There’s a great rock and roll night lined up at the Littleport Ex-Servicemen’s Club this Saturday July 1 for ‘them what likes it’. Which includes me. Although my own dancing days are over courtesy of the arthritis fairy, I am an old rock and roller! I even sang down the famous 2!’s with a group or two!

The group is ‘Go Johnny Go!’ Billed as a ‘nostalgic night of music from the 50s and 60s it starts at 8.45pm until 11pm and is £5 for members and £6 for guests.

Not that the fifties and sixties were kind to me and my kind! When a young gay man said at the 50s and 60s period costume Gay History Ball in Brighton; “How wonderful it must have been for you to have actually been there at the time all this music was new.” Sir Ian McKellen replied in chorus with me, “No. It was hellish!”

Times have changed though over the decades, and with them a lot of the entrenched anti attitudes that made life so uncomfortable for me and Sir Ian and all our friends. But not everywhere.

Perhaps I should mention then, in a nod to the larger Isle on which Littleport sits, that only five miles away, in Ely, celebrating Gay Pride Week is an option. Hosted by ‘LGBT+ in Ely’ (on Facebook) and others, this Friday (30) there’s a Pride in Ely fundraiser for an Ely Pride 2018. A great night out at The Royal Standard on Fore Hill, CB7 4AF from 7pm.

Back to Littleport, and the Plough and Harrow have a ‘House and Garage’ music selection on Friday from 9pm and the Crown Inn and Swan on the River are ‘open for business as usual’ as they used to say in the war after an air raid, catering for their regulars and welcome drop-in visitors alike.

There is a serious side to Littleport of course - the day to day concerns. Like the road-works that have caused such chaos, and the hot weather impacting on food refuse bins…

After the war, in the old days, we used to have what we called pig-bins and all our old food waste went in - mostly veg and spud peelin’s as we ate most else, but wasn’t picked up by bin-men. We took them to the point of consumption! Chickens enjoyed all this largesse too of course. And rewarded us with eggs!

Which reminds me, Littleport pet and equine suppliers, Camelot Creature Comforts at 3 Hale Fen CB6 1EN, is having its annual rehoming day for rescue hens early July. Phone John or Alison Bushe on 01353 662865 for more info.