Granty's Inferno: 'The blissful days of our youth'

He would have happily swapped his fame and fortune for all the innocence of his youth.

It seems he is not the only one as a recent survey proves that for many of us the things we consistently look forward to is the past.

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be, the saying goes which is a general theme running throughout this week's Inferno - born in April, 2014.

Ah, I remember it as if it were yesterday.

So when the much-awaited Eureka! National Children's Museum opens its second venue in Seacombe in 2020-21, I hope it will feature some of the things that made us what we are today.

I am truly excited about this concept – a forward looking enterprise in celebrating science and engineering that will also give a boost to the Wirral economy and its talent.

Our childhood activities shaped what we become so let's celebrate that, too.

So what do we miss the most?

Meccano, Lego, collecting stickers and Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl books feature in the top 50 by pollsters Hollywood Bowl.

Other pined-for childhood memories include writing a wish-list from a toy catalogue while budgeting with pocket money.

And most of the best things in our young lives were free such as going on the swings and playing out with friends until the street lights came on.

Time is indeed our most precious commodity - it's just that we didn't know it at the time.

And what topped the list?

School holidays - no responsibility and endless "Eureka!" moments of discovery. Bliss.

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THERE ain't nothing like a dame.

We should be proud of our Wirral Wonder Woman - Dame Glenda Jackson.

The one-time West Kirby grammar schoolgirl made headline news when she retired from showbiz to go into another branch of entertainment as an MP - retiring in 2015 after 23 years.

Now the double-Oscar winner is back on the boards wowing them on Broadway at the age of 81 in the acclaimed play Three Tall Women and being mobbed at the stage door.

I'd love to see Glenda appear at the Liverpool Playhouse in a Shakespeare home-coming just like Kim Cattrall one day. Or giving an "audience with" show at the Gladstone or Floral Pavilion.

Glenda is indeed an inspiration.

Actress, MP and political activist, now supporting the MeToo Movement. I just pray she isn't psychic.

She has told American journalists she thinks Donald Trump will be around a long time and will run for a second term.

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I'VE been daydreaming of halcyon days again.

The great Charles Dickens often referred to his characters getting back to the place but not the time.

But we will always have the music and I might just get in my Tardis (a National Express coach) and travel to Capstone Hall in Cheshire for the forthcoming Rewind 80s festival.

To hear the music that has acted as a soundtrack to not just my life but that of many of our readers too.

It will be a real nostalgia trip because I have interviewed many of the household names on stage including Wirral legends OMD; Leo Sayer, Steve Harley and Tiffany.

It will be like taking part in my own version of Back to the Future (all three parts).

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"I'M an atheist, thank God," was just one of the greatest quips from the sit-down comedian Dave Allen who died in 2005.

The BBC paid a welcome tribute to him this week. I met the man himself in the mid-'90s when he was promoting a VHS (remember them?) and over a pot of tea he told me about his love of The Beatles as he sported a pair of John Lennon "granny" glasses.

I asked him about his obsession with death and if he had an epitaph?

Unblinking, he stared me straight in the eyes and said: "Don't mourn for me now, mourn for me never.

"I'm going to do nothing forever and ever. That's it," he smiled with a real twinkle in his Irish eyes.

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THERE was a contented smile in Devon this week when I told Mersey Poet Brian Patten that he was mentioned in despatches last week.

His beautiful poem So Many Different Lengths of Time was read out by actress Stephanie Cole at Ken Dodd's magnificent farewell at the Anglican Cathedral.

Brian was lost for words when I told him.

"I didn't know. I was a great fan and feel very honoured that the poem was used as part of the great man’s service."

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MY heart sank when I saw a photograph of the stars of US soap opera Dallas at a recent 40th anniversary get together in Texas.

I once visited South Fork ranch – it's a real place not a film set.

And I saw the actual gun that shot JR which was in a glass case.

There was even a real life oil rig.

Sadly, it seems the actors who played the money-grabbing barons haven’t aged well Oil of Ulay all round?

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AND finally ... following my recent reports of selfish audience behaviour, I hear from my good friend broadcaster Roger Lyon who tells me of one incident he heard of in Australia.

In a grand old theatre just before curtain-up a man was sprawled across three seats.

When the manager was alerted he asked him to use just one. The man groaned and refused to budge.

After countless pleas, the frustrated management called the police.

An officer duly arrived and asked the man: "Where are you from, sir?"

The man looked up and cried out: "The balcony."

Peter Grant