Off Topic I Remember When

[Essayyeffcee]

Drinking a bottle of milk at school

 

[Oliver's Army]

Drinking a bottle of milk at school

Thatcher Thatcher the milk snatcher

 

[Mr_B]

Don’t forget Green shield stamps.

And the Sunderland Corporation Transport tokens.

 

[The Berk]

Worrabout Willy Wafers with the lick on tattoos, little Popeyes all ower.

 

[rooch 3]

Worrabout Willy Wafers with the lick on tattoos, little Popeyes all ower.

Or mars attacks with a slab of that rock hard pink gowie in the packet

 

[The Berk]

Gowey ha ha that’s what we called chewing gum

 

[Mr_B]

Or mars attacks with a slab of that rock hard pink gowie in the packet

Love it, can’t remember the last time I heard the word gowie, must be well over 50 years ago.

 

[Oldsandy]

Back in the days of tanners and bobs,
When Mothers had patience and Fathers had jobs.
When football team families wore hand me down shoes,
And T.V gave only two channels to choose.

Back in the days of three penny bits,
when schools employed nurses to search for your nits.
When snowballs were harmless; ice slides were permitted
and all of your jumpers were warm and hand knitted.

Back in the days of hot ginger beers,
when children remained so for more than six years.
When children respected what older folks said,
and pot was a thing you kept under your bed.

Back in the days of Listen with Mother,
when neighbours were friendly and talked to each other.
When cars were so rare you could play in the street.
When Doctors made house calls and Police walked the beat.

Back in the days of Milligan's Goons,
when butter was butter and songs all had tunes.
It was dumplings for dinner and trifle for tea,
and your annual break was a day by the sea.

Back in the days of Dixon's Dock Green,
Crackerjack pens and Lyons ice cream.
When children could freely wear National Health glasses,
and teachers all stood at the FRONT of their classes.

Back in the days of rocking and reeling,
when mobiles were things that you hung from the ceiling.
When woodwork and pottery got taught in schools,
and everyone dreamed of a win on the pools.

Back in the days when I was a lad,
I can't help but smile for the fun that I had.
Hopscotch and roller skates; snowballs to lob.
Back in the days of tanners and bobs.

Nice one Snaggey!

 

[vic9]

Probably never told anyone this before.

In the 50s around 6/7 years old, my two best friends were Doris and Pauline we lived in the same cul de sac.

Saturday morning we went to the Gem cinema (may have paid in jamjars)

On the way back, under the wooden bridge I told them show me your bums and I will show you mine. They showed me... I then ran away.

 

[Oldsandy]

Brought up in the 80's...

Having to actually get up and walk up to the telly to turn the channel over. The press of a button was a 'clunk' as the button pressed in about a quarter of an inch so it was flush with the telly. Not the touch sensitive space age buttons we have now. Only 4 channels. Kids tv was between after school and Neighbours. The satisfaction when it was Grange Hill day, the despair when it was Blue Peter. The whole family sat and watched the same thing, whether it be Byker Grove, Terry and June or The Young Ones. Last of the Summer Wine and Songs of Praise meant bath night and the horrible feeling at the pit of the stomach that it was school tomorrow.
Taping something off the telly meant needing a computer degree and relying on the tv schedule running on time, often ending in the wrong thing being recorded. Having a tv stand draw full of VHS tapes lined up with 'Bilko 1', 'Bilko 2' 'Laurel & Hardy' written in pencil that your dad asked you to record.
Even though your mam had recently bought a house phone (Wow! ****ing hell, we must be rich!) your mates still walked half a mile to see if you were in rather the embarrassment of using the phone and risk talking to your mam or dad.
Playing out all day, dreading the moment the lights in the street turned on, then waiting for you to be shouted in around the time they turned from red to amber. Shouting at the top of your voice from the other end of the street for 'TEN MORE MINUTES!'
Games of 'Block' which would start off with around half a dozen of your closest friends (around the same age) but which would end up by dusk involving half the street with an age range of 7 to 16 years old and even including the older weirdo that nobody really liked. Being told by your mam to stay away from and not to play with the naughty lads, particularly so and so.
Not being allowed to cross roads, the shear panic and fear on the risk of being caught when nipping across to the 'Paki's' (a word which we used which was not used offensively on our part, though a word what we would not dare use now but often have to pause and say Pakis-tanis instead) for a sly 10p mix up.
Finding porn magazines stuffed hidden in a bag under a bush was like finding gold dust but not understanding why the pages were glued together.
You went to the fish shop, that was it. They sold fish, battered sausage, dab (if you were lucky), fishcake, mince pie (if lucky), that was it. They didnt sell pizza's, kebabs, southern fried chicken etc. Every few months your parents bought you a 'Chinkies' as a special treat. Pizza shops, kebabs, Indian takeaways didnt exist.
School teachers were scary and even though violence was officially off the menu, the threat of it wasnt. Even on the rare occasion when a teacher pulled your ear or give you a clip, you didnt tell your mam in fear of the double whammy of getting wrong at home as well and because they would say you probably deserved it. Old fashioned school desks, with lids and long dried out ink well, covered in names or doodles, written or scratched on, and about a dozen old hardened blobs of chewing gum stuck underneath.

You find plastic bags of porn too, mate? I wonder who it was who went around Shields And Sunderland leaving sticky porn for randy kids under privet and bushes. Brilliant reminiscences mate, many went back to my era in the 40’s, although life in the 80’s was easier, and I’m not moaning; each generation had it better than the preceding one.

 

[Oldsandy]

Yeah. Even sex was innocent in those days.

 

[Ban the Ketchup]

I remember our house having one phone on a table in the hallway and it had a lock on the circle thing you dialled with. I remember the thrill of finding a discarded bin bag full of discarded “adult interest” magazines in the bushes in the park

 

[Oldsandy]

I’ve really enjoyed reading this thread, even though it wasn’t my era - I was a mature man by the 80s - it brought back so many childhood memories. Some day I may post those memories on here of the 40s into the 50s, but it would be a long post, I’m afraid. My eyes are heavy now so I’m going to have a nap, so I’ll leave you all with that threat hanging over you.

 

[John Wick]

Probably never told anyone this before.

In the 50s around 6/7 years old, my two best friends were Doris and Pauline we lived in the same cul de sac.

Saturday morning we went to the Gem cinema (may have paid in jamjars)

On the way back, under the wooden bridge I told them show me your bums and I will show you mine. They showed me... I then ran away.

scallywag

 

[John Wick]

I’ve really enjoyed reading this thread, even though it wasn’t my era - I was a mature man by the 80s - it brought back so many childhood memories. Some day I may post those memories on here of the 40s into the 50s, but it would be a long post, I’m afraid. My eyes are heavy now so I’m going to have a nap, so I’ll leave you all with that threat hanging over you.

Sandy, mate, that was my era, but the whole point of this thread is for everyone to "Remember when", so please, share, tell us, what do you remember about your found times.

 

[John Wick]

Can I just say that this is one of the best threads that I've ever seen...
.

My best memories from the 70's are this.......

Lot's of tears here mind.

Lost my mam two years ago.

She was born in Durham City in 1927.

All she wanted to do as a child was to be a nurse.....she was the youngest of ten children.

She applied to study in the world famous London's Kings College to study medicine and nursing in the 1950's

Mam was accepted. Mam then qualified as a State Registered Nurse....she then worked in Kingston hospitals, nursing World War Two service men and women.

As we all watch Sunday TV............yes, Mam was one of the original 'Call The Midwife' Nurses.

Mam then came home from London, back to the North East and chose to work in midwifery...

She moved us three kids to Seaham where she was employed as a District Nurse...

Mam had no transport.

Mam done her rounds on foot.

Mam was adored by everyone.....



Why am I sharing this with you on this thread ?

When we moved to Seaham mam knew I was mad on football. After a few weeks of us moving to Seaham, mam suprised me with two tickets to Roker Park.....Mam said, : Sunderland v Middlesbrough.

She said "who do we support?"

Me - I will support the winners of this match mam"

Bearing in mind that this was the first time I had ever been to Roker Park.....and bieng in the Roker End as part of a crowd of probably over 30,000 fans.....stood beside my mam, who doesn't really like football.....

Sunderlad either won 4-0 ...or 4-1...

My everlasting best memory for this thread..............is this story !

ps, on the way out of the Roker End....Ha ha ha there was an old bloke from our road, who made sure mam wasn't pushed by the crowd leaving the ground....

Thanks for this thread people ....

Mate, loved this, stuff like this is what I had in mind when I created the tread. Mine was about being born in the 80s and what I remembered and loved growing up in the 90s. I love that people are sharing, different decades etc. Me and a mate of mine at work who are the same age, from the same area but never met back then. We now talk about different people, places, the people that lived in our respective streets, the habits people had, and what strikes us is how mirrored everything is. The one bloke in the street that was always fixing a car, the street full of kids on a Sunday with mams and dad's sat on steps in the garden. I'm so happy we're all contributing to it with quality memories. I wouldn't be surprised if there's been a few laughs and nods of agreement from people reading. Class.

 

[John Wick]

Drinking a bottle of milk at school

the music teacher used to drink something abit stronger in the instrument cupboard at my school

 

[Snaggey]

I was born in Penshaw, 1965. We lived in Avondale Avenue, top of the bank towards Chester Road. Sometime around 1970/71, maybe even 72, a new junior school was being built, Barnwell School, and our back garden fence bordered the field which it was getting built on. At the time there was a strike on...not sure who, but I can remember there being regular power cuts, and there was a shortage of coal, and we had coal fires. I can remember this.

The following I can't remember, but it's a story my Dad told countless times, and my Mam & Dad both used to laugh about it.

We had coal fires and there was a shortage of coal. A new school was being built out the back, and they had coal, lots of it. (My Dad said they used it to heat the tar for the roof, and the boilers for the school were coal fired).
My Dad sawed through a section of the fence and put a couple of hinges on it, making an "invisible" gate. When it was dark he used to go through the gate, and nick some coal. Not sure how often or how much, but it was enough that it got noticed.
One day he was in the garden, and a bloke from the site came over, wanting to speak to my Dad. He thought, ****, I've been caught!!
The bloke said that quite a bit of coal had been going missing, and asked a favour....
If the electric was on, would he leave an upstairs light on, and just look out the window every now and then, in the hope it would deter the coal theft. If my Dad agreed, he would see him OK, and would drop off a couple of bags coal for his trouble.
Week or so later, the bloke came back, and said it was working, the coal theft had stopped....would he still leave a light on, and he would bring over a couple of bags of coal a week.
We were getting a couple of bags of coal a week, in return for my Dad not nicking it!!

 

[samwise_new]

ahh the blackouts...we used to wander from the light to the dark all night, one area would have lights then they would go off and the next area along got them.

talking of light/dark... can anyone else remember when we did not alter the clocks and we all had to walk to school in the dark, we got 'dayglo towel bags' and were told to wear light clothing, pretty sure it was late 60's?

 

[RTB]

I remember when my older sister moved into an old colliery terraced house, it was in a right state, but it had a massive coal fired range in the front room, an outside netty with a proper chain to work the flush and an old tin bath in the kitchen, 2 bedrooms upstairs and it came with a small tomahawk axe firmly lodged in the cupboard door below the staircase
We all helped to clean it up and redecorate - there must have been about 20 layers of wallpaper on the front room walls - It took days to get it all off.
The street over the road was later taken apart and now stands in Beamish museum

I remember during the summer holidays being out all day, camping out overnight in the fields behind our house, staying up late playing cards, listening to James Whale on metro radio. Going to Scarborough on family holidays and then going 'up market' to Butlins Filey
One day me and a group of about 8 other kids from our council estate in Hetton, walked to Finchale Abbey (well that's what we called it) and set up our tent just before the torrential rain started. Luckily one of the lads had told his dad where we were going and he turned up looking for us just as it was getting dark. Somehow we all managed to get in the back of his mini clubman without any car seats or seatbelts