Owd Pastimes

[Guinness]

Summer..Playing 'Japs and Commandos' with 'secaguns' (sp?) in the trenches on the coppice. When the original store of ammunition bought with the gun ran out, recharge with pigeon peas at 2d a bag Some peas were too big, blocked the chamber of the gun.

Autumn...collecting bonfire wood from the cemetery tip, dragging bits of dead tree through the cemetery trying to avoid the cemetery workers who made you take them back. Who could keep their bonfire in for the longest.

Winter....Sledging down 'Devil's Drop' on the coppice . I wouldn't even attempt to walk down it nowadays, let alone slide belly down and headfirst on a piece  of wood.


Dangerous times...funny thing is I don't ever remember anyone getting hurt except someone called Robert failing to bail off the sledge before hitting the barb wire fence at the bottom of Devils Drop and needing 13 stitches.

[pacemaker]

use to play us cavelry in the school yard junior school of course i was not the only one

[Mik Dickinson]

[quote author=mick link=board=nostalgia;num=1060000403;start=40#73 date=10/15/03 at 14:44:06]we used to play squares where you took it in turns to join dots up to make a square . .

Aye Mick that is the one i meant but we called it dots.Grand game.At the mo we are in to connect 4 and draughts

[ANNE]

Playing with two balls against a wall while chanting a rhyme.
10 girls names i aught to know so wish me luck and away i go.
9 Boys names.
8 colours.
7 dogs etc etc.
Also one called Ebercanezzer the king of the jews.

[jambutty]

My dad used to put a poker in the fire and then stick it in a glass of Guinness on Saturdays and let me have a drink of froth. But that was after the treat of the week of a fish and chips dinner from the local chippy and those loverly mushy peas.
The games that we played after us lads had been to Gatty Park for a game of football was kiss catch with the girls or if it were raining we would play truth, dare or force under the Scaitcliffe Street bridge, until the girls’ dads came looking for them and we had to run.
Anyone remember statues?
We also beat the Germans into submission in the old shelters on the Wreck down Church with the river Stink at one side. We also discovered the difference between boys and girls in the shelters.
Monday nights - first house at the Empire cinema where we occupied the first six rows at the front on the left. Friday nights were for the Odeon. Some of us even actually paid to go in.
It’s no good it’s 2.11am and time to unchain myself from this keyboard.

[rosegrove]

hi chris7464 jumping over fences in peoples back-gardens i forgot all about that did you live on within grove estate i may have been jumping the fences with you regards rosegrove

[Margaret Pilkington]

Used to play hopscotch......Knock and run.....Diabolo......that was a funny toy that you used to spin on string and toss in the air and catch(if you were good).....whip and top.....used to buy coloured chalk from the paper shop for three pence and put patterns on the tops to make 'em jazzy. Marbles, conkers......and all the games had a 'season' and no one seemed to say it is time to play hopscotch.....or skipping or whatever but we all used to change at the same time.
We used to build 'dens' in Priestley Clough too.....we would spend hours collecting old bits of lino or carpet and broken stools or chairs......aaaah those were the days!

[Margaret Pilkington]

Also used to slide down Rileys Hill on a tin tray......wore a hole in it and then put it back in the cupboard.....my Ma was livid.......none of us(there were 7 kids) would own up so she banged all our heads together to see who got the hardest knock......and I was given an extra slap for being the eldest and letting it happen!

[Darby]

Anybody remember playing "Staggy"? Especially at night with the Jail being under the lampost!

[rosegrove]

we used to go over redac brickworks huncoat building dens in the bricks also in the brick factory in the dust house throwing the dust at each other also we used to go to huncoat coalmine playing on the wagons and guards vans ah the mists of time rosegrove

[cashman]

conkers was a favorite owd pastime used to go down conker wood whalley on our bikes and get duffle bags full,tried baking em soaking in vinegar all sorts to make them rock hard,made no bloody differance they still used to shatter.but was great fun.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by cashman

conkers was a favorite owd pastime used to go down conker wood whalley on our bikes and get duffle bags full,tried baking em soaking in vinegar all sorts to make them rock hard,made no bloody differance they still used to shatter.but was great fun.

Amen to that, lost days.................

[pendy]

Staggy - never knew what it was called Darby, but used to love playing it, over Tanpits, with the Jail at the top of the little back street where the Pioneer club was. It seemed so exciting at the time!

[West Ender]

I remember a game called "kerb or wall". We played it on the cinder-covered playground at St Mary's school which had a pavement, with a kerb, down one side.

The obligatory rhyme went (singing):-

Inna bonna bee and a Beatty Anna,
My black cat can play the pianna.
Inna bonna bee, shove him up a tree,
All the birds take sugar in their tea.
My black cat says one two three,
Kerb or wall.

On the last line someone shouted "kerb" or "wall" and you had to run across the playground to one or the other, first to get there was the winner.

Can you imagine today's computer-literate kids playing that? No, neither can I.

[grannyclaret]

Originally Posted by janet

remember playing tunes on a comb with a piece of toilet tissue izal made the best tunes. i also had lots of fun with a spud gun.

i remember doing that janet,,, fun was cheap in those days...