Let's Reminisce.

[taddy]

Monkey Hangers post about the snow blindness stirred the old grey matter, I had a similar thing happen to me when I was about fifteen or sixteen. I had been allowed to buy a single barrelled 410 shotgun out of my wages from Redac Brickworks, you only needed a 10 shilling gun licence from the post office in those days
One winter evening I was sat amongst the trees in a small wood known as Shorten Wood waiting for the Wood pigeons to come into roost, after bagging a couple and staring into the branches for some considerable time I came to realise that wherever I looked I saw the same branches. As M.H. said the wood blindness as I was later told that is what it was,did go within 10/15 minutes of leaving the wood.

[Margaret Pilkington]

That was Halloween Taddy...and yes, it was the night for raiding the woodpiles of other kids to make your own bonfire bigger.
There was a lot of kudos to be had by having the best bonfire.
Our lads used to make the centre hollow and sleep out in it to make sure their wood stash was safe.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I can still remember our Co-op number.
It might be because I used to run along Nuttall St saying all the time 10168.
I dared not go home without the little ticket to go on the spike under the stairs.
Back then, the 'divi' was two and six in the pound and it was paid twice a year.....summer and just before Christmas.....and the money meant that we got treats...things that we would not be able to afford if not for the 'divi'.
Ma could work out what was coming to within a few pennies.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

That was Halloween Taddy...and yes, it was the night for raiding the woodpiles of other kids to make your own bonfire bigger.
There was a lot of kudos to be had by having the best bonfire.
Our lads used to make the centre hollow and sleep out in it to make sure their wood stash was safe.

they wouldnt have been safe if someone had lit it margaret we never slept in ours cos of that.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Cashy, they did not consider that.
All they were concerned about was that they kept their stash.
They crept out when everyone was in bed....and crept back in early doors.
Back then, no-one locked doors...and the lavvy was out back so no suspicions were aroused when they came back in.....a blanket was stashed in the bin hole.
To them it was all part and parcel of the excitement.

Another thing we did was put Philip(the baby of the time) into his push chair and put a sign on him ' Penny for the guy ' we stationed ourselves on Mount street just as the factories were loosing......and we got lots of coins.
Some was put aside for fireworks...some was spent on treacle toffee

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Cashy, they did not consider that.
All they were concerned about was that they kept their stash.
They crept out when everyone was in bed....and crept back in early doors.
Back then, no-one locked doors...and the lavvy was out back so no suspicions were aroused when they came back in.....a blanket was stashed in the bin hole.
To them it was all part and parcel of the excitement.

Another thing we did was put Philip(the baby of the time) into his push chair and put a sign on him ' Penny for the guy ' we stationed ourselves on Mount street just as the factories were loosing......and we got lots of coins.
Some was put aside for fireworks...some was spent on treacle toffee

We did that penny for guy with a little lad in Alan E Dents doorway bottom of burnley rd but one night a drunken teddy boy ran up the doorway and kicked him the face. didnt do much for his teeth,

[Margaret Pilkington]

What a horrible thing to happen.
We were lucky because we got lots of coppers.....threepenny bits....and the odd tanner.

[taddy]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

That was Halloween Taddy...and yes, it was the night for raiding the woodpiles of other kids to make your own bonfire bigger.
There was a lot of kudos to be had by having the best bonfire.
Our lads used to make the centre hollow and sleep out in it to make sure their wood stash was safe.

I do hope that this was a tongue in cheek response to my post, because (No), this was not Halloween, if you read the post properly you will note that I said that I was out in the woodland,on my own at night with a shotgun after Woodpigeons, (to shoot, pluck and eat). After staring at the night sky through the branches of a wood for many hours, the affliction known as "Wood blindness" can atttack/Affect your eyesight,it is not a commonly known phenomenon but it can occur in the circumstances that I have discribed, I do know that it can happen because it happened to me.

[taddy]

By the way, it was before Hobgoblin was even invented.

[Margaret Pilkington]

No Taddy it was not a tongue in cheek comment...it was regarding your observation of 'Mischief Night' a time which occurred shortly before bonfire night...and I said that night was what Halloween used to be termed.

It was nothing at all to do with your eyesight issues...nor was I challenging your experience of this. These can be due to staring too long at an image(bright or otherwise) and it is akin to screen burn in computer terms...which is why you have moving screen saver images to prevent this.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Apologies Taddy..it was Monkey hanger who mentioned mischief night...which explains why I could not find it in your posts.

[dotti34]

Margaret you really have started something. My mind is now buzzing with memories. We also had a mischief night but it wasn’t until years later that I associated it with Halloween even though looking back I’m sure it was the same date. This was when we would tie the front doors together, knock and run. As this night was a very old tradition in the village most people just went along with it. Probably brought back memories for them. I wore old trousers so that I looked like a boy in the dark. We would string up an attachment on windows so that we could pull the string and there would be tapping on the windows. We played lots of pranks – but not one of them would have hurt anyone. We called through letter boxes for people to beware because it was mischief night.

On bonfire night there would be one huge bonfire that everyone had contributed to. Potatoes were thrown into the fire and then the burnt offerings were thoroughly enjoyed. Mums made treacle toffee to be shared. The lucky ones who could afford them had sparklers.

[dotti34]

My mum and I would listen to really enjoyable plays on the radio on a Saturday night. However, you could guarantee that just before the play finished my dad would come home after having had a pint or three at the local and usually he would be singing some song or other. We would ask him to shush so we could hear the end of the play but you know what people are like when they've had one or two.... However, he would bring my mother two OBJ’s and fish and chips for both of us. Yummy fish and chips they were, definitely better than today’s. My mum would offer me a drink but I thought it tasted awful – and I still think the same about any beer. One of the songs my dad used to sing was ‘She’s Too Fat For Me’. I remember it well.

[dotti34]

More memories – a train ride to the illuminations with my mum every year, coach trips to the seaside, the many street parades, the celebrations when war ended (the second World War that is, not the first – I’m not THAT old!). The walks with my dad when he would carry me on his shoulders when my little legs got tired – he used to walk a long way. The very old customs that the kids carried out at weddings in the village church.

Phew! I think I'd better stop now.

[Margaret Pilkington]

No, no...please don't stop.
It is by sharing these times that it loosens the memories in other people's minds.
We all have stories to tell about our lives.....and they are so very different from the lives being experienced by the children today.

We had adventures, we played outside, we ate fruit off the tree or bush...we never sonsidered that it was dirty......WE got dirty....we played in the dirt, we fell down, we grazed knees elbows and chins....but a bit of spit on it and we were ready to go again.
These things made us the people we are today.
All those dangerous things we did...and yet we came to no harm.
The mischief we got into, the telling off, the spankings....they all formed us.
They did not make us bitter, or victims.....they taught us the every single thing in life has consequences.....and we have to live with the consequences of our choices.
Most of us did that in spades...and were moulded into solid citizens....responsible people.