THE Golden Jubilee has come and gone and how 25 years have flown since the silver celebrations of 1977.

Remember when James Callaghan was PM, Jimmy Carter was US president and the top films were Star Wars and Saturday Night Fever? Flares, kipper ties and big shirt collars were the height of fashion - along with punk.

Memorable deaths that year included Elvis, Charlie Chaplin, Groucho Marx and Bing Crosby.

And for those who took out 25 year mortgages they should by now have got free of that millstone.

Imagine when the average price of a house was £13,500, a far cry from the £116,000 it would cost today. Other comparative costs include cars at £2,000, petrol at 18p a litre and 20 cigarettes 55p.

The average wage was £3,640, today it's £23,140.

According to the Cheltenham and Gloucester property prices could treble again by 2020 when salaries may average £51,000.

What the next 25 years will bring is in the lap of the gods.

If it continues at the same pace our love affair with property will mean there won't be much greenery left in the land -- and I'm glad I won't be around for long when that devastating times comes.

The golden jubilee didn't have the same nationwide celebrations as the silver, when the country went dotty, but the extra bank holiday was a welcome gift from the Queen to the nation.

We've only another 10 years to the next big milestone - the Diamond Jubilee.

I dread to think what the country will be like even then.