The Voice of my Childhood

I was so pleased last week when I heard that Brian Cant had received a special award at the Children's Baftas. The name Brian Cant will be instantly recognised by almost everyone who grew up in the 1960's and 1970's. To Robbie he is the voice of Play Away on Saturday afternoons, to my brother he is synonymous with Play School, but to me he is the voice of Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley. Far too many years later I can still recall the Play Away song and the start of "Here's a house, here's a door. Windows: 1 2 3 4, ready to knock? Turn the lock - It's Play School."

Camberwick Green began with the words "Here is a box, a musical box, wound up and ready to play. But this box can hide a secret inside. Can you guess what is in it today?" Then the box would open and a character would emerge from inside the musical box to begin the story. I always hoped it would be Windy Miller of Colley's Mill, he was my favourite character and I loved the sound of the sails of the windmill going round.

The start of Trumpton was also memorable "Here is the clock, the Trumpton clock. Telling the time steadily, sensibly, never too quickly, never too slowly. Telling the time for Trumpton." Then the picture would pan away from the clock to the activity in the town street below and the story would begin. Trumpton always ended with a band concert but my favourite part came in the middle when the fire brigade were called to attend to a problem (never a fire, as far as I can remember). Surely a whole generation can still recite the names of the Trumpton fire brigade Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grubb".

I have to admit that by the time Chigley came along I was too old to watch it, but my brother is 6 years younger than me, so he always wanted to watch it. I don't recall much about Chigley except Lord Belborough who travelled everywhere on Bessie the engine. There were so many memorable Trumptonshire songs, all sung by Brian Cant, but my favourite is

"Time flies by when I'm the driver of a train

And I ride on the footplate there and back again

Under bridges over bridges to our destination

Puffing through the countryside there's so much to be seen.

Passengers waving as we steam through a station.

Stoke up fireman for the signal is at green.

Time flies by when I'm the driver of a train

And I ride on the footplate there and back again

In the cutting, through the tunnel,

Rushing clanking on the track.

Wheezing pistons, smoking funnels,

Turning wheels go clickety clack.

Time flies by when I'm the driver of a train

And I ride on the footplate there and back again."

For me the voice of Brian Cant transports me back to childhood and to the kinder gentler world of Trumptonshire. I wouldn't swap places with the young children of today, they have more choice but in those far of days there was a special kind of magic that was lost as programs became more sophisticated.