Going for a run in the car as a child

[whiteandgreenandgold]

Does anyone else remember on a Sunday going as a family for a run in the car? We did this regularly when I was a child, not really sure what the enjoyment was of it but I had totally forgotten we ever did it until today!

God yes! Mum and Dad would often argue, I’d annoy my older sisters…it was all such a waste of time …but the car “needed a run!”

I had completely forgotten about the show homes. We regularly went to look at them on a Sunday although my parents had zero intention of moving.

Oh my god me too! I’m early 50s. We had a maxi with the seats down, 4 kids and a dog. We were made to go for a walk where everybody fell out and not a penny was spent as there were no cafes or ice creams and no money anyway. Then back to share a bath and a hair wash with washing up liquid and songs of praise and last of the summer wine.

“We tended to have a run out somewhere to do something. A walk along the coast, to a local lake, to the woods to pick up co keys, pick blackberries or in spring bluebells.”
Just what we did, when we weren't visiting various aunts, or going to things that were actually open, like tea shops, the local lighthouse, a water wheel, the nearby cathedral city things, etc.
In those times before oil prices were an issue, my DF always had huge coach built cars, so we could all stretch out and be really comfortable. One of them had reading lights at the back, which suited bookworm me, and another had a sort of built in picnic hamper. I was always a bit disappointed when we arrived and I had to get out.

My own children are currently shopping in Oxford street spending money on crap like matcha iced lattes.

Because my dad didn't drive a lot in his job, the car "needed a good run on a Sunday or else the spark plugs would clog up".
No idea if this was actually true.

We once ended up in Aberdeen which is 65 miles away 😅

What was weird was you weren’t allowed to switch the light on in the car at night even if it was just to look for something you’d dropped but it was fine to stick 4 kids and a dog in the boot.

Yes!! What was the light rule all about? Is that still a thing?

One set of my grandparents used to do this with us when they visited. We thought it was so exciting!! But it was only once every few months.

Putting the internal light on when it’s dark causes reflections and makes it harder to see out of the car. Not ideal when someone is driving.

Yep, often with grandmothers in tow too, and occasionally an elderly friend, which meant I had to sit between my parents on a cushion over the handbrake!
I was effectively an only child as my sisters were older so had stopped coming with us by the time I was about eight.
We would go to some beauty spot or other. Not the coast as that was too far away except for a day trip.
It was so bloody boring. Toss up between that and Sunday School which was the most boring.
I think we took a flash and maybe a bottle of pop. Sandwiches if we were going for a few hours.
Occasionally we would stop off at a pub on the way back for a drink in the beer garden.
Someone on another thread mentioned being dragged around garden centres too. Yep. When DF was going to get a greenhouse I think we must have visited every garden centre in the region. 🥱
Sundays were so boring as a child of the 70s. Nothing open, sport on TV, having to sit through Songs of Praise, a roast I never really enjoyed, and parents weren’t very keen on us playing out or going to friends’ houses on Sundays, probably because it was supposed to be a family day and was often the only day DF had off.
Children weren’t asked for their views though. It was very much be seen and not heard.
Thank goodness for books!

Yes! It was a big thing for us in 70s. Usually we’d driveto a park or forest for a walk, and a pub for a bottle of pop and packet of crisps which was a huge treat. Both parents smoked in the car and the windows were kept firmly closed. We’d arrive at our destination in a cloud of yellow, stinky smog. Thought it was great at the time!
Edited for typo

yes we used to do it as a treat, but it wasn't random, we'd go somewhere.

Yes, often to the Yorkshire Dales, and another random trip out was to go to watch the planes take off at Leeds Bradford airport, in the days where security much laxer.

Was common pre 80s. Going for a drive was a luxury, as many working class families didn’t have cars! My kids are nearly 40 and we never did it, apart from driving near to Heathrow to let them watch the airplanes go over! Once I was a single Mum with them in the early 90s we were poverty stricken so it was a ride out on second hand bikes for a picnic on a Sunday afternoon.

Yes, child of the 70s here, we used to do it but it was fine, we’d go for walks and to country parks or similar. Our relatives were all so far away it needed several days stay to be worth the journey so we didn’t see them, we tended to see friends after school or maybe on Saturdays when we also had swimming lessons and went to the supermarket. It was the only time in the week we really went anywhere in the car apart from the Saturday things as we walked to school, Brownies, friends houses etc.

My young adult DCs have always liked going out for a drive, sometimes when we have nothing planned of an evening or weekend afternoon one will ask to go out for a drive and we’ll head off and drive around and chat for an hour or so, or go to local beauty spot or whatever. I still like it too, I never need much of an excuse to jump in my car and head out somewhere.

We used to do this, I have fond memories doing it! Used to drive somewhere random, me and my brothers would get out and play and then home again!

Not every Sunday but my Dad once a year would say on the most cloudy day with a threat of rain of the summer holidays "let's go for a spin to Mumbles". We'd get there, walk along the pier (there is nothing on it except the lifeboat station) walk back, we didn't go i to the arcade, we didn't get an ice cream. Hypothermia was optional. Then we went back home. Probably an hour out of the house in total, driving there, back and a sprint on the pier.

Occasionally I go for a drive out to a nice place like a village or coastal town I've not been to before. I take a relative or a friend with me and make a day of it. Yorkshire, Wales, Lancashire etc. Stop for lunch and dinner in a nice pub. Sight seeing and look around local boutique shops. Its a great way to explore places near home we don't realise exist or take for granted

DD and I used to do it when her mental health was bad as a mid-teen, she would sometimes be in her dressing gown so we couldn’t get out of the car! We would put music on and just drive around randomly and chat, it seemed to soothe her somehow. Her mental health is fine now and she lives away and drives her own car so we haven’t done it for years!

Yes. We'd have a drive to go for a walk in the country.

Yes, sometimes you stopped in a lay-by or small park and got out the flask of tea and squash, 70’s childhood for you

I used to go on leisure drives with my boyfriend in the 80s.

You just followed the leisure drive signs.

It was a great drive out sometimes.

The routes used to be shown as green I think on road maps.

Fond memories of going for a run in the car to Luss, Balmaha, Trossachs etc as a child. Great days out! 😎

We did this when I was little and I carried it on with my kids!