Heels, hacks and a hilarious dog in your Heyday Friday newsletter

Stuff I'm happy to be too old for, things that have made my life much easier, something absurdly joyful and a powerful TV recommendation in this week's newsletter

Hello!

It’s always my intent with These Are The Heydays to focus on the bonuses and benefits of ageing. But I hope it’s also realistic - and empathetic - about the challenges as well as the joys that advancing years inevitably bring. There’s a reason every post is accompanied by the words “Having the time of your life has nothing to do with your age and everything to do with your attitude”, and why the Abraham Lincoln quote “In the end it’s not the years in your life, but the life in your years” appears on the home page of the HEYDAYS WEBSITE

With that glass-half-full philosophy still very much in mind, and prompted by something I read this week here on Substack, I realise that there are a number of things I am now too old for and that I not only don’t resent (excuse the double negative), but am rather, entirely content about.

In absolutely no order of importance, they are:

Heels. And uncomfortable footwear of any kind

Ditto clothes that are too tight or restrictive in any way

Underwired bras (see above)

Being anywhere where I need to shout to be heard (mentioned this in THIS blog along with a number of other things I’ve learnt about myself having reached the exact mid-point of my sixties)

Remotely caring what anyone thinks about what I’m wearing

Cakey make up (tho will never intentionally be seen without mascara and eyebrow pencil however old I get)

Uncomfortable mattresses

Persevering with books or TV programmes I’m not enjoying

Eating big meals late in the evening. (Cereal though, that I can do any time of day or night.)

Following the news obsessively - or even very closely. Not sure if this an age thing, or just sensible mental health self-protection

People who are drains rather than radiators.

Collecting stuff. I want less not more of it in my life now.

Would any of those be on your too-old-for list? What would you add? I’m looking forward to reading your comments!

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WORDS OF WISDOM

Unsurprisingly, the fabulously flamboyant Iris Apfel - who was the colourful subject of THIS BLOG - had some forthright views on dressing as we get older/old. I may not be a sartorially bold as her, but I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment.

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THIS WEEK I’VE BEEN……WATCHING

Sometimes a true story needs no embellishment to make it in equal parts shocking, and horrifyingly unforgettable.

In the mid 1990s the last of the steelworks in Corby, Northamptonshire, around which the town had been built, were shut down and the land was cleared for redevelopment as a housing estate and a theme park. Open-topped trucks filled with the dug out earth from the site careered through the streets on their multiple daily runs to the nearby landfill site. The dust from the lorries’ loads spewed into the air and covered the roads. Dust which would later be shown to contain a calamitous mixture of highly toxic substances.

When local mothers, Tracey Taylor, an accountant at the site, and Susan McIntyre, , whose house is on the route to the landfill, both give birth to children with deformities and slowly come to realise there are others, many of them, who have had similar experiences, the women band together to start a campaign for justice, taking on a corrupt and unscrupulous council in a fight that lasts until 2009 when they eventually achieve a landmark court victory.

The awful story of Toxic Town is impressively served in this four-part drama by a (surely award-winning) combination of the skill of writer Jack Thorne, who furnishes his cast - some playing actual people, others an amalgamation or creation for dramatic fluency - with believably plausible dialogue and interactions; and tremendous performances from the actors, particularly, but certainly not only, Jodie Whittaker as outspoken, belligerent Tracey, and Aimee Lou Wood as quietly wise, sensitive Susan. A special shout out to the always impeccable Rory Kinnear as the resolute lawyer who steers the women’s case through years of set-backs and knock-backs.

Coming on the heels of Mr Bates vs The Post Office, with a similar story of wronged individuals taking on the machinery of power, and with shades of Britflix like The Full Monty and Brassed off, Toxic Town is a powerful morality tale of determination, heart-break and ultimate triumph.

You can watch TOXIC TOWN on Netflix

And see the trailer HERE

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GOOD TO KNOW

I’ve been rearranging some of the pictures on my walls this week, and found these two clever hacks absolutely invaluable. Hope you do too!

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WHAT’S MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK

There are so many consummate women media professionals I’m a huge fan of and two of them feature in this slot this week.

The first is the incomparably brilliant Clare Balding. If there’s a better presenter/host working in television and radio I challenge you to name them. Her superlative skill at appearing to be entirely calm and in control even in the most challenging of on-camera moments couldn’t have been more perfectly demonstrated than in this moment during her presentation of this week’s 2025 Crufts dog show where her supposedly straightforward studio link was hilariously hijacked by her companion, a fabulously over-excited two-year-old cocker spaniel called Ruben.

I promised you two of my fan-girl media heroines in this happy slot, and the other is Caitlin Moran, a writer of such skill, wit, intelligence and insight that she can make everything from huge, complex topics like feminism and fracking equally as fascinating, layered and engaging as pieces about why being famous is less fun than it sounds.

The reason she gets a mention here is what she wrote about the Clare/Ruben incident in her weekly Celebrity Watch column in The Times, because her observation of what happened is, in my view, the perfect encapsulation of celebrating every moment of joy we can. I’ve edited out her typically entertaining description of what you see in the clip above for brevity purposes.

“As we all know, this is a world full of anxiety and woe. Every 30 seconds things seem to get exponentially worse. It’s just hard to keep your pecker up and crack on with Tuesday when things are so bleak. Let us, then, take our joys where we may…….

…..The link was delivered, the dog was loved and 30 seconds of pure joy had been delivered to a heart-weary audience. This is why Balding is a national treasure. And it’s also why all TV shows should be co-presented by an effervescent spaniel. Just until things get better.”

Hear, hear. Or should I say, woof, woof?

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FRIDAY FUNNY

I’m pretty certain I’ve shared this fabulously funny video by comedian Jake Lambert before, but in the context of Ruben’s ‘performance’ and in honour of all the dogs who fill our lives with love and lunacy, here it is for you to enjoy again (and again)

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That’s it for this week. If all this has set your tail wagging with joy, please do drop me a little like heart. I promise not to jump up and lick your face in return, but it will be excessively appreciated.

And in the spirit of continuing to spread the joy, please do share the things you’re happy to be too old for.

Thank you and see you next time.

PS - just to mention, after gushing about the sunshine last week, it’s been hailing - proper little bullets of ice, torrents of them - on and off the entire time I’ve been writing this. Sigh……