GOOD Friday! Be you a Methodist, Catholic, or whatever, years ago it was always fish.

When we were kids, my mum would catch the tram at the Cherry Tree terminal. That was a place where the trams stopped, the conductor took a long pole, unhooked the long connector thing from the overhead electric cable, walked round to the other end of the tram, rehooked it and voila!

Once he had walked down the body of the tram banging all the seats so as to face the other way, we were ready to go back along the same route. No three point turns, simple wasn't it?

Now where was I?

My mum was on her way to Bank Top to buy from the fishmongers. The shop front was completely open, the big white marble slab displaying the fish was wet and gleaming.

We had finnan haddock served with a thick white parsley sauce but no chips. They weren't considered serious enough for Good Friday.

Everything was closed. The fairground all erected and ready was shrouded under big grey sheets waiting, like we all were. It would be revealed gaudy, loud and exciting on the Saturday morning.

Then the town would come alive, busy, crowded, noisy with the loud voices of the pot fair men 'pitching' to attract. Their cheeky patter fascinated us, entreating and tempting folk to buy, and more often than not succeeding.

We children carried sticks topped with big balls of candy floss. The girls on the waltzer screamed their heads off. The fairground lads swanked and swaggered as they casually swung on to the back of the revolving cars, knowing full well that the giggling girls were admiring them, even if their tight white tee shirts were decidedly grubby.

As I bought a couple of bars of chocolate the other day and put the change into my purse, I thought how little value money seems to have. Now you get change from a ten pound note and it's about the same value as an old pound.

When I was first married, if I had ten bob (50p) left on Thursday I thought I'd cracked it.

Five pounds. It was nearly half a week's wage.

Tomorrow is St George's Day and I have got my flag ready. I am one of those patriotic people. I believe in Britain, and England in particular.

When I am in a crowd singing Land of Hope and Glory, or Jerusalem, I feel so strongly about all the things we seem to be giving away or losing sight of.

I know it's not the thing to say but I don't feel European and I don't want to be just another part of a United States of Europe. But make no mistake, it's going to happen if we all just sit back and do nothing. I think our Tony has set his heart on it.