Random childhood stuff you have no explanation for.

The green corrugated garden sheds people had. Several of my elderly neighbours had them in 70s gardens. Turns out they were Anderson shelters from the war, repurposed.

Same here!

We drove to south of France from Cherbourg every summer and we’d have to find cars from certain regions.

Sometimes we’d have a map of Europe and have to find cars from certain countries.

We’d literally spend an hour looking out for one particular type of car/plate/country 🤷‍♀️🤣

My daughter bought her first house in Salford about 10 years ago. It was built in the 30s, and been in the same family since. Small garden with raised beds with stone/concrete walls. She wanted them removing, so we set to work the foundations of these low walls were really deep, and the blocks were thicker tgan you would expect. As she got to know her neighbours, who had also been there for years, she found tgey were made from the walls of the air raid shelter that all the houses had in their gardens

My DH had fond memories of going on one of these when he was under 4. So in the 50s. Last year we visited the town for the first time in 50 odd years, and it was still in the playground. There was one mother with a toddler daughter using it and he got quite weepy with the memories it brought back. He was a bit embarrassed, old man watching a young girl in a playground isn't really a good look, but he had a chat with the mother about how his mum did the same with him 65 years before. A touching moment

Yes, and the blue egg shaped collection boxes we took home from school.

They would fit a couple of soldiers with a machine gun in case of a land attack. I grew up in Lincolnshire, and there were loads of pill boxes, bunkers small airfield all over the place. I saw a program a bit ago and it was defences against an attack. The coast has long flat beaches so a good place for landing craft. I used to deliver papers past a large house not knowing what it was. Years later, when the secret documents were released it turned out to be the planning HQ fir Bomber Command, where they planned the Dam Busters raid amongst others.

We played that at Brownies and at school.
My dc certainly played it at Brownies too.

I don't remember many injuries at all, more often the runner tripping than them treading on someone.

We sometimes said "inside, outside, inside, on" or "inside, outside, and on the British rails". NE England.

Ooh I remember that elastics rhyme (although I recall the second line as inside, outside, inside, on). But the funny thing is my memory is from Australia.

We had no stair carpet, and clattered down the stairs on tin trays!m

I had a magic carpet!

Guide camp 1970 so I was 11, handed an axe to chop firewood. " Stand legs apart and if you miss you won't cut your leg"

At brownies we used to play a game called 'ladders'. We'd sit on the floor in pairs with our legs outstretched and the soles of our shoes touching. Each pair would have a number and when it was called you'd have to run down the row in between everyone's shins, then round the outside back to your spot and whichever of the pair made it back first won.

I think it took about three small girls having their shin stepped on at speed before the game was banned, which just meant we played it in the playground instead, with no less devastating consequences IIRC!!

This shouldn’t have made me laugh, but it did.
Remove the misogyny and then read the rest.
Geoffrey jealous that the puppets had more fan mail.
Zippy and George getting it on.
Rod, Jane and Freddie in a love triangle.

https://www.dailymail.com/tvshowbiz/article-16008143/Dark-Rainbow-squeaky-clean-kids-plagued-backstage-drama.html

I have a photo of myself aged about 18 months old taken with a monkey on my lap. I think it was taken in 'John Lewis' dept at Christmas. 1960s. Imagine that now!

Having our 13 year old neighbours daughter look after us during during school holidays when our Mum and Dad were at work. She spent most of her time hanging out with her 17 year old boyfriend,so we more or less did what we liked. It was the 1970s though.

This thread has unlocked a memory. In my parents photo album there is a photo of them with the monkeys on their shoulders. But for some reason I always thought that they were teddies.

They were tiny monkeys dressed in tiny clothes, I must find out if they were in fact real monkeys.

I was thinking of something similar this morning - the total fearlessness of throwing yourself off, over and down things and not having that adult kill-joy fear of what happens when you land. As someone who can now barely walk, the memory of it gives me real happiness. I often have dreams where I'm just running and running and jumping over any obstacle in my way. They're lovely. (I also get dreams where I'm running away from things and those are a different kettle of fish. 😊)

For holidays in France we had a map of France with each Département number on and we'd cross it off as we saw a car from each Département - indicated by the first two numbers on the number plate. Happy days.

We didn’t have the packs of dogs but we did have a neighbourhood dog that would roam around. His owner just used to put him out for the day. Crazy when you think about it.

i remember the little red bugs we called them bloodsuckers.

I found a slug type creature once with colourful horns, I ran to get my friends and it was gone, none of my friends believed me.

I used to cycle miles with my brother. We'd go to an animal sanctuary at a nearby village and just wander in to pet the cats and dogs. No one seemed to mind! Sadly a bypass was built round our town, blocking our route to the village, so that stopped our fun.

A game I remember at school was 40-40. I think it was a bit like hide and seek, i cant really remember. Im a Cub leader and we play What's The Time Mr Wolf and Sleeping Lions with them. They love it.

The parties I went to all had the same magician as entertainment. I was surprised when my son (now 27) went to a party when he was about 5 and the same magician was there. I was even more surprised a couple of months ago when I saw the very same magician still performing! When I was a kid I thought he ( and all adults!) were so very very old!

I don’t remember the dogs running free thing at all / l lived in quite a ‘naice’ area so maybe that’s why? Not many people I knew had dogs in the 70s/80s but the ones I did know, didn’t roam. Now they just get taken to the local shopping centre 🤦‍♀️ instead.

Elastics rhyme was ‘England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, inside, outside, inside, tread. Then the elastic would be put higher up after each round.

Also loads of ‘hand clap’ games - assume that still goes on.

Plus I had a ‘hopper’ thing which was a ring round your ankle and you’d circle your leg to make it turn, with a plastic wire thing coming out with a ball on the end and you’d have to skip over the wire! Never seen one since.

@tobee
i do remember entertainers at parties but they were predominately at home, not in halls.

Loads of wanking and flashers in the 80s!

Mine too and they’re in their 20s!