Down the drain

[... 1,411]

How times have changed ,when i were a kid there was always someone dropping something down those kerbside drains and them lorries that cleaned them were often called out to retrieve a ring or a set of keys.In this area you rarely see a road sweeper or drain cleaner probably why always flooding ,often full of leaves.I remember dustbin lorries they walked in, there was like a metal wall that they emptied the ash laden bins behind, as i remember the wall was released as it was filled so evenntually they could not walk in because it was full. I think people appriciated them because usually they would move anything ,a bit of cash helped and a knock on the door at christmas.The back of any transport was a magnet for kids be it a bus a milk float or a bin wagon they were all good for a quick lift.

[LizzieM 9,514]

Funny you should start this thread Andy, I was only thinking the other day about the time I went to the local shop for my Mum and running home with the shopping I dropped the change I had in my hand. To my despair a half a crown rolled off the kerb and into a drain. We didn't have a lot of money and I was so worried about telling Mum what had happened. She was surprisingly understanding about it. Suppose it would have been worth £3 or £4 in today's money.

[... 1,411]

Thats exactly why they dropped the contents of the drain on the pavement and sifted through it before sucking it up again.A lot of change spilt around the numerous pubs down the meadows sunday morning normally a good time to find change strewn on the pavement.

[... 1,411]

LIZZIE you would need to give kids £4 now to go to the shop .

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

I was always losing thruppeny bits down the cracks in the pavements when I was little.

[Bilboro-lad 294]

Who remembers the non-PC joke about the shape of a thruppeny bit?

[Merthyr Imp 729]

To my despair a half a crown rolled off the kerb and into a drain. We didn't have a lot of money and I was so worried about telling Mum what had happened. She was surprisingly understanding about it. Suppose it would have been worth £3 or £4 in today's money.

A good rate of conversion is that half a crown would buy five Mars Bars. How much would that cost today?

[Rob.L 1,090]

Four Mars bars for a quid at Asda at the moment.

But they're nowhere near as big as they used to be.....

[littlebro 234]

Half a crown (12.5p) in 1960 is worth £2.44 today.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1633409/Historic-inflation-calculator-value-money-changed-1900.html

[mick2me 3,033]

I remember kids hanging round when they cleaned out the drains in the school yard.

There would always be lost marbles galore, and if you were lucky big chromed ball bearings.

[littlebro 234]

I remember when they cleaned out the drains........................ I cannot remember the gully emptier coming around for a long time now.

[piggy and babs 544]

last year after a few bad storms at the begining of the year we had to phone seven trent to ask for the drain outside or house to be clared we have lived here almost 11 years now and had never seen the drains done we told the the on directly outside our house a couple of weeks later dave lookedout to see them doing the one one the other side of the st went out to ask ifif the wanted him to move the car so they could do ours he said oh is there one on that side i was told outside our numberof course he was on the other side of the rd.took him 10 minsto do that one then came to do ours when dave had moved the car took him nearly an hour you would not belive what came out tar from when the rd had been resurfaced two years earlier 10 tin cans 2 house bricksand various other odmentsno wat could the uncrushed cans and housebricks have got through the gaps the metal barrier must have been lifted up to get them down there

must have took one or two teenagers or grown ups at least to do that

[dgbrit 258]

I just kissed away $3000 for the dog show the top handlers told me we weren't entered even though I paid them in Jan 7th so we are not going just to watch

You know the old saying if you want something done right .

[piggy and babs 544]

hope you eventually get your money back dg bye the way starky asked me to wish you a happy new year ages ago and i forgot sorry its my old age creeping up.hope you both had a good one anyway .

babs

[LizzieM 9,514]

Oh what bad luck dgbrit, surely you've got the evidence of payment to show them? Good luck getting the cash back.

[dgbrit 258]

If I had gone to NY the hotel room was over $2000 plus meals & taxis , From what I heard a tip for the taxi driver is at least $100.

Any way the handlers have turned out to be not reputable & I feel lucky to get away with what I have already spent

I got a whole new wardrobe of clothes for me & the other half, Shoes and everything.

Also the flights are getting cancelled cos of the storms so there was a possibility of getting stuck in NY.

[TGC 216]

So there I wus, in the queue outside the telephone box by the Co-op on Kirkewhite Street - toying with me Dad's pennies and waiting patiently.

Of course, I dropped the coins, and a couple went down the drain. Tsk!

Some mates were passing, and one of em fetched a giant monkey wrench and crow bar, and between us we got the grating up - and I delved into the cold dank water in a futile search fer me Dad's money.

Needless to say, Dad showed his displeasure in his usual manner. (I hated that leather belt!)

A week later I was diagnosed as having Weil's Disease (Leptospirosis).

I didn't complain, as it gave me two weeks without 'Piggy Roberts' (Trent Bridge - Woodwork teacher) belting me with a plank of wood, and I was excused from cleaning the fire grate and laying the fire for a few days.

[fch782c 144]

Four Mars bars for a quid at Asda at the moment.But they're nowhere near as big as they used to be.....

I know exactly what you mean, the wife bought me a 4 pack of twix bars from Tesco (2 biscuits per bar) and they were only about 200 g the old packs were 250 g. What a rip off

[katyjay 5,091]

As kids on our estate, we'd run from grate to grate to watch it being emptied and flushed out. I think secretly we'd all have liked to have held on to that huge pipe that sucked up the stuff, and moved it round the grate. Life was simple, when that as the highlight of the day, LOL.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

It makes you wonder where it all goes. I ready somewhere how much coinage disappears from circulation every year. I can't remember the figure but it was helluva lot. Down settes, dropped on streets, lost on the park or the beach. There must be a fortune lying around for us to find it.

[Michael Booth 7,364]

Bilbraborn (#20), some people like to put their loose change into a big bottle (or other) throughout the year and use it for Christmas or towards a holiday. It can mount up to a tidy sum over the year.

[... 1,411]

TGC,smoooth straight and narrow boy ,piggy said in his yorkshire accent before he caned me with percy one of his numerous named canes, that was because a peice of wood was,nt planed to his liking.I would have put my hand down a drain if it meant doding his class.

[FLY2 10,109]

That reminded me of an incident when I was at Forest Fields Grammar School. The Headmaster, Mr Oliver Barnett JP had caned me twice on both palms. He then told me to take a seat, so I sat down. He said " Bend over it you fool " and proceeded to give me two more on the backside. He used a thick piece of bamboo about an inch in diameter and about two and a half feet long, bound with string at the thickest end for a good grip. I think he had been trained in a Jap POW Camp the fat git. This was because I'd found a good fountain pen, and instead of handing it in, I proceeded to sell it. Some little shit snitched on me.

However a few weeks later I was returning from the toilet and climbed the stairs to my class when a load of younger girls were descending after gym and I heard a loud male voice shout whooooooooooh. I returned to my class and after a few minutes, the school secretary summoned me to the heads office. I was caned twice on both hands, but not a word was spoken. I assumed he'd found out about something I'd done wrong, and I never questioned it. A week later, I was again summoned to the heads office and he presented me with a box of Meltis New Berry Fruits. He said the male voice was later traced to the driver of the Northern Dairies milk truck, and apologised, though he never asked why I'd not questioned the previous caning. Oh how I hated school with a vengeance .

[mick2me 3,033]

It makes you wonder where it all goes. I ready somewhere how much coinage disappears from circulation every year. I can't remember the figure but it was helluva lot. Down settes, dropped on streets, lost on the park or the beach. There must be a fortune lying around for us to find it.

Aha!

In case you weren't aware of what happens to all these lost coins... Ask George

[TGC 216]

TGC,smooth straight and narrow boy ,piggy said in his yorkshire accent before he caned me with percy one of his numerous named canes, that was because a peice of wood was,nt planed to his liking.I would have put my hand down a drain if it meant doding his class.

I understand exactly Mr C - rare were the lessons with Piggy that I was not caned, belted on the knuckles with a lump of wood, or had me ear-hole rapped!

It didn't help I suppose - me being crap at woodwork either - Huh!

TTFN