For All those of somewhat 'mature' years ..

[JohnPitt]

Tho' not directed particularly at those who grew up in the Rhondda Fach, the following ditty does I think strike a chord.


WE WAS BRUNG UP PROPER

And we never had a whole Mars bar until 1993

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE
1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank Fernvale (the Prince of ales) while they carried us and some lived in houses made of asbestos...
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, bread and dripping, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.
Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds , KFC, Subway or Nandos.
Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on a Sunday, somehow we didn't starve to death!
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers and Bubble Gum.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter, milk from the cow, and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O..K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY ,
no video/dvd films, or colour TV
no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
Lawsuits from these accidents.

Only girls had pierced ears!

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time....

We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays,

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet because we didn't need to keep up with the Jones's!

Not everyone made the rugby/football/cricket/hockey/team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on
MERIT

Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes and throw the blackboard rubber at us if they thought we weren't concentrating .....
We can string sentences together and spell and have proper conversations because of a good, solid three R's education.
Our parents would tell us to ask a stranger to help us cross the road.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla'

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO
DEAL WITH IT ALL !


And YOU are one of them!
CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.
PS -The big type is because your eyes are not too good at your age anymore

[RogerWood]

Talking about glasses John, you should be used to them. Some of us are still trying to get to grips with theirs.

[JohnPitt]

Talking about glasses John, you should be used to them. Some of us are still trying to get to grips with theirs.

lol - rest my case

[Gary1970]

I can remember most of that too, so you can include those born in the '70's...

[GaryLockyer]

I agree wholeheartedly John. Out playing all day until your mam started yelling for you to get yourself home. Improvisation of the myriad street games that we played and each game having its 'season'.
Recently over here in Oz they have discovered that there is a 'new' generation malking its appearance. It is GENERATION U. (The U generation are USELESS).
They do not know how to do anything - boil and egg, change a car tyre when punctured, iron a shirt create their own amusement etc.
Everything that Generation U wants/needs to do they use Google to find out - and then they get it wrong anyway.
It is a sad state of affairs when present day kids do not even know the pleasures that they are missing by having their heads into computers. IPads etc, and have never thought about getting outside to climb anything - a tree , a mountain or even a wall.
Seems to be getting a bit het up here.
Enough said. Please kids - get outdoors and discover things for yourselves - there is a whole big world out here.
Gary

[brianblaenboy]

Apart from the the best playstation ever invented - the mountain - most of us would have had a book at Christmas time. A couple of years ago, there was guy in the club where I live, whose son was going to do a project on Deep Sea Fishing (I live in Fleetwood). So he told his son to go up the club with him on a Saturday and he could speak to a number of those that had actually done it. As Gary has just said, the reply was, "No problem Dad, I can get it all off the internet". I'm sure that would now be true of all our past heavy industries.
August time was 'picking wimberries', if I remember correctly?

[lovelygirll]

Indeed it was ! My Mam made the best wimberry tart - usually on a Sunday. I have a friend at home who still goes picking on the mountain behind Oakland Terrace! Ah wonderful days!

[GaryLockyer]

Wimberry picking anywhere from the source of the stream up behind Darran Tce then across quarter and half crack up to the Bristol Tump was a must. But had to beware of those really shiny, warm ones , . I remember when they were in season there would be hordes of people - mums and grandmas as well as the kids, covering the mountain side picking like mad. Then rolling down the mountainside afterwards - through the prickly wimberry ground cover. Very gorse-like, if my memory serves me. We would usually head for home via the Valley of the Four Hills at the back of Wilcox the milk, at the bottom end of Darran.
Gary

[GaryLockyer]

Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla'

I thought Kiora was orange pop.
I shave with Blades - still.
You lost an "F" - I keep my beer in a F-Ridge.
My icecream comes in Vanilla.

However, I agree about the silly names. Within my family in OZ we have a Kiara, Kaisha, Kylie, Anais, Ariabele, Kyle, Samarra and a Raina.
I am forever getting them wrong and mixed up - must be just old age catching up on me.

[brianblaenboy]

This thread and our memories came to mind today as I went into Blackpool. As we approached Blackpool, the tram filled up, mainly with older people than me, many with walking sticks. I and the guy next to me, got up and gave our seats up. Behind us - four children remained seating, I couldn't work out which adults they were with. Would we have got away with that?.......a clip around the ear, perhaps?