Childhood & Sentimental memories

bexsta-star

I loved the Double Deckers and as a reminder of what we are all missing go to http://www.thedoubledeckers.com/ - Check out the double decker theme tune on you tube link on the right-hand side - it is fab!!

My mother was a terrible cook (and still is lol). Once she bought a microwave in 1980 that was it. Everything, yes everything was cooked in it - pies (the first one she microwaved for 12 minutes!!), fishfingers, chicken, frozen oven chips - yuk it all looked the same - anaemic and unappertising!!!

Iguana

recovering_spendaholic wrote: »

Hi Olliebeak -

My Dad always used to have bread and dripping but I would never even taste it,
quote]

Toast and dripping's better!

Peartree

<Happiness

John had
Great Big
Waterproof
Boots on;
John had a
Great Big
Waterproof
Hat;
John had a
Great Big
Waterproof
Mackintosh --
And that
(Said John)
Is
That.

Alan Alexander Milne>


I did that for an 'elocution' exam when I was about six. The next year I did 'Sir Smash 'Em Up' which I can still remember bits of. Just can't remember what on earth I was doing at 'elocution' lessons - probably an attempt by my Mum to 'bring me out of myself'! Can't say it ever made a difference to the accent!

Randomly remembering things, we only had 'good home cooking' when I was growing up which, of course, we hated. All we wanted were 'shop bought' cakes not home made apple pie - 'ohhh Mummmm not againnnnn'. To this day, I absolutely adore the most synthetic cakes you can buy because they were such a treat. The most neon pink and yellow Battenburg is my idea of heaven - even given a choice of the best home made!

Forgive me if they have already been mentioned (it's a long thread) but what about Vesta meals? These were a very rare treat if my Dad were away. Those noodles that puffed up! How exotic. And I'll never forget the ads - there was that one about the lost football match - 'chicken supreme with rice and spices to help recover from the crisis...'.

My saturday job was on a fruit and veg stall on the local market. I'll never forget when we first had aubergines on the stall. What a commotion, no-one knew what they were for. The most exotic thing anyone did round our way was buy 2 ounces of mushrooms to go with their bacon at breakfast! We'd only just started to realise that spaghetti bolognaise wasn't something that Heinz did in at tin! I'm trying to remember when a pizza first came into my life. I was 21 before I ate a Findus crispy pancake - another synthetic thing I have a secret love of. (What about a 'things a grown up person shouldn't like but secretly loves thread?')

Because my Dad had a job that took him all over the world, we had some advanced tastes, though! We were early adopters of the duvet although they were called 'continental quilts' at the time - however, Mum saved up for them and we got them one at a time because they were expensive. But then so many things that are cheap and disposable now were expensive and a big deal. It is heartbreaking to think about what Mum and Dad saved up for that you now chuck in your trolley with the groceries without even thinking about. I remember Mum saving up green shield stamps and getting an ironing board.

My Mum worked full time, did all the housework, cooked everything from scratch, made all our clothes (not that we were grateful our course, wanting 'shop bought' everything) and did much of the DIY! My Dad was abroad a lot and she didn't drive then so she carted all the shopping home on foot. Funny to think that now she's retired she doesn't have time for most of that stuff any more!

I remember getting home from school in winter, usually in the dark because school was a long way, walking down the path, seeing the lights in the kitchen and smelling a wonderful dinner. Mum remembers us walking in every night and whatever she cooked we'd go 'oohh Mummm, not XXX againnnn....'!

Randomly again re public information films - when I'm on the motorway I often think of 'The Weaver Bird'.

And at another tangent, is it impossible for anyone else to get into a lift without the following going through their heads - 'ground floor perfumery, stationery and leather goods (something, something, something) going up (cheesy music)!

Mrs7ones

My favourite childhood memory hits me every time I pass a bakers shop...

I grew up in a shop - one of those that has the house attached to the back.

This was in the 1970's so everyone used to buy their fresh bread daily from the corner shop rather than buy in bulk from the supermarket and freeze it.

On the run up to christmas, customers used to put their order in for the bread they would need over the christmas period - they would collect it on christmans eve and would need to buy enough to last till the day after boxing day when the next delivery was. So people used to order loads of the stuff!!

On christmas eve morning, the bread delivery would come at about 6.30am, and we literally COULD NOT MOVE for fresh bread..... It would fill our kitchen, lounge and be piled up the stairs :eek: ........

SO.... my favourite childhood memory, is the constant smell of warm, fresh bread all day on christmas eve.... It was the smell that meant that christmas was finally here.... and when I smell fresh bread now (especially in the winter), it takes me straight back.....

Olliebeak

I think it was last week that I mentioned about not being able to buy thin sliced white bread any longer.

Somebody suggested contacting Warburtons (or similar bakers) - which I did. Today I received the following reply from them.

Dear Olga

Thank you for your recent comments through our website.

We stopped producing the thin sliced loaf a while ago, as did many other
suppliers, due to the lack of demand. However, we have had several
requests for a thin sliced loaf so perhaps this is something we need to
look at again. I will certainly pass your comments on to our Product
Development Team who are constantly looking for new ideas and will be
grateful for the feedback.

Thank you again for getting in touch.

Kind regards

Barbara Kelly
Customer Care Officer
WARBURTONS CUSTOMER CARE DEPARTMENT
Freephone: 0800 243684

..............so there is hope on the horizon once more :j !

passion8

rosieben wrote: »

Horace Batchelor's family planning :rotfl: :rotfl:

we did Mrs D, Mrs I, Mrs FFI, etc, but those little rhymes made life a lot easier! there was a music one about Frederic Charles???

I remember spending hours at school learning my times tables and having weekly maths and spelling tests, and my first encounters with poetry, anyone else remember?

'into the street the piper stepped smiling first a little smile as if he knew what magic slept in his quiet pipe the while......' or

'under the spreading chestnut tree the village smithy stands, a tall and mighty man is he with arms like i-ron bands' and

'Old Meg she was a gpysy, she lived upon the moor, her bed it was the brown heath turf, her house was out of doors'

and not forgetting 'Mrs Reece Laughs' sorry cant quote from that one, maybe someone else can?

amazing that I can quote a poem I learned 50 years ago but cant remember where I put my house keys this afternoon!! :rotfl:

Sorry for the late reply rosieben, I think I'm suffering from the same as you lol, but as for poems, I can't recall one

The infant and junior schools we went to seemed to concentrate more on singing and dancing, especially singing "We Plough the Fields and Scatter" in assembly, and round about this time of the year - probably because of Harvest Festival.

The school let us deliver the parcels of groceries to the old people (which reminds me: I'm old and I've never had one rofl), but it was lovely to see the pensioners' faces We'd visit them at an Almshouse once or twice a year and the class would sing for them. They loved it, I think!

I suspect the singing and dancing was a way of us getting out of school lol.

My sister must have got a part in The Mikado (??), because I clearly recall the first line of whatever part she was playing: "A wandering minstrel I" but as it's the ONLY line she sang (repeatedly!), I'm not sure even she learnt the second line

What a racket lol, and it reminds me of the time our piano started to play itself! We later found out that mice had made a nest in it and would plink plonk away! My Mam nearly had a duck fit lol. (I wonder where that saying came from? What is a duck fit? Does anyone know of its origins?)

The school entered us for lots of after-school dance competitions, and I remember for one competition being given strict instructions that only white pants could be worn under our white dresses. I think they picked a week when my parents were particularly skint and the embarrassment when I was the ONLY one to turn up in navy blues and on the night of the dance, being made to borrow a pink pair The judges must have felt sorry for us because we won.

Neither of our parents were particularly religious and I think we were all christened at different churches depending on which was the nearest lol, and the same for Sunday school. We'd go to any Sunday school that was open, sometimes twice if the times were staggered. I suspect our parents wanted a bit of peace and quiet

After changing religions so that we were all more or less the same one , I remember being chosen to be in the church choir and getting paid a half a crown per wedding, which was good as I was such a bad singer I mimed most of the time rofl, but you could buy two annuals for 7s and 6p so I persevered. As did the organist who had the unenviable task of teaching us. I must have had an angelic face but it was great donning all those ruffled collars and cuffs and having our photos taken.

Which also reminds me of the year I got a camera for Christmas.

Was it just me or did the developing of the photos seem to take at least a month?? rofl. Waiting for the photos to get back to us felt like waiting for Christmas, there was none of this waiting in Boots for an hour, or colour photos lol..

I'm away for a coffee now, something we rarely had unless it was Camp coffee, and to read some more of these great stories that people have posted.

Thanks to all

Olliebeak

I too was always 'sent' to Sunday School (never taken - unless it was by an older girl who lived a couple of doors away) and don't remember grandparents or parents ever going to church apart from christenings/weddings/funerals. Because we attended Sunday School, it meant that we could go to the 'Walking Day' every Whit Monday - which grandparents and mum would turn up for as it was a cheap day out and a chance for younger children to play safely without constant supervision. I lived with my grandparents so it was an extra opportunity to meet up with my mum and two sisters - funny to see my mum and grandmother 'trying to be polite to each other' with grandad making a fuss of my two sisters that he didn't often get to see. All the children who had 'walked in the procession' had a 'picnic' at trestle tables and benches (usual meat-paste butties, jellies, fairy cakes, chocolate biscuit and cup of orange squash). Then we could go and join in the races - three-legged, egg&spoon, sack - with strict orders not to fall over and get grass stains on our 'special frocks'.

Whatever happened to 'grass-stains' - I don't remember hearing my daughter complain about them these days and yet they were the 'bane of my grandmother/mother's life'. Maybe soap powder is just far more efficient these days at getting them out.

My school had a good reputation for getting children throught the 11+ exam. We had to chant our way through all the times tables every morning until the answers became second nature. It may have been 'parrot fashion' but it worked. When we got to the fourth year (age 10/11) the times tables were really pushed much harder. Recited from 1's to 12's and then back down again each morning followed by 77 (heaven only knows why 77!) quick fire random questions that we had to write the answers down on a piece of paper. That was then marked during 'playtime' and handed back afterwards with some kind of comment from the teacher. Mr Owen was known for being quite a tough teacher but his methods really worked and he got record numbers through that 11+ exam. When he left our school he went on to become a headmaster at a newly-built school.

recovering_spendaholic

noonesperfect wrote: »

Did anyone else watch The Double Deckers or Banana Splits on a Saturday morning? Or Tales from Czechozlovakia (sp)?

Do you remember crispy cod balls? My Mum always cooked everything from scratch so, daft though it sounds, it was a treat to have such "fast food"!! In her defence, my Mum was a very good cook .

OMG Crispy Cod Balls - I used to LOVE them - I had totally forgotten about them!

I loved the Double Deckers and still think of it when I see Peter Firth on Spooks. I also loved If you were Me (I can still remember the theme tune "If you were me, see the things I'd see, do the things I'd do, if I were you", Junior Showtime, White Horses, The Lightning Tree and the Kids from 47A. There were loads of great programmes!

passion8

I can't remember that term "Walking Day" Olliebeak, but I remember Whitsuntide because we always got new clothes Most people did I think? Things weren't as dire as I imagine lol. I remember Palm Sunday and making crosses out of, what I suspect, were palm leaves? lol, but I could be wrong on that, and handing them out to the few people that attended.

Most kids went on charabanc type days out, probably because the pubs would have collections I think, or people paid 'subs', but our vicar took me and two or three others to a Nun's Retreat, Wydale Hall in North Yorkshire.

I think it was only for a weekend, but it felt like a week. It was great however long it was though, really tranquil, surrounded by trees etc, and we had a First Aid day where we woke up to all these people that were 'injured' in the fields, and we had to learn how to treat fractures and cuts. If time hasn't played tricks on my memory, I think one 'injured' person was 'stuck' in a tree, before he was carted off on a stretcher! All Enid Blyton type adventure stuff lol, and the Nuns were lovely.

I'd never seen so many cereals before, and jams and marmalades etc, and the dinners were that hearty I was tempted to become a Nun .

We didn't have to take much money because there wasn't any shops, but they did sell card and religious paraphanelia. The amazing thing was that it was all done on trust!?! No-one served you, you selected what you liked and paid by leaving the money in an open plate. I can't imagine that happening these days lol.

(I did a double-check on Google to see if I'd got the right place name, and discovered that there's country cottages in the grounds now, so I'll make a note of that for next year. I'd better take more money too )

The times tables were learnt by rote too. We stopped at 12 x 12 and even today I struggle with anything past that. There's ten years between my brother and sister, yet we all had the same infant school teacher who was brilliant, and if I ever meet anyone that went to the same school, her name's the first one we remember

Learning to write neatly, especially 'joined up writing' was also a must, and we'd practice, with the wooden type ink pens and inkpots! Biros were a God send when they were introduced lol.

The 11+ seemed easy to me, but I was only one of three that had passed from that school in five years. I guess grammar school wasn't high on their agenda, but when I did get there, I soon realised I wasn't as clever as I thought lol, and it was miles away. I hated it.

I noticed someone had posted a Maths question on these boards and I couldn't understand a word of it! Trigonometry and algebra etc went right over my head, which is probably why I left school at 15 - to work in a shop where I had to be maths minded - no calculators then!

Those were the days

passion8

noonesperfect wrote: »

Did anyone else watch The Double Deckers or Banana Splits on a Saturday morning? Or Tales from Czechozlovakia (sp)?

Do you remember crispy cod balls? My Mum always cooked everything from scratch so, daft though it sounds, it was a treat to have such "fast food"!! In her defence, my Mum was a very good cook .

I vaguely remember Banana Splits, more the signature tune if this was it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbU5CzPi0zM

And crispy cod balls? No lol, but I remember crispy pancakes. They tasted so much better then