banjo48 928 Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 My childhood roller skates had steel wheels, but mum had a pair of her old figure skates (tha'ts what she called them) with wooden wheels. As for sledges, being a sparky, I made my kids a couple from steel electrical conduit ! the runners were in one piece from one side all the way around to the other but bent up at the front using 1" conduit, then the two cross pieces were 3/4" conduit welded to the tops of the runner part with timber slats running length ways to sit on. There were far from heavy as the actual steel bit was minimal, were very fast and were deadly on breckhill fields "Death Track" or Woodthorpe park run. Strangely enough my sledging memories were recently rekindled during a walk on Woodthorpe park during my recent visit. It was quite an eventful nights sledging with my two eldest kids at the time, as a gang of teenage yobbo's insisted on throwing icy snowballs at the sledgers as they went down the slope, one of which hit my young daughter in the face and cut her lip badly ! dad (me) was a bit of a lad in those days and chased the young offender into the wood at the side and gave him a bloody nose ! nothing to be proud of nowadays but a forgotten memory come back to life. Bet the bugger thought twice before throwing ice in kiddies faces next time. 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PeverilPeril 3,279 Posted October 29, 2014 Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 #32 re the 'Death Track'. The footpath running from the top of the Forest down towards the fairground site was called the death track in my days. The death track became quite icy after some use on a freezing day and our home made sledges reached uncontrollable speeds. It was said that a lad was almost killed when he crashed head first into the iron railings at the bottom of the slope. They said that he had to have his trapped head removed from the railings by the fire brigade. In 1949/50 I was pictured with my sledge on the front page of the Evening Post or News. I was showing the Forest covered in the first snows of winter and I was the first out with a sledge. . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
banjo48 928 Posted October 29, 2014 Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 The death track on Breckhill fields actually was, a young fellow hit a tree or post on the way down one very icy cold night and ruptured his spleen ! unknown to him he tried walking home and collapsed and died due to internal heamoridge. My brother was there at the time and saw the accident, but it was past my bedtime, but I'd been there earlier in the evening, the actual slope was like glass that night. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lotuskid 9 Posted October 29, 2014 Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 Playing marbles in the street,, trying to get them into holes scaped out between the cobbles, we called them chocks. Whip and Top, sure they used to appear around the same time every year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,090 Posted October 29, 2014 Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 Around Pancake Day, lotuskid, or Shrove Tuesday to give it its proper name. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,090 Posted October 29, 2014 Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 Actually thinking about it, why the heck did we get out our whip and tops at the start of lent. The pancakes I can figure into the equation. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TBI 2,351 Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Marbles were huge entertainment for little money, weren't they? Chokker was our favourite game. Me and my mates were avid collectors as well, always on the lookout for something interesting. We didn't like to play with our favourites much because usually we played keepsies. We used to use ball bearings a lot too. There was always a good supply from scrap area at the back of the bus sheds on Turney St. The fitters never seemed to bother about us kids crawling about in the huge scrap pens looking for wheel bearing races. No Health and Security in them days! We'd then spend absolutely bloody ages cracking them against the road to get the bearings out. My dad, who was from Bulwell, always called marbles ' marls '. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MargieH 7,599 Posted January 23, 2015 Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 Banjo48' you mentioned Breckhill Fields for sledging. I went there a couple of times with my older brother to watch him do the run. I was too scared to have a go or maybe our Mum had told him not to let me. That must have been in the very early fifties. I keep remembering a big fire on either Breckhill Fields or another field further along. We went to see it - very exciting! Can you shed any light on that (or maybe it was before your time!) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted January 23, 2015 Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 #26, In North Yorks, hills are called banks too, the hill from Easington to Staithes is listed as Boulby Bank, the one going up from Skinningrove to Loftus is named Loftus Bank. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted January 23, 2015 Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 TBI, easy way to crack an outer race is to put it in a vice and tighten the vice, they pop real easy, you could also break the cage that holds the balls, again they just drop out then. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dgbrit 258 Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 Loved mekin trolly"s . Lost me 2 front teef when a lamp post ran out in front of me. It never seemed to leave me as I ended up racing Go Karts for 40 years Always felt safer than racing Motorcycles even though the speeds were pretty much the same. Funny thing when I started racing here the asked me to slow down which still gives me a laugh. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Blondie 1,392 Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 Playing 2 ball against the wall.....Hopscotch, snobs, whip and top and having a large clothes line across the road or the school yard where all the girls joined in was great, when a car went past, (which hardly ever happend because not many people had cars) you just dropped the rope...........Playing rounders as well.....we all seemed to have a lot of fun back then..................... 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MargieH 7,599 Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 Blonde, When you played 2 ball against the wall, did you play 'sevens'. The first seven just straight against the wall, the next six dropped on the floor on the way back, fives were throw up in the air then against the wall, fours were overhand then underhand, threes I can't remember, twos were the opposite of sixes (does that make sense?) and ones we twizzled round before catching the ball. And I've still got my original snobs!!!! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benjamin1945 16,139 Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 Why is it only the girls seemed to have the co-ordanation for that?................mind you ive still got all me 'snobs' 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Booth 7,364 Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 Wow, and here's me thinking that the girls were just throwing balls against the wall. Quite technical wasn't it, MargieH. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MargieH 7,599 Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 Sorry, Blondie - misspelt your name. I was so excited about thinking about playing 2 balls, I was in a rush! We also played big skipping at school with various rhymes and also 'higher and higher' jumping over a rope which got higher each time. Looking back, that was dangerous as we played on concrete but can't remember being seriously hurt - just a few bumped knees. Please you've still got your snobs Benjamin! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
don walker 122 Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 in our street we used to put a tennis ball in one of your old ladies stockings then stand against a wall and sling it around as fast as you could great Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benjamin1945 16,139 Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 Why Don ?.........................and hope you took the old lady out first, lol. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
carni 10,094 Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 Benjamin, You must have been rich. We had to play snobs with stones!! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Booth 7,364 Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 He's just showing off, carni. I don't know how he managed to play snobs with his tie blowing in the wind. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
swe62 334 Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 what are the pro,s of a tie I can think of plenty of cons Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TBI 2,351 Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 Well one pro, the end of my exhaust fell off once and dragged along the road. I was grateful for my tie. I tie-d it back up and it worked a treat. On another occasion my fanbelt went. Used the old tights trick ( not mine ) . Didn't work at all, and no tie on that occasion. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
swe62 334 Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 they don,t mix with lathe work or milling too well ,and one of my customers was almost garrotted when his caught in his fan belt,It was the hardest thing I ever had to do ,by not laughing!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sue B 48 1,226 Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 I remember carni was really good at two ball I was never very good at it. carni's sister was really good at snobs she could bend her hand upwards I was very Impressed. One of the things us girls used to do a lot was hand stand's up against a wall and cartwheel's always trying to out do each other. Great times. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tony1 118 Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 Remember: playing with melting gas-tar in the gutter on a hot day? Then going home and mum trying to get it out of our hair, with butter ! Catapults and pea shooters to torment whichever poor victim we could find. Knocking on doors and running away. Playing dobby off ground. Snobs, Marbles and flicking cigarette packs. (before the crush proof packs arrived). Todays kids don't know what they are missing. I'm sure it was a lot more fun and healthier than just exercising their thumbs,as they do today. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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