In 1945, after World War Two, women felt that they had more freedom than they’d had before. They had worked in factories making aircraft, learned the basics of engineering, helped in shipyards; building much needed ships for the navy. They had manned ack-ack guns and served with all three armed forces - Army, Navy and Airforce. In fact, they had proved to be just as capable as their menfolk. But we were still classed as the weaker sex and, let’s be truthful about it, second class citizens.

Some of us were quite content to lead a quiet, domesticated life after the trauma of the war. We had out menfolk back, we got married, had families. Many of us threw ourselves into this sort of life - cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry - and loved it. But our lives were very limited, and we envied our younger sisters who were beginning to go out and take the world by the scruff of its neck, saying “Hey! Here I am!” I know I did. Things were opening up for them. When we were young the choice of careers was very small. You could become a typist or receptionist in an office, a nurse or a schoolteacher, but you could only get so far in your job and the pay was very low. Why? Because you were a woman.

I came across this in my own family. My father was a Master Builder. He had quite a big company for that time, and from an early age I spent many hours on building sites, learning all the time. When the time came for me to think about finding a job I asked my father if I could work for him. After all, I’d helped him on quotes and surveying different jobs, I also knew most of the men he employed. I told him I was willing to be trained in management skills, etc, so when it came time for him to retire I could take over some of his responsibilities. You can guess his answer - a resounding NO! “You are a girl, and a woman cannot and ne ver will be able to run a building concern.”

Well, I’ve read about many women who run very successful building companies today.

I still think the Sixties was a wonderful time. The world seemed to shake itself and women seemed to take many steps forward. In the days of the gentle flower people, the strident music of those mop-heads, the Beatles, girls seemed to open up in education and employment. Women demanded to be heard in the workplace, and this seemed to go ahead well into the seventies and eighties. The world was opening up for women.

I see that my sisters have really come into their own. They love, they have their men and their families. They hold down very good, responsible jobs as well as running homes and balance it all wonderfully.

The fashions these days sometimes make shake my head and think, “Whatever does she think she looks like?”

But there again, I can remember in the forties when my father was disgusted with me for wearing tailored slacks and sports shirts. In any age the older generation will always shudder at something or the other that the younger generation does.

I’ve found the attitude of the woman of the nineties to be caring, but they know how to fight for what they believe in. They know how to enjoy life, and they are not afraid of voicing their opinions. I’ve mixed with quite a wide spectrum of people much younger than myself - men and women, gay and straight - and they have always been open with me, treated me with respect, always including me in their conversations and discussions.

We in the forties, yes, perhaps we had a quieter lifestyle, and things did not move quite so fast. We had no television and we thrilled to Bergman and Bogart, Crosby and Como. We danced to Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey. We look back on it with warm feelings and feel comforted to have lived those memories.

And our younger sisters of the nineties will think the same in about fifty years’ time. Good luck to you, sisters of the nineties, we salute you!