I hate to say it as I thought it would never happen but I think I’m finally too old to rock ‘n’ roll. Well, maybe not too old per se but certainly too limited physically. That notwithstanding, I just turned 60 (treble top, get it?) years old on Monday and I was thrown the most wonderful party by those who love me.

Last Saturday a crowd of friends and family descended upon the Fisherman pub in Bingley to wish this greying and wrinkling fella a happy birthday and it was fabulous.

Before I go any further, I must thank some people, namely my wife Ange, daughter Becky and granddaughter Erin for all their hard work in preparing the party. It was meant to be a surprise but I found out about it and so was expecting it instead. What I wasn’t expecting was the outpouring of love and best wishes that I received on the night.

Erin had instructed the landlord of what kind of music I like and the soundtrack of the evening was heavily flavoured with classic hard rock by the likes of Black Sabbath, Queen and Led Zeppelin. What’s not to like about that? Nothing at all, and at one point I conducted a mass sing-along of Bohemian Rhapsody that was both funny and fantastic. But the problem now is that I’m paying for it physically (FMS flare up) ergo the first line of this blog post.

Then again, that’s what a whole lot of Guinness and a large JD gets you – carried away.

Still, it was a truly great night had by all. There were a lot of folks I hadn’t seen in a good long while and it was lovely to catch up with them. My three oldest Yorkshire friends Dave, Carl and Kenny were all there and it warmed my heart to see them. I need to keep in touch with them a lot more as they are worth the effort.

A lot of my fabulous in-laws from the legendary Landers Clan were there which is really rather touching that they all made the effort to come over from Merseyside to see little old me and help me celebrate; I must have made a good impression on them. Seriously, they’re all very supportive of me and my writing and I wouldn’t be without any of them. Thanks guys, I greatly appreciated you all being there.

The food on the night was a finger buffet but not your common or garden variety. It was a delicious selection of things with not a single vol-au-vent or sausage on a stick in sight. Or any fingers for that matter. And there was a cake (pictured) made by a friend of some friends (Debbie and Barry) that was decorated with iced versions of books and vinyl records. It was also rather sumptuous to eat and very moreish.

I think the party curtailed at about 1:30 in the morning but don’t quote me on that as my memory of it is unreliable.

So, 60 years, and right now I’m feeling every bloody one of them. Its ok though, the flare up will flare down after a while and besides, I damn well enjoyed myself no end so to hell with bloody FMS and thank you to all who took the time to turn up and make this old rocker go misty-eyed.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart x

PS – There were cards and presents galore to the point I was feeling a bit emotionally overwhelmed. People are so thoughtful.