Games we played as kids

[GaryLockyer]

Since the advent of the computer, wave after wave of electronic toys and gizmos have invaded everyday life. The addition of mobile phones, iPads and other hand held devices have all accumulated to completely change the way that children play.
Gone are the days of playing outdoors. You are more likely to find your offspring inside watching tv, facebooking, twittering or 'on' the computer. So, with that 'grumpy old man' thought, I start this new thread about what we used to play as kids.
As kids we were never indoors - come rain or shine we would be outside playing games, or up the mountain. Our parents had to have a relay system to get messages to us - usually to tell us to come home for dinner or tea.
Street games used to have seasons, like soccer in the winter and cricket in the summer. (We could never play rugby as kids because gravel rash used to hurt too much). Games we played - in no particular, seasonal order were:-
Hoop and Wheel.
Marbles.
Fivestones
Spinning tops.
Bows and arrows - made from bamboo tomato plant stakes bought from Prices the ironmongers.
Horsey.
Hopscotch.
Paper aeroplanes - or balsa ones bought in kit form for sixpence.
Kite flying.
Matchstick racing, floating them down the rain-filled gutters.
Skipping.
Tiddlywinks - yes - in the street, as long as you could find a flat bit.
Touch - chasing - hide-and-seek.
Up the park on the swings.
Putting candle-wax on the slide to make it faster.
Double-clanking the big swing.
Up the baths in the summer, where there was a strict pecking order of who could sunbathe on the water tanks.
Also in the baths, who didn't get kicked out at end-of-session but stayed in the Office with Mavis and Ossie.
Up the mountain at the end of Darren Terrace.
Damming the stream to make a swimming hole.
Tents and camping on the quarter-crack or half crack.
Whinberry-picking right up to Bristol Tump.
Setting fire to the autumn ferns - how they burned. I can clearly remember Aberdare mountain being aglow.
There are bound to be lots of others that I have missed and you remember all too vividly.
So, this is my starter - now it is your turn to add some.
Gary

[lovelygirll]

Wonderful memories Gary. One for the girls was 'whip and top' - a spinning top and stick with a leather (I think) strap attached with which to 'whip' the top to keep it spinning. Great times!. Will have to think of some more, but I don't have your memory Gary.

[JohnPitt]

With all these activities - they could be indulged with zero cash - which was our usual status for most.
Gary you missed the "Gambo". This was a four wheeled transport made with two sets of axled wheels nicked off a dumped pram or push chair and a few strong bits of wood with the front pair steerable by putting a locking bolt through with some washers with a rope for steering or maybe just your feet. This gave us hours of pavement racing for zero money everything was ex dump or discarded

This webpage and 1950's colourphoto will give you the idea looks like boys in Cornwall called them karties :

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=ElcBseCToEtSPM&tbnid=jdtBkqiMnFv5nM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Flocksands.wordpress.com%2F2013%2F05%2F29%2Fthe-kartie%2F&ei=cMcKUrGKM9Ds0gXCw4CIBw&bvm=bv.50723672,d.d2k&psig=AFQjCNFQ91kqkE4nzw8O7eBaOIcSGbUktw&ust=1376524505889296

[GaryLockyer]

What was the name of the game where we had a handful of lollypop sticks and you dropped them on the ground then had to see how many you could collect without moving any of the others.
Was it 'chopsticks'?
Then there was nothing like the BIG occasions- like 5th November - BONFIRE NIGHT.
Going around all of the streets collecting for the bonfire. We used to chip in with Darran Terrace and take everything up to the clearing right next to Ray and Jeff Smith's house at the end of Darran.
Making sure we 'stood guard' arournd it as we got nearer to the magical day to make sure that other streets didn't come and raid it. Our biggest 'enemies' were the Blaen bonfire boys who used to build theirs at - I think, the end of George Street. We were always welcome up in Darran - maybe it was because Chris and I could get the odd couple of tyres from the garage - wow, did they burn - (and smell). Your skin smelt of the rubber for weeks afterwards.
Making your GUY from old clothes and hats that had been collected and then going around 'penny for the Guy-ing'
Going to the paper shop and looking at the fireworks to see how much they cost. We only ever seemed to buy 'penny bangers' so as we could set them off in old people's letterboxes. (Ooops - looks like I may have let the cat out of the bag there, but I think that the folk that we did this to are all long-gone by now.
Nailing catherine wheels to the lamp posts and watch them spin. Those aeroplane whizzers that used to take of with a high pitched whine. Sparklers for the namby-pambies. Roman candles -gee it all is flooding back.
Then there were the disasters that happened with the fireworks. Everyone at sometime or another has had the misfortune of setting the whole boxful alight. My dad did it one night when he was - supposedly - in charge of setting them off, down in Rhondda Terrace. He put a rocket in a milkbottle and set it alight. As it flared it blew itself over, only for the rest of the trail of sparks to shoot straight into the boxes of fireworks around his feet. It seemed like a disaster when it happened, but streets seemed to take it in turns to set their fireworks off, so we always wandered from street to street to watch everyone else's.
This is fun........

[GaryLockyer]

How else did we pass the time outdoors?
In the late 1950's we had a very bad winter with the snow so bad that nearly all of the streets in the valleys were impossible for driving. My dad was constantly on call-out to rescue drivers that got themselves stuck. These were mainly what I shall call 'essential services'. The doctors, milkmen, bread delivery vans, coal deliveries and so forth.
The hill that runs down from Foxes gully at the end of Rhondda Terrace, down and across Brynhyfryd, down Ayron Street -across Regent street and down to the main road was impassable for weeks.
So we turned it into one great big slippery slide from top to bottom. Rhondda Tce to the Main road.
John Roberts used to live in the last house on the left-hand side going down the hill on Ayron Street. As an aside - John used to have piano lessons - and we used to sit on his doorstep waiting for him to finish his lesson so that he could come out to play afterward. You could always tell when he was getting near the end of his lesson because he always played faster and faster and we would hear his teacher yelling at him to slow down - it never worked on John though.
So, outside John's house we built a 'ski-jump' which we thought was huge at the time although I estimate that it was probably only about 3 foot high when it was at its biggest.
It was only the bravest - or biggest fools -who went all the way from the top to the bottom. Ray Smith was absolutely fearless. The number of times he went from the top only to end up flying across the main road and under the railings opposite - where the steps are these days, next door to the pub - the Ferndale. I admit that I was not brave -or mad enough to do the whole run, I tried it once and that was sufficient for me. I was happy to negotiate my way down Ayron Street and stop before crossing Regent Street.
The mode of transport was simply a sheet of cardboard - and you do not realise how scarce a commodity that was in those days, especially when there were only a few deliveries being made due to the weather conditions.
Nevertheless we managed to beg, borrow, steal or scrounge enough to keep us going.
If memory serves me, we had this slide for almost 3 weeks - although it did diminish in size somewhat as the weather eased.
So that was almost another month out of my boyhood where we were playing in the streets - at no costs, moneywise - although there were a few scrapes and bruises that needed either an elastoplast or witch-hazel to remedy - and I survived.
That was even more fun.........

[GaryLockyer]

Team street games usually involved getting picked for a side by someone who had been nominated as the captain. You would hope to be picked early because if you were one of the last it usually meant that you were not much good at the game you were about to play. These were usually street football or cricket, depending on the season. If not picked by a captain then we would use ' eenie meenie minie mo, or one potato, two potato to sort things out by elimination.
Playing them involved local 'rules' such as - over the wall = 6 and out for cricket. hitting the ball into a far off garage door for 4, no catches allowed 'off the wall', or only one-handed catches allowed off the wall and so on. Then, when the ball did go over the wall, who and how to get it back - or else the game was over.
Occasionally a craze would happen as when the hula-hoop first appeared. Mainly a 'girl's' game it really caused a huge stir when it came out. Much like the rubik cube did in the 70's.
Other games that have since come to mind - besides things like crazes - are playing leapfrog, horsey and kick-the-can. Follow the leader morphed into Statue.
We used to play statue in the stand up in Darran park, advancing down the seats without being caught by the person who was 'it' standing facing the football pitch before turning around to tag you.
Conkers had their season. First we had to 'acquire' the conkers - no easy task as there were not many chestnut trees in the park so usually someone got them from 'away' and shared them. Taking the conkers home and soaking them in vinegar before drying them at the fire to harden them was a ritual - only to see all of your hard work smashed on its first outing by someone who had a better conker than yours.
Then there was always playing with paper planes, folding a sheet of paper into a rudimentary dart type of plane or else making the more advanced ones by folding the nose and adding a tail, tweaking the wings and maybe even adding a little weight into the front of it.
As an aside to this, the record for the longest distance flown by a paper plane is held by a 'plane' which is shaped like a cylindrical tube. It has been on the programme IQ with Stephen Fry and it can also been viewed on U-tube. I have made one recently and I was amazed at the result, however I still prefer our oldfashioned way of making them.
That is my update for now, anyone else have anything to add??

[brianblaenboy]

Gary, what a wonderful memory, certainly takes me back. In Blaen, from memory, I remember things like marbles, chopsticks, the gambo, (one of my brothers used his new pair of shoes to stop it hitting a wall-my mother wasn't too pleased with that), we were often down in the woods and up the mountain, playing round the wagon sheds, Wimberries being picked, jumping on the drams on the way to the top towards Llanwonno, using the 'screen wall' for tennis and the cardboard slide down the mountain on the snow, wearing balaclavas in the winter. Yes I remember a lot of that. I was having a discussion with some people about what children have got now with the modern technology, and quietly said, "Even I had a playstation - but mine was called a mountain and didn't cost a penny". Got a few funny looks as well!! Last photos I have of home shows a lot of trees scattered all over the mountain behind Blaenllechau and near the old railway line. Our schools were never closed during winter either, and being late because of snow and ice was never an accepted excuse. Thanks for making the brain work a little more today. Brian

[GaryLockyer]

So, yesterday was 5th November. Bonfire night. Hooray.......
Are you still allowed to BUY fireworks in the UK these days? We cannot but them over here, you have to get a special licence from the police to allow you to let off any fireworks and they a stringent about it. Only after you have the approved licence will the police issue you with a permit to purchase them. It is lucky that we do not celebrate Guy Fawkes night here or it would be a big problem. Never mind, we always have great fireworks and we can always find an excuse for having another display on the harbour - New Years Eve, Australia Day, Queens Birthday, Auntie Daisy's bunion removal - we can always find an excuse.
In Australia it was also Melboune Cup Day yesterday. The race that stops a nation. In a country with a population of only 23 million there was over $50million bet on the race on the TAB in New South Wales State alone. (TAB is equivalent to the tote). On top of that there were many more millions spent with the bookies plus all of the other States - Victoria, Queensland, Western Aust, Northern Territory, Tasmania and the A.C.T.. Aussies sure do like to have a bet. The end result was that overseas bred horses took out the first 4 places, together with total prizemoney of over $6million.
Gee I miss bonefire night though. (And the money I lost on the race).

[brianblaenboy]

Yes, fireworks can still be bought whenever, most supermarkets stock them, and there are some shops that just open up for the short time. There was a poll recently on a website where the majority of people thought organised firework displays should be the only way to commemorate bonfire night. There is also a body of opinion that it is a lot of money going up in smoke and the cost could be better spent elsewhere. My old rugby club used to have a display, but it no longer does, that could be because of Health and Safety and/or Insurance Premiums. For street parties in the UK, you have to go through purgatory to get permission, risk-assessments, insurances, police permission, etc etc. I had a skip outside my house this year before I moved, and the local council charged £45 for it to be placed on the road. If you have a drive, this fee is not levied. The skip went the same day - easy money for one piece of paper! How did we all survive, Gary?

[robbynesta]

Can, can kick a can
Dutch arrows
Cannon
Wembley down Brown st garages