What a great way to put it in perspective... ‘It was the year the first human travelled into outer space, the Berlin Wall was built and West Side Story was released to hit reviews’.

And there’s no question that to those who lived there at this auspicious moment in history, it was just as important.

While the rest of world continued to spin, in a small street on the new Blackbird Leys estate, eight residents celebrated moving into their new homes. And believe it or not, in today’s fast-moving world, those same eight people are still there, and still best friends.

Indeed, as Liz Brandon poignantly comments: “Even if I won the Lottery, I honestly wouldn’t move away.”

And there’s no doubt she means every word of it.

Since Blackbird Leys was first ‘born’, it has, over the years, attracted its fair share of negative publicity, but what Bill and Liz Brandon, Brenda and Keith Beasley, Pamela Dawson, Bernie Tucker, John Kingston and Jacky Perks prove is that the heart of this community is still strong. And still beating to a neighbourly beat.

There can’t be many communities that can truly boast that same sense of spirit and togetherness.

But let’s leave it to Bernie Tucker to sum up what Blackbird Leys really stands for – “People often say things about Blackbird Leys but I’ve never seen anything bad happen. We’ve got good neighbours and I wouldn’t move for anything.”

Enough said.