Sunday.

No, its wednesday actually but there was an excellent programme on BBC 4 last night lightheartedly celebrating the traditional English sunday. It reminded me of how boring sunday was when I was a child. Enforced attendance at church followed by the traditional sunday roast and then attendance at sunday school. Being in the church choir you also had to endure Evensong in a half empty church and the highlight of the day on radio was 'Two Way Family Favourites'. Later, as the programme pointed out, when TV became common you had the delights of 'Going For A song' and 'Howards Way'.

Later in life, you had, at least, the option of going to the pub at lunchtime, but just as you were getting into the swing of it, the pub closed at two o clock. In my case I then went home and had a sleep before my roast dinner which by that time had moved to the evening. Sleep was not an invariable occurance during the early eighties however as I was often dragged out of my bed by my nephew Michael, who enjoyed nothing better then making me run around the garden whilst he shouted , 'Ready, Steady, Go !'. I hope that now he has reached the grand old age of thirty he will get the same treatment sometime.

Unlike last nights programme, I can feel little nostolgia for the stultifying english sunday that we have lost. At least now you can get a meal and a drink in a decent pub without fear of eviction at two and having supermarkets and stores upen on a sunday is a necessity in an age of enforced flexible working for most. Eating a roast on sunday is no longer compulsory either, although many carry on the tradition. Sunday might not be a perfect day but at least you have a real choice as to how you spend it.