Fun Pastimes as a Kid in the 1970s and 1980s

We all must have memories of our favourite toys and the odd things that would ovcupy our minds as children. Here are a few of my favourites. I always wanted a girly metalic pink or blue bike that was all the rage in the early 80's and as usual my lovely parents, got it slightly wrong and got me a Hercules fold away bike like this one. Although I was slightly disappointed it wasn't exactly the bike I'd asked for, it was the first bike my folks had actually bought for me, as I always ended up with my brothers hand me downs (yes, I used to ride a red Tomahawk before this beauty!) I loved playing cops and robbers on it, particularly Starskey and Hutch and Chips!

I became quite proficient at roller skating too. My uncle would take my brother, cousin and I to Roller City in Rochdale and I even had some lessons so I could do all kinds of tricks like pirouettes, one legged crouch, skating backwards etc. I loved tearing down the pavement as fast as I could and I still roller skated (secretly) when I was in my teens. (I got embarrassed that I was too old) These were the exact same boots I had. I want white leather ones, like Torville and Dean style, but as always I got what I asked for, just not in the style or colour I wanted. Aww, bless. But this was one of the activities I used be able to do whilst fantasying stories, like being a Princess in a stately home, or a gyspy girl who lived in a shiny caravan and didn't have to go to school and could live outside all the time.

Elastics or French skipping or Chinese Jump as it is also known. At St Margaret's we called it Elastics and I was simply brilliant at it. I didn't like sports as such, but cycling, roller skating, elastics and two ball were my talents and I'd practice and practice until I was the best and no other girl in my class could beat me. I even used to practice at home alone by putting elastics under the dining chair legs and playing in the house. I must have seemed quite an odd child to adults when I think about it.

Two Ball was literally throwing two tennis balls at a wall in a certain sequence whilst doing various tricks like calpping in between throwns, juggling with just one hand, turning around in a circle. Again, I would practice this game at home for hours under my dad's carport so even if it rained, I could still play out! This was a pasttime that would allow me to drift into my head and my thoughts once more, but this time I would dream of all the toys I really wanted for my next birthday or Christmas, like a Pink and Pretty Barbie!

At one time, there was always a park within spitting distance from a kids house, these days you have to go to the main towns parks run by the council, but on our estate, there was a waste area with garages and a big playground with swings, slides, a big round about and rides similar to what you see in these pictures. This was a great place to make new friends with kids who lived on the estate, but you'd never normally meet because they didn't live on the same road as us. If I went alone though, this was a great time for me to play my Science Fiction games such as Space 1999 and Blakes 7

And, finally no reminiscing about being a 70's kid is complete without the mention of this crazy dude. The Space Hopper. Now, for some reason both my brother and I asked for a Space Hopper and never got one, but we knew all the kids on our street who did have one and so if we fancied a bounce around on a big plastic orange ball then we'd call on our 'special' friends to have a go. I can still feel the excitement and exhilaration of bouncing around really high on this, especially when going down a steep hill. Great Fun!

I think every girl played skipping. If you didn't then I don't know where you're coming from. These where the exact same pair of ropes I used to have and we'd play doubles, singles and in groups. In  the early 80's when Double Dutch became all the rage, I even managed to master two rope skipping. Although these days I think I'd have a heart attack if I did any kind of skipping. As a kid it seemed so easy, but now it's just so hard.

I don't have any pictures of me learning to swim, but every Tuesday evening after school was swimming lessons. I remember almost drowning on my first attempts but I got as far as my life savers badge when we moved from Heywood to Bluntisham (Cambridgeshire). We'd go to Gask Pool on school holidays quite regularly and I rmemeber going with my cousin a lot and a friend called Kate. Going to Bury baths was a big treat because it was enormous compared to Heywoods little pool.

OMG! I LOVED Brownies and Guides. These are photos of St Margarets Whit Walks in the very early 80's. I was so proud the day I was allowed to carry the pack's flag and we used to do it regularly as we had to attend church parade to be a part of the pack. I loved the badges we had to do. I remember doing toy maker and making a green felt owl I still have today and a papiermache piggy bank. Safety in the home I almost failed because I couldn't light the match I was so afraid of burning myself. Agility, I could do because I could do tipple overs and cartwheels, but that was about it!

Collectors badge because I was a big horder and collected stamps and foreign dolls mainly at this time. We had a halloween party one year (i've already written about this in another blog,) where I dressed as a witch and won 1st prize. I remember going on a trip to Blackpool zoo and I loved the standing in a circle around the toadstool and a stuffed owl at the beginning and end of each evening to say the Brownie Promise and to sing a song or say a prayer. My auntie turned up one evening as the area commissioner which I was so proud of. Weirdly I had no idea she was involved in Guides until that night, but I was very happy to see her.

I still have my Brownie Guide handbook!

Summer holidays and hot, balmy days meant water fights. The kids at one end of the street would have a water fight with us lot round the corner. The essential weapon of choice was of course the fairy washing up bottle. My friend and next door neighbour Angela had a tent just like this one, so when it was nice weather we were allowed to pitch it in her back garden and play in it like a huge Wendy house. My folks even let me sleep out in it twice with her. I'm not going to go on about it because I have already mentioned in another blog, but, Oh what fun!

Camping in friends back garden, my friend Angela was a little bit older than me and as a Brownie I always wanted to camp out. Angela had her own tent so a few times during the summer months we would camp out in Angela's back garden and have midnight feasts which general consisted of lots of chocolate! I absolute loved camping out with Angela and I cherish those memories. This was the exact same tent we used to camp out in!

I loved to dance and although I wasn't exactly graceful as a ballet dancer, After Heywood Civic Centre, Whitefield Ballet Classes (which was awful) and the Samaritans centre (Thumbelina  routine in a previous post) - My auntie took me and my cousin to an old church or village hall in Middleton where I really enjoyed myself. It wasn't traditional Ballet and tap, but more contemporary and we danced to routines such as Lazy Bones, Albatross and Puppet on a String. We did a showcase and I had to dress up as a clown and a Charleston dancer in this electric blue satin dress. Why we stopped going, I don't know and why my mum never took photos I also don't know.

So I moved on to Taskers where I discovered Ballroom dancing and my talent... Every Saturday I'd spend the entire morning there while my folks went shopping. Little Jimmy was my teacher and he was kind and also very good according to my nana and grandad who were avid ball room dancers themselves. Unfortunately, there was a very unpleasant girl in our little group of six and for some reason she always picked on me to the point where she dug her nails into my legs and drew blood, so, my parents complained and Jimmy offered to give me 1 to 1 tuition. Which I loved.

My Uncle Dave was an avid squash player and he used to take me and my cousin Nichola there when he was looking after us, but wanted a game of squash. This was back in the days when kids were allowed to be let out of adults watchful and I have to say we did run riot. I used to love going there because it reminded me of Chips as they were always playing squash or in fancy American bars. Bamford Squash club did have such a bar and we used to play Chips or Starskey and Hutch there. I also remember messing around in the ladies toilets and we found this little doll and my cousin stuffed it in the ladies disposal unit. I had no idea what it was for back then, I just thought it was an incredibly smelly bin!! I still love walking past squash courts now and watching people play, and the sound of the ball ricocheting from wall to racket still gives me goose bumps and a thrill to hear.

I Hope you enjoyed, if you'd like to read more things I have been inspired by over the years, please check out my Crime Novels The Mancunian Tales and my Urban Fantasy Books The Beyond Series. Or for something different watch My Videos on YouTube channel.

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8 Reasons Why Reading is Good For Your Health

 

As part of mental health awareness week and a registered Mental Health First Aider myself, I thought I’d look for an article that proves the positive benefits of reading a good book from time to time. This is a great article From MHFA England. Here are eight great benefits to your mental health when reading:

1. Reading is pleasurable

When you start to read a really good book it is often hard to put it down, the story captivates you and time disappears as you become absorbed. When you reach the end, you are so eager to get the next book in the series, perhaps look up other books the author may have published before. It’s a magical feeling.

2. Reading can reduce stress

Losing yourself in a good book has been shown to reduce your levels of stress. Research has previously shown that reading as little as six minutes a day can reduce stress levels by 60%. Your heart reduces which eases muscle tension and altering your state of mind. It is also believed that reading is better at reducing stress than music, drinking a cup of tea, going for a walk and playing video games.

3. Reading can provide an escape from the 'real world'

Closely linked to reducing stress levels when you read is the ability to escape from the real world. I did this all the time as a child and I continued it into my adult hood, which gave me the imagination to write my own fantasy stories as a way of escape. Becoming immersed in that world helps me to forget my worries and reduces my anxiety. Research has shown that escapism is more complex than just reading for light-hearted entertainment, but it did show that people found the process transformative changing the way people interact with the world and others.

4. Reading helps you develop empathy for others

People who read fiction have been shown to improve their level of empathy, the ability to understand someone else’s beliefs, feelings and thoughts. This is known as the theory of mind.
A study showed that people exposed to fiction predicted the results of an empathy task and that empathy was temporarily enhanced after reading fiction.

5. Reading works your brain and prevents memory loss

Participating in cognitive activities, such as reading over your life time (both early and later in life) has shown to slow down memory loss when compared to those who didn’t participate in mentally stimulating activities. The same study also found that the rate of mental decline was reduced by 32% when people participated in reading, writing and other activities later on in life. While those with infrequent stimulating activity found that their decline was 48% faster than those with average activity.

6. Reading groups help to treat mental health issues

My default for when I’m feeling low is to read or write stories but there is scientific research that shows that reading and then talking about what you have read could be beneficial to mental health and well-being. There is something called bibliotherapy and it has a profound effect on people suffering with depression. Liverpool Health Inequalities Research Institute examined a two weekly reading group program for people diagnosed with depression over a 12-month period and reported a significant improvement to mental health. Participants reported improved concentration, better emotional understanding, increased self-awareness, and the ability to discuss meaningful issues related to self and being.

7. Reading helps teenagers develop insights into being an adult

Becoming an adult can be tricky – a lot of things change during this time and exploring self-identity is crucial. I remember reading as a teenager a book called Changing Times by Tim Kennemore and Z for Zachariah in particular, which dealt with hard hitting issues for the teenage protagonists in both books whilst set in a Sci-fi/Fantasy genre. I remember the books that resonate with me the most and helped me to understand the confusing world and transition from child to adult. MHFA said ‘Research has shown that reading for pleasure in teenagers has three key benefits, reading was shown to enhance academic performance, social engagement and personal development. Fiction helped teens by providing significant insights into mature relationships, personal values and cultural identity all of which are important in the transition from being a child to becoming an adult.’

8. Reading can make you smarter

Reading books helps us to learn new things, experience different cultures, understand ourselves better and research has shown that reading does in fact make us smarter. Cognitive differences have been seen between those who read a lot and those who read a little. People who are exposed to more written information are associated with higher vocabulary, general knowledge, and verbal skills.

If you are looking to reduce your stress, educate yourself, become more empathetic and even smarter than you currently are then the Mental Health Book Club Podcast currently has reviews and recommendations on over 20 fiction and non-fiction books portraying mental health issues. Here’s the link to the MHBC podcast looking at books, media and speaking to people who think mental health is important identifying books that represent people in a positive and realistic way supporting the mental health community.

Or if you simply want to get lost in your imagination for a while try my fictional books The Beyond and The Mancunian Tales. Click on the links here. The Mancunian Tales The Beyond Series of books

Earliest Ever Memories - The Nursery Years

For me at a young age, life may not seem all that exciting, but then I did grow up in this old Northern mill town in the 70's and early 80's. So, from birth to ten years old, everything I understood about the world and my environment was all about this microcosm that was my understanding of the world at that time.

I was born on a housing estate called 'The Summit' in a small Lancashire town called Heywood and from my earliest memories of attending Millbank Nursery, my life revolved around my home, the people that came to visit and visiting other people's houses. I vaguely remember going to my Auntie Thelma and Uncle Bob's House, who I thought were amazingly kind people and Bob allowed me to play with his Sooty and Sweep Puppets. (Thelma was my Nana's cousin. I don't know what happened to her and one day, I think I need to try and find out).

Then there was visiting my Uncle Terrence and Auntie Pat, who always seemed to have a house full of people, or we simply went round when they were having a party. (Terrence was my Nana's Nephew and they had four children, Diane (second born) was my mum and Dad's Bridesmaid and I was hers when she married (see Party Blog!) I loved going to Pat and Terrence's too as they seemed extraordinarily kind as well. In fact, up until they both passed, they never changed.
My Nana and Granddad were super cool and if we slept over on the Saturday night they would take my brother, David and I to to a country pub called Owd Betts on the moors because back in the 70's it was rare to allow children in pubs and if they were allowed, they were expected to be quiet and well behaved, usually made to sit in a corner or in the games rooms. Owd Betts had such a room with a game of skittles that kept us amused. So, whenever I stayed, I'd be like "Are we going to the pub?" Loved it. )Nana outside her bungalow).


My Great Granddad Ferguson was my Granddad's Step Father. My Granddad's real father, William, died after the first World War from Pneumonia. Sad really, he survived the entire war in the trenches only to die when he got home two years later. So my Great Grandmother Elizabeth Linley remarried, and he too fought the full WW1 in the trenches, which is why I have two Queen Mary/Alexander Christmas Gift Boxes! (Picture) I know he lived on a council estate in Bury with the address of a tree in the name. His house was always hot and stifling, like you couldn't breath. He still had a coal fire and smoked a pungent smelling tobacco in his pipe, which is probably why I can't stand the smell of pipe smoke to this day.

He too seemed a kindly man and always gave me some pennies from a blue glass bowl cupped in a silver leave holder he kept on his dresser. I don't really remember much about him, because he passed away when I was just four years old.

Afternoon naps were a serious bug bear for me and I hated going to bed in the afternoon, which my mother always insisted upon. One day I must have decided I didn't want to go to bed so I began to kick and scream in a rage. I remember being defiant and determined not to go to bed, but I couldn't say these things as I was too young to articulate my feelings in words. My mum handed me to my father and he took over my discipline from then on. Strangely though, the afternoon naps from then on ceased.
(Picture of Me, my brother and three cousins, always hung on my Granma's lounge wall.)

I think my mum wished for me to be a graceful Prima Ballerina because she insisted for years that I attended ballet lessons. I was clumsy and heavy footed and felt ridiculous most of the time, but my first memory of dancing classes was at the Heywood Civic Centre in one of the little side rooms. I remember the "point point change foot and point point" and then there was the tap dancing. I just remember feeling completely bemused by it all. I didn't last very long at that dance class and moved on to the Salvation Army hut where I enjoyed dancing much more because we danced to a proper routine about Thumbelina. We dressed up in pretty Victorian dresses and made peg dolls who were meant to be Thumbelina. There just seemed to be a logical point to the dance routine and we performed it in front of the parents. Plus my friend Debbie and I would dress up in our costumes when we got home and practice our little routine, which was fun. Just wish I'd had a picture of the dress. This is as close as I could find. (Never understood why my parents didn't take pictures of these events like parents seem to do these days).

I was a curious child and my brother had lots of toys and games I wanted to explore and play with. I was always a light sleeper and remember waking up much earlier than the rest of the household on most occasions. However, this didn't bother me, nor did I play the game of 'Bagpuss' and wake everyone up, sometimes this was the best time of the day, where I could creep in and our of bedrooms and nosy at things I probably shouldn't nosy at. On one particular morning I decided to snoop around my brothers bedroom whilst he slept. I found a game called "Dinky Doodles". There was a board with lots of holes in and a packet of multi-coloured pegs and I think the object of the game was to make pictures by sticking the pegs in the boards holes.

However, I thought I'd found a much better place to stick a dinky doodle and that was up my nose! Don't ask me why, even I cannot always rationalise my behaviour as a three year old. Now any sensible person would block the other nostril and blow hard to push the offending game piece out of the hooter, but instead I tried to forage the damn thing out with my finger and pushed it further up my nose! I do remember going into my mum and dads bedroom and waking up mum, (It was always mum, dad would grump and moan at me if I woke him) and simply said, "Mummy I have a Dinky Doodle up my nose." This episode of my early life has brought years of mocking, hilarity and entertainment from the rest of my family. If anyone's concerned, I had to go to A&E and have it picked out with tweezers...

I got a lollipop for my audacious effort in shovelling inanimate objects into a human orifice and no doubt was the laughing stock of Bury General Hospital!

I never really looked where I was going or who I was talking to for that matter and found myself walking into lampposts, post office pillar boxes and talking to strangers thinking they were my parents. One such occasion we were in a supermarket (Leos in Bury) and my dad was wearing a tweed jacket. I walked straight up to this arm with a brown tweed pattern, held the hand dangling from the sleeve and began walking along chattering to the arm without a care in the world until my mum and dad turned the corner of the aisle pushing their shopping trolley. I gasped and looked up in horror to see the very old, white haired man looking down at me and who smiled. (this seemed okay in the 70's!)

I screamed and ran to my dad. My parents did speak to the old man and what was said, I can't remember, I was just too traumatized. One thought came to me as I was writing this, as an adult, why didn't he say something straight away like, "Hello there, but I think you've got the wrong hand..." Or something of that ilk, instead of letting me wander about nattering to this complete stranger! Odd.

Before I began Nursery, my mum always used to put my clothes on the bed and then helped to dress me. One day I decided I was a big grown up girl who could dress herself. My mum was like, 'ok you dress yourself'. I decided a lovely little trouser suit/dungarees number. Please be warned, this was the 70's and flares on trouser legs had reached extreme proportions.

I stood at the top of the stairs and whilst trying to pull the straps up over my head began to walk down the stairs. As you can probably guess, I missed my footing completely and tumbled from top to bottom, hitting my head on the radiator for an extra good measure of pain. I think I screamed; - It's highly likely I did. But to this day, I can't stand banging my head or getting a headache.

And I'm so careful around any doors or window joints too. Yes, I trapped my fingers in a car door, bathroom door, and a window! If I see someone with their fingers to close to a hinge now, I tend to lurched towards them in slow motion shouting "Nooooo!!!" I can always tell when an adult has never experienced the searing pain of trapped fingers in doors!

Gran and Granddad would pop over whenever they felt like a visit and tap on the living room window to be let in. David and I would go mad jumping up and down in delight, in fact, I think I did this when most visitors came to our house, or when dad came home from work and David and I would fight over who sat on dad's knee and steered the car onto the drive. (I believe it's frowned upon today!)

Gran used to come over once a month or so to get her hair permed. My mum was never a hairdresser, but I guess back then people used to save money by doing it themselves and I loved the smell of the blue perming solution and I'd sit watching mum put thin rollers in Grans hair whist they gossiped about people in town...

Maybe that's where I got my fascination with hairdressers from and wanting to cut Patrick's hair whilst hiding behind the back of the sofa. (My mum was a registered childminder, so we regularly had kids around the house, especially during school holidays. Patrick was one such child my mum looked after during these holidays.) My mum found us and I can still see the shocked look on her face when she saw my handy work. I believe he had clumps of hair missing with a zig zag fringe! Hahahaaaa! I also used to play hairdressers on my grandparents and parents if they came over for tea. Everyone would get their hair brushed into a ridiculous style then a newspaper over their heads to dry their hair out... (newspaper being the hairdryer, of course!)

Going to Milbank Nursery was a great experience for me and constantly seemed to be in trouble for something. I remember telling a boy he was stupid because he couldn't count properly to 20 so he hit me over the head with a fire truck! Another girl was so obsessed with this wicker basket bag and wouldn't let anyone else play with it, so I hid it and I think I may have traumatised her for life... sorry! I popped my head around the head mistresses door and discovered a Playmobil Hospital playset so decided if I was going to get in trouble then so could loads of other kids, so I went and told a bunch of them I'd found this new toy. I showed them and we all started playing with it. When the head came in and shouted at us, we had to sit cross legged on the office floor with our hands on our heads and our mothers were informed of our 'naughtiness' when they came to take us home. Apparently, the toy for next years new entrants once we had gone up to infant school.. And!

I still ask that question now... Why couldn't we road test the toy and see if it was suitable for the new kids coming to nursery? My friend Claire, who was so lovely and kind, asked me to stay for tea at her house and I was amazed that she lived on the same street as me. How tiny our worlds are at 3 years old! Anyway, I was really excited because she had her own Playmobil hospital and so we played with that one all afternoon. Another boy was always getting into trouble... He was naughtier than me. One day he was carrying lots of boxes (cereal and food boxes) and he asked if I'd help him pick up the ones he kept dropping, so I said yes. Ten the 'tail tit; of our class (and you know there always was one) came round the corner, saw the two naughty kids carrying boxes and shot her arm in the air and accused us of stealing and she was "going to tell Miss" Stomping off with her finger pointing high in the air.

Now, I must have had a ticking off from my dad about my behaviour because I suddenly felt very afraid, dropped the boxes and ran off crying, then hid in a corner sobbing my heart out and claiming I wanted to go home because I missed my mum! (Aww!). Talking of being wrongly accused of something,  I was also accused of weeing in next doors garage and the kids who tattled on me, ganged up on me because I was the youngest, but I know to this day I didn't do it. I'm convinced it was the girl (stood in Pic) who lived there, because my mother told me she didn't like me and thought she was jealous of me, because I was just too cute for my own good. Mum caught her slapping me about one time. (Thankfully I must have been too young to remember that incident), but it does make me wonder if she lied to her parents on purpose to make me look bad! Hmmm!

Barry and Ness were close friends of my mum and dad and they would come round for the typical 70's dinner party and I was allowed to stay up long enough for them to arrive and see what amazing clothes she was wearing, (I thought she was so pretty). We sometimes went to visit them, which I loved because as I've said before, as a kid, I used to love nosing around other peoples houses. Barry had just started his own upholstery business and was living above his shop, so I had to climb this steep set of stairs to the flat above and remember finding this cute little child size Chesterfield chair to sit in when I reached the top. Naturally this became known as my chair and when they moved to their new bungalow I was deeply disappointed that my chair didn't make the move with them.

Dad's (opposite) mate Pete and Linda from work who lived in Sale had this gorgeous Pre-war semi, which to me seemed the size of a mansion. His daughter Debbie had this shopping trolley and till and plastic fruit etc, so we played shops for hours. Naturally, I wanted these toys when I came home, but alas, I got the till and had to pretend with everything else. Except, I do remember mum buying those tubes of jelly tots and playing shop with me, asking me to bag the sweets up and charge for them.

Here is Tufty (the silver fox rabbit), he could be Tufty 2, 3 or 4 as we had a lot of Tufty's. My dad knew a rabbit breeder who thought he was giving us a duff rabbit, then would change his mind and ask for it back and try to palm off another duff Silver Fox onto us so he could show and breed the last rabbit he'd given us! 

The Lab is Bonnie, which was my first dog. I was only four when we got her from a pub my dad had worked on. Another freebie! My dad worked for Bass Brewery as a property maintenance guy and this puppy (they originally called Muppet) was wrecking the landlords home and all their stock, so dad took her off their hands. I remember going to get her from the pub (another thing I loved doing, going in pubs, because as I said before kids weren't usually allowed to go in there). She came bounding out, the clumsiest dog ever, knocked over every glass and bottle in the place then puked and pooed all over my mum on the car ride home! Hahhaaaa! Happy days!

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St Margaret's - Fond Memories of My Primary School, Church and Community.

St Margaret's was my first Primary School and apart from a few ups and downs, the odd hiccup and naughty behaviour, I really enjoyed my time at this school. This photo is of my class in Class 5 with Mr Gardiner. I'm not on the photo though because I was in hospital with salmonella at the time. I hated being in the isolation ward and almost lost my favourite teddy bear, Fred the Ted to the hospital furnace. Back then everything got burnt, even cute teddies! My mum sneaked him out one night when no-one was looking. LOL! So, these were my classmates age 8/9. I know it's not very clear, but I know who they are and it's clear enough for me to remember what they looked like.

Mr Gardiner was lovely and I was fortunate to have him teach me for both Class 5 and 6. When I left St Margaret's he granted me three wishes. I chose no hymn practice, extra points for the blue team (my team colour, so we won that week!) and to be teacher for the afternoon. And he actually agreed to it. I sat at his desk and ran the drama lesson whilst he sat in my tiny chair. I was even cheeky enough to ask for a cup of tea at playtime! Lovely memories and one of the boys in my class (not mentioning his name) gave me a kiss goodbye because I would never see him again.

Although, who would have thought back then I would manage to find so many of these lovely friends, who I share some of my most precious childhood memories on Facebook! Good Old Facebook! The picture here is of my cousin's class 2 years below me, but I've put it on because of the teacher. Mrs Howarth was a fierce woman, but she was fair and encouraging when it was deserved. She praised me when I discovered I had a talent for art and produced a Plasticine Triceratops dinosaur, which some other kid squashed for whatever reason! I discovered Egypt and Hieroglyphs with Mrs Howarth, which is still a passion of mine today.

And I can still remember story time and the song of the prince who had secretly got horses ears, he was so ashamed of his secret, he whispered it to the reeds by the river. One day, a musician came along and picked the reeds and made a flute with them. He went to the Prince's court and played the flute for all to hear and all that came out of the flute was "March has horses ears!" I loved that song and I still sing it now! I also had the great honour of impersonating Mrs Howarth at the famous Mr Purcell's Christmas play, which every child couldn't wait to be in his class because he always put on a blinding play that involved poking fun of the teachers through impersonating them! She came up to me afterwards, gave me a big hug and said, "I've seen many children impersonate over the years, but never one so good as you." Naturally I was very chuffed.

So the picture opposite and above may look strange for a school, but St Margaret's was a Church of England School, so we were heavily involved with extra curricular activities outside of school time revolving around the church next door. When I look back, I realised that up to the age of 10, my life had been quite sheltered. Everything revolved around my family, the street I grew up on, the school I went to, the church and swimming and dancing lessons. I don't know whether this was just a Northern Mill town thing, but all the churches had their annual Whit walks.

The Rose Queen and her attendants, Brownies, Guides, Cubs, Scouts, Brass Bands and Morris dancers used to walk around the streets of Heywood with their flags and banners, parading in their best clothes... (not sure why, now I question it as an adult, but as a kid I loved it!) Even more so when I got picked to carry my Brownie pack flag and walk at the front of the Pack! Great stuff.

I decided one day that I wanted a long, pretty dress to wear, like the Rose Queens attendants, so I asked my mum how I became one. She said I had to go to Sunday School to even be considered. So, off I went to St Margaret's Sunday School, never missing a single Sunday, unless I was at Brownie Church parade, which was excused, as I was a St Margaret's Brownie and Pupil. The day came when they announced the new Rose Queen and her attendants. I sat there in the school hall, excited to hear my name be called out because I was so sure I would be. You can imagine my dismay and disappointment when my name wasn't called.

When it was all over I looked at my friend, who had been chosen for the umpteenth time to be an attendant, she was like "Oh god, not again! I've got to wear yet another frumpy, ugly dress, humph." I was quite angry because I would've given my right arm to be in her shoes at that moment.

I went home that Sunday - sad, despondent, almost in tears. I told my mum about my friend, who didn't even like being a Rose Queen attendant. My mum's reply was, "Ah well, you see, Kerry's parents are heavily involved with the church and school. All the parents who have a vote pick their own children first." Thanks mum, you could have warned me of your own churchy, elitist cynicism before I spent a year working my ass off to try to reach for something that was totally achievable. And yes, I did try and persuade my mum to join the church committee! Naturally she said no because she wasn't an elitist. Needless to say, I gave up on Sunday School after that.

Once a week, instead of assembly in the morning we had to attend a church service next door. I enjoyed it because it was different surroundings and we could sit on chairs like the grown ups, a pleasant change from sitting cross legged on a dusty, wooden floor. I loved the smell of the candles and all the pomp and ceremony that went with the hymns and communion. We held our harvest festivals here and I even made it into the local rag one year. I actually remember being chosen by the Heywood Advertiser photographer to sit among all the tins of food and baskets!

We held our nativity plays here as well and although I would put my hand up to volunteer for the part of Mary every year, then the Arch Angel Gabrielle and then the little fairies, (I know there isn't fairies, but they had to give 30 kids something to do!) I always got chosen to be a sheep, cow, donkey and one year... a robin! Major insult! Anyhoo, I still loved the plays even if my speaking line was a "cheep cheep" or a "baaaaaah"! I went to Brownies at St Margaret's too, but I have a separate post all about my love for Brownies and Guides, but it was in this hall. As like most Primary Schools it was the hub of school life.

Assemblies, Dinner time; and this was when we couldn't take pack lunches to school. You either ate what the dinner ladies force fed you, (which usually involved semolina or Ox offal) or you went home for dinner. As I got older, I was allowed home for lunch, but in my younger years, I had to endure the milky coffee with the skin on top and instant packet mash served with an ice cream scoop. I have other great memories of my time here:- learning to read my first words, whilst sitting in the cute little Wendy House in Class 1 and copying my friend, because I had no idea what the words said or what they meant... playing in the sand pit, painting with bubbles, milk breaks where we all got a little milk bottle and if it was really cold the milk would freeze and break the lid, but we still drank it, no health and safety back then!

A girl in my class called Melanie got her leg stuck around an old lead pipe whilst playing hide and seek and firemen coming out to get her free, whilst she wailed like a banshee! Playing pirates in PE, basically all the green mats were put out as islands and the horse box, ropes and benches were boats and you had to run to safety before the pirates caught you in the water... (the floor) an elaborate game of tag with the Gym apparatus, but great fun! Getting up on stage at assembly for your birthday and blowing out the candle as the rest of the school sang happy birthday and counted the candles being lit. 

Learning about Native American Indians in the library, learning the Viola and watching the Space Shuttle take off at lunch time from those big telly's on wheels, which was rolled onto the stage whilst we ate. (I could go forever really, the memories are flooding back as I write.)

Singing my favourite song in assembly "Sing -a Loud" which I've only just found on the internet... Oh the joys of the information highway! Learning to play the recorder in Class 4 and pretending to be ill so I didn't have to go out at playtime so I could stay in with my friend, who really was ill. I got home that afternoon and mum's like "lift up jumper," I'm like, "Why?" Mum whilst inspecting my tummy, "Christine's mum's just called and said she has chicken pox. She mentioned you weren't well either." I'm like.... 'OMG!'I'm so busted' I had my fingers crossed as my mum began inspecting my whole body. Low and behold I had them too! Result! I was so happy I had a disease! So, if you have kids and they are suddenly ecstatically happy because they're ill, it's probably because they've been up to no good and been telling big, fat, porky pie lies to their teacher!

Bring and buy sales in the school hall where I'd always bring home some manky old toy that would mysteriously disappear the next day. I remember bringing home a furry womble with no eyes, It was a hideous thing, but I thought it was cute. I guess it was donated to the dustbin on bin day. Sports day at St Margaret's, I was always good at obstacle race, but as I'm not very athletically built, the egg and spoon race, three legged race, sack race, the sprint, I was always really rubbish at and to be fair, I didn't like sports day all that much, except that it got me out of the classroom for an afternoon. As it is very warm and sunny as I write, it reminds me of those special classes, where we were allowed to sit outside in the sunshine and do our drawings or activities. 

Finally, my adoration for stories told in many formats, including Mr Purcell in Class 6 playing Jeff Wayne's War of The Worlds on his record player. I was so excited when it was first released on CD and I still listen to it regularly now. I loved it and went away with two friends to the storage cupboard and a tape-recorder and wrote and produced our very own ghost story (complete with sound effects) for the class to listen to. I guess that's when I noticed my passion for writing creepy stories. I particular enjoyed the Television programmes we were allowed to watch as part of our learning. The huge TV used to live on the stage or in the staff room, so I always felt it a special treat to get out of the classroom and enjoy learning in a different environment. But more of TV programmes in a later blog.

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Great Kiddies Parties - Fond Childhood Memories of 1970's and Early 1980's

I love a good party and I think it's because I had some wonderful party experiences as a child. Birthdays, obviously were an exciting time in our house. Oddly I don't remember any specific party, of say mine or my brothers birthday they do tend to merge into one mushy birthday party memory, except this one for some reason. This was my sixth birthday and I wonder if I remember it clearly because of the fuss that was made getting me in the Heywood Advertiser, complete with picture, I still have the cutting and the original photograph taken by the newspaper photographer. Also this dress I'm wearing, my mum made me, and I adored it. I always wanted a long party dress (because that was the fashion in the 70's) and I finally got one. Even after birthday and Christmas was over, I would play dress up and wear it around the house! I probably wore it for all other friends birthdays as well, until it got too small. My brother didn't look too happy at having to dress up in those hideous checked flares, or maybe he just hated standing next to his annoying little sister... Who knows?

For one year only I remember we had a Christmas party at school. I have no idea why they didn't do it again, but all the kids had to design and colour in their paper place mats with a Christmas theme then all the classes met in the hall had beef or chicken paste sandwiches (a kids party staple) Mr Kipling's fondant fancies and crisps and all the other yummy finger food that isn't good for you! Then we went back to our classrooms, moved all the tables back and played party games for the afternoon. It was FABULOUS! I also used to love end of term, bring a toy to school day. I used to love seeing what other toys my class mates had, and invariably I would get toy envy and play with theirs instead of my own. But I digress. I guess St Margaret's didn't do another party like that, because it was so hard to organise or they just couldn't cope with so many overexcited kids flying high on lots of e-additives to be bothered doing again.

My next door neighbour, Angela was a year above me at school, but that didn't matter. I considered Angela my best friend at home. She went to the local catholic Primary School and at Christmas there the teachers and nuns put on a proper school disco for the juniors. I don't know why I was allowed to go because it was really just for St Pauls church and the school kids who went there, but I loved it. They had a proper DJ and flashing lights, a disco ball and everything. And curiously for me, it was overseen and chaperoned by the churches/school's nuns. Apparently the nuns taught at the school too. Iwas fascinated by this because it was a different world and decided I wanted to know more about catholism and why my church and school was so different to Angela's. I even know what music they played... The Hucklebuck and One Step Further, our 1982 Eurovision entry! I'm sat next to Angela in this photo. I think it's the only one I have of her.

Obviously, I was invited to other kids parties from Nursery and then Primary school, but these are the memorable ones because; Christine played pin the tale on the donkey at her parties and I wasn't allowed to because my mum said it was too dangerous! Kate's because I was a bit bemused by it all at first. I had no idea who she was or why I was there... I know, bonkers eh? But she turned into one of my best friends at school. Rachel's because her first house (picture below) we had a party in, I discovered she had her very own wooden Wendy house in the back garden with a proper kitchen and table and chairs and which I thought was fantastic. The other house she later moved to was enormous! And I mean HUGE. It was a big old Victorian Lodge or of that ilk and I loved going there to play and get lost in all the huge rooms; Audra's because we played Twister and I'd never played it before, I thought it was great fun and made a change to musical bumps, musical chairs, musical statues and my personal favourite pass the parcel (To music); Nichola's, because she was my cousin and I always went to her birthdays; Simon's because his mum decided she needed peace and quiet, so we had to lie on the floor and play dead... I won because I fell asleep!;

Amanda's because she got a trumpet for her fifth birthday. She couldn't play a single note properly but still insisted on trying to blow along out of tune to Summer Loving - the Grease Musical because she got the Soundtrack LP as a gift too; Sarah's, I don't know why, maybe because I never really hung around with her at school and was surprised when a got an invite. (Not like today's parties where every single child from the kids class has to be invited in case someone is offended, god forbid.); and finally Glen's because I made friends with a girl called Catherine, who weirdly, I met again at 12 years old when I moved to a new High School and she remembered me! We would only have been 4 or 5 years old at Glen's party! Spooky coincidence.

My Cousin Diane was getting married in I think 1981 and you know now how much I loved dressing up in long dresses and wanted so much to be A Rose Queen attendant at church, simply because I would have the chance to wear a pretty long dress. Well, my dream came true, when Diane announced her wedding and asked me to be a Bridesmaid (Above) I was so over the moon and excited I couldn't sleep the night I was told or the night before the wedding. I remember my feet being really sore in these stupid pointed shoes I had to wear, but I wasn't going to let a few blisters stop me. I had little pink lace gloves (which i still have and my mum knitted me this gorgeous pink cardigan, (which you can probably just make out.) Anyway the wedding breakfast, I got to sit on top table and received a silver necklace with Alison on it, (which I also still have) and then I danced the night away with my Uncle Trevor, who I thought was very silly and great fun. His daughter on the other hand was on the cusp of becoming a teenager and so sulked and moaned through the whole day and evening because she had to wear a "Stupid dress".

My Mum, Granddad and Uncle all worked at one of the town's factories SEI (or Salford Electrical Industries) and every year the kids of all the workers were treated to a big Christmas party at Heywood Civic Hall. The usual paste sandwiches, crisps and cake were available and then party games on a huge scale. I remember doing the Hokey Cokey dance and felt quite frightened because the circle was huge and the older kids got a bit rough. It was the equivalent to a kiddy Mosh Pit! Anyhoo, every child got a Christmas present and a photo with Father Christmas (Not Santa!!!) When I was a kid it was Father Christmas. And we got some really good presents. I got a full dolly's china tea set one year, (which I still have, well the pieces I haven't broken!) and a pottery and art set another year. Once you reached a certain age you were invited to a trip out to the Pantomime instead. Can't remember what I saw, but I remember being on the coach with all of mum's friends and their kids.

Brownie Halloween Party was the best Halloween Party ever and I've been to few over the years. My mum made this dress and my dad made this super huge witches hat and he bought a proper broom from the garden centre, which got used plenty in the garden afterwards. I won first prize for the costume and won a box of Maltesers. We played bobbing for apples and had a pretend campfire in the middle of the hall. Haha!

Boxing Day every year my mum and her two sisters would take it in turns to hold a family party. Although I loved mum and dad's parties, there was something extra specially thrilling about going to someone else's house to explore and discover new things. I loved going to Auntie Doreen's, because I liked to see their house all Christmassy up and play with my cousins new toys (see what she got of Father Christmas) And I loved going to Auntie Barbara's house because it seemed enormous compared to our and she had a highly polished wooden floor in the hallway that us kids used to try and skid and slide on in our socks. She also had a piano, so chopsticks was played very often on her Boxing Day parties. She also had a musical horses carousel ornament, which I was fascinated with and used to ask my Uncle Steve to get down off the self so I could play with it. Very Cool.

In 1981 Diana and Charles got married and like most people we watched the ceremony on TV and then had a Wedding Street Party afterwards. As you can see from the pictures there were a lot of kids on our street. There was and almost none street party that morning. Just one family on the street didn't wish to participate in the celebrations and so out of spite went out for the day and parked their car in the middle of the street! All the kids watched in excitement as about 8 dads (including mine) "bumped" the Mr and Mrs Misery's car to the end of the street! Hilarious! You Can just see the red Cortina at the top of the street!

Weirdly, I have racked my brains and realised I never knew or met the majority of the children in these photos until that day. There was pretty much three friends I regularly played out with in the photo below and four or five families that I knew throughout my childhood, but that was it really. We did live around the corner in the little cul-de-sac so maybe we were a bit cut off from the main residents in the street. We had the usually party food, played games had egg and spoon race, three legged and sack races, a mini disco then the grown ups took over! I remember lying in bed hearing all the shrieking and cackling of inebriated parents out partying! And yes, the kids were left at home alone!

Finally, my first street party was in 1977, The Queens Silver Jubilee and as my mum was part of the registered child minders circle on the estate we were invited to the party on Welland Avenue (the posh end of the estate) by Fran, the kindest lady you could ever meet, who ran the registered child minders group and organised the street party. Every time I hear the song Simple Simon Says, it takes me straight back there as we played this game and it must have been the first time I ever payed because I thought it was great fun at the time. My mum had bought me a special red, white and blue dress for the occasion, which I loved and wore at every occasion after. I even insisted on wearing it for my first school photo! So that's the extent of my childhood party memories, I'm sure there were more, but I can't remember. Still, lots of lovely memories to go off, and whilst writing this, I get and excited feeling inside that makes me want to go to a party right now! 

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