New BBC2 Back in time for dinner

suki1964

I really enjoyed lasts nights programme, as they were the years of my childhood

Mum got a freezer in the early 70's. I can remember Bejams but don't remember loose food. I do remember HUGE boxes of peas, maybe 10lb weight. She used to buy the box and bag them up into smaller amounts for the neighbour to buy as and when( they didn't all have a freezer)

The chip pan was always sat on the cooker top. Sat there being used daily until the lard was that dirty it smoked the kitchen out. Then the lard was scrapped into newspaper and the chip pan scrubbed and refilled. Chips,scotch eggs, sausages, fish - all cooked in it

The power cuts didn't bother us kids. We had the same camping ring as shown and dinner was usually either a cold supper with boiled spuds, or something out of the frying pan. The three day week meant money was even tighter then ever and sure enough the garden was dug over for veg

We 3 girls were latch key kids from very young. We had a ball. We had chores to do when we got in from school such as dust, Hoover , peal the spuds, wash the breakfast dishes, but then it was out to play till dinner time. We did have a snack, usually home made cake when we got in with squash if there was any, milk more often then not. Playing in the street was what we kids did. The babies would be on someone's doorstep with their dolls and tea sets, the boys would be playing footie in the middle of the road and the rest of us had two balls, hopscotch , skipping, French skipping,skates, space hoppers. Then we also had games like British bulldog and knock down ginger to get really worn out


I remember the bread, sugar and loo roll shortages. I always seemed to be in a queue for mum for something. Home made bread was the order of the day, then you couldn't get yeast so it was soda bread or nothing Later in the 70's most of the country was on strike, postmen, post offices, dustmen, council workers, seemingly everyone. I lived between two commons, both designated as emergency dumps. Our playgrounds disappeared and the stench was terrible

The 70's were wonderful, if very hard financially. It's no wonder we embraced the spending fever of the 80's

Gigervamp

suki1964 wrote: »

The babies would be on someone's doorstep with their dolls and tea sets, the boys would be playing footie in the middle of the road and the rest of us had two balls, hopscotch , skipping, French skipping,skates, space hoppers. Then we also had games like British bulldog and knock down ginger to get really worn out


I lived between two commons, both designated as emergency dumps.

Sounds exactly like where I used to live! Do I remember you saying once before that you used to live in South London? I grew up in Earlsfield, not far from Wandsworth and Wimbledon commons.

cheerfulness4

I can just about remmber the loose food in the freezer shops. My mum bought everything in sight, she loved her freezer. Her and dad hit the country food auctions and much blanching of veg followed.
We also went pick your owning of all sorts to be frozen for the colder months.

The 70's were a great time to grow up in. I took it for granted really. Even the power cuts were fun for us kids as I remember the family playing charades by candlelight. We loved it.

I also remember visiting a friends house and the husband coming in with a sugar cube on a string and offering us 'one dunk or two.'

I never got a space hopper and was deeply envious of a neighbouring kiddies pogo stick.

Mojisola

We had our first freezer from Bejams - they used to sell off the shop ones when they reached a certain age. It was as tough as they come and lasted for years.

cheerfulness4

I forgot how you used to have to lift up the lids to see what treasures were within because they didn't have see tgrough lids until later at our shops.

Bathory

Mum had had enough of power cuts and got a New World Flair gas cooker in the 70's for when the electric went off. She still had this cooker in 1989 and bought a large calor gas bottle for it every fortnight as we lived too far out to be on mains gas. Food was a mixture, we had traditional roast on Sunday, leftovers on Monday and beef sandwiches. The fat off the beef juices would be spread onto bread for an army of awaiting sparrows that swooped down out of nowhere and devoured it within minutes of it being thrown on the shed roof. We also had convenient stuff such as boil in the bag fish, findus crispy pancakes and pot noodle with mash (!). I'm sure that a 2 foot long packet of dried spaghetti lived for the entire decade in the pantry and never got used. I remember the seemingly endless summers where I was outside all the time and living off salad made up of english lettuce, cucumber, tomato, spring onions and tinned ham served with bread and salad cream. Forward to I think it was 1992 when bagged salad made an appearance, everyone panned it as being the ultimate in laziness.

It seemed to be simpler times to have been a child back then, I always played outside and if the weather got rough I'd be in playing singles on the Waltham record player which I thought was the bees knees in entertainment. However, I remember a lot of adults smoked and there would be adverts on the telly and sponsors from tobacco companies in sport . Cannot wait for the 80's as this was my teen decade.

suki1964

Gigervamp wrote: »

Sounds exactly like where I used to live! Do I remember you saying once before that you used to live in South London? I grew up in Earlsfield, not far from Wandsworth and Wimbledon commons.

I grew up just off Broomwood road between 68 and 85. We had a wee council house My sister sent me a link to a property page last year and the houses in my old road fetch over a million nowadays :eek:

To think back in the 70's most the houses had been turned into flats, everyone shopped from Northcote road market and most kids new clothes were from the church jumble sales

I don't know if they were happier times, just uncomplicated. We all had the same - sod all, and whatever was had was shared

Redlady.....

Would love to be able to buy the crispy noodles that you used to get in Vesta Chow Mein, loved them.

Gigervamp

Mojisola wrote: »

We had our first freezer from Bejams - they used to sell off the shop ones when they reached a certain age. It was as tough as they come and lasted for years.

Yes, The one my parents bought in the 70s was still being used by my dad when he died in 2002!

suki1964 wrote: »

I grew up just off Broomwood road between 68 and 85. We had a wee council house My sister sent me a link to a property page last year and the houses in my old road fetch over a million nowadays :eek:

To think back in the 70's most the houses had been turned into flats, everyone shopped from Northcote road market and most kids new clothes were from the church jumble sales

I loved Northcote Road market. I went to Clapham County, so often spent lunch times down there.

suki1964

Gigervamp wrote: »

Yes, The one my parents bought in the 70s was still being used by my dad when he died in 2002!



I loved Northcote Road market. I went to Clapham County, so often spent lunch times down there.

How it's changed

I took my now husband there about 20 years back and I didn't recognize it at all. All bistros and wine bars. When I was there it was the market ( George Mays beside Coombes the bakers) and stalls selling everything you needed with two liptons and a small co-op ( later tesco). Then later in the afternoon a walk down to the junction for woollies and Arding and Hobbs bargain basement

And if money allowed, real ice cream at the italian ice cream / cafe. A real treat. Better then the bottle of Zing and paper straw at woollies lol