Strawberry Switchblade: Trees and Flowers

Track of the Week - 19 May 2019

Continuing the occasional theme of what to do with some of the stuff my dad left behind...

There were a lot of gloves in the attic. A lot of gloves. Heavy cotton work/gardening gloves. It's a long story that we can only have a best guess at.

We didn't really want to throw them away, they were in too good condition so this week we found a local charity that were happy to take them. This week my mum and I went and delivered the first consignment.

TWIGS Community Gardens is a place that gives people who experience mental health problems the chance to regain confidence, self-esteem and to learn new skills. They were delighted with our delivery as the 80 or so people who are currently gardening there to help their health will have their own gloves instead of having to share. And we've helped their finances as they won't have to allocate any of their budget to glove costs for a while.

The gardens are very well looked after there and well-loved, in contrast to the lyrics of Strawberry Switchblade's 1983 single where they hated the trees and flowers. And pretty much everything outside for that matter. Jill Bryson, one of the members of the colourful Scottish pop duo suffered with agoraphobia so it's understandable.

Here's the John Peel session version.