The Days of our Childhood

From Great North Road

The days of our childhood were wonderful, especially during the summer holidays. We used to disapear all day 8.00 a.m. till late. We, (the street gang), would all go up the woods, down the glen or over to the coup (rubbish dump), make dens to live in, light fires to cook. You would come back at night stinking of smoke on your clothes and your mother would throw a wobbler for playing with fire.

When you got hungry you just nipped into the farmers field, grabbed yourself a turnip and peeled it with your teeth, or got some potatoes and threw them on the fire until they were black. After you had eaten them your teeth had black pieces between them. Looking at them you would think your teeth were rotten.

I remember my first Bogey (go- cart). My father was an iron moulder and he made me cast-iron wheels (as pram wheels were hard to get). You would nip down to the builders yard and steal a plank for your bogey, hammer in staight nails and bend them over the axle of your wheels. (They called that improvisation). What a racket these wheels made as you went down the hill. When I eventually got pram wheels it was like riding in a Rolls Royce.

Then there were the bows and arrows. You made an arrow holder out a old Vim tin and slung it across your shoulder. For the bow-string you got an old bicycle tyre inner and cut it up into strips.

To earn some money during the holidays we used to go down the coup looking for scrap iron, lead, copper, and take it into the scrap merchant two miles away in the town with our bogies, and buy sweets and pop to eat and drink on the way back home.

Then there were the bools (marbles) you played at the side of the road, rounders in the street, (there was little traffic in these days).

I could go on and on. Unfortunately my sons and their sons never ever experienced this fun when they were young. They just sit and watch telly or play computer games, eat junk food.

Yes, those were the good old days.

Jimmy

Contributed by Jimmy Churchill

December 02, 2003