Bristol in the 1960's and beyond..

it amazes me how you lot lived without internet, tv, phones, cars i really dont think i could

 

wiz, can you tell us some stories about the war, did you ever see Hitler?

 

i think he remembers the first one very well

 

I'll tell you what was different..

You were allowed to give cheeky bastards a slap..

 

and if your still living without any of they items I've heard of a 'geez' who lives above Horfield fish bar where you could pick anything up

 

only joking matey! Is that the bloke from Sparks?

 

Wize even I'm young enough not to remember the 60's that well

I can vaguely remember getting run over because my older brother left the front door open when I lived in Stockwood, and some one I called Big Christopher he was the same age but I had a young cousin also living in Stockwood called Christopher but that was it. My parents moved back to Chepstow in 1970, when I was a young 4 year old,

 

For all the doubters, you know life was good and we actually talked to each other rather than having to keep in touch by text etc just to let our friends know we are stiil somewhat alive. Footballers actually committed themselves to their employer and got a reasonable living wage and lived in the same communities as the supporters rather than alienating themselves by living in Cheshire.

This rant and belief that life was equally as good could go on forever folks but I'll save you the rant. Garter belt and stockings era and the woman didn't have to be totally pissed to want it, but sometimes it helped. Stop now Mike please. OK I will.

 

Jesus Christ your all old

 

Thanks wize...my teenage years....wonderful Bristol green buses...Hornby's milk
...ships coming in with the tide...Charlie Hill's shipyard.......White Hart Steps....
..Boyce's Avenue....Daddy Day's......Ford Popular/Consul/Anglia/Zephyr/Zodiac/Prefect
......cars going past the Cathedral.....coats and ties...
very evocative...I'll watch it again!

 

Thanks for the one on buses Wize. I learnt to drive on a bus while still doing conducting as the full time job. And when I went to get my first car, an Austin A35, I had to get a mate to help me drive it home because I could only drive a bus.

 

How could we miss something we never had...?

Shiny, no video games and no 24 hour TV meant that we weren't couch potatoes. As Mike says, we were out and about ALL the time. As a kid in the summer holidays, I used to get on my bike and disappear with my mates for the day telling my Mum where I was going of course (roughly) with no mobiles, etc.

Then later, I was hardly ever home as I was out with the boys (and girls). I was heavily into music at the time and one of my best friends as a kid grew up to be in JoBoxers and is now a record producer for a major label. We used to go to the Locarno (above the ice rink), Tiffanys (on a Tuesday night) the Crown Cellar bar, The Stonehouse, The Granary, The Colston Hall and various pubs to watch bands. Another mate had his own band for a bit which got featured on John Peel's show.

I consider myself very lucky to have been a teenager in the late 70's/early 80's having been privileged to have seen a load of bands live including (but not limited to) The Skids, The Ruts, Sham 69, The Damned, The Buzzcocks, SLF and many, many more - my mate (who was a drummer) got to play with The Damned when Rat Scabies was that pissed that he slide off his stool and he did 3 numbers until they managed to wake him up again. The came the "new wave of heavy metal" when I got to see one of Iron Maiden's first gigs at the Granary, Def Leppard, Riot, Saxon, Sammy Hagar, the list goes on, great days...

However my all time best ever live gig (which I think will never be topped) was The Undertones at the Locarno - unbelievable energy both on and off stage, its making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up thinking about it...

Then of course, there was the City, in the Prem equivalent for 4 years in the mid/late 70's and then the crash in 1982 and the descent into the abyss - I didn't miss a home game for over 10 years and saw a lot away and the relief of that day at Chester when we clawed our way back out of the basement will live me forever...

These were the days when clubs kicked out at 2am and most people could actually handle their drink so whilst you still got fights in town, the atmosphere was much nicer and it didn't look like the war zone that it is on a weekend nowadays.

That plus much, much more Shiny, you can keep your video games and MTV we were happier (and thinner) without them...

 

Got to say Prem kids nowadays do look at us when we mention we never had that stuff. But have to be honest it was so much better then. We learned how to do things ourselves.

As you said go out in the morning with all your mates, come back at tea time, bike rides, building stuff 15-20 aside footie with all the local kids.

When we slightly older taking our motorbikes and cars apart just to understand how they work and then try and fix them whenever something went wrong ourselves before passing them over to the mechanics if we couldn't do it, not take them in at the slightest problem now.

I also saw Sammy Hager and Iron Maiden in the Colton hall but probably a little later, as I saw Maidens number of the beast tour. Saxon in Stroud leisure centre hall, Wheels of Steel tour but you could probably hear them in Bristol and Gloucester they were so loud. Probably why I'm like this now.

Funniest memories I have was my Uncle seeing a band I think it was in the Studios, coming back and saying to me I think they might make something of themselves he was talking about U2.

No Shiny we never had all these things but as most would agree, we wouldn't swap our youth with today's!

 

"I can vaguely remember getting run over because my older brother left the front door open"

God the roads weren't very well signposted in those days were they?

 

Shiny heres Wiz, Mike, Prem and Pirate discussing the 'Old Days'

[video=youtube;Xe1a1wHxTyo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo[/video]