I might try that. It should work with the mashed potato that comes in tubs at supermarkets. Cuts out the faff.
Here’s a memory from way back when I were a bairn, still not at school. Me mam took me to Newcastle (during the war) to see the trains (simple pleasures in those days. I suppose the modern equivalent would be the airport to watch the planes). I became fascinated by a metal box with a glass window secured to a wall. Mam told me that before the war the box was filled with bars of chocolate and if you put a penny in you’d get a bar. I’d experienced nothing but rationing so the idea that anyone could just put money in, whenever they wanted, and get chocolate was completely alien to me. If she’d described the phrase “ before the war” as an age when dinosaurs roamed the earth and Santa came every night I could have accepted it more readily. But, chocolate whenever you wanted, and without ration coupons? Haway, your having me on. I stared at that metal box for long minutes trying to imagine chocolate bars visible behind the little window, but all I saw was an empty box. It has just occurred to me that I may have told this before, if so, my apologies, and don’t bother reading it.
Egg and tomato for the seaside --- ''soggies'' because the tomato juice soaked into the bread. Even if I'm at home I make egg and tomato in the morning to eat later for that wonderful taste experience !
Believe it or not you haven’t lived until you’ve tried tomato pip sandwiches with a bit of salt on, me and my sister used to have tomato pip sandwiches fresh from the green house and my dad had the pulp with his bacon.
Can you still buy frying ham in the north east, I’ve lived all over the country since the seventies and know where else has even heard of it.
I was an army apprentice for 3 years then went into REME. Got an opportunity to transfer to the Army Air Corpse that was being reformed but fell I’ll and missed my chance. I stayed well away from the fighting units; too bloody dangerous! I was more than willing to leave the fighting to your lot.
Prompted by a couple of posts on the Boris thread, I thought that I'd start a new thread about what we remember and/or miss . . . . We usually had a bogey that we used to make out of pram wheels and 'some bits of wood' that we'd ride downhill across a main road, not very bothered about any vehicles that could have been 'in our way' Bonties in the back lane that roared on Bonty night and were definitely the biggest in the world. Associated London Lights that our parents used to give us to play with Having loads of fun jumping on and off moving buses before they had doors . . . . no h&s rules in sight Playing 'kipper' where we hoyed sharp knifes as close as we could to each others' feet 'cos it wasn't dangerous in any way Party lines, where you had to wait until a neighbour had finished their conversation before you could use your 'phone ! A few to get us started . . . . let's jog our memories
On Facebook there’s a group called Sunderland History and Memories. Have a look at it and see all the photos from the olden days.
Summer holidays. Breakfast then out I would go. Meet with friends and whatever the day would bring was just fine. Anything from swimming in the river, to fishing, to walking the fells, to bike rides. Home for tea, no bother from mam about where I was, then out again for 20 a side on the rec till it was too dark. Home, supper, bed. Daylight and repeat. No worries in the world.
Now that I'm in my 50s, looking back, the things I miss the most now is waking up on a Sunday morning with my mam and dad listening to the likes of Dean Martin and all the old crooner types on Radio 2. With the chicken in the oven cooking and my mam peeling the veg and my dad doing the yorkshire pudding mix cos he got them to rise better! And not forgetting the homemade rice pudding for afters. And after the bad weather some of the country had this week, sledging down Horden bank opposite the church. There were that many kids there you had to get out of the way at the bottom before you got run over! And afterwards the whole green was like a sheet of ice
I remember using empty squeazy bottles "washing up liquid" for water fights. Playing tin can alley, tallyho and getting canny excited when the ice cream van came...my fave was a 10p special which was an ice cream in a cone with an iced lolly stuck into it. Might have been a Washington thing lol. 10p mix ups and collecting "soccer stars" in the sticker album. They were 5p a pack.
