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Original poster

If you grew up in 70s/80s what things did you do which would be unimaginable these days.

631 replies

newlabelwriter · 03/01/2022 16:47

Just thinking about this. When I was about 9 my friend and I used to go around knocking on our neighbours doors to see if we could pick dandelions (or something similar) for her pet rabbits. Seems such a random thing to do and obviously v v young to knocking on doors to go into their gardens!

OP posts:
orangetriangle · 06/01/2022 19:34

yep kids frequently walked out of school primary age children it seems unbelievable now I cant believe much more didnt happen Si much of all this is a safety and wellbeing issue

llansannan11 · 06/01/2022 20:03

Turn up at anyone's house unannounced.

snottygrot · 06/01/2022 20:16

Hearing the landline ring !

Sparklingbrook · 06/01/2022 20:46

@snottygrot

Hearing the landline ring !
And actually answering it! Grin
Ribosome · 06/01/2022 20:56

I used to walk home from my grandparents and give them “three rings” on the landline as a whole call was seen as expensive!

GettingStuffed · 06/01/2022 20:59

Drinking in the pub from 16, clubbing 17 and 18. Took my son home from hospital in the backseat of the car ,no seat.

Clevs · 06/01/2022 21:03

@Ribosome

I used to walk home from my grandparents and give them “three rings” on the landline as a whole call was seen as expensive!
We only did two rings in our house!
Foxylass · 06/01/2022 21:23

Swimming in the canal! Diving or jumping off locks into the murky water - what fun.
Playing in pub car parks with other kids while our folks had a drink indoors, often we'd get a treat bag of crisps and bottle of Snowball.
Swimming in what we fondly called the lagoon - it was a flooded pit!
Doing odd jobs for the elderly - we'd knock on random doors in the estate and ask if they needed anything doing. We'd charge 2p for most jobs - trip to the shops, collect fish supper, weed a footpath......

Having a den in a hedge, we'd use it to meet, chatter, play on rainy days. Do kids have dens anymore?

Catch rain to drink....how odd that we did that.

Gosh, those were the days!

Toocoldtocamp · 06/01/2022 21:35

Ahh Dens in a hedge . .... miss those days...

Toocoldtocamp · 06/01/2022 21:36

And chocolate cigarettes

Original poster
newlabelwriter · 06/01/2022 23:08

@Toocoldtocamp

Ahh Dens in a hedge . .... miss those days...
They were the best.
OP posts:
Annonnimoouse42 · 06/01/2022 23:44

I started babysitting a 6 week old baby one evening every week when I was 12! no experience with babies at all. Just left to get on with it.
I thought about that when our first baby was as same age and really wondered wtf the parents were thinking

RoyalFamilyFan · 06/01/2022 23:46

I worked one evening in a youth club in the mid-eighties. One evening a group of girls brought in a 2-week old baby. After saying how cute she was I suggested they take her back to her mum, their neighbour, as she would be missing with her. One of the teenagers said I don't think she would care if we never took her back.

Violinist64 · 06/01/2022 23:48

Just remembered another one. In 1979, when I was 14, we had a school camp to Devon, which was the other end of the country for us. One activity was that we were dropped off at various points on Dartmoor in small groups and had to find our way back to the campsite, which was about five miles away. Our group was the first back as it happens but l cannot imagine this activity being allowed now.

Sparklingbrook · 06/01/2022 23:52

It was all about Orienteering for us on every single residential trip. Snowdonia, The Lake District, Malvern it was all about sending all the kids off in teams into the drizzle and waiting for them to come back for the teachers. It was ok, we had a compass and an Ordnance Survey map and a few blocks of Kendal Mint cake, so fully equipped. Grin

Annonnimoouse42 · 07/01/2022 00:11

@itispersonal

Being able to go in my dads lorry when he was working, often staying overnight in the lorry.

Also being in the trailer of a lorry with many others to get to a pub, as part of his works fun day.

my Mums friend owned a corner shop - I remember being allowed to go with one of the delivery men, in his big truck, for the day I was about 10 and thought it was great. He was a complete stranger to us
EachandEveryone · 07/01/2022 00:13

@ParkheadParadise

Another one Going to the door of anyone who had a baby and asking to take it out in the pram they always said YES 😂😂
I remember that so vividly as soon as anyone in close had a new bain we’d be knocking on the door to take it out no one batted an eyelid!

Playing out in just knickers at vest during that hot Summer of 77. I was ten! Letting the dog out so he could go and play with his dog friends. No one really took them for a walk. Going to the shop for ten John Player with a note. Standing up on the bus after school singing B A Y B A Y B AY C I TY etc etc.

Going out clubbing at 15 which parents were fine with as it was always gay clubs. And we had our own money as we all were working baby sitting. Hitching to Leeds to go and see Duran Duran. We hitched everywhere. Parents leaving us in on a Friday night without a babysitter just pop and crisps. Theres hundreds of things really.

MrJollyLivesNextDoor · 07/01/2022 00:14

White dog poo

Sparklingbrook · 07/01/2022 00:17

Hanging around hotels waiting for bands to arrive. The time we spent hanging about in the hope! Obviously before the internet so we’d have to rely on people phoning the landline with info of what time to be there just in case. 😄

Vanuatu · 07/01/2022 01:33

Going on a school trip to Germany in 1980 and being dropped off by coach in Cologne for a half day.
No teachers with us, just our friends. We were eleven and not really streetwise Shock
Being left at home from the age of six every Saturday while my parents went to the pub.
Buying cigarettes from a young age with a note from my mother. Also taking an empty bottle to the local chemist to fill up from the plastic barrels of sherry.
We had more freedom but wtf.

SkiingIsHeaven · 07/01/2022 02:25

We used to play in building sites when the workers had left and at weekends when they weren't there.

We also went out all day and just came home in time for dinner. Often we were swimming in rivers and making fires. Our parents had no idea where we were or what we are doing. We also always put the fire out and brought our rubbish home with us.

SkiingIsHeaven · 07/01/2022 02:29

Parents hid two kids in the boot to get into attractions more cheaply. You paid for how many people were (visible)in the car.

S0upertrooper · 07/01/2022 03:13

First day of primary school i walked there alone. My older brother was supposed to take me but didn't, he just buggered off to secondary school and left me alone in the house. I was 5, he was 13, my dad was working and my mum started college on the same day.

Unthinkable now that a 5 year old would just wander into school alone on their first day.

From 7 I had my own key and went home alone after school and peeled the potatoes 😬

allhappynow · 07/01/2022 05:50

Brown sugar sandwiches 😬

anne2650 · 07/01/2022 06:36

Roaming around with friends until it was dark.
Eating whatever meal mum had made.
No seat belts, also lying across the back seat on long journeys, dad would be smoking.
Smoke filled working men's clubs; seafood man coming in with his basket; the bar had those little packets with crackers, cream cheese and pickled onions - l loved them!
Being referred to a 'the child' when parents spoke about me.
Going so high on the swings you lifted off the seat.
Drinking in pubs at 14
Community spirit - everyone knew each other and would chat regularly. It felt like an extended family.
Local shops for everything which you needed including furniture.
Only takeaways were fish and chips
Clean corner shops which would also sell homemade cakes and pies.
Stray dogs
Rag and bone man (70s)
People knocking on the door to ask for a glass of water before carrying on with their journey.
Walking for miles
Countryside, long hot summers, quiet roads.
Sense of peace and excitement about the future.
I miss it so much