Once I got to about 9 or 10, we used to play Famous Five, which basically meant following people around, making notes on their description and what they were doing, without being spotted.
Was it training for a career in the DHSS?
That made me chuckle!!! My aspiration was actually Georgie (character in the Famous Five books)
We played a chase game called CHAIN ....you would have two sides, one doing the catching ,one the avoiding (often boys v girls)....you would catch an opponent by grabbing them and saying L.O.N.D.O.N. and those caught would have to form a chain in the yard.Those caught could be released by one of their team avoiding the captors and ticking the chain. Often wondered if that was a game that only existed in our school ?
Scariest game we ever had was 'bog brush chase'...one particular lad in our class (no names, but the smelly kid !) would dip the bog brush in the toilet (horrible victorian outside loos which you avoided if you could) and chase after you trying to splash you. I still remember the feeling of panic and the need to get away that this caused some 40 years later.
I lived by some swings off Grange Road where we played football and cricket and sometimes get on a swing and get as high as you can and launch yourself off it to se who landed the furthest. Marbles (allies?)played in the gutter, 3 card brag and Jacks
We boys used to play alleys (marbles) usually on the pavement or in the gutter. The alleys were made of glass with little whirls of colour in the middle. They were quite cheap to buy and you could get a whole bag for a shilling or so.
Some kids (usually those whose dads worked at Cammell Lairds) used to turn up with bollies - ball bearings, which would smash an alley to smithereens. It was like bringing a gun to a snowball fight.
There was also another pavement game called jacks and five stones, which I could never figure out. You had five little stones in your hand and had to flip them about in some way.
All street games seemed to be ruled by undefinable seasons. One day everyone would be playing one game, then next day - for no obvious reason - we all switched to something else.
We used to play a kind of "conkers" with old bricks on the bomb sites. If you got a brick with some mortar still on it it would prove more resilient but less effective in breaking your opponents brick.Who needs computer games eh?
Some kids (usually those whose dads worked at Cammell Lairds) used to turn up with bollies - ball bearings, which would smash an alley to smithereens. It was like bringing a gun to a snowball fight.
Think we called them 'steelies'. They were certainly very heavy and wrecked many a trouser pocket in carrying them. Invariably the bigger lads used to have these and used them to either win or destroy the marbles of other kids. Talk about "balls of steel"....
We used to play a kind of "conkers" with old bricks on the bomb sites. If you got a brick with some mortar still on it it would prove more resilient but less effective in breaking your opponents brick.Who needs computer games eh?
Many games would be considered pretty dangerous nowadays. Most lads seemed to have pen knives back then. Newsagents and toy shops used to sell them (usually with pictures of football teams on them). One game we played was Split the Kipper. It was a bit like Twister but with knives...
Scariest game we ever had was 'bog brush chase'...one particular lad in our class (no names, but the smelly kid !) would dip the bog brush in the toilet (horrible victorian outside loos which you avoided if you could) and chase after you trying to splash you. I still remember the feeling of panic and the need to get away that this caused some 40 years later.
This is all starting to sound a bit like Tom Brown's School Days...lol!
Anyway, as disgusting as it was, I don't think kids really understood about germs and hygiene in those days. Boys in particular were always poking sticks around in drains (that, and trying to pee down them!).
Peashooters and catapults. We, the girls, had peashooters along with a bag of dried peas provided by mother. Mothers now, would be put away for neglect or aiding and abetting! Only the boys had the catapults. Little horrors !
I remember Jacks Derek, but probably secondary school by then.
Last edited by granny; 3rd Feb 20145:47pm.
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~Chief Seattle
Another street game I've just remembered was a variation on the paper-chase:
...basically one of a group of kids would set off down the road with a piece of chalk (or suitable stone), in their hand. This person, the 'hare' (for want of a better name), would usually be given a minute or two's head start on the chasing pack and would attempt to leave a trail showing the direction he or she was running in around the back-streets of town. The idea was to mark an arrow at strategic points on lamp post, pavements, and wall corners (especially at turning points). The hare would then attempt to travel as far as possible before being chased down by the pursuing pack.
This generally worked well, just as long as it didn't start to rain, but the success of the game ultimately depended upon how fairly the hare left clues! The game could sometimes go on for an hour or more if the hare dodged up and down enough alleyways. The hare was usually then found hiding somewhere when they reached a dead-end, but occasionally made it all the way back home undetected.
Anyone else ever play this? Running around so much certainly helped keep us warm, and we were all a lot slimmer and fitter for doing it...
That made me chuckle!!! My aspiration was actually Georgie (character in the Famous Five books)
