PHARMACIES
*Lloyds, Heol y Nant and High Street. S R Bailey, The Pharmacy. S R Bailey, Station Road. Well, Gwilym Road. Lloyds Pharmacy, Strawberry Place, 8.30am-6pm. *Huw S Rees, The Pharmacy. The Pharmacy. Sainsbury’s Instore Pharmacy, Quay Parade, 8am-10pm; Tesco Fforestfach, 8am-8pm. *W A & J B Lewis, 697 Llangyfelach Road, 5.30-6.15pm. *Well, 55 Uplands Crescent, 5.30-7pm. C Jones, 43 Gurnosfa, Gurnos, Lower Cwmtwrch. *Gravelle Pharmacy.
*C I Hopkins, Bridge Pharmacy. A RECENT survey reminded me of Christmas times gone by.
This time of year is board game season and we, the great Welsh and British public, have been surveyed about our favourite board games.
I suppose that there should be little surprise that once again Monopoly came top of the list.
It was followed by Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, Cluedo, Snakes and Ladders, card games, chess, Connect 2, Ludo and draughts.
It’s nice that in a world where the characters in computer games are so real that they seems to be human that there is still passion for a fight to buy Mayfair, Park Lane, the Water Works and the Electric Company!
Once presents have been played with, the fight over the remote control has led to an impasse and dinner has been doled out, there’s only one other time-honoured tradition left for Christmas Day.
And, really, what’s not to like about board games? They’re a way of flexing expertise, knowledge or just Kerplunk-related dexterity in front of loved ones; they’re a way of getting youngsters off Fortnite for a bit and they’re good for bonding!
If “quality time” with your family is on your to-do list this holiday season, there’s no better way to make it happen than by pulling a board game off the shelf.
I don’t necessarily believe that the Christmas time of my younger days was better than those enjoyed by today’s generations, but reflecting back does fill me with warmth and makes me a little nostalgic for what were lovely days.
I’m up for a game of Fifa Soccer as much as anyone and will find time to play on my Nintendo Switch – yes, I have one!
However, it doesn’t come anywhere near the feeling of excitement I felt when just days before Christmas I discovered the International Floodlight Edition of Subbuteo wrapped in Edwards Sports shop paper.
I’m a flapper when it comes to playing Fifa– I just hope that I hit the correct button!
The graphics and sound are quite amazing but it will never beat the experience of laying down the Subbuteo pitch and flicking a player to score into the top corner of the net!
However, there was always that moment when your stretched over to take a corner and felt the crunch of a star defender under your knee – there were no subs in that box!
I loved the day when the Radio and TV Times were published, revealing what films and TV specials were on BBC1, BBC2 and ITV – yes, we only had three channels.
There were the days when mam and dad forgot to buy the necessary batteries which meant I never got to play with my Hot Wheels track until the day after Boxing Day!
However, it wasn’t the end of the world, I just sat down and read or re-read one of the many annuals (which were much thicker then) that Santa had bought – if only batteries had been his responsibility!
There are times when I wish I had been born later in life and enjoyed some of the opportunites of today. But not at Christmas! I loved time spent with the family; the short journey from Plasmarl to Hafod to visit my grandparents and nipping round the corner to Bartley Terrace to pick up my other grandmother to come up for Christmas dinner (it was, is and always will be dinner to me). However, as I reflect back I realise that it wasn’t the toys and games that made those Christmas times so special, it was people.
It was family: neighbours, friends, the people of the community I grew up with in Plasmarl, the church I went to on Dyfatty Street and such people are still there.
I’m a great fan of people, particularly the people of South West Wales.
I was looking at the What’s On guide that we have in the studio and was greatly encouraged to read the number of places that are offering Christmas lunch to the elderly and those who may be on their own!
St Stephen’s Church in St Thomas, The Temple of Light Church in Ystradgynlais and Teilo’s Community Cwtch in Portmead are three of many places that will open for Christmas lunch.
That means people have to give up their time on Christmas Day to make it all happen.
Christmas toys and games may have changed but people remain the same . . . Thank goodness!