Ashley 288 Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 Well yes, all those big detached houses around there at one time would were owned by posh people! even some were thus in my days, Before my time (and most others here) the forest was of course a "closed" park, totally fenced in, well maintained by groundstaff with gates locked every night. I used to work with an old boy who was part of the team who cut the railings which he said were as those around the graveyard next to it down for scrap during WW2, also told me the corpo buses used to park up on the forest roads at night during the war as one bomb on the garage=no buses! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rob237 89 Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 Yes indeed...the Fowler's Pond tadpole trips were also to witness grown up's fishing for the rather mysterious and frightening pike...a wriggling catch by the pond side would see the kids scatter in all directions. The Amesbury Circus males often had their 11 hour football matches, played on the park - 5 hours each way with a one hour break - ruined when the 'Frido' plastic ball burst on the barbed wire top to the wooden fence, which totally surrounded the field. This special ball came with a metal tool to be heated, then placed on the plastic around the puncture to reseal, and an adaptor for bike pump reinflation. A repaired ball was never quite the same, as it invariably began to swerve as if the lads had suddenly become Brazilians! Summertime 5 day Test Matches too...played in the middle of the road and kept to the correct 3 x 2 hour sessions, with 40 minute lunch (dinner on the 'Circus) break and 20 minutes for tea. Again, occasionally interrupted by a passing motor or sometimes cut short by yet another ball problem when Ben Mantle impounded the main tennis ball, after it had landed in his garden for the 17th time...wonderful times, lost and gone for ever! Cheers Robt P. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fynger 841 Posted December 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 and 2 of you playing ' Kerbie '...chucking a ball across the road to each other. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paulus 541 Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 We used to explore the caves under Broad Marsh and other places in Nottingham, just a candle for light. We also used to "nip" across the railway lines or cross the train bridge at Wilford. Sometimes we would "find" detonators and set them off with bricks. Health and safety eh! !rotfl! We used to find detonators (round red flat cartridges) along the railway tracks over Melbourne Park, didn't know then what they were!! Were they placed on the tracks as a train warning?? Remember 'ambushing' the Melbourne Park 'coal express', with bows & arrows, bought on a trip to Goose fair, the ambush took place on the section between Melbourne road crossing & the back of the pig farm (high banks each side)...........the driver & guard chased us away of course.........It was a green diesel train, with Ruston written on the sides, if my momory's correct?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 The Waxing of the slide has been mentioned before here. We would polish it with our Backsides before beingdisplaced by parents with toddler. we would watch as the mother would climb the slide and slide the baby down to dad! Ever seen a baby shoot through Dads Legs? Time for a quick exit Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley 288 Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 Green LOCOMOTIVE Paulus, you'll get thrown out the Nottstalgia Railway Club or at least get your Ian Allan books confiscated, lol! Anyway you've got one up on me, whilst I saw a train crossing Melbourne Road I never saw the engine, Did see an engine on another part of that railway, (from a bedroom on Eltham Close!) in 1965 that one as I recall was a proper BR one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rob237 89 Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 Eltham Close you say... Did you know Janet Oswin and Richard Bexon? Cheers Robt P. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,091 Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 How about scrumping? I'm sure we all did it, I know I did across the road, round the back of the entry. Roll your ball in the garden, go and fetch it back and fill your dress skirt with apples. Sorry Mr Beresford. He'll most likely be waiting at the pearly gates now to bat me tab. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
plantfit 7,593 Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 Remember those little "bombs" made out of die cast? you put some of those "caps" in the front and threw them in the air, when they landed the caps would go with a bang, the more caps you put in the louder the bang, what about home made pea shooters, made from the body of an old BIC or BIRO pen, started off shooting rice and finished shooting home made arrows made out of a small sewing needle and a bit of wool, deadly little sods they were especially if you caught one in the back of the neck Rog Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fynger 841 Posted December 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 We got bulldog clips banned from school as we could make them fire panel pins...they were deadly....the school had to go back to the older style clips. Also loadsa kids wanted racing bikes so they could turn the handlebars upside down.....I just put a massive pair of cowhorns on mine and the ( 1 ) brake lever was half way down as the cable wunt let you turn one way. ( but at least bike seats were comfy back then ) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley 288 Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 No sorry, didn't know anyone by those names on Eltham Close, just the girl's and not fair to say who, re those "darts" remember a youth getting hit in the eye through a keyhole by one, recovered ok no damage other than a mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,429 Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 I guess I always wanted to be an electrician. When I was about five or so I got an "Electrical set" for Christmas. It had an electric bell a couple of switches and push-buttons, a tester and a couple of lights with some wire to wire it altogether. All of this was powered by a bike lamp battery. My dad was still in the navy at the time and my mam didn't know anything about this stuff. I got the idea that if I just attached a plug to the lights they would plug in and I would no longer have to scrounge for batteries. Hooked it all together and plugged it in. I remember the lights lit up really bright a second before the bang when the rest of the lights in the house went out! An uncle had to be called to mend the fuse. I was strongly advised that I might have been electrocuted. Oh well! back to the drawing board. Go and put some tuppenny bangers in tins to see how high the tins would go. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley 288 Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 we moved from a house to a flat next door, the house was then derelict and a "playground" for us kids esp the massive cellars which we decided we were going to have as a jazz club called "the dive"! (we were about 14) problem was getting electric in from my attic bedroom to next door and down 3 floors when not able to afford wire, so had great idea of a live wire to cold water pipe and a neutral to the hot! that got us to the kitchen and from there we ran 2 wires down to dansette record player in the coal hole and turned on, biggest ******** bang and flash I've ever seen! quickly ripped out all wires and acted dumb to my dad who couldn't understand why the fuses had melted Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted December 7, 2009 Report Share Posted December 7, 2009 Which reminds me. It would be November 5th around 1965. During the day I found an old record player on the waste ground on Hartley Rd I took it to bits and put the wood cabinet on the fire. It would not all fit in the grate so I leaned it up the chimney. It burnt really well. A short while later large balls of burning soot came rolling down the chimney. The Fire brigade turned up soon after that. I have yet to see a more spectacular chimney fire. Thats another thing you dont see nowadays. Me mam never did find out how it really happened! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
firbeck 859 Posted December 8, 2009 Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 Talking of slides, did anyone play 'Hot Rice'. We had a big slide on Firbeck rec with an enclosed shelter on the top, the object of the game was to cram as many kids in and on top of it as you could, then one person below chucked a tennis ball as hard as they could at them. When you got hit, you came down and helped chuck the ball. Eventually you'd get a circle of kids around the slide with just a few left on top, the last one was the winner and started off the next round at the bottom chucking the ball. If you were nasty, you'd use a cricket ball and not tell anyone. Another game was 'Tin Can Lurky'. This was played at a particular spot in Jacko's Oller, an old clay pit. A tin can was put on a hill then kicked away, usually into a gully behind, everyone legged it and hid, one kid had to retrieve it then try to find the rest, on being seen you had to go and stand on the hill, eventually a gang would be collected, but if you managed to sneak up and kick the can away, then they would be freed and the poor sod on duty had to do it all over again. If he was a crafty sod, he'd fill the can with stones so that if you ran up to kick it, it bloody hurt your foot. Then there was '10 Eyes Open, 10 Eyes Closed', one person stood on the parapet of the train bridge down Black Path, the rest scattered amongst the long grass of The Back Field. He counted to ten with his eyes closed while everyone tried to sneak up, then count to ten and try to spot people. If you were seen, you were out, the winner was the one that got to the bridge and touched it without being seen. You couldn't play that for long as the grass got flattened and you lost your cover. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,091 Posted December 8, 2009 Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 Just going back to the catapult. The alternate word gadder or gaddy comes to mind, does that ring any bells with anyone else? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
firbeck 859 Posted December 8, 2009 Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 We used to call it a 'gally', sounds close. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley 288 Posted December 8, 2009 Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 we made a monster one of of 2 push bike inner tubes and launched a garden rake! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Limey 242 Posted December 8, 2009 Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 Bl**dy 'ell Ashley - I'm amazed you lived to tell the tale! The most dangerous devices we built were a "Tack Gun" - which consisted of a pice of wood about 1ft long with a groove along the top. A piece of gat elastic looped around and a "trigger" mechanism. You placed a carpet tack in the grove - the elastic was the propellant. It's a wonder we didn't take somebody's eye out with that one! The other was a "gun" that consisted of a length of black pipe. One end was hammered closed and folded over, then a hole drilled in the top close to the closed end. The powder from bangers was the propellant - how much depended on how brave (or crazy) you were. I can't remember what the bullets were! I do believe these things were illegal, even then - today they sound pretty close to "pipe bombs" to me. It's a wonder we didn't kill anybody with 'em! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted December 8, 2009 Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 Did anyone yet mention Tag? I am sure it had many other names like 'Dobby' The rules were simple, the one who "was on" ran around the playground to try and touch the others. Once you were "Dobbed" you "were on". There were many aguments as to wether you had been Dobbed or not! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fynger 841 Posted December 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 When i lived up chilwell it was only half the size it is now...but when the 'new estate' was being built virtually the whole of chilwell kids would be up there playing 'dobby off ground' on the building site....suprised we wer'nt all killed. then there was 'tracker'...one kid would run off with a chalk and leave arrows on the floor ev'ry now and again ..once the others had counted to 'whatever' they be off trackin him down......got crafty after a bit tho...the kid with the chalk would just write ' letter box top of the hill '...then leggit leaving very few arrows....then another message at the letter box. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
firbeck 859 Posted December 8, 2009 Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 The other was a "gun" that consisted of a length of black pipe. One end was hammered closed and folded over, then a hole drilled in the top close to the closed end. The powder from bangers was the propellant - how much depended on how brave (or crazy) you were. I can't remember what the bullets were! I do believe these things were illegal, even then - today they sound pretty close to "pipe bombs" to me. It's a wonder we didn't kill anybody with 'em! Cannons!! We built one out of very large diameter copper pipe liberated from a building site and mounted it on a heavy wooden block. We didn't take the powder out the bangers though, we used 3-2-1 Zero's, 6d ones if we could afford it. You could turn up the blue touch paper and try to jiggle the banger so it was near the hole. Ammunition was large marbles, especially popular were very big steel ball bearings when we could get hold of them. We used to fire it off at tin cans, buckets, anything that made a noise when you hit it ( not people ). One day the banger didn't go off, I was trying to look down the fuse hole to see what happened and off it went without warning. I ended up with powder impregnated in my eye and blurred vision for a few days, I just told my mother it was soot from a passing train, I was lucky. The damn thing is still sitting in a drawer in my late dads workbench 45 years on, he never did know what it was for. Wow, sorry, there's a stunning Lesser Spotted Woodpecker sitting a tree just outside the window, not seen one of those in the garden before, he's just flown on to the telephone pole over the fence and is bashing hell out of it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beefsteak 305 Posted December 8, 2009 Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 We made 'bazookas near bonfire night, a piece of drainpipe packed at one end with rags and mud, and a lit "Air bomb" thrown down inside to stick in the mud, throw it up on your shoulder, point it at your mates and watch them scarper. It worked brilliant , untill I had a missfire and the 'bomb' went off in the pipe !!!! my ears are still ringing !!! Dobby off ground, dobby statues, dobby ball, dobby just about bloody anything that came to mind really!! Then there was stringy lurgy , (Usually a playground game this one) Somebody was 'on' and had to catch another , when caught, they held hands and continued chasing everybody else , when tagged each person joined the end of the string and it carried on till all were caught!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,091 Posted December 8, 2009 Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 Reading all you lads' escapades, it's a wonder you're still here, still got 2 eyes, hearing, and all your digits! LOL. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
littlebro 234 Posted December 8, 2009 Report Share Posted December 8, 2009 Good job there were no ASBO's back then! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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