[David9694]

Never did you any harm… right.  And your point is..?  You’ve got central heating and double glazing now, right? At your age, you’ll need them.  (Where is the bullet-hole ‘plane when you need it?)

So those gaps between school, telly, an occasional family game, a handful of chores and bed were often filled by being able to play outside safely. I remember being bored (winter Sundays).  But I remember taking myself off by bike to various local parks to meet up with other kids.  

 

I don’t remember having any problems with cars: once rush hour was over, it went pretty quiet. Once there was a man buying kids ice lollies – my mum went ballistic over that. Some bigger kids took my bike (a mini Moulton) once and I think she got involved in that too. 

 

That seems like a big chunk of what is missing in children’s lives today – spontaneous, unsupervised outdoor play.  The ice on the windows cos players don’t mention that one.  Something seemed to shift on this in the late 1980s. 

 

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/we-cant-afford-days-out-24847752
 

As a 1970s kid, I don’t remember being cold, nor for that matter hungry.  You noticed the difference when leaving the warmth of the front room, with its telly and firmly shut door. 
 

There were weekend outings, almost always a picnic, or a visit to family and rarely to anything with steep admission charges, unless it was steam train tickets.  I still sense having been an outsider to many things in the past now as I show my National Trust membership card at the door. 

 

Holidays were a week at holiday camp, maybe a b&b or a chalet. The only foreign holidays were day trips to Calais or Boulogne and once, a few days on the Isle of Man. 

 

As a new homeowner in my 20s, the gas and electric bill were among the least of my worries.  Interest rates dropped past the 10% mark in the early 1990s and inflation to below 5% – with a 95% mortgage, interest rates were my main concern at the time. 

 

Back pain has stopped play for me – those are my musings, what are yours?

Topic

[David9694]

So the govt is going to keep

So the govt is going to keep the bills​ down for us this winter, and I guess we’re just hoping something will eventually turn up Ukraine-wise. I don’t fully understand all this, a massive addition to the national debt with a none too strong economy.  none of it actually makes any more gas available to our little corner of the globe, does it? Nor does it electricity.  The warm spaces sounded pretty risky to me on the Covid front and I hope it manages to leave us alone this winter. 

Cycling wise, I’m glad a wave of poverty has been headed-off – like the fuel disruptions of last year, this would have just meant more cars dropping out of insurance and MoTs and more desperate scratting around by drivers, with the car the economic Alamo in many homes. 

[David9694]

Best pub name ever

Best pub name ever

The Four Horsemen pub reveals impact of rising utility costs
https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/20900321.four-horsemen-pub-reveals-impact-rising-utility-costs/

vs 

The optimism shown here in this refurbishment/new opening:

https://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/20894931.pictures-boathouse-launch/

 

[chrisonabike]

fenix wrote:

fenix wrote:

3 options on a menu and pre booked ?

Perfectly describes TV when I grew up.  It was great, until another channel came along, then only having 3 was rubbish.  Which pretty much describes the “march of progress”.

[David9694]

In Liz we Trust, eh? That’s

In Liz we Trust, eh? That’s Liz “rule out anything sensible”/  ‘look at anything batshit crazy’ Truss, whose handlers are going to have to work her through all the right-wing nutjob “radical” suggestions that are now popping up – what have we got so far, lifting motorway speed limits, having smoking in pubs back, burning ‘old’ books to keep warm, to name but a few.  The Left have most of the ideas on energy that might actually have an effect, which places them off-limits for now.

Still, it’s only for a few months, enough to give people time to forget Boris Johnston’s many shortcomings and then welcome him back in. 

In the last couple of years, I’ve had to shed my previous ignorance on shipping, viruses, food production, water, and now energy. I hadn’t realised, for all the difference it makes, how much Europe had sleep-walked into relying on Russian energy.  Man, have we dropped the ball. 

[IanMSpencer]

I learned to sail in Surrey

I learned to sail in Surrey Docks. In the late 70s they had been cleared and to access the sailing dock was about an 800 metre drive from the entrance. I think ILEA funded the sailing centre.

I was taught to sail by a Queen’s Water Boatman, Ted, IIRC, who told tales of the great smogs and how in th docks you weren’t allowed to walk unaccompanied as you literally* could not see your hand in front of your face so people could easily walk off the side of the dock into the icy waters below. Ted used to sail Thames barges – basically boats that spent more time going sideways than forwards by all accounts – leeboards and all that.

The sailing centre had Puffins (Simple two-hander boats), Wayfarers, a 470 (where I learned to trapeze and discovered the joys of turning turtle while attached), and an ancient rescue boat which took about half an hour to start in the morning.

The docks were concrete roads and piles of bricks and views of tower blocks.

 

* Please note the rare correct usage of this word on the Internet.

[OldRidgeback]

I was born in 62 and grew up

I was born in 62 and grew up in Edinburgh. We didn’t have central heating and I do remember winters being cold. Heating was from the coal fire in the living room until we got storage heaters in the mid-70s. My family was considered a bit posh as we owned our own home and my parents had middle class jobs, though we didn’t have a colour TV until years after my friends who lived on council estates and we didn’t have a flash car for example.

Yep, me and my mates played football or chasing games on the street. I lived on a busy road but I’d go round the corner to the quieter roads where my mates lived. There were fewer cars on the road but the roads were more dangerous then. The brother of a friend was knocked down and killed on the way to school in 72, which was about the peak time for UK road deaths (about 5 times as many people were killed on the road/year in the UK then compared with now). I remember a few close calls when I was on my bike. Drink driving was very common and resulted in a lot of deaths

No, I don’t have rose tinted spectacles about growing up in the 70s. We had freedoms then that my kids haven’t had. There were abandoned buildings to explore, one in particular we visited regularly near the airport with numerous storeys and dodgy floors, not to mention a pack of abandoned dogs you had to avoid. The roads were dangerous and there were a lot of creeps around. I know a few people who have had long time issues over the abuses they suffered as kids.

 

[fenix]

3 options on a menu and pre
3 options on a menu and pre booked ? I mean it would be effective but it’s not going to attract people is it ?
Sounds more like communist Russia.

Hope to God they do find an answer or everything will have to shut.

[dolly]

Born 1963, moved from SE

Born 1963, moved from SE London to SW Surrey at 8 months to a large house in a village with a large garden, 3/4 acre, and large woods at the bottom. House had one tiny bathroom and an outside loo. No central heating, gas fires in both front rooms and a small range of some sort in the kitchen. Every other part of the house was freezing in winter. used to get dressed in bed. Mum had a twin tub, I remember the tongs. Always outside playing etc. Walked to school every day. Had my sister’s old Raleigh RSW (the basis for the Chopper) when my older brothers were both bought Raleigh  racers from Glovers of Haslemere. I was very envious. The kids on the council estates thought we were posh but they all had Choppers whilst I had my siblings hand-me-downs. They all wore long trousers in winter but we wore shorts as mum couldn’t afford the former. Someone used to come round the village in a van with groceries every week, one of the coal yard people was a woman and it was rumoured she was Lady something or other. Holidays were NEVER abroad, Devon to see the grand parents, Pembrokeshire, Lake District, Scotland, Cornwall etc. Always camping, endless car journeys. 

But my bike was my freedom. I could go anywhere, even at the age of 10. 

In terms of lifestyle, I like to think that my upbringing is responsible for my general good health. I am a plumber etc. and worked throughout the pandemic. Never tested positive (Lance), and the only time I felt rather ill I tested every day and still negative. I simply don’t generally get sick at all. Is this a result of my upbringing? I’ve always believed in a healthy immune system but I’m not a scientist. 

As for derelict land, I used to work as a depatch rider/courier in London. First went to the Isle of Dogs in the mid eighties, rode across large amounts of derelict docks to arrive at the Northern and Shell building which was on East Ferry Road (I think), which at the time was the only building for miles, amongst the disused docks.  

Thanks for the opportunity to muse. Feel better now.

[NOtotheEU]

We used to cycle down to the

We used to cycle down to the Thames around the (then new) Thames Barrier (1984 ish) and there were lots of derelict buildings, empty land and abandoned boats to play in and around. We used to ride down a street of what seemed to me at the time like slum housing from a Dickens novel to get there  I’ve been back as an adult and it seems that everything from the Woolwich Road down to the Thames in that area is gone and redeveloped.

[David9694]

The lad in the black trousers

The lad in the black trousers probably needs to raise his saddle.

I can see a couple of them are running rad pads.

[David9694]

IanMSpencer wrote:

IanMSpencer wrote:

I think one oddity is that back in the 50s through to the 70s, there was a lot of derelict land.

I have the same perception: of parts of London and of the big northern cities.  Real, or is it what movie and documentary film makers like to show us?

[The Larger Cyclist]

ktache wrote:

Hopefully a better link.

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/history/gallery/tyneside-children-playing-outdoors-10-24678051

The kids on BMXs is great, and so are the soapbox racers.

So, anyone want to name the bikes in the pictures?!

[David9694]

Lots of horror stories about

Lots of horror stories about energy bills for pubs and tenants giving up. I’m no caterer or pubbie, but…

You have to reduce your exposure to electricity costs and similarly with gas. Cut back on the myriad Freezers and chillers that run all the time.  Use LED lighting. Gas-fired hobs and ovens where mains gas is available.   I welcome all day opening, but even that has got to wash its face. 

You simplify – on the food front, the 40 item menu is gone.  It’s 2 or 3 menu items and it is all pre-booked and paid-for and done in a single batch.  This is what happens on Christmas Day. You have a just-in-time order from your wholesaler for what you need.

white wine and soft drinks will come out in bottles from an unheated room. You can have sauces as they don’t use power, but you can’t have ice because that does.  I think with economies of scale you could provide a nice evening for about the same as it would cost households to do for themselves. Keep the plating simple and get people to re-use glasses to save on the washing up. 

[IanMSpencer]

I think one oddity is that
I think one oddity is that back in the 50s through to the 70s, there was a lot of derelict land.

When I was on the local residents association a decade ago, we looked at where we could get a rough play area come skatepark.

Two problems, local people hated the idea of youths playing within a 5 mile radius of their home, and the complete lack of unused land. We live in an upmarket area near Solihull and developers even redevelop upmarket housing to the extent that when I moved into my last house it was in a 6 house cul-de-sac which is now 12 houses and more to be divided so what was low density executive housing is now high density executive housing. Council policies to protect gardens and play areas are now developers choices and all developers measure is square footage. So houses do not have gardens big enough for play – when I was growing up, loads of friends had gardens you could play hide and seek in – most people seemed to have gardens with areas big enough for growing produce and for lawn. Now you neither have garden nor free outdoor space. When was the last time you smelt the damp plaster and rotten wood of an abandoned house – or explored one?

So how can you have free play when there is nowhere to play?. Local people even complain about kids in parks and want more flower beds rather than play areas. It seems children are nearly as disliked as cyclists at times. My local park “friends” lobbied for no cycling through the park which is an idea for to the local schools for cycling children, just to kill 2 birds with one stone.

[ktache]

Hopefully a better link.

Hopefully a better link.

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/history/gallery/tyneside-children-playing-outdoors-10-24678051

The kids on BMXs is great, and so are the soapbox racers.

[Author]

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