18/01/2026
Just for a minute, forget everything stressful and read this.
Close your eyes and go back in time...
Before the Internet...
Before semi-automatics, joyriders and crack....
Before SEGA or Super Nintendo
Way back
I’m talking about Hide and Seek in the park.
The corner shop.
Hopscotch.
Butterscotch.
Skipping.
Handstands.
Football with an old can.
Fingerbob.
Beano, Dandy, Buster, Twinkle and Dennis the menace.
Roly Poly.
Hula Hoops, jumping the stream, building dams.
The smell of the sun and fresh cut grass.
Bazooka Joe bubble gum.
An ice cream cone on a warm summer night from the van that
plays a tune
Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, maybe neapolitan or perhaps
a screwball.
Watching Saturday morning cartoons, short commercials or
the flicks.. Children’s Film Foundation, The Double Deckers,
Red Hand Gang, The Tomorrow People, Tiswas or
Swapshop?,and ‘Why Dont You’ or staying up for Doctor who.
When around the corner seemed far away and going into
town seemed like going somewhere.
Earwigs (forkie tails), wasps, stinging nettles and bee stings.
White dog sh .
Sticky fingers.
Playing Marbles. Ball bearings. Big ‘uns and Little ‘uns.
Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, and Zorro.
Climbing trees.
Building igloos out of snow banks.
Walking to school, no matter what the weather.
Running till you were out of breath, laughing so hard that
your stomach hurt.
Jumping on the bed. Pillow fights.
Spinning around on roundabouts, getting dizzy and falling
down was cause for giggles.
Being tired from playing... remember that?
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.
Water balloons were the ultimate weapon.
Football cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a
motorcycle.
Choppers and Grifters.
Eating raw jelly. Orange squash ice pops. Vimto and Jubbly
Lollies.
Remember when...
There were two types of trainers - girls and boys, and Dunlop
Green Flash- and the only time you wore them at school was
for P.E. (and they were called gym shoes or if you are older — plimsols or pumps.
You knew everyone in your street - and so did your parents.
It wasn’t odd to have two or three “best’ friends.
You didn’t sleep a wink on Christmas Eve.
When nobody owned a pure-bred dog.
When 5 bob (25p) was decent pocket money.
Curly Whirlys.
Space Dust.
Toffo’s.
Toy Trumps.
When you’d reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.
When nearly everyone’s mum was at home when the kids
got there.
When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him or use
him to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid thought
a thing of it.
When being sent to the head’s office was nothing compared
to the fate that awaited a misbehaving pupil at home.
Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn’t because
of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs etc. Parents and
grandparents were a much bigger threat and some of us are
still afraid of them.
Didn’t that feel good?
Just to go back and say, “Yeah, I remember that!”
Remember when....
Decisions were made by going” Ip, Dip, Dog Sh ”
“Race issue” meant arguing about who ran the fastest.
Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker
in “Monopoly”
The worst thing you could catch from the opposite s*x was
germs. And the worst thing in your day was having to sit
next to one.
It was unbelievable that ‘British Bulldog 123’ wasn’t an
Olympic event.
Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a
catapult.
Nobody was prettier than Mum.
Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better.
Taking drugs meant orange-flavoured chewable aspirin.
Ice cream was considered a basic food group.
Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.
Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the
fiercest protectors.
If you can remember most or all of these, then you have
LIVED.
