//…how can anyone write this without a tongue in the cheek
to show the doctrinaire idle repetition of stale ideas who have had their day?//
Leaving aside the misquote (which may explain your misunderstanding), it is not the “doctrinaire idle repetition of stale ideas,” Peter. I wish it was. It’s simply a statement of facts. I can recount probably eight or ten occasions when my travel plans were interrupted by action closing the French Channel ports. It’s usually the fishermen, but sometimes it is something else. Last week it was allegedly to prevent the spread of disease (though those who were prevented from travelling rarely left the cabs of their lorries). It will always go on so long as France is on the other side of that stretch of water.
//I distinctly remember that in 1957 they cost 1s (5p); 3d for the chips and 9d for the fish.//
You wuz robbed. Do you know, when I were a lad you could get a tram down into t'town, buy three new suits an' an ovvercoat, four pair o' good boots, go an' see Frank Randall at t'Palace Theatre, get blind drunk, 'ave some steak an' chips, bunch o' bananas an' three stone o' monkey nuts an' still 'ave change out of a farthing (with thanks to Tony Capstick).