I was reading Ged`s intro in his book "In A City Living 3" he is telling us about games he played as a kid. it was a great read and got me thinking of my own childhood games. it really brought it all back to me. I had a chat with Ged telling him a few of my own memories. its a great topic, so has anyone got any old memories to share?

here goes...

curby was very popular as was sardines and Hide and seek. I remember playing football in the dark, you could not see a thing. we also had Childwall woods with the Old Childwall house. a wall still stood and we of course called it a Castle. it had a moat as well. i remember a gravestone in Childwall woods to a Dog? i wonder if its still there and what the story was? We also played in All saints church( though always had respect). around aged 12 you would sign up as a helper at Childwall riding stables. you would clean horse poo all day for a few free rides. i liked it so much i was still working with Horses aged 26. and Wheathill farm was amazing. we would run through the Cornies(corn field. not sure if it was corn like?) it was about 6 feet in height and you would run for ages and then fall over on your back, we felt like we where in an american movie. we would fish for the sticklebacks in the farm ponds. one year we built a raft(loonies i know) it lasted all summer.

In the holidays i would stay with my grandparents for a couple of weeks. they lived in Northumberland Street in the Dingle. all my cousins lived in the area so i had ready made mates. i loved to watch the ships on the river. we would go to the Albert dock. all downtrodden then. i still remember playing on most of the things there. The docks where full to the top of some horrible sludge and had dead pigeans in them. i remember playing in the Piermasters house, it had no upstairs. we also played in the Dingles Bombdies.

School days out where Southport, Ness Gardens and once they took us to York.
I was Tiny Tim in one school play and the Artful Dodger in another. Right show off i was(still am)


I was laughing with Ged about Birmingham bags trousers and spooney shoes.

c`mon give us some memories:celb (23):

We used to hide by the flyover in Hunter Street and tie an old purse to a length of cotton. People would walk down Hunter Street on their way into the tenements, look around, and seeing the coast was clear bend down to pick up the purse. We would then yank it away with a tog on the cotton (as long as a car didn't drive over it at the crucial moment!). It was only then would they see us hiding, who needs Trigger Happy TV?

I love this thread! :celb (23):

I used to play curby as well! Also red rover where you would be in 2 teams and have to break the barriers!

we used to play shadow tick in the street when it was sunny and also used to play football in the summer on the astro turf on upper warwick st.

LOL, u learn something new every day here and correct misconceptions - I always played Kirby as I thought it was called :).

British Bulldog was a fav in our school. No one actually knew the rules, just two lots of groups trying to make it across the yard to each other's side.

The more kicks you gave in the melee the better :eek: :)

We used to hide by the flyover in Hunter Street and tie an old purse to a length of cotton. People would walk down Hunter Street on their way into the tenements, look around, and seeing the coast was clear bend down to pick up the purse. We would then yank it away with a tog on the cotton (as long as a car didn't drive over it at the crucial moment!). It was only then would they see us hiding, who needs Trigger Happy TV?

Very Naughty, but very cool:celb (23):

Kick the can..... imagine asking kids now to play with an old can

LOL, u learn something new every day here and correct misconceptions - I always played Kirby as I thought it was called :).

I played what I called Kirby too :)

I also played nick-knock.... knocking on peoples doors and running away, found that very funny in my youth... :eek:

still see some kids playing curby. but too many cars now and in some roads the tarmac is up to the curb:disgust:

Erm... *finks back.... Footy, Kerby, Wallee, playing war :D .. pram/go-cart races... (we had a black one with a swastika painted on the side)... and best of all.. mass stone fights ...

Off ground tick...statues.

Drawing goals on walls and fences.

Ollies or marbles( i thought that was poo)

throwing sticks for conkers...scrumping

we played on the old loop line"The Ralla" at first the track was still there and we would put our ears on the track to hear the train coming.(cool little indians) but off course the trains had gone. making rope swings and ending up in the brambles or nettles at the bottom of the ralla.

having races up the stairs to the top of the high rise flats. i could`nt do it now.:eek:

I remember once we heared there was a reward for the Yorkshire ripper and we went to catch him in Childwall woods( i was about 10 ok:rolleyes: )

having to pick a grand national horse for your Tanner each way bet.

washing cars in summer for money to go to southport, got as far as the sweet shop. by the way what the hell was a nutty bar, i see its now gone.

The youth club disco...yaaaaay what a hoot. all the girls dancing and the lads laughing or running through the dancing girls. and if you dared to do a slowey you would get ripped by your mates.

'Kick the can' a great game until some sod put a brick in the can.:Colorz_Grey_PDT_24:

For all those that played in Childwall Woods, did you also go frogging in Jackson's Pond?

Picture here!

where was the pond? i only knew the ones on wheathill farm. but i always heard of jacksons field

Head up Barnham Drive and there used to be a massive pond on the left hand side just before Escor Road by the CLC Line. I'm too young to remember it personally :Colorz_Grey_PDT_16:

What's Kirby ?? Don't know how come I havn't heard of this game !! :shock:

Well there's Kirkby, Liverpool's 60s overspill (where Z cars was shot though it was renamed newtown for the series) and there's West Kirby over t'water.

But Kerbie the game as in throwing a ball to the kerb on the opposite side of the road so it rebounded to you and you scored a point each time is what we're on about here I think :) It was also known as gutters, presumedly after the gutters that ran in the street to grids just roadside of the kerbs.

Thats the one Ged.. we used to use a footy rather than a tennis ball...

Does everyone remember those little multi-coloured rubber balls, that when you threw them they would bounce forever ?

Or those plastic clackers? the kids used to have in the 70's.. they always eneded up wrapped up on the telephone wires, along with somebodies left shoe :D

We used to collect lolly ice sticks from the floor - collect hundreds and then your Mam would go mad and make you throw them all away. Used to post them down the grid then! If you played in the grid you got the fever!!

I used to play two-balls for hours - I tried to teach my little girl but she is left-handed and I had trouble explaining it to her - she got it in the end though! We used to stretch the skipping rope across the street and the Mam's used to "turn-up". There was no traffic then.

Well there's Kirkby, Liverpool's 60s overspill (where Z cars was shot though it was renamed newtown for the series) and there's West Kirby over t'water.

But Kerbie the game as in throwing a ball to the kerb on the opposite side of the road so it rebounded to you and you scored a point each time is what we're on about here I think :) It was also known as gutters, presumedly after the gutters that ran in the street to grids just roadside of the kerbs.

no .. I'm afraid I havn't heard of this game before. :)

the only game I recall that involved kerbs was something about ''froggy froggy can I cross the water?'' '' to marry your daughter'' :celb (23): .. someone would be 'froggy' and had to try and stop you reaching the kerb ... a bit daft really ! ha,ha. :D

We used to collect lolly ice sticks from the floor - collect hundreds and then your Mam would go mad and make you throw them all away. Used to post them down the grid then! If you played in the grid you got the fever!!

I used to play two-balls for hours - I tried to teach my little girl but she is left-handed and I had trouble explaining it to her - she got it in the end though! We used to stretch the skipping rope across the street and the Mam's used to "turn-up". There was no traffic then.

yep, we did all that. Two balls, skipping ropes, as for collecting lolly ice sticks .. I used to collect caterpillars in a jar - hundreds of 'em !! I'd spend hours picking them off the trees. :)
Come to think of it, why don't we see these 'catties' these days ??
There used to be literally loads of them crawling up the tree trunks. They were yellow with black, or was it dark brown spots, and a little black face :)
I thought they were lovely and I'd have hundreds of them in a jar. I probably would have let them all go free again eventually knowing me!
They seem to have disappeared - perhaps they were wiped out as a being a pest by the forestry commision or something !
Anyway I spent many an hour carefully picking them off the trees. lol.

The other thing I collected tons of was dandelions. I'd pick hundreds of them and my mum had to put them in jam jars all over the house. :)

'pee the beds' they were known as. Why were they called this does anyone know ? ha,ha.

Lindy, those catties are wiped out cos of you !!!! :)

lol !! I asked for that didn't I ! :handclap: :D

I remember coillecting the twist tags from the bread and putting them on the break wires of me chopper. looked so cool lol, i had hundreds of them.

The other thing I collected tons of was dandelions. I'd pick hundreds of them and my mum had to put them in jam jars all over the house. :)

'pee the beds' they were known as. Why were they called this does anyone know ? ha,ha.

Hi Lindy

Dandelion is known medicinally and herbally as a diuretic. According to one herbal site (http://www.alternative-healthzine.com/html/0201_2.html), the uses are:

"Diuretic, hepatic, cholagogue, anti-rheumatic, laxative, tonic, bitter. It is a general stimulant to the system, especially to the urinary organs, and is primarily used in kidney and liver disorders."

And from the same site:

"Dandelion is a common meadow herb of the Asteraceae or sunflower family, closely related to chicory. There are about 100 species. Its name is a corruption of the French 'dents de lion', meaning 'teeth of the lion.'

"Folk names include lion's tooth, bitterwort, wild endive, priest's crown, doonheadclock, piss-a-bed, Irish daisy, blow ball, yellow gowan, puffball, clock flower, swine snout, Pu gong ying, fortune-teller, and cankerwort."

Chris

:handclap: thanks Chris. You learn something new every day. :)

ha,ha .. there are some names there .. Swine Snout, Pu Gong Ying, Cankerwort !! :shock: :)

although they are a weed, I think they are pretty in a bright gaudy yellow kind of way. :)


When I was little I used to love the purple/pink Clover too.

Two balls. The girls on the tenement blocks used to play this against the wall whilst reciting mantras. Hopscotch, an old Victorian street game seems to have disappeared these days.

we used to "skip leggers" that was jumping on the backs of lorries as they came up from the docks heading towards scotland road and the world beyond..the best leggers were the big blue sugar tank lorries from tate and lyles.There were just enough grips to hang on the back and there was also a small ventile that could be opened causing a stream of brown sugar to come pouring out.This was collected off the deck into cans(maybe used kick the can jobs) a fire was lit, usually on a "holler"and the can and its contents were heated until we made what we called toffee!This was a dodgy concoction but sweet and free.

You really need to get my books Jimbo, In a city living, they're full of what you talk about.

Just tried to upload some pictures of those lorries parked in Pall Mall by Chisenhale Street but the management thingyo couldn't handle a file that size it said.

The other thing I collected tons of was dandelions. I'd pick hundreds of them and my mum had to put them in jam jars all over the house. :)

'pee the beds' they were known as. Why were they called this does anyone know ? ha,ha.

Oh that just reminded me...
We used to pick buttercups and hold them under your chin, if your chin reflected the yellow it meant you like butter (or something ??? strange thing to do but hey :))

And daisy chains, make them until they were dead long.

And them pee the beds Lindy, I remember when they were in seed you would blow the seeds saying 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock etc until the stem was bald. It was supposed to give you the correct time of day :rolleyes:

Stickin' lollie ice sticks into the dead hot tarmac on a hot summers day and makin' what looked like a Tarmac Lollipop and batterin' each other over the 'Ead with them and goin' home with a big Coggie on yer 'Ead..
The Scottie Road version of Conkers..warrever they were back then !!!

Yeah Gerard, remember that in that blazing hot summer of 76 - HEY!!!!

I had an excuse being 14 but you shudder bin in the pub at 19?????

Yeah Gerard, remember that in that blazing hot summer of 76 - HEY!!!!

I had an excuse being 14 but you shudder bin in the pub at 19?????

Wus 4 in the afternoon when the Ponnie wus shut !!!

Oh that just reminded me...
We used to pick buttercups and hold them under your chin, if your chin reflected the yellow it meant you like butter (or something ??? strange thing to do but hey :))

And daisy chains, make them until they were dead long.

And them pee the beds Lindy, I remember when they were in seed you would blow the seeds saying 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock etc until the stem was bald. It was supposed to give you the correct time of day :rolleyes:

ooh, I'd forgoten about that Vickie .. the thing about buttercups. You reminded me; the reflection meant that you liked butter! ha,ha.

Did anyone play Alaaaarlio as we called it (heard it called Alio aswell) Was always a good one to get girls and lads playing together.
'What do you wanna die of' was my favourite. Dont know if it was just a Canny farm thing but we would play it on the school field or the subbies (subways). Everyone would line up across the top of the hill and one person would stand at the bottom. the person at the bottom would ask each person at the top what they wanted to die of. The person choosing would give a way to die (machine gun, hand grenade etc) and the person asking would do their best machine gun noise or throw an imaginary grenade cueing the person on the hill to do their best James Cagney. The best death would be the winner and they would go the killer.
Good innocent fun - kids are far far too obsessed with guns and death today.....................................::) :) :)

Stickin' lollie ice sticks into the dead hot tarmac on a hot summers day and makin' what looked like a Tarmac Lollipop and batterin' each other over the 'Ead with them and goin' home with a big Coggie on yer 'Ead..
The Scottie Road version of Conkers..warrever they were back then !!!


On very hot days we used to spend hours popping tar bubbles. We'd look for the best and biggest bubbles and it was very satisfiying to prod them and hear the pop ! :celb (23):
Sometimes there would be huge giant bubbles that had gone sqidgy and wouldn't pop - they'd just wrinkle like the skin off a rice pudding. :)

ooh, I'd forgoten about that Vickie .. the thing about buttercups. You reminded me; the reflection meant that you liked butter! ha,ha.

Our marje has been in hosptal since before christmas, I can't believe she's not better.

Our marje has been in hosptal since before christmas, I can't believe she's not better.
LOL...:handclap:

On very hot days we used to spend hours popping tar bubbles. We'd look for the best and biggest bubbles and it was very satisfiying to prod them and hear the pop ! :celb (23):
Sometimes there would be huge giant bubbles that had gone sqidgy and wouldn't pop - they'd just wrinkle like the skin off a rice pudding. :)

Ha haaa..nice one lindylou..
Goin t' margie baths with yer little V neck cossie rolled up dead neat in yer towel..as soon as yer'd jump in the baths the cossie would be round yer ankles..Eh up !!

For all those that played in Childwall Woods, did you also go frogging in Jackson's Pond?

Picture here! That lake, "Jacksons Pit" was a wonderfull place for us kids in the 50's. Although The farmer "Jackson" probably cursed every kid who played around and in it. How many learned to fish there, Swimming over to the Island was a great adventure. There was always some sort of raft left there. Usualy an old door with 5 gallon drums attached. After the movie the "African Queen" came out we, were terrified of leeches (but not for long) If the field had spuds in it we would always light a fire and roast some in the ashes. And get black hands from taking the charred potato skin off.
Of course a lot of games and activities were seasonal. Frogs Spawn. Then Frogs and Toads, Cherrie Wobs (the cherrie stone) Conkers, Ollies, Mischief night (when was that) Winter Warmers, was a tin can full of punched holes. Filled with burning coal on a wire handle. Swing it around to make it burn better. Re Ally Oh, Was similar to Kick the Can, Kingy. We used to run for miles around the streets chasing the team that was inside the bounds. The teams were chosen by various counting out chants. e.g. One potato, two potato, three potato, and so on. Or Dib Dib Dib my blue ship sailing on the water like a cup and saucer o-u-t spells out.
Anyone remember the oak tree up on Cuckoo Lane. Just near the gap in the hedge that gave access to the path across the field to Jacksons lake. It had a small metal seat up inside it's hollow trunk. You had to climb up the trunk on a spiral of branches and bits of steel to get inside. Almost like a snipers hiding place! The tree was obviously extremely old.
It was all farmers fields, stone walls and hedgerows then. We would nip up there after school from Old Swan to go bird nesting, pick blackberries, or conkers from a great tree opposite the church. Is that tree still there. Even winter made it attractive if the pond was frozen. And of course we did venture out and fall through the ice. Covered in thick mud and freezing we would run home. The hiding I got was deserved when I think of it now.
Waving to the fireman and the driver of the trains as they steamed along the embankment was ritually done. Then scramble back up to the track to recover our flattended 6 inch nails that the wheels had run over. These were for the spears we were about to make. A length of chain was prized for laying along the track rail. Although now I am not sure of what we did with flattened chain. That picture's "the gear" and brings back great memories.
Love this site as well
Regards
Mike

We used to hide by the flyover in Hunter Street and tie an old purse to a length of cotton. People would walk down Hunter Street on their way into the tenements, look around, and seeing the coast was clear bend down to pick up the purse. We would then yank it away with a tog on the cotton (as long as a car didn't drive over it at the crucial moment!). It was only then would they see us hiding, who needs Trigger Happy TV?


We used to do that outside our house with a pound note on a string,you'd be amazed at how long it took some people to realise it was all a wind up,their reactions were priceless.:p

There used to hang good quality ships rope around the bars on the top of the old iron lamposts around Scottie there was a loop at the bottom of the rope which the girls ,me sister included ,would wrap around them , using a cardy or a coat as a seat.They would twirl and spin around about half a dozen times and then back the other way 10 or 12 times.Some of the girls were really acrobatic and daredevil,lowering their heads close to the deck , making really tight spins ,using one hand ,stuff like that.
They were always skippin as well, sometimes with 2 girls opposite each other twirlin 2 ropes alternately as a queue of girls lined up to skip, remember them chanting something ,mantralike,which reached a crescendo as one girl jumped out of the whirling ropes and the next one jumped in. I`ll have to ask our Marie about the chants.

we used to get lolly ice sticks and interlace them to make a six pointed star using hot tar on hot days as adhesive. when slung properly those stars skimmed through the air good style...

There used to hang good quality ships rope around the bars on the top of the old iron lamposts around Scottie there was a loop at the bottom of the rope which the girls ,me sister included ,would wrap around them , using a cardy or a coat as a seat.They would twirl and spin around about half a dozen times and then back the other way 10 or 12 times.Some of the girls were really acrobatic and daredevil,lowering their heads close to the deck , making really tight spins ,using one hand ,stuff like that.
They were always skippin as well, sometimes with 2 girls opposite each other twirlin 2 ropes alternately as a queue of girls lined up to skip, remember them chanting something ,mantralike,which reached a crescendo as one girl jumped out of the whirling ropes and the next one jumped in. I`ll have to ask our Marie about the chants.

you described that well Jimbo .. I can just picture it all in my mind :celb (23):

thanks lindylou,I asked my sister about the chants but she`d forgotten them..

A bit more of a dangerous "game" was to go down "over the bridge" to a
big old warehouse where they used to barrel up Guiness. Im not too sure about what went on in the place, but what interested us kids was that the men on the first floor of the warehouse wrapped copper wire around these massive barrels of Guiness and after each wrap a machine guillotined about 3 inches of the wire that fell down into the street outside.There was always oil and loads of these strips of copper wire .We used to pocket as much as our cecks could hold .These we bent into a long U-shape.Next was a trip to Woolies on Great Howard st.(Gratey) to rob packets of elastic bands.These were looped together and then using half a wire coat hanger formed into a Y shape ,the "lazzy" was attached to eyeholes made at the top arms of the Y shape to create a really effective catapult a "catty" .The ammo were the U shaped wires called "slugs",which were used for recreation and inter street slug fights that were fairly dangerous.If properly shot out of the catty using an extra flick of the shoulders, arms and hands those slugs really moved,spraying up showers of sparks on the concrete that surrounded us.Being hit by one was no joke, but there were a few basic rules to avoid serious injuries,such as shouting "SLUG" when firing.The inter street rivalry brought wounds and excitement but no real animosity,and suddenly the slug wars, after a year or two were over.

We used 'Diana' air pistols in the Garden's backie - hard or what :)

It was lazzie bands and paper bent and folded into U shapes for the classroom only.

But we were nice kids really - honest, it was all done with the consent of the opposition.

Apart from those games already said......I used to spend many summer hours on Rice Lane Rec, They used to let the grass grow dead long (never seems to grow that long now) We'd be made up when the fella used to come and mow it cos we used to pile the 'hay' up (as we called it lol...it was CUT GRASS Luv!) and make a HUGE pilke then my brother and his mates used to get us to line up and get an arm an a leg, swing us and throw us on....funny how when they got to me, they swung harder and I landed on me backside:disgust:

We used to play in our den on Hartleys hill, and whenever it snowed, we'd all take a biscuit tin lid or a tray....dependin how big your arris was, and slide down!

We had hours of safe fun, (cept for the odd flasher), those were the days weren't they?:handclap:

How come all you red blooded scouse males haven`t mentioned "Catch a girl
Kiss a girl" children`s game yet? All the girls would be given a few minutes to
run away then the lads would chase after them,and when you caught one you
got a kiss. needless to say all the not so nice looking ones ran very slowly.
There was also "grab the can" in which two teams lined up on each side of the street, a tin can was placed in the middle of the street, each member of
the teams was given a number then when your number was called out by the
umpire who stood near the can. The object was to either grab the can and
get it back to your side without your opponent touching you, this meant you both circled around the can waiting to make the first move.
gregs dad

my flickr site;www.flickr.com/photos/exacta2a

Yeah, remember catch the girl, kiss the girl - whoooohooo do I remember it. Also True, dare, kiss or tell (or 5 minutes in hollywell) as we'd call it.

Yeah, remember catch the girl, kiss the girl - whoooohooo do I remember it. Also True, dare, kiss or tell (or 5 minutes in hollywell) as we'd call it.

Ged ,we called it truth,dare, promise or command in the`40`s
gregs dad

The thing is though. Did you?