To wonder if it was as bad as people say in the 70s?

[juicee2]

I am quite curious about it.

What caused the poverty? I thought the 80s were a poor decade - am I wrong?

The 70s were great. I was a teenager and had a great time. Those who say it was worse than today probably weren't there.

I lived in a village in the 70s, strong community feel, felt safe. Kids really used to roam about all day from about aged 5 with all the other kids. Lots of village events, busy brownie / cubs which we all went to. I do remember having a bath every night and clean clothes daily which is different to many others accounts.

I was only little, but I vividly remmeber the power cuts, queuing for water, and. Or having very much money. I think we were happy, though!

*remember (what the heck was that word above??!)

The seventies were brilliant! Great music, flares, the power cuts were fun!

insomnia I think the lodgings on fowler street are now a nurses residence. I lived there when I moved to London to do my training. Is called bonham carter house. Good memories living there.

I wasn't born till 1975 but I loved the 70's,my Nan was still alive and she used to look after me every day whilst my Mum and Dad worked and she was an amazing lady.

My parents were both still with us as well and I miss them everyday,I was very close to my parents.

Every Sunday my Mum would cook a roast dinner and we'd always have our Sinday roast at lunch time and then afterwards me,my Mum and my Dad would take a walk upto a lovely traditional sweet shop and I'd get to pick a 1/4 of sweets and then we'd walk home and watch some family tv together,Land of the Giants and Lost In Space were real favourites in our house.

Then about 5 in the evening my Dad would go into the kitchen and start making the nicest fruit cake I've ever eaten(and he'd usually let me help)and whilst that was cooking he'd make double decker rolls(french stick with ham,boiled eggs and sliced tomatoe in)and once it was already we'd all sit down to eat our tea whist watching Last of The summer Wine.

All the lovely older neighbours were still with us and I loved the older generation even as a tiny child I could sit and listen to they're stories for hours on end.

I didn't mind the power cuts,I quite enjoyed them,it always felt like a bit of an adventure to me that and the amazing storms we used to have,I love Thunder and Lightening.

Life just felt alot easier and kinder back then,I felt pretty much the same way through the 80's as well

Single parent families were whispered about in hushed tones: "they haven't got a dad".
Only one pupil in my class was from a "broken home". I didn't dare ask her where her dad was.

i was born in 73 and i remember having a party dress for my own and other kids birthday parties. i had a green one with flowers on the bottom half and when i grew out of it it was replaced with a blue and white one with white lace on the shoulders.

Steptoe and Son.

Dave Allen At Large.

I was a teenager in the 70s and yes, they were AWFUL.
It wasn't only the poverty but the whole atmosphere politically. 70s were a 'between' stage....the 60s had been so promising with the new youth and freedom and the Pill etc., the 70s sort of sank into depression.
Power cuts, hardship, strikes. Music was awful compared to 60s and then 80s after it. In the workplace the unions had full power and didn't use it wisely, but neither did the government of the day. On the world stage, UK was a 'has been', our industries were failing, other countries were ahead with production, innovation and science. Schools had lost their way a bit in educational terms.

In ordinary people's homes many of us had no overseas holidays, not the gadgets which came into the home in the 80s, there didn't seem to be much fun and the future looked bleak. Yes, I remember my parents growing their own veg., and my mother making 'milk bread' (basically flour mixed with milk and no yeast, just a stodgy sort of loaf which filled up hungry stomachs).

By the 1980s things had changed...there was hope, industry had turned around, UK moved forward on all sorts of fronts, life was easier for ordinary people. Folk started to have better homes, holidays abroad, the education system was overhauled.....
I think the 70s were the worst decade I ever lived through.

I was a child but I remember strikes, power cuts (and having candles balanced in saucers etc), sugar was hard to get around 1974/5 (I remember overhearing my mum and her friend complaining about it but not exactly how old I was). The winter of discontent was quite miserable - things were really in short supply then and I remember the bins not being collected. Overall though, it was just life and people got on with it. The 3-day week didn't feel like a series of bank holiday weekends though, it felt more like a source of anxiety about having enough money.
If you watch old election night TV programmes from the 1970s, they always had trade unionists on as their opinion was really important to what a government could realistically do.

I was 10 in '76 and lived on our beach 🏖 Sun shone and the sea sparkled! The power cuts helped me to learn lots of card tricks.
We went on holiday to various Pontins every year. Wore my cousins' hand me downs.
I wish my children had my childhood!

The summer of 76 was glorious!

I was vvv young so dont remember much but do remember lots of hot summers, always playing outside and very limited toys. Does everyone remember sheets and stiff grey army blankets made very tight on your bed.

I do remember clothkits

I loved the 70s, playing out from morning til night, pineapple chunks, pear drops, Cherryade. Then running home to my meal being kept warm in the oven. I was 10 in 1974 too Mydoghatesthebath School holidays did always seem warm and sunny didn’t they? I was in the midlands. I absolutely loved my childhood and if I could go back now I would. It was such a carefree time, for me anyway. Watching Champion the Wonderhorse and Casey Jones eating digestive biscuits, spread with blueband marg and dairylea.
I remember powercuts but it was no big deal, we just had them. I loved that time when everyone just got on with it. Although I do remember being sat on my own in our lounge once when all the lights went off and I sat there screaming til my mum came to get me.. happy times!!

My dd can't believe we only had 3 channels, no remote and black and white telly. I wonder what we have now that future generations will think is grim and deprived.

75 was a glorious summer too. Took O'Levels in 76 - the last year you could fail.

I think we are talking different 1970s. In my world everyone had a phone and a car. Yes there was the three day week but there was also Laura Ashley and Conran. There was less credit and things had to be saved up for but it wasn't a terrible and deprived time at all. In fact most of my friends were driving at 17 - in 1977 - and saving up to go to Greece or to Euro-rail.

Things that haven't changed are teachers and nurses complaining.

I was born In The 70s so only remember it through the eyes of a young child.

My parents bought their first house in 1969, they were both fill time teachers and couldn’t afford furniture for the first year. So had deck chairs in the sitting room.

Electric items were definitely relatively more expensive. I remember in the late 70s, possibly very early 80s dad buying a VCR which cost him nearly a months wages. My mum of course had to leave work when she was pregnant. I’m sure she told me there was no maternity leave so she didnt have the option of going back to her job.

My dad was a child in the 20s. My Mum was a child in the 30s. I was a child in the 70s. My dd is a child now. Guess what my parents used to say about how pampered and luxurious my childhood was? It wasn't. At all. But by comparison with theirs it was.

And, of course, their parents were kids at the turn of the 19/20 century so they used to say my parents had it pretty cushy as children.

I was a teen in the 70s and I loved the music! But that was then, this is now and looking back it was a bit rubbish!
I remember Brian Jones founder member of the Rolling Stones drowning, he was the best looking of them and me and my friends were bereft, so upset that we went to his grave on the anniversary of his death and held an all night candle vigil sobbing and singing Stones songs until we got cold and went home!

Brian Jones died in 1969.
A few people have mentioned the music being rubbish in the 70's. That's a matter of opinion. Personally I thought it was great and still listen to it a lot.

I was 10 in 1977. Loved it. I have only happy memories. We played out until we were hungry -bikes, making dens, climbing trees, playing games. We felt free. We did seem to have real seasons. I remember heavy snow or the tar melting it was so hot in the summer. I remember roller boots - OMG we had so much fun! I remember planning Halloween and making our own costumes out of junk! I remember the power cuts. They were so much fun!!!! We had home cooked meals but don't really remember any lack of things. Maybe we were lucky. Christmas wasn't lavish but it was fantastic. I have nothing but great memories from the 70's.

Yes he did, and I was there in 1970 to mark the year since he died at the gravestone along with lots of other sobbing people!