UK Disability Resource of Disabled Needs

Thats the one!! Schoolfriend lolol I couldn't think of it at all. I remember my brothers playing with their little plastic 'cowboy and indians' all over the floor. Used to stand on the blinkin things and they really hurt!
our toys were so much different then to what they are now. I used to read loads and loved the Enid Blyton books, oh and Brer Rabbit, as I got older I read Little Women, and Jo's Boys not forgetting Pollyanna!! I can still lose myself in a book but don't get much time. Pam

Yes, we did read, one of may favourites was Monika Dickens my granny was village librarian and suggested I try one as it was about Romney Marsh, Wish for a Pony, I read all of them after that. Enid Blyton when I was younger and various school stories, all sorts. I still read rather a lot.

My brother collected Dinky Toys, he used to save for them, little cars and lorries. My sister and I had a go at knitting dolls clothes and later sewing them.

Remember five stones and jacks, they used to have spells of popularity as well. Marbles was another one.Conkers in season as well. Hula hoops at one time, my sister was good with one of those.
Annie

Yes my brothers had Dinky toys infact I still have a very old one which I bought from an antiques fare.
Hoola Hoops and all of the rest you have mentioned as well as 2/3 balls - you know throwing them to the wall and then under your leg stuff!
Knitting!!

mmmmmmmmmm well I remember whilst in my senior school buying some wool as did my friend to knit carigans for ourselves.
Well I ended up knitting about 4 rows and taking the rest of the wool back - and bought one instead. My friend however went on to knit hers and wear it! Clever girl. I however enjoyed sewing more and did make myself a trouser suit for myself when I was around 15/16 yrs old. Pam

Dont talk about knitting, last year at infants school we had to knit a pot holder, we were taught to do garter stitch and cast on. We were presented with some khaki 'wool' (perhaps left over from war time knitting) and some needles, boys and girls alike. I just couldn't get the hang of it then. We had to keep on untill it was finished. I managed to get my wool tangled round the mechanism that lifted the seat on the desk, you know the old fashioned ones with the lid that lifted and with seats attached. Those days we had to finish things so I was still knitting long after the others had finished, my Mum was pleased with the end result eventually and used it for years.
Last thing Friday teacher used to come round with the old wax polish, big dollop on each desk, we all had a cloth which we kept in the desk and we all had to polish away untill it disapeared. Woe betide any body who wrote on the desks either.
One day I actually got the hang of knitting and did quite a lot after.
Sewing wasn't so bad as I came from a long line of dress makers and I made lots of clothes. I taught my youngest daughter as she wanted to do more than they do in Technology these days and she made her wedding dress last year and her boyfriends gear, it was a medievil theme, lots of the costumes were home made and looked really good.
Do you remember the playground games and skipping rhymes, we knew loads of those and skipping games,
Annie

I can't remember having to clean my desk - but remember the teachers throwing chalk and even the board rubber at pupils who were not paying attention. The cane was also in use 0uch!! I never had the pleasure if it but was once threatened with it.
I remember playing hop-scotch used to love that game and still show the children how to play it. We were allowed to draw it in the playground Tig, kiss cat, and the two/three balls up to the walls. Oh and hand stands we saw more girls blue knickers in those days didn't we!!

Our toilets were outside as well in those days right at the top of the playground we also had an 'air raid shelter in the school yard and loved to play in there - although we could only get so far inside as the rest was blocked by a large iron gate which was padlocked.
My hubby's mum had an air raid shelter in her yard his father had it done I believe, it was reinforced and still had bunk beds inside. Pam

Actually as far as I know I went to the only school where pupils cleaned their desks.
Yes knickers were often on display, in P.E with a skirt tucked in, doing cart wheels, handstands etc, some of the skipping games had actions where you showed your knickers, not navy in my case,bottle green at one school and maroon at another.
There were always hopscotch grids along the road and in the playground when I was growing up, I read a sad bit in a paper last week where some kids were told of by officials for marking a pavement to play hopscotch, sad to say.
Tracking was anotherpopular game where you chalked arrows for people to follow, they used to be all over the village.
I lived in a house once with part of the basement converted to an air raid shelter, none in the garden where I grew up but when we first moved in Mum and Dad had to clear the garden of shell cases as the cottage was near a railway halt that had received lots of bombs, dad made some of them imto candlesticks as they were brass.
Annie

I loved the skipping games - remember 'higher and higher? Whip and tops and yo yo's - couldn't do the yo yo's for the life of me. We had a farm across the road from us and used the autmn nights to go scrumping farmer always had loads of nettles growing round hi trees - I wonder why?? After one scrumping session we went onto the playing fields at the back of our house. I needed to nip home for something and one of the lads shouted 'Pam!' I turned round and got an apple smack in the eye ended up at the doctors with a very swollen and painful eye having to wear sun glasses as I couldn't stand the light in it. That was a bit of 'fun' which went wrong. Sadly years later that same friend hung himself at the ripe old age of 19yrs. Pam

Yes, sometimes we had loads of kids playing the skipping games, I liked Yo-yo's, I actually have one here that Julie was trying to get the hang of.
Scrumping, yes did that, best was the cherry orchard near the church, no nettles but a big black dog running loose, when he ran and barked the farmer used to appear with his shot gun. Lots of fruit around here as it was part of the blossom route, coaches used to come down from London at blossom time, not so good now as the trees are smaller but still very pretty. Not so many types of apples either, Millers tasted good even when tiny unlike most of them, plums and damsons as well, oposite the church small very sweet pears which just used to drop along the road, we picked up loads of them.
We used to go blackberrying and collect sloes and bullace as well. Also rosehips.
Mum used to make damson jam and I still do, lovely on toast.
Sorry to hear about your friend, it is suprising how many of the people I grew up with are gone including my brother who was killed in a car crash when he was 19 and in the R.A.F.
Annie

Sorry to hear of the death of your brother ann that must have been a terrible time in your life. xx
I had another male from my class who also hanged himself he would have been in his early 20's and a friend who was in 'our group' in our early teen yrs who went on to joine the army and had a massive heart attack at 30yrs which killed him. So sad all the young lives which never get the chance to live on until the retirement age.
We used to go blackberrying as well and mum would make lovely pies. Did you used to put them in salt first then stand and watch for the grubs to crawl out!

It made us realise what we had eaten whilst picking them???
Years ago I made sloe gin - I used to make all different types of wine from fruit and veg. The recipe said to get a small bottle of gin and steep the sloe's for ex amount of time. I watched as the sloe's got fatter and my gin shrunk down the bucket

couldn't see the point in that ( well I could have enjoyed that gin with some tonic in!) never did that one again it just didn't work out.
I also made some potatoe wine which went sour - it stunk us out

and some elderberry which obviously I hadn't 'racked off' enough before bottling it and storing it in the spare room. Kept hearing occassional banging noises at night - thought it was a car back firing - until one night I twigged on and went in there to look at my wine. -Oh dear - what a mess!!

I just buy it these day's it's easier and cheaper. Pam