# When I was 12 years old.



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Barry mentioned on another thread about when he was 12, Actually I think he lies about his age and that was about 12 years ago.:grin2:
Anyway, it started me thinking of when I was 12.
Lived in a 3 bedroom council house with Mum Dad and brothers, how many brothers depends on who was on leave from the forces.
The floor was covered with lino and peg rugs Mum made. The toilet was sort of outside, in the passageway next to the coal bunker.
To bath or for Mum to do washing the gas copper had to be filled with cold water first and heated, and Saturday night bath water was shared after which all the shorts. shirts and socks from the village football team were then soaked in this water until Monday morning. This was one job Mum did to earn a bit of extra cash. She also earned a bit by doing housework for well off people. Both Mum & Dad would do little jobs for other people to earn a little extra. My Dad earned about £9.00 a week as a builders labourer.
A lot of bartering went on with neighbours i.e. wood for coal, home made stuff for a bucket of coal, lots of things for a bucket of coal. :smile2:
In the winter when we had snow (seemed to be more in those days) Dad would sweep the path, not just ours but along the whole row, he probably had a few pints bought him down the pub for that.
My clothes were either given to me by a lady who´s daughter had grown out of them or from jumble sales, shoes were always new. My Mum was a good needle woman, no sewing machine in those days every stitch by hand, she would undo knitted things bought at jumble sales and knit jumpers to fit us.
No cars in our road, we cycled everywhere. No fat kids, we made our own fun, pole vaulting, climbing trees, rounders in the playing field or in the street. 
A rag and bone man used to come round with his horse and cart every now and then, there was a rush to pick up the horse muck.
Gardens mostly had vegetables at the back and flowers in the front.
Mum made all the jam, she pickled onions and other vegetables, the worse time was when her and Dad would make horse raddish sauce, was that strong, (I make jam, cooked apple in jars and pickle onions, have pickled walnuts until a couple of years ago, but for the past 2 years we have been away in June when they have to be picked and pickled).
I had a budgie for a pet, couldn´t afford a dog. 
We lived within our means, if you didn´t have the money you didn´t have it.
When I came home from school my Mum was always there cooking the evening meal for when Dad and the rest of us came home.
Christmas trimmings were home made from crepe paper, blown eggs with glitter stuck on them and Christmas was the only time spirits were in the house.
Christmas cakes were prepared at home and then taken down to the bakers (along with many others) to be baked when the bread oven was cooling down overnight.
Puddings were boiled for hours at home. Christmas was special, we always had an Aunty and Uncle stay over the whole holiday and we had a lot of fun, mostly playing cards.
I wouldn´t have swapped my childhood for a childhood of today, everything was appreciated and nothing taken for granted.
Hans has a different story, living in Germany 7 years after the end of the war, I wouldn´t swap with him either

Sandra has another story, maybe you have as well, lets hear it.

Jan


----------



## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

Most of us in our 70's have similar stories, remember that time very well.

Thank you for posting, Jan.

XXXX

Peter


----------



## HurricaneSmith (Jul 13, 2007)

So much of what you have written reminds me of my childhood.

Your mention of the rag and bone man set me hearing the sound of his bell as his horse plodded around the avenues where I was brought up. The coal man delivered to our house with a combined sort of hat and cape, but it didn't stop him being covered in dust. The milkman didn't need a horse, as he walked in front of his little float, operating it by a central handle that also acted as a brake. No weather protection for him! Later, "Corona" lorries came around selling their fizzy drinks.

I can still remember steam rollers, flattening the tarmac roads, and I used to wander on foot across the Kingston By-Pass to the Hogsmill River where Millais had painted "Ophelia" in 1852.

The trolley buses took us into Kingston for about 2d, except at Surbiton Station their spring loaded poles came off at the junction points, and the conductor had to use a long rod to hang them back up again.

My father had an allotment and he spent many weekends digging, sowing and bringing home his reward on a bicycle. He fitted a sort of petrol driven motor to the front wheel that worked fine on the flat but was hopeless going uphill. I thought it was called a "Hudson Flying Wheel" but the net suggests I am mistaken.

Each year for our summer holidays, my sister and I went on a coach to Northumberland, staying with an aunt. She had spent the previous months bottling ginger beer in preparation. The journey by coach took all day and the driver stopped twice at pubs, where he nipped in for a pint. Another aunt (a head mistress) flagged our coach down on the Newcastle Tyne Bridge to hand us grapes .......... Goodness knows how long she had waited for us to drive by. In Northumbria we found the freedom to roam the Cheviots without a care in the world, and I also helped out at the local Mart. Later we travelled north & south on steam engines, and I remember walking down Kings Cross platform to see what had hauled us all those miles. Once it was the Flying Scotsman, which was a thrill even then.

Much later, my first pint cost 1s10½p and I received change from £1 for four gallons of petrol.




.


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Gord Jan, that takes me back a bit, I remember the copper, we had a tin bath for ages, loo at the end of the garden, newspaper on a nail, we was posh News of the World in case we had visitors, we eventually got a proper bath fitted it was in the kitchen and had a board on top.

Dad was a ganger on the civil engineering pipelines n stuff, made £30 a week but drank most of it.


----------



## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Although we were probably better of than Jan's family I can still relate to a lot of what you both wrote, such as 

Coalman, rag 'n bone man and those electric milk carts.

Much of what Jan wrote about Christmas was also true in our house hand-made decorations(my job), homemade Christmas cake(but we had an oven), Christmas pudding boiling wrapped in muslin etc. Spirits only at Christmas and NY. and Babycham not Champagne.

When I bought my first house in London in 1975 it had no bathroom, but 2 inside loos, because of 1890's by-laws. There was a gas-fired copper standing in the kitchen and a tin bath hanging above it. The kitchen was a lean-to and was not plastered, only painted, and the slate roof was exposed.. There was a small fire in the breakfast room with a back-boiler feeding a 5 gal water tank which had a lead pipe running diagonally across the kitchen wall to a butlers deep porcelain sink. There was a 'coal hole' behind a rotting T+G partition.

The reason for this state still in 1975 was that it had been rented by a old single man who although he worked in the office of a large plumbing firm, thought that the landlady should pay for all improvements, but on a 1930s 'contolled' rent of £3 pw she was saying 'no way'.

Needless to say I did not move in till I had installed a bathroom and revamped the kitchen, but kept the sink for growing herbs in the garden and the copper innards of the boiler. 

My current house, bought in 1997, did have a basic bathroom, but there was still a loo behind the kitchen accessed from the garden. The only heating was a brick-filled night storage heater in the hall and open fires. The lady who sold it used to clean for a girlfriend of mine.

The house next door has just been sold, and up intil they died the couple still had lino in the kitchen and plastic covering(what was it called?) on the kitchen table. It amazes me that it quite recent times people, albeit 90s, were still living like this. Even Basia's Mother's flat still has an old enamel bath on legs and an old gas geyser, but although both she and we could easily afford a revamp, she does not want the disruption of change.

Geoff


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Table top was probably formica Geoff, I have one in my utility room :laugh: drop leaf very useful.
Jan


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

JanHank said:


> Table top was probably formica Geoff, I have one in my utility room :laugh: drop leaf very useful.
> Jan


There used to be an oilcloth for table cloths back then which oddly you can now buy again in Dunelm ???, buggered if I can remember it's specific name, Liz says it was called oilcloth, I'm not sure, it was cloth under and plastic on top, Formica was dead posh


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> There used to be an oilcloth for table cloths back then which oddly you can now buy again in Dunelm ???, buggered if I can remember it's specific name, Liz says it was called oilcloth, I'm not sure, it was cloth under and plastic on top, Formica was dead posh


American cloth, I think. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/American cloth


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Nah.


----------



## teljoy (Jul 4, 2005)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> There used to be an oilcloth for table cloths back then which oddly you can now buy again in Dunelm ???, buggered if I can remember it's specific name, Liz says it was called oilcloth, I'm not sure, it was cloth under and plastic on top, Formica was dead posh


It was called oilcloth and applied to lino and tablecloths. My old Nan used to refer to the oilcloth on the floor in the scullery. Brings back a lot of memories.

Terry


----------



## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> There used to be an oilcloth for table cloths back then which oddly you can now buy again in Dunelm ???, buggered if I can remember it's specific name, Liz says it was called oilcloth, I'm not sure, it was cloth under and plastic on top, Formica was dead posh


That is more like it because I think the stuff I am thinking of had a woven material which was coated in some kind of plastic and it was draped over the table like a normal tablecloth. 'Oilcloth' sounds familiar. If it is back on the market now I expect it is intended for outside table use - or childrens' parties:wink2:

Geoff


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

We called it _American cloth/American oilcloth_ https://www.amazon.co.uk/American-Vintage-Tablecloth-Wipeclean-Oilcloth/dp/B00L2EKLKC
Some still do include_ American._


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

nicholsong said:


> Although we were probably better of than Jan's family I can still relate to a lot of what you both wrote, such as
> 
> Coalman, rag 'n bone man and those electric milk carts.
> 
> ...


We also had a gas oven Geoff, the cakes were taken to the baker because he was a very nice man and offered to bake other peoples cakes for them.


----------



## KeithChesterfield (Mar 12, 2010)

I was sent 25 miles from home to an approved school from 11 to 16 - worst time of my life.

Some good memories – but not many.

The good news was I was as fit as a fiddle playing more sports than many of you have ever done and having a lifetime interest in most of them - football, cricket, fives, badminton, athletics, cross country running, gymnastics, chess, rounders, tennis and bullying.


:wav::wav::wav:


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Hopefully you've dropped out of the bullying team :smile2:


----------



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I wouldn't post mine

I maintain its what made me as I am 

So I can't deny it , I do not suffer fools gladly, I cannot tolerate attacks on the underdog , believe me I was punished enough defending them 

And in children's homes at that time there were the survivers and those who didn't 

And the survivers weren' t the thugs, they tended to be the none survivers in the long term

I changed schools more times than I care to remember as I was passed from pillar to post 

It made me determined to make it against all odds, determined to get to uni, determined to get a masters degree which I did

None of which matter a jot inthe scheme of things

Determined eventually to prove that against of all the odds of a kid from care that our marriage would hold

But that's prob down to Albert more than me

But the saddest bit for me

Was to be determined to raise my kids in a family

When I had no idea what a family was

And I think I did Ok but never will I be sure 

Except I watch them raise their kids, they are so happy with them, so I dare to think maybe I did OK in spite of the odds

Sandra


----------



## KeithChesterfield (Mar 12, 2010)

One 'sport' I forgot to mention at School was Boxing.

I was 'encouraged' into a three round, one minute each round, contest when I was 12 - too much pain for too little gain I decided after the bout and never boxed again.

The good old days, my *rse!


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

HurricaneSmith said:


> The trolley buses took us into Kingston for about 2d, except at Surbiton Station their spring loaded poles came off at the junction points, and the conductor had to use a long rod to hang them back up again. .


Oh boy Jan, brings back so many memories of ice inside my bedroom window, itchy grey flannels, milkmans horse that knew the route, rationing, etc.

John you must have grown up near me as I lived on Surbiton Park Terrace or Surbiton Road. Half way between Kingston and Surbiton on the trolleybus route. 
The trolleybus used to wake me up early when it was frosty as the sparks used to light up my bedroom.
I got the trolleybus to Hollyfield Road and secondary school. I got a real telling off for shooting and arrow with a cord attached over the trolleybus wires to my mate on the opposite corner as we were going to try a string and tin can phone.

Memories and how things have changed.!!

Another thing John, my mum used to put me on the train to Newcastle when I was about 10 or 12 alone and ask the guard to keep an eye on me. I stayed up there the summer holls and again came back alone in the guards van.

I worked in the local grocers bagging up Pounds of sugar and measuring up half pounds of butter.

Ray.


----------



## cabby (May 14, 2005)

Oh dear, not sure if I should post in this, but what the hell, we moved down from Salop in 1946, where Dad had been on the aredrome working on Wellington bombers.We arrived back in south London, moving into.......a Prefab, 2 bedrooms, a kitchen with all mod cons including a larder, a fridge(gas), wash tub and wringer that emptied into the sink and of course a full cooker.Water was heated with the fire in the lounge or by electric.
The bathroom had a fitted bath and the toilet was a separate room, all indoors.
Milkman came round with bottled milk, we had been used to collecting it from the cart with our own jugs out of the urns before.We had a large back garden and quite a few bomb site adventure areas to play in.

cabby


----------



## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

At twelve I was living in a 3 bedroom new LCC council house at Avery Hill, S.E London (but with a Kent address) with my parents and 2 younger brothers. We had the luxury of a proper 3 piece bathroom as well as a semi outside loo in the back porch. We'd moved there 6 years previously from a 10 roomed house in Bermondsey, walking distance from Tower Bridge, in which my grandmother, two aunts, two uncles and two cousins still lived. Their house had an outside WC and of course the indoor tin bath. My cousins used to be sent to convalesce with us in the relatively clean 'country air' if they'd been ill, but before The Clean Air Act the London smog still enveloped us on the outskirts of London. I used to envy them as they still lived with our Nan.

I was twelve in April 1957 and was in my first year at a convent grammar school in Greenwich. My Dad, who still worked at the docks in Tooley Street, commuted by motorbike and used to nip round to my Nan's for lunch dinner. The previous year he'd failed to be elected onto Woolwich Borough Council but had been made an Alderman instead, so from then on there seemed to be a constant stream of people from the estate coming round to ask Dad if he could 'get onto the council about.....'. We didn't have a phone then and I think Dad was put off getting one earlier than we did because he knew he'd end up using it for council work and not be reimbursed. Mum at that point was at home with my 2 year old brother but she was the practical one who could always come up with a solution to a problem with a bit of lateral thinking.

I too remember 'Jack Frost' inside the bedroom windows and the scratchy serge school uniform. There's not much I'd like to return to from those days but I do regret, and get very angry about, the way local government has been cut to the bone. We had brilliant services then, parks that were well looked after, adult education classes (my Mum went to woodworking and made a smashing bookcase) services for elderly people that didn't have to make a profit for someone, and that paid their workers reasonably well on a contract.

I think it's time I stopped now before I get too political >

Chris


----------



## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

Man with a barrow used to come round once a week ringing a bell, he had the back leg of a dead horse on it & used to sell it for dog food - our dog Prince knew the day & time he'd be in our street.
-Or the 'winkle man' with his barrow selling whelks, wrinkles & other seafood by the pint . . . Sunday evening tea was always winkles (didn't need a knife or fork - just a needle to get them out of their shells, Or the eel shop . . . 
Used to be 2/6p for a big bowl full of jellies eels - yummie.


----------



## HurricaneSmith (Jul 13, 2007)

raynipper said:


> Oh boy Jan, brings back so many memories of ice inside my bedroom window, itchy grey flannels, milkmans horse that knew the route, rationing, etc.
> 
> John you must have grown up near me as I lived on Surbiton Park Terrace or Surbiton Road. Half way between Kingston and Surbiton on the trolleybus route.
> The trolleybus used to wake me up early when it was frosty as the sparks used to light up my bedroom.
> ...


It's a small world Ray, as I was brought up in Tolworth and only about a mile from you. I guess that makes you posher than me. :smile2: When I moved south to East Sussex about three years ago I joined a walking group and got chatting to another old boy. Turned out we were both born on the same day, both went to Hollyfield and were both in the same class, although he avoided GCEs in order to join the RN. We compared our leaving black Bibles for matching school friend signatures and scribbled notes.

We may have been on the same train to Newcastle too, as that's where my Aunt transferred my younger sister and I from the train to the onward bus north across Longframlington Moor, usually in the dark. Over 320 miles for a 12 year old boy & his 10 year old sister, although our parents also spoke to the train guard.

Funny about your Saturday job, as I had one too, working for a chippy on the Ewell Road, almost opposite the Police Station. Again, your job was better than mine as I worked in the back yard, peeling the potatoes, chipping them, and steeping them in water to keep them ready for the night's rush.

A vivid memory is hearing the Cooper racing cars start their engines and rev up at their Hollyfield Road Workshop.

As you say, things have changed dramatically.

Many thanks for starting this thread Jan - I hope other members have the courage to talk about their childhood.

.


----------



## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

All this reminds me of:






tony


----------



## HurricaneSmith (Jul 13, 2007)

Come on Tony, tell us a little of Ironbridge (or wherever) when you were 12.

My paternal grandfather was an architectural draughtsman there ........... perhaps your family were neighbours. :nerd:







.


----------



## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

Nah, I lives in present day Taliban heartland ...........Tipton.


Loo adjoining but outside back door


Fish a shilling, chips 3d


School a 3/4 mile walk


Dad a gardener at local cemetery 


Mom ran a fruit and veg shop


Dad had greenhouses for tomatos , cucumbers. etc


Just run of the mill for the 50th ties


tony


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Eee, bottled milk, I used to get right old hiding when I drank the cream off the top, Sunday get dressed and off to the church, 2p for the collection, funny but the Beano/Dandy seemed to be a better idea to me, we had a scrap man a few streets away deaf n blind as a bat, I'd nick something out of his back yard and sell it to him at the front so I could buy sweets, he caught me once, by heck my arse was sore for a week, had an aunt who ran a book stall in the market, I used to be up there on Saturdays swapping out my Superman comics (wish I'd kept those now) I remember the scrap man with his goldfish, and also the knife sharpener, gas lights, sally army band coming down the street on Sundays, pocket money, spending my bus money and walking the 4 miles each way, dad too tight to buy me a bike, swapping a reel to reel tape recorder for DOT 197cc scrambler, got a lot of stick for that, it's wonder I'm alive the stuff I used to get up to, I never got to approved school, was threatened with it often enough though, I did manage to incur the wrath of a few magistrates later in life after I got mixed up with some quite rough peeps, but I eventually grew out of it.


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

HurricaneSmith said:


> It's a small world Ray, as I was brought up in Tolworth and only about a mile from you. I guess that makes you posher than me. :smile2: When I moved south to East Sussex about three years ago I joined a walking group and got chatting to another old boy. Turned out we were both born on the same day, both went to Hollyfield and were both in the same class, although he avoided GCEs in order to join the RN. We compared our leaving black Bibles for matching school friend signatures and scribbled notes.
> 
> We may have been on the same train to Newcastle too, as that's where my Aunt transferred my younger sister and I from the train to the onward bus north across Longframlington Moor, usually in the dark. Over 320 miles for a 12 year old boy & his 10 year old sister, although our parents also spoke to the train guard.
> 
> ...


I doubt we were 'posher' John.
As my day had been killed in the war 1943 Lancaster Navigator.
My war widowed my was treated as a second class citizen and pushed from one tenement above the shops to another. Mum had three jobs to keep the rent paid and I also did three jobs to help where I could.
Davisons grocers, Park Laundry and paper rounds. Hollyfield Road and Coopers also bring some sweet and some bitter memories as the Fishponds and Hogsmill wreck.

I feel this all taught us about life and how to get on and make the best of what we had. Unlike todays benefit culture and blaming THEM for all failures.

Ray.


----------



## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

raynipper said:


> I feel this all taught us about life and how to get on and *make the best of what we had*. Unlike todays benefit culture and blaming THEM for all failures.
> 
> Ray.


Ray

May I just add to that, that we were taught to get our heads down and work for an education/skill, which would allow us to make the best of what we would have in the future - that served a lot of us well, but seems to be lacking in a lot of parents and some teaching establishments. Your point about 'blaming' is also valid for those who do not apply themselves that way.

Geoff


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

The other thing that looms large and has changed out of all proportion now is we SAVED for anything we wanted.!!
So the anticipation grew and I fully appreciate the saying "The journey is often more pleasurable than the arrival".

Ray.


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Another `earner´ Dad used to have :-

I don´t think you see it anymore. Weekends from the mid to late summer Mum would pack a picnic and we would go and spend the day with Dad, he working up the ladder, Mum and I would prepare the thatching, straighten it out and damp in down.


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

nicholsong said:


> Ray
> 
> May I just add to that, that we were taught to get our heads down and work for an education/skill, which would allow us to make the best of what we would have in the future - that served a lot of us well, but seems to be lacking in a lot of parents and some teaching establishments. Your point about 'blaming' is also valid for those who do not apply themselves that way.
> 
> Geoff


I am the youngest and only girl of 6, I went to a secondary modern school in the `b´ class (it was A-B-& C ´s) I always came in the top 5 in a class of 36.
After 2 years working in factories and nearly going crazy I joined the call girls :grin2::wink2: and after a few years became an acting supervisor then went to Norwich as an instructor.

My eldest brother was the only one who had a grammer school education he never went further because his Dad died and there was no cash to spare.
He was extremely talented, spoke fluent French & Italian and could get by with German, he was a wonderful artist of what I call the proper type :smile2:
He worked in many countries, had the memory of an elephant and a computer brain, but he was a waster, never owned a house or car, unfaithful to his lovely wife and ended up with nothing.

Jan


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

JanHank said:


> I am the youngest and only girl of 6, I went to a secondary modern school in the `b´ class (it was A-B-& C ´s) I always came in the top 5 in a class of 36.
> After 2 years working in factories and nearly going crazy I joined the call girls :grin2::wink2: and after a few years became an acting supervisor then went to Norwich as an instructor.
> 
> My eldest brother was the only one who had a grammer school education he never went further because his Dad died and there was no cash to spare.
> ...


Call girls ??? do you mean the 192 girls, Liz used to be one of those, before she became a CoCa Cola rep.

Shame about yer Buv though


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

That was enquiries and 191 was faults if my old memory serves me right.


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

JanHank said:


> That was enquiries and 191 was faults if my old memory serves me right.


Not answering me though, oaky, so how much did you charge as a "call girl"???


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> Not answering me though, oaky, so how much did you charge as a "call girl"???


4p for as long as you like>


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

My wife and her twin were the Cherry B girls at the Ideal Home show one year in their teens. One blond and one dark. 
They are still identical apart from the hair colour.

Ray.


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

JanHank said:


> 4p for as long as you like>


4 flipping P you'd have to be nice too for that


----------



## HurricaneSmith (Jul 13, 2007)

raynipper said:


> My wife and her twin were the Cherry B girls at the Ideal Home show one year in their teens. One blond and one dark.
> They are still identical apart from the hair colour.
> 
> Ray.


If you want to annoy her, play this out loud:






I bet most members of a certain age will remember the advert.

.


----------



## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

At 12 I was in the local secondary modern where, despite gaining a borderline pass of the 11 plus, I was sent as they had too many girls going up to the grammar school. I thrived there though, being top of the A set all through and, eventually, going up to the Grammar to take my "O" levels. I only needed three to get a job as a trainee veterinary nurse so I skived off every lesson that I did not like such as games and maths. I used to see the teachers looking at me in the corridor and thinking "who is she?". As I hadn't had a biology teacher for about 2 years I failed the necessary biology "O" level but gained the others I needed. I got my job at the vet's though. It involved a lot of travelling by bus and very long hours to cover evening surgery and weekend care of the in patients. I studied the missing "O" level by correspondence class (do they still do that?) and passed it. Whew! Not sure how I found the time but needs must.
None of this was encouraged by my family. My mother thought that I should have gone straight out to work so that I could bring home some money. She worked from the time I was 5 years old. She was miffed when my second oldest brother got in to Teacher Training College. He left home and never brought a penny into the household. Poor boy had to manage on half a grant because my mother worked and was never supported through college as it was his "own choice". He used to eat like a horse when he came home for the holidays.
My escape, from the expectation of helping in the home, was to go to the local riding stables (well not so local but I went anyway). We worked all weekend to be given a "free" ride on one of the horses. I loved it and it changed my life. I mixed with people from the other side of the tracks. The riding stables was next to a middle class area. Funnily enough I found them to be much more dishonest than me. Coming from a council estate I was expected to join in shop lifting expeditions when we went to horse shows. They could afford to buy the things they stole. It was a steep learning curve. 
I went on to own my own horses, fitting their care around long hours at work. Amazing what you can do when you want to. It was a wonderfully optimistic time when we believed that anything was possible if you put your mind to it.


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

I studied the missing "O" level by correspondence class (do they still do that?)

It's called open university now, lots of courses, but you rarely hear of it these days, I used to watch a lot of their stuff on BBC2 in the early hours.

http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/atoz


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I feel a bit left out. I don't have any stories of pushing me Hovis bike up some cobbled street or having real butter for tea (no bread just butter  )

I didnt even have to walk to school as my dad was the headmaster. 

We did do a lot of hell raising though in what was deemed as the "posh" end of Darlington. I think the locals were probably chuffed when we all grew up and moved away.


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

barryd said:


> I feel a bit left out. I don't have any stories of pushing me Hovis bike up some cobbled street or having real butter for tea (no bread just butter  )
> 
> I didnt even have to walk to school as my dad was the headmaster.
> 
> We did do a lot of hell raising though in what was deemed as the "posh" end of Darlington. I think the locals were probably chuffed when we all grew up and moved away.


Aw poor bairn.


----------



## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> 4 flipping P you'd have to be nice too for that


Reminded me of an old Black Country joke:

Aynuk and Ayli were walking home from the pub, on the other side of the road was the local prossie,

Want a good time lads?

We've only got half a crown

It's ok I 've got change she replied

tony>


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

barryd said:


> I feel a bit left out. I don't have any stories of pushing me Hovis bike up some cobbled street or having real butter for tea (no bread just butter  )
> 
> I didnt even have to walk to school as my dad was the headmaster.
> 
> We did do a lot of hell raising though in what was deemed as the "posh" end of Darlington. I think the locals were probably chuffed when we all grew up and moved away.


It was you that prompted the start of this thread Barry so you can´t be left out.:laugh:
I´d like to leave out that bloke who´s trying to mess up the thread with rubbish, clear off you, this is a nice memory lane thread.
Jokes should be put in* jokes and trivia. *Don´t you get *my* angry up. :serious:


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

JanHank said:


> It was you that prompted the start of this thread Barry so you can´t be left out.:laugh:
> I´d like to leave out that bloke who´s trying to mess up the thread with rubbish, clear off you, this is a nice memory lane thread.
> Jokes should be put in* jokes and trivia. *Don´t you get *my* angry up. :serious:


Roses are red

Violets are cheaper

If I leave silent voicemails

Please don't call me a creeper


----------



## Blizzard (Sep 21, 2009)

I'm probably tagging on to the back of you slightly older members and a lot of these memories are younger than 12, but prompted by some of your lovely recollections. I can remember growing up in the 60's, my dad being a pitman and our old terraced stone built house. It had an outside netty across the yard, built on to the coal house and we used newspaper or a shiny medicated toilet paper that had no absorbent qualities at all. The loo had running water apart from during the winters, when it would freeze solid and being git posh, we had a bucket on the landing for night times. The walls of the loo were painted white and big bubbles would form under the paint, where the salts from the brickwork would react. I used to get told off for poking my finger through the bubbled paint.

We had a bath in an extension at the back of the house, which also housed a big old sink and I can vaguely remember being bathed in the sink to save filling the bath. The bath itself was covered in 2 boards that dad made up and my mum used to store her cake tins on top of it. When the bath was used, me and my brother were last to get the water, which was grey by then with a scum line around the bath.

There was a full cream coloured enamel cooking range built in to the chimney breast in the back room and my mum used to bake bread and cakes in it, as well as dad warming up pans of veggies for our Sunday lunches. I'm assuming he used to cook the meat in there as well, but can't remember that.

The front room was out of bounds and only got used when Grandma & Grandad visited.

Me and my kid brother shared a double bed in the back bedroom and we had a built in shelf in one of the alcoves of the chimney breast, which had a plastic covered, flexible metal curtain rail and curtain under it, hooked in to screw in eyes. Behind that curtain was an old "Z bed" that came out if we had guests staying over. All of our old board games were piled up behind that curtain too.
I can remember us kids playing upstairs when one of my Aunts & Uncles visited and a slightly older cousin teaching me how to kiss. She denies it to this day, but I know what I know !

My mum used to knit and as well as knitting our woollen jumpers to patterns that she used to buy, she also knitted loads of miniature clothes for mine and my brother's Action Men (Real hair, eagle eyes and homemade knitted clothes). We had shoe boxes full of little clothes.

We had an old static caravan at a site on the north east coast and would walk the dogs along the beach with my dad and collect sea coal from the tide line and burn it on a stove in the van. Night time lighting was by gas mantle lights.

I passed my 11+ and by the time I was 12, I was at Grammar/Sec Modern School and would walk the 2 miles there and back. I had a morning paper round before school and being a trusted early riser, even at that age, soon reached the dizzy heights of being allowed a key to the paper cabin and responsibility for sorting out all the papers and magazines for the other paper boy's rounds. I either walked or cycled the mile and a half to the paper cabin, before I started my own round and then the walk home for breakfast, before the walk to school. No wonder I didn't have the energy to study to my full potential.

Fondest of memories, firing up many other memories and like most of you, I could probably fill a book,

Ken.


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

God, I remember doing the same to the bubbling loo paint.


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

I remember sucking all the sweetness off grandmas tea sweetners and putting them back into the packet.! Never got caught on that one.

Ray.


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

raynipper said:


> I remember sucking all the sweetness off grandmas tea sweetners and putting them back into the packet.! Never got caught on that one.
> 
> Ray.


A previous girlfriends dad used to suck the salt of peanuts, then she ate them, people are funny creatures.


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Do you remember Chicory coffee, for a very special treat Mum would buy herself a 2 oz tin of Nescafe (Dad didn´t like coffee and we kids didn´t appreciate it)


----------



## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

I just had books and a tutor who marked my work Kev. No nice pictures on the telly to help me understand the pumping chambers of the heart or how photosynthesis worked


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Our niece has prepared a dozen sprouts covered in chocolate and wrapped up in old Fararah Rochet wrappers for the 'Trick or Treat' visitors. I love the idea.

I remember forcing a mouthful of apple into the coin slot of the red phone box and collecting the cash later.
Plus lighting a newspaper full of dog crap on someones doorstep and ringing the bell.
Kids.!!!

Ray.


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Made I larf that did.


----------



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Strange what we remember about being twelve

I remember school which I loved

I remember a teacher that I fell in love with and went on to love her till she died at 90

Returning the care she gave to me throughout my school years and after when the care system threw me out at the magical age of 18, her husband died and she could no longer manage alone 

She was always there for me, staying in the background, never scaring me off with affection I wasn't used to 

Always willing me on to do better, and her husband who was one of a kind able to allow me to make mistakes and just be there vaguely inthe background, I loved him too, but never was I able to tell either of them that I loved them 

So I guess I hoped they knew 

In life these people come along to help you through it 

Sandra


----------



## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Oh Sandra! That is so heartwarming. Especially about her awareness to not smother you with love.


We should all have someone like that in our lives. I, too, had a wonderful teacher. She behaved like a real lady. Spoke in a "posh" accent which I did my best to emulate. It opened many doors that my Essex/cockney one would not. She comported herself in a lady like way. She gave me a life long love of books and the English language. Best of all she gave me a fantastic reference to her Conservative Club buddy Mr Arthur Goddard, who gave me my first job


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

We had a penny, 1 old penny, gas meter under the stairs, remember them?
Couldn't light the gas for that price today :grin2:


----------



## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

When I was 12 my mam died.

I still miss her now. I never had a chance to say good bye.

She was ill throughout most of my childhood - off and on - however the depth of her illness was kept from me. She died a couple of days before Xmas and I was told on Xmas Eve. She had suffered with cancer and leukaemia and had undergone many operations and therapy to try and sort it but in the end her body gave up.

I am the youngest of 6 children and we lived in a 3 bed council house in a small mining village in S Wales. I shared a bedroom with 3 elder brothers; my two sisters shared a bed as their room couldn't hold 2 beds. My late father was an industrial electrician who did shift work to bring in as much as he could. It wasn't enough really but fortunately my eldest brother moved out when I was young and got married so this lightened the load.

My childhood is a mix of memories regarding: very poor food, my late mother bless her, wasn't a great cook but did what she could with what we had; huge arguments...one brother was particularly nasty and used to physically attack me as a child so he had to be kept away from the house as much as possible; and patched clothing...I distinctly remember patches on patches on my clothes and wondering why none of my mates had any! 

I still look back nostalgically at the good things about my childhood and recently unearthed an old cine film which my wife's uncle transferred to DVD for me. It shows myself, my immediate sister, one elder brother and my mother messing around on a beach (probably Porthcawl). I appear to be around 5-6...and very skinny!

Prior to my mothers death my parents had got divorced. During this time my father took an A level at night school in 2 terms and passed. It was enough to get him into a teacher training college where he studied for 2 years. We lived off social security. My father remarried in pretty short order after my mothers death and we moved. I say "we" but only him and I did as the others were old enough to have left home by then or refuse to move as none of us got on with my step mother. She really didn't like us and the feeling was mutual. In the following 2 years I had to change school; saw 3 grandparents die; and my dog got shot!

Since then I worked my nuts off to ensure that I could break out of the poverty that I had witnessed. I got my O levels and A levels; was the second person in my family to go to Uni; and then had a first career before retraining to become a teacher. It mirrored my late father especially as in later years he had a motorhome too :smile2:

I can remember my mam making apple and blackberry tarts (blackberries and crab apples gleaned from the countryside); singing carols at Xmas; home made presents at Xmas; making 'stuff' from around the age of 7 - go carts; skateboards etc - and my late father allowing me to use his power tools; endless summer holidays when it never rained; out at 8.00am with my mates and back for tea at 5.00pm; climbing trees and damming streams etc!

Graham :smile2:


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

A lot of sadness Graham, I think those of us who loved our parents still miss them. 
My Mum died when I was 33 that 39 years ago, I think of her often, see her in the mirror and catch myself repeating things she said. 
I hope you have more happy than sad happy memories of the rest of your life. 
Jan


----------



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

One of thehomes I was in for just over a year was divided into "houses"

A house mother presided over each one, every week, on the housemothers day off, we had to get up in the very early hours and move to another "house "for the day 

We were given numbers, mine was 44, it was stitched in all my clothes and was actually used in preference to our names!! We became known as numbers

The other memory of that period was raw tripe, every week on the same day was tripe, which I couldn't eat, so I had all day to dread the meal, sat in front off it for hours and was sent to bed. On one occasion I was forced fed it but as I vomited all over the table it wasn't repeated!

The house mother also had tripe but she served hers with chips

On a Sunday we went to the local church morning and evening, all dressed identically in cream fair isle sweaters and dark pleated skirt for the girls and dark trousers for the boys 

On Saturday we all queued for our spends and a small bag of sweets, can't remember where I ever spent the couple of pennies I received 

Such are memories 

Sandra


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

I know your story is not the same as mine Sandra, I had such a happy childhood even though there was no spare cash.
I do hope I haven´t woken up disturbing memories, if I have I´m sorry.

How about some rich kid memories from someone, we couldn´t have all come from poor families.
Jan


----------



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Not at all Jan 

I am a firm believer that we are molded by our past but not defined by it 

I am who I am because of or in spite of past experiences

As are we all

Sandra


----------



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I'm not sure Jan that rich or poor would define happiness

Memories are strange things, all the material necessities were in place during my childhood, heating, food, clothing etc

In one smallish home we had stables and I leant to ride and care for horses, I loved animals and nature and to this day I still do 

It had a small school of mixed ages and the younger children were taught by the older brighter ones under the guidance of one teacher, experiences that add to the rich tapestry of life 

Wouldnt happen today but then I'm going back 60+ years

Sandra


----------



## blindwatchertrev (Nov 4, 2011)

KeithChesterfield said:


> I was sent 25 miles from home to an approved school from 11 to 16 - worst time of my life.
> 
> Some good memories - but not many.
> 
> ...


Which one Keith, if that is not an impertinent question. I was at Kneesworth Hall in Cambridgeshire 1964 to 1967. Loads of memories, the vast majority of them positive........lot better than what went for home in those days. Trev


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

blindwatchertrev said:


> Which one Keith, if that is not an impertinent question. I was at Kneesworth Hall in Cambridgeshire 1964 to 1967. Loads of memories, the vast majority of them positive........lot better than what went for home in those days. Trev


So tell us about it, those that are following the thread are all interested in your past, were you a rich kid? >:wink2: 
Kneedsworth hall sounds like a boarding school and your remark seems to confirm it.

Jan


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

patp said:


> I just had books and a tutor who marked my work Kev. No nice pictures on the telly to help me understand the pumping chambers of the heart or how photosynthesis worked


I'll have you know I enjoyed Watch with Mother (but not the first one, except picture book) 























 all episodes


----------



## blindwatchertrev (Nov 4, 2011)

JanHank said:


> So tell us about it, those that are following the thread are all interested in your past, were you a rich kid? >:wink2:
> Kneedsworth hall sounds like a boarding school and your remark seems to confirm it.
> 
> Jan


No, quite the opposite. It was an approved school,i.e., ran under licence from the home office. Generally speaking, young offenders between the age of 10 and 16 would be sentenced to a detention order for between 6 months and three years. There was supposed to be a regime that would instill discipline, training and education. The quality of institutions varied enormously and as a general rule of thumb, most of those so sentenced carried an awful lot of baggage.
In my case, I was fortunate in that the staff were fully committed to the well being of their charges.
Far from being a rich kid, I experienced certain circumstances which were far removed from the common experience of young kids in the fifties. Suffice to say that whilst most kids never escape their childhood, it's the choices we make when growing up that matter, as opposed to the abilities that we developed.


----------



## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Well Jan, I mixed with some rich (ish) kids from the riding stables. Whereas I worked all day Saturday and all day Sunday to get one free ride, they would arrive in their dad's car and he would pay for them to have a riding lesson or go out on a hack. They had clothes that matched and proper riding boots etc.
Mostly they were just like me but one difference I noticed was that they were "thrill seekers". As I said above they would shop lift just for thrills. They tried to drag me along with them but I refused. I think my thrills came form escaping the housework! They would get up to mischief and not worry about the consequences.
The other thing I remember about their lives was that their parents were interested in them. My parents just treated us like part of the furniture. We were just left to our own devices as long as we didn't get into any trouble. I am not complaining it was such a free existence. As the only girl, I fared worse because my mother expected me to help with all the housework, accompany her shopping, listen to her moaning about my dad etc. My brothers just pleased themselves all day. My mother did apologise much later in life for the unfairness of my life against my brothers.
My better off friends seemed to have parents who took an interest in their school work, ferried them to clubs, paid for them to go to the cinema etc.
I don't think they had happier or sadder childhoods than I did, just different. We kept in touch for quite a few years and mostly we all had become sort of middle class.


I remember the blackberries! My dad was a long distance lorry driver. He knew all the best blackberry spots (and betting shops) up and down the country. Our bath would be a third full of blackberries sometimes. Poor old mum was expected to make tons of blackberry jam. The pantry was full of it! We would beg her, when dad was at work, to let us have some strawberry jam!


My dad would also bring home pallets. He would chop them up and send my brothers round the estate selling kindling. Both my brothers had successful paper rounds in the days when there was a daily evening paper with all the sports (racing) results.


What about the Duomatic washing machine? It was a twin tub. My mum was thrilled when she got hers! No more boiling up the copper and dunking all the washing in the bath. The sheets went to the bag wash man who called round and collected your dirty washing and delivered your clean stuff.


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Gas fridges
Parnell washing machines
cast iron baths

Nah not from my childhood, there were in the first house I bought alone, in 1994 and both worked.


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

I have tried to remember if I knew any _rich kids, _don´t think I did, they were probably not allowed to associate with us commoners :grin2:

When I was 18 I bought Mum a *Rolls twin tub* with a* free fridge*, first and only washing machine and first fridge she ever had.

Jan


----------



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Well the thread is about 12 year old memories

And probabally best not to deviate too far from that

Our childhood memories 

The homes I was in was for kids with no parents, we hadn't done anything wrong

Except have no parents

In those days you were changed from one home to another, put out for foster trials, back to different homes and strangers

Until I was 12

When I was in a family group home, the kids stayed more or less the house parents came and went at a rate of knots 

No change there then

But school remained static, how I loved the security of school

And went on to become head girl 

My escape , a place where I felt safe and secure, I loved learning 

At 16 I left and became a nursing cadet , living in at the hospital

At 18 I began as a nursing student in Manchester 

At 19 I met Albert and the rest is history 

But an interesting history nevertheless

I met a guy who was to be my soul mate, and 53 yrs later still is

( well most of the time)

We have six great kids ( well most of the time) 

And 10 lovely grandkids( well most of the time)

In between they can be a pain in the necK!!!!

It's just me that's perfect !

Sandra


----------



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> I'll have you know I enjoyed Watch with Mother (but not the first one, except picture book)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I watched them every day with my eldest son , now 51

And eldest daughter 49

Sort of grew accustummed to their face(s)

Sandra


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Allo allo allo, we´ve gone from 12 years to 72 there Sandra >:grin2:

I love hearing about other peoples lives, most are a lot more interesting than mine.


----------



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I just loved those

Watch with mother series Kev 

Took me right back,sitting there after dinner withthekids before their nap

Priceless memories 

Sandra


----------



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

JanHank said:


> Allo allo allo, we´ve gone from 12 years to 72 there Sandra >:grin2:
> 
> I love hearing about other peoples lives, most are a lot more interesting than mine.


Doubt it Jan
Different but no more interesting 
We all have a story to tell

But there you have it , the stories make ip the tapestry of life , the weave and the warp

We are each just a little part of the whole

Sandra


----------



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

JanHank said:


> Allo allo allo, we´ve gone from 12 years to 72 there Sandra >:grin2:
> 
> Yea but just tying up the ends
> 
> ...


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Want the book


----------



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Bless you Im to old to write it now

And no one would believe it anyway 

Suffice to say we thought we had given up every thing we owned to make the journey

Seems we hadn't 

We arrived with nothing except the clothes we and our three kids stood up in

Should have been refused entry, we didn't have the return fare 

Time stood still, I was pregnant with twins, our possesions were in a plastic sack , we looked like refugees 

A guard came forward and waved us straight through , no checks 

And we had made it 

Sandra


----------



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

I´m truly interested Sandra. What made you go in the first place?


----------



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Yes Jan many are

But I don't discuss the journey or the why 

And I'm so open yet not about that 

Sandra


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

It was 1978 when I was 12. Most of my childhood was spent going from one Cricket ground to another (Cricketing family) most weekends but I think myself and all my friends I grew up with in that that era where we lived often reminisce at what a great childhood we all had. I think we were very lucky and fortunate listening to some of the stories. Some of the kids were a bit spoilt but I dont think we were despite us being reasonably well off. I remember going Skiing to Italy on a school trip and me and my mates just turned up in jeans and stuff but got a fair bit of ribbing from the spoilt kids who had all the gear but of course no idea when the rest of us who hadnt tried that hard had been practising for months. 

Looking back I Cannot think of any bad times at all. Life was just one big game and fun and 38 years later nothing has changed.  My parents God bless them I guess were not perfect, none of us are but I like to think they taught me some great values in life. If I could have all that time back again I dont think I would change anything.


----------



## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I wonder if anyone would change anything 

except with a crystal ball 

Who can say what a different set of circumstances would have caused 

And if we could have chosen

Would it have been the right choice for us in the long term 

Prob better to live with what we were given and achieved

Sandra


----------



## HermanHymer (Dec 5, 2008)

Well I was just off to bed, when I came upon this thread, and have spent half an hour reading through it. A lot of the reminiscences match with my early years in Carnforth (Lancs) but by the age of 12 we'd already been in Rhodesia for 2 years and the family (Mum, Dad, older brother, younger sister) was getting along nicely, and much better off than we had been in England. We were living in Bulawayo, in a suburb of houses for government employees. A square little house on a decent piece of land, 3 bedrooms, bathroom, lounge, dining room and a shiny red-polished 'stoep', peach and mango trees, lawns, driveway, servants quarters and a garage. That stoep was the cause of me breaking my arm when I was 15. (Don't (roller) skate on the verandah, Vivienne! So I went next door and skated on their verandah! Complex fracture of both ulna and radius. Some of you who've met me may have noticed I have a 5" scar on my right forearm. We had a "houseboy" who did all the housework and cooked. My Dad worked at Bulawayo Airport, maintaining the navigational equipment and my Mum was secretary to the MD of the main car dealership in Bulawayo. My Nan and Grandad came to live with us, but Grandad died of a stroke not long after. I earned myself ten shillings by being able to decline 'domus' correctly to a man who crossed our paths while visiting Grandad in the frail care. I was very pleased with myself. Actually Latin was my favourite subject which I was pretty good at!

But at the age of 12 I was in Form 1A1 at the very English-style girls high school. I was the second smallest girl ( and the youngest) in my year of 200 girls; was the laziest brain box in the school, did as little work as possible, and hated every minute. Our headmistress was truly unforgettable. She used to go on like a stuck record. "water doesn't come in bits, it comes in drops", "how do you spell accommodation?" " are you still meeting that boy on the corner, Vivienne?" "do you want to be the first prefect ever to be demoted?" and the recurring "Vivienne could do better" on my reports. (I still have them!) But I was teflon coated and none of it got me down. I studied Latin, French, English (& Lit), Maths, General Science, History, Geography, Art, Religion. I was useless at PE and bunked off indefinitely on medical grounds when I broke my arm. We played hockey and netball in the winter, tennis and swimming in the summer. I used to shirk off at tennis as well, because I hated running around in the hot sun. My sister and I went to dancing lessons, ballet and tap, character dancing (not achool). Very "Sadlers Wells", with RADA exams every year, and an annual concert in the City Hall. I danced from the age of 6 until I was 16, by which time my body was no longer suited to the rigours of an advanced dancer. I can still remember all the dances we did and the lovely costumes, which my Mum made 2 of every time. (Respect!!). I still have my exam reports and certificates. By all accounts I was reasonably good.

1959 was the year my Dad got his first brand new car - a Morris Oxford, two tone maroon and grey, with maroon leather upholstery. We'd go to the drive-in ice cream parlour on a Sunday afternoon and we were the only kids forced to stand outside the car and eat our ice creams. My Dad was so pernickety about his car and I guess I've become like him in my old age. No-one must mess with my car or my moho! One of the things parents thought up to keep us entertained at weekends was membership of the "Natural Resources Society". One Sunday a month we go off in convoy with other members (and a picnic) to visit some place of interest - cave paintings, gold mines, tribal events, etc etc. I guess I inherited my wanderlust from my Dad. I'm sure he looks down on me from above and thinks I spent my inheritance wisely! I always get the feeling he's on the road with me, looking out for me.

1959 was the year we went to Beira (Mozambique) for our annual holiday. A caravan was hired and we travelled around Rhodesia (northern route) to Umtali and came back southern route. In Beira the campsite was right on the beach - white sand, blazing hot sun, and smelly Portuguese camp site toilets. I got heatstroke after spending an entire day on the beach and took a day or two to recover. I remember prawns by the bucket load, iced coffees, bottles of port, oranges in net pockets, huge tins of cashew nuts, a fascinating market, Chinese gift shops with black lacquered mother of pearl gifts, bamboo beer mugs and cork pictures. That might have been the year I dropped a coconut on my Mum's toe in the market and broke it (toe that is, not the coconut. She limped around the whole holiday! She'd made us lots of lovely holiday clothes, 2 of everything as my sister and I always dressed the same. Beira was a fascinating place - tropical, Portuguese, colonial, it smelt different, houses were painted white and pastel colours, gardens and roads were sandy, Portuguese girls only walked out with their duenas (chaperones). 

Well high school lasted 6 years, up to A levels, leaving on my 18th birthday. I should have gone to varsity, but the thought of more years of "study hell" put me off and I fouind myself a job with Barclays Bank DCO, starting as a ledger keeper on the 14 December 1964. It turned out not to be a bad choice of career and served me well but I still regret not having taken the opportunity to get a degree.


----------



## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Viv

Very good post.

You write well - precisely, concicely, but very descriptively and with some humour.

Geoff


----------

