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Original poster

Did you ever go 'Garden Creeping' when you were younger?

67 replies

HelloVeritas · 12/05/2023 20:31

The challenge was to start at one end of a street of terraced houses after dark, and work your way down the entire street via the back gardens.

So a gang of you would have to carefully climb over each garden fence to gain access to the next garden and so on until you reached the end.

Rules were:

If there was a slide, everyone had to go down it

Ditto garden swings

And horrified at this memory if there was a rabbit hutch, you had to 'set them free' Blush

I suppose we were late primary/early secondary age and to best of my knowledge I don't think we ever got caught.

Was this just a thing where I grew up, or did others do similar?

Circa mid 80's

OP posts:
evtheria · 12/05/2023 20:36

Wow, I think you'd find it near impossible to get away with that now!

Didn't grow up here so didn't know about this, but I think I'd have been too scared to join in anyway.

Fluffycloudsblusky · 12/05/2023 20:36

You could be describing my husbands childhood. But not releasing rabbits! He has had a happy time reminiscing

Campervangirl · 12/05/2023 20:37

We used to call it hedge hopping.
We didn't free bunny's tho

CheeseDreamsTonight · 12/05/2023 20:38

Fences were much lower. I definitely used to scoot across a couple of gardens to get to my friends house. It wasn't unusual to do things like this in the 80s

N0tANOoDl3He4D · 12/05/2023 20:39

Sounds like fence hopping.

I knew some idiots who would go fence hopping, where they started at one end and had to run and hop/climb over every fence til they got to the other end.

I'm all for a prank but this is something which would be too intrusive and upsetting for me.

Wonder how many domesticated small animals were killed or run over as a result.if what you did.

Toastandacupoftea · 12/05/2023 20:40

Omg how many pet rabbits did you send to their deaths set free?! Were the fences hard to climb? I've never climbed a garden fence and I think I'd break one if I tried.

SophiaElizabethGrace · 12/05/2023 20:41

We used to go garden hopping. I fell into a pond once. Serves me right of course.

We didn't let animals out but I do remember being chased by dogs.

chocciecake · 12/05/2023 20:42

We did it but not the letting out of pets . Great fun, the thrill of the chance of getting caught.

Sosbanfachtheresatellyinmybath · 12/05/2023 20:43

We used to go garden hopping which was basically the same.
We done something similar in our 20's when we were pissed. We pinched someone's bench from the front garden and legged it up the street with it above our heads. Got to the top of an alley and sat on it for a fag, and got chatting to an older couple. One of the boys then realised they'd dropped their mobile so we snook back to find it. When we returned to the bench, the couple pinched it off us 🤣🤣

Spanielsarepainless · 12/05/2023 20:43

Yep. And scrumping apples and pears. Didn't let animals out though.

Booklover40 · 12/05/2023 20:44

No, but I so wish I had! That sounds like so much fun😂

Sosbanfachtheresatellyinmybath · 12/05/2023 20:45

...we didn't let animals out though.

IOweMySanityToBasilParsley · 12/05/2023 20:45

We used to do it on the way home from the pub, late teens. Hedge hopping, no setting free of pets though

WhatWeDoInTheShadow · 12/05/2023 20:48

Why did I immediately think of Charlie and Frank from Always Sunny going nightcrawling 😂?

No, I never did that op! I did used to run around in a golf course at night when I was a very silly student.

Izadrennan · 12/05/2023 20:48

Garden hopping! Yes (didn't let any animals out), it was such a laugh, my friend was running really fast and was very near decapitated by a washing line, it was a full on feet in the air fall, she was fine but we both could barely move from laughing, definitely wouldn't get away with it now!

converseandjeans · 12/05/2023 20:50

Yes but front gardens. Hedge hopping. I think those ring doorbells must be spoiling all the fun. You can't move nowadays without being filmed. I think it's quite sad that teens every move is monitored & controlled.

ThePoshUns · 12/05/2023 20:50

Yea but we called it garden hopping!

ImNotCrazyIWasTested · 12/05/2023 20:50

We used to do the 'Grand national' on our road. I lived on a steep road with council bungalows on the opposite side with 4ft privit bushes each side of the path to each bungalow. Some had handrail bars in and when you're racing it's easy to forgot which 1s 😂😂. We never did it at night though or let pets free and the people who lived in the bungalows used to bet on who would win, I was NEVER the favourite 😂

ThePoshUns · 12/05/2023 20:51

No pet releases though.

BarryShitpea · 12/05/2023 20:51

Yes but long front gardens and no pets!

SecretVictoria · 12/05/2023 20:51

Bob Mortimer talked about this on ‘Would I Lie To You’, his friends had a phrase; “We do beg your pardon, we are in your garden”. Fences my way were way too high but is sounds fun!

Stickykidney · 12/05/2023 20:54

Yes! Garden runs we called it. Planned a massive epic one once must have been half my class. Big high wall next to a tree and past one of the teachers flats. Called ourselves 'the trespassers ' ha ha. Lots of fun.

DottyDry · 12/05/2023 20:55

Yes - but we called it cat creeping.

As a kid who hated getting into trouble I would definitely not have stopped to let an animal out, or go down a slide. Just blind panic to get across the gardens ASAP without getting caught!

Original poster
HelloVeritas · 12/05/2023 20:55

No idea why we let the rabbits out, those were the 'rules' and I don't think it occurred to me to question them.

It was a bit of a middle class area although most us were working class.

Yes to the thrill of being caught, particularly if people had their curtains open at back, we could see everything, families sitting down to dinner etc, completely unaware about a dozen of us were watching.

Once saw a man repeatedly hit his wife, we moved on quickly, not the fine thing to report things like that then. Domestic violence was a 'private matter' then I suppose. 😢

OP posts:
Original poster
HelloVeritas · 12/05/2023 20:58

SecretVictoria · 12/05/2023 20:51

Bob Mortimer talked about this on ‘Would I Lie To You’, his friends had a phrase; “We do beg your pardon, we are in your garden”. Fences my way were way too high but is sounds fun!

Hopefully not outing but I grew up in same town as Bob Mortimer. Never met him but my older brother did 🤔

OP posts:
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