podcast app.  https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2503597.rss Instagram: @longtimeagopeople [https://www.instagram.com/longtimeagopeople?igsh=MTlkZ2lqMnNya3UxbQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr]  Blog: longtimeagopeople.com [https://longtimeagopeople.com] Have a story echoing through time? I’m listening—300 words or fewer [longtimeagopeople@mail.com].  Memory is Fragile  "In a world where you can be anything, be kind."