Guess my age

[openthefrontdoor]

No this isn't going to be one of those threads where I post a photograph and ask you to say how old you think I look.

I just thought for a bit of fun for anyone who like me has too much time on their hands, I would post a few facts about myself and see if you can guess my age.

I will post odd random facts over the next day, then tell you my age tomorrow.

This is a new user name, in case I have mentioned my age in previous post.

Fact 1) My mother used to wear dresses made of crimplene.

Fact 2) My father used to ride a bike and wore cycle clips to stop his trousets from getting caught in the cycle chain.

An American family moved in a few doors up the road from us and I made friends with their young daughter. She was great. Then they moved back to the US a year later. Her older sister had been pregnant, and her parents literally moved to the UK for a year just so that they could pass off the child as their own when they got back.

Mmm. My elder brother is 65 and our mum was born in 1932. Say your mum was born 18 years earlier, but had you quite early, my guess is you are 80.

That’s what happened to my friends mum. Found out her big sister was her mum and her 40th birthday party!!

I’m going to say 68. Tempted to say older since you mentioned the Beatles but they were around quite a while so I’ll say 68.

I can't really recall Aqua Manda, but I used to work on the cosmetic counter at Boots, so recall Boots 17 and No 7 very well. I also recall selling Stratton powder compacts.

If OP can't recall the three day week which was 73-74 they're unlikely to have been 18+ by then, so maybe 70.

When is the big reveal?!

68

I think it happened a lot, and in rural communities such as ours, where chapel going was still strong well into the 1980s, a lot was kept quiet.

I recall having one orange wall in my bedroom.

A couple more clues (or really reminiscences now, that other people of a similar age might relate to).

At school, the exams I took were 'o' levels and CSE's, not GCSE's.

My favourite school dinner was spam fritters.

If I was sunbathing as a teenager, I used to put on sun tan oil that was factor 2, or on a really hot day, I used factor 5.

I'm running out of hints now and as everyone is getting pretty close, or correct, I may not post any more clues tonight, but will tell you all tomorrow.

I'm guessing 69.

Tomorrow - probably mid morning.

Really??!

Really to what bit? The factor 2 sun tan oil?

74

I'm trying to remember the name of the oil where two girls were shown side by side, but the girl with the deep tan had a longer, fuller ponytail, a nicer bikini, etc.

Started with a 'B', maybe...It's gone. Can't remember. Berga...?

I recall my Dad laughing at me, and telling me that the stuff would just fry my skin.

GCSEs were first taught the day I started teaching - September 1986. I had Form 5 (Year 11 now) doing O Levels and Form 4 (Year 10 now) doing the new GCSE. 40 years ago this summer!!

Doing O levels/CSEs is not a very good clue. The oldest people to take GCSEs were born around 1970 and the OP cannot possibly be that young.

Yep my sister was in the first cohort to sit GCSE,s
Shes 54 .

Another memory - not really a clue, but to show how times have changed. When I was in the sixth form at school, there was a dedicated smoking area where pupils over 16 could go for a cigarette.

Just reveal it now OP. This is MN, you’ll still get loads of people guessing for the next week and a half because they won’t RTFT.

Gosh. Never heard of that! Was it a boarding school?

No, I'll stick to what I said in my first post and tell you all tomorrow.

No, a bog standard state school.