Owd Pastimes

[rosegrove]

any one remember bonfire raiding i was a whithin grove lad we used to raid wood from other bonfires in the area we once set on fire huncoats main bonfire there was trouble for ages after that this would have been 1964-65 time anybody remember it

[ANNE]

Used to love playing with my clackers chrissy but oh boy did they hurt when you bashed yourself with em.
Used to love playing elastics has well used to put the elastic round the legs of two chairs when I had no body to play with.
Another one I liked was when we put a tennis ball in an old stocking, tied it round the ankle, and mad it it spin to jump over it.

[Gloi]

Originally Posted by 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.

Our version of this in Preston c.1968 was
Kerb Bon Bee and Louisiana
My black cat can play the pianna
He can play for two and a tanner
Kerb bon bee and the old brick wall.
Kerb or Wall.

[Judith Addison]

When we were kids we couldn't wait to get home from school, gobble down our tea and then go and knock on our friends' doors to ask them to play out. Games I remember in the school yard and on the street were May I?, Mary Mary, may I cross your golden water, Pins and needles, The big ship sails through the alley alley-o. We used to play tracking - chalking arrows on the pavement for others to follow. On a wet day, when you were little kids, your mum used to make you a tent in the house using the clothes maiden and an old blanket. Skipping outside was very popular, "turning up" with the big rope and chanting the months or the seasons. Going to the corner shop to buy sweets was a big treat. You'd go clutching your old penny (the one with Britannia on the back) and ask for the "penny box". You could get a penny arrow bar (different flavours), eight love-hearts, eight aniseed balls, two blackjacks, two flying saucers - the choice was endless. I also remember choosing my fireworks with my Dad - I think I got to spend half a crown but most of the fireworks cost no more than sixpence - there were golden rain, daisy fountains, roman candles, volcanos, rockets and so many more. Those were the days - the 1950s - I must be getting old now - can just remember the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth the Second and our street party.

[mobertol]

We used to play many of the same games still back in the 70's - a great favourite was elastics. A piece of thin white knicker elastic in a large loop which two had round their ankles to start with and the 3rd person had to jump in and on it and do all sorts of tricks - each turn you finished without making a mistake meant the elastic got higher -knee level , thighs, waist etc....

We used to plays cat's cradle, hopscotch, rounders and then there were other crazes; pogo sticks, stilts (home-made by a friends grand-dad) , roller skates, and those space hoppers that were all the rage (came off mine on a massive leap and broke my ankle!). Then we used to drive parents mad with those Clackers that also came in, two balls tied to string you had to knock together and get to go up and down in a full arc -bruised wrists were obligatory! Also had a slinky at some point too...
No video games and not much TV either - Jackanory, Blue Peter or Crackerjack and then the Magic Roundabout before the news....

[jaysay]

I remember my younger days when the lads chased the lasses round to get their knicker elasticknicker elastic made bloody good catapults I'll tell ya

[Eric]

Anyone remember making lanterns out of jam jars, candles, and string for the handle? Couldn't afford flashlights, and the lanterns were more fun anyhow

[mobertol]

Originally Posted by Eric

Anyone remember making lanterns out of jam jars, candles, and string for the handle? Couldn't afford flashlights, and the lanterns were more fun anyhow

Yeah, Eric -we had them on Halloween night...! We aspiring Lankyshire witches....

[mobertol]

Originally Posted by jaysay

I remember my younger days when the lads chased the lasses round to get their knicker elasticknicker elastic made bloody good catapults I'll tell ya

Double result eh, Jay!!

[Eric]

Originally Posted by mobertol

Double result eh, Jay!!

I was thinking that, if I got that close to knicker elastics, catapults would be one of the last things on my mind

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Eric

I was thinking that, if I got that close to knicker elastics, catapults would be one of the last things on my mind

I was far more interested in catapults to knock conkers out of trees in them days Eric, there are times I wish I'd have carried on in that vain, instead of pursuing the promised land

[Eric]

Originally Posted by jaysay

I was far more interested in catapults to knock conkers out of trees in them days Eric, there are times I wish I'd have carried on in that vain, instead of pursuing the promised land

You got a real good point there, bud

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Eric

You got a real good point there, bud

Tell me about it, I gave up after the second failure

[claytonx]

Did anyone knock panel pins into the top of empty cotton bobbins and then weave different coloured wool around them so it came out through the hole in the bobbin in a long cord.What you did with it after I don't remember. Maybe someone will.

[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by claytonx

Did anyone knock panel pins into the top of empty cotton bobbins and then weave different coloured wool around them so it came out through the hole in the bobbin in a long cord.What you did with it after I don't remember. Maybe someone will.

My sisters did that, stitched them into a spiral, and made table mats out of them.
Retlaw