Topic ID 4107
last evening i watched a programe on tv, VICTORIAN FARM,, well,,in one way, we dont know how well off we are, but in another,,we do,, just the little things ,, i, luckilly grew up in the 40s and 50s, and spent a lot of my time in and around hertford, but my little memorys are, firstly short trousers and scabby knees,looked apon as battle wounds, three kids to a bed, fighting over the army greatcoat QUILT ha, ha, bread and milk for breakfast, coal at 5/6-twenty seven and a half pence a hundredweight, and walking absolutely everyware. fore street, almost empty, with hardly any motor vehicles there at all, bread and milk rounds deliveries by horse and carts, (wide topped milk bottles,with cardboard sealer tops,the tops handy as a game of flick), pig swill bins at the end of the road chained to a concrete slab, (who would want to steal one of those), hertford covered, and open markets, the bus station with sometimes twenty buses or more there at a time, a very buissy place. black woolworths plimpsoles for the summer holidays, aah woolworths, to me, an aladins cave,lead soldiers,cowboys and indians, etc, etc, all at 2 - and 3 pence each, each seperated by glass devisions on the counter tops, most saturday mournings would find me, pearing over same counters, looking at things i could only dream about,even at those prices, bows and arrows, catapults etc all made by our own fare hands, climbing, running climbing jumping, every day was an adventure, one day the warren, another waterford common, and hartham fair wow, that was worth the wait, carol singing, penny for the guy,= not begging cos most of the kids did it, waiting outside pubs,and asking the leaving customers, can i have ya fag cards please mister, also music and sing-alongs coming from behind the closed doors of same pubs on friday and saturday nights, while we kids sat on the wooden bench outside, with if lucky, lemonade and a bag of smiffs,,, the above only outlines a fraction of my chilhood memories, perhaps any of you could infill any that have not been mentioned,, they were HAPPY FRESH AIR DAYS to me anyway, regards to you all
Reply ID 59801
Some of the children of that era seem to remeber my grandfather giving out buns or fruit you didn't live on or near Port Hill did you?
Reply ID 59815
hi maralyn, no i used to stay most weekends and school holidays with an aunt and uncle in a tiny midd terraced cottage halfway down brewhouse lane at the side of the old three tons pub in st andrews street, as i have mentioned before, the cottage was four rooms 10 by 10 with the rear ground floor room a living room come kitchen, the kitchen consisted of a buttler sink, draining board, and cast iron gas cooker, o an outside toilet, in the yard, only one entry door (front) opening into same yard, with opposite cottage door only about five feet away, both toilet doors were set between the front doors so everyone new what every one else was doing ha ha, by the way, the little shared yard was all there was to the cottages, so the kids all used to play in the road. (narrow lane). regards to you
Reply ID 59817
The things I remember as a kid: Aged 6 ish at The Unicorn with Mum and Dad every Sunday after swimming lessons at Hartham. The Toy Box. Playing in the weir at the back of the tennis courts at Hartham or playing in the weir on the North Road near Goldings entrance. Fishing for pike and perch on The Meads.
Reply ID 59819
quote:Ah well he kept a lorry down there in the pub yard do you remeber any fruit and veg lrries down there? may be before your time of course but I think it was late 1940's just after the end of the war
Originally posted by leemarb
hi maralyn, no i used to stay most weekends and school holidays with an aunt and uncle in a tiny midd terraced cottage halfway down brewhouse lane at the side of the old three tons pub in st andrews street, as i have mentioned before, the cottage was four rooms 10 by 10 with the rear ground floor room a living room come kitchen, the kitchen consisted of a buttler sink, draining board, and cast iron gas cooker, o an outside toilet, in the yard, only one entry door (front) opening into same yard, with opposite cottage door only about five feet away, both toilet doors were set between the front doors so everyone new what every one else was doing ha ha, by the way, the little shared yard was all there was to the cottages, so the kids all used to play in the road. (narrow lane). regards to you
Reply ID 59873
hi maralyn, yes i remember the piece of open land behind the three tons, i think it was where matching cottages were, like my aunt lived in, no lorry memories, but remember the launday, and was it simpson shands envelops factory, at 5pm on week days, st andrews st was full of bikes and workers knocking off work, and nearly all of them had happy faces. hi james, we may have even been after the same pike, and swume together, especially the cold water swimming pool over hartham, now filled in, and what about the warren, on far side to hartham, that was a days work for young mind, regards
Reply ID 59963
leemarb - yeah, I remember the cold water swimming pool on Hartham Common, just past the current football pitches. Can you imagine the uproar if that was allowed now? A mixture of real water and river water, great fun.
Reply ID 59965
cold water pool in Hartham with the bottom covered in algee, took your life in your own hands! I went there with the brownies one freezing cold summer back in the 80's!
Reply ID 59984
hartham cold water pool, on a nice summers day, was a magnet for mums and their kids, picknicks etc, with the bigger boys bravado jumping in white, and coming out midd blue, teath chattering, and seemingly in a semi trance with the cold, that was back in the late 50s.. the castle grounds, playing soldiers up the (now out of bound) mound, and the playground, the most dangeros ride (now im older and can see the danger, was the battering ram, an oak post slung between swinging arms, half a dozen kids ridding it, = if it had hit a kids head, it would have cracked it like an egg, o and always be aware of the gardeners, they kept order, now sadly missing the summer house (now vanalized and in a sorry state), why were all my summers in hertford, always sunny ?
Reply ID 59993
yes I agree summers were sunny in hertford years ago....geting sun burnt in hartham pool in the holidays, ouch I remember! Except the one I mentioned above with the brownies!!!!
Reply ID 60010
as you said sister, the days sunny,er and i add the days longer the snow deeper, and whiter the people friendlier, or so it seemed. the wagon wheels bigger, gigantic the time much slower. the penny went a long long way. gobstoppers took longer to suck the penny minni hovis loaf for school break, bath night was once a week, if ya had a bath. have i foregotten anything,,, i must have, come on maralyn, and dad
Reply ID 60024
Warm school milk from a glass bottle and a paper straw. Tuck-shop at play-time.
Reply ID 60026
quote:on the boiler at Bengeo School if it was frozen. the little section for childrens sweets at Woons. 4 sweets for a penny the little blue salt twist in Smiths crisps (the ogininal one not the "new" version! the bomb hole at the back of Cowper Cres and my little sister getting stuck at the bottom on her little trike, it seemed massive at the time!
Originally posted by Woody
Warm school milk from a glass bottle and a paper straw. Tuck-shop at play-time.
Reply ID 60033
'Bombing' from the top board at 4.59pm at Hartham pool (the open air one) and being chucked out. The old Ice Cream Shop in Hartham. The rag and bone man on a Sunday. Goldings football days for County Hall Rangers.
Reply ID 60039
COUNTY DAY!!
Reply ID 60068
The Hertford trade fare on Hartham, I think it was before County days mny many years ago, probably 1960's
Reply ID 60101
School being open when it snowed, having snowball fights and sliding along the paths. [:)]
Reply ID 60149
Where have all the yellow bins gone that used to have the grit in them gone. Could have really done with one this morning when trying to negotiate getting off my drive way [:D]
Reply ID 60196
penny ice lollies, getting stuck to your lips, and taking a layer of skin off of them,,thinks,, will never do that again,,till tomorrow. chopping firewood for ya gran, wearing darned socks, fitting cardboard in your holey shoes to give them another couple of days use (not good on a rainy day), then come rain snow,or shine walking a mile each way to school, (twice a day), still thought of as happy days. by me anyways..
Reply ID 60327
Thursday & Friday night disco's at the 'Civic' [:D]
Reply ID 60329
quote:And Richard Hale [:I]
Originally posted by gemipicorn
Thursday & Friday night disco's at the 'Civic' [:D]
Reply ID 60337
quote:Oh yeah, I did got to 1 or 2 of them [:)] ....and the ones at the scout hut in Bengeo [:D]
Originally posted by James007quote:And Richard Hale [:I]
Originally posted by gemipicorn
Thursday & Friday night disco's at the 'Civic' [:D]
Reply ID 60750
walking in rain,snow, or fine weather, to horns mill, cecil road comunity hall, for SKIM HARTS friday night rock and roll dances,in the late 50s, lemonade, orange juice, and perhaps a sly fag, but no alcohol and i dont think any fights ether, not while skim was around anyway. [;)]
Reply ID 61670
another happy memory, for me anyways= i had a job one year on the hartham bank holiday fair, collecting the thrown balls at the coconut shy stall, the stall owner said two bob (10 pence), starting from 1 pm though till late,,about 10pm,= on the first day =hot and sunny= the owner shouted at me,, are you a man or a mouse boy , cos i wouldent dodge the balls as they were being thown,,to pick the fallen ones up,,then at about 5 or 6 pm, the stall holders wife came up, and handed me a plate with two thick slices of bread on it, and a big slab of white fat about a half inch thick between,, yes that right,, A FAT SANDWICH , well, i took the sandwich behind the stall, and fed it to his dog, about an hour or so later, the dog standing in front of the stall,,amongst the public,, honked all this fat up, the stall holder then starts shouting,, that someone was trying to poison his dog,, and im standing there thinking,, that was a close shave,, i didnt go back for the bank holiday monday,, sure that the stall holder or his wife would have found out who the culprite was,,, o happy days
Reply ID 61675
Brilliant tale leemarb. LOL![:D]
Reply ID 61698
quote:I'm sure I've asked before, but does anyone remember 'Rat Woman' at County Day - or was she a figment of my imagination? I seem to remember she was there the day a Wellington Bomber and two Spitfires flew over Hartham.
Originally posted by harebell
COUNTY DAY!!
Reply ID 61703
Do you mean the Rat woman that was one of side shows with the fair?
Reply ID 61749
quote:Indeed - very non-pc! You paid your 10p and shuffled into a small tent, floor covered in sawdust, to witness a lady of advancing years, topless, with a few rodents crawling over her. I see that this thread was 'things you remember as a kid' now - actually I reckon it was in the seventies that I saw this, and I was a bit more than a kid. Mind you, it's probably the reason I get nightmares now![:)] Anyone else traumatised by this 'sideshow' as well?
Originally posted by Eyeone
Do you mean the Rat woman that was one of side shows with the fair?
Reply ID 61763
Yes the Rat woman does bring back memories! I can picture the advertising hoarding now, showing a curvaceous, attractive lady only to enter the tent and be confronted by by a lady of advancing years, so well descibed by Arty. As I was only about 7 or 8 at the time I don't think I was too disappointed, although I'm sure my dad was when he took me in there! Did she also have snakes some years, or is this my memory playing tricks on me? Do you also remember the very poor ghost train that consisted of a couple of people dressed up as skeletons, who would just come over and ruffle your hair. As for County Day, as well as the brilliant fly pasts, I remember on a couple of occassions they had some very good American Civil War reinactments (as well as the English Civil War ones, of course). Those were the days.
Reply ID 61778
And of course in those days the pubs closed at 2:00 or 2:30, so the beer tent did good trade [:)]
Reply ID 61793
I’m sure I saw the Rat woman around 1971-2. The show certainly scared me. I’ve had a fear of topless women ever since.[:D] I do own some lovely pet Rats though![:D]
Reply ID 61795
quote:Ah yes the Thursday disco at the 'civic'. Went every week with my £1.50 pocket money- £1 to get in and the rest for blackcurrant & lemonade [:D]
Originally posted by gemipicorn
Thursday & Friday night disco's at the 'Civic' [:D]
Reply ID 61798
Is it just me or did it seem to rain on most county days in the mid to late 70’s?
Reply ID 61826
quote:Those disco's have a lot to answer for! I met Mr G there [:)]
Originally posted by spacepiratequote:Ah yes the Thursday disco at the 'civic'. Went every week with my £1.50 pocket money- £1 to get in and the rest for blackcurrant & lemonade [:D]
Originally posted by gemipicorn
Thursday & Friday night disco's at the 'Civic' [:D]
Reply ID 61827
quote:No it's not you, it was a running joke that if it was County Day then it was bound to rain [:D]
Originally posted by Eyeone
Is it just me or did it seem to rain on most county days in the mid to late 70’s?
Reply ID 61875
Ah I was correct then. I just seem to remember thinking at the time that someone could make a tidy profit by setting up an umbrella stall![:D] I certainly remember them as happy times (despite the rain) Why were they stopped. Was it cost?[:(]
Reply ID 61885
am i allowed to mention SCRUMPING ,, long before the supermarkets recomended five a day, us lads and quite a few lasses,(this was the early fifties),,new possibly every apple, pear,goosberry,and cherry tree,etc, etc, in hertford,said trees would be kept an eye on, as they came to,,as you would say,, frutition, sad to say,,it then became a game of cat and mouse, us,,being the mice, all sorts of military type planes were made, i,e,over fences,,under fences,,across gardens, etc,and that was even before you attempted to climb the said tree,for the spoils, there was a girl in our little gang, who was a better climber than any boy, she came out of horns mill, (and she probably knows who im talking about ),anyway, she climbed this apple tree, when all of a sudden, the vicar came tearing out,shouting his head off, all us boys disapeared, leaving her up the tree, as quiet as a =mouse,, the vicar didnt see her, and about half an hour later she met up with us, and WOW she even presented each of us with a rosy red apply,, and if maralyn sees this, her dad will tell her, scrumping was a sport,,untill the super-markets turned up, the above is a story i was told as a lad,,officer
Reply ID 61905
Going into Pingys fish & chip shop in the mid 70’s during the school lunch hour for a High carb, high in saturated fat lunch. (AKA a bag of chips. Still remember the hot steamy atmosphere and the smell of the vinegar on the hot chips. Also remember when the price shot up due to a potato shortage. Don’t think they ever came down again.![:0]
Reply ID 61906
quote:The rain! it stops people coming out, and the organisation failed to make any money because of this, year after year, and eventually couldn't go on, I believe. Where is Rat Woman now, though? Probably in that great sewer in the sky...[:)]
Originally posted by Eyeone
Ah I was correct then. I just seem to remember thinking at the time that someone could make a tidy profit by setting up an umbrella stall![:D] I certainly remember them as happy times (despite the rain) Why were they stopped. Was it cost?[:(]
Reply ID 61907
Wish I had opened that umbrella stall![8D]
Reply ID 61909
Didn’t the attendance also fall when they stopped using a celebrity to open the proceedings and do some judging? Seem to remember people complaining that Ware could afford a celebrity why can’t we. Suppose it’s a double edged sword though as these guests didn’t come cheap but then they (hopefully) pulled the crowds in. I can remember Keith Chegwin appearing over the brow of Port hill shaking a bucket and shouting ‘Give us your money’ Incidentally I tried the same tactic in the town centre the following day but only came back with a black eye[B)][:D]
Reply ID 61917
quote:Golly gosh - yes, scrumping - I remember doing that! What a blast from the past![:D] <can also remember having a really bad tummy ache after eating crab-apples too!> I guess those were the days when if the local bobby [img]http://www.langkawi.dk/smileys/a1181.gif[/img] caught you, he would give you a little clip around the ear and tell you not to do it again, or take you home to daddy - who would possibly give you a fourpenny one too! haha! never did me any harm - not that I am condoning smacking, or any kind of corporal punishment at all ...<phew>[img]http://www.langkawi.dk/smileys/a1181.gif[/img]
Originally posted by leemarb
am i allowed to mention SCRUMPING ,, long before the supermarkets recomended five a day, us lads and quite a few lasses,(this was the early fifties),,new possibly every apple, pear,goosberry,and cherry tree,etc, etc, in hertford,said trees would be kept an eye on, as they came to,,as you would say,, frutition, sad to say,,it then became a game of cat and mouse, us,,being the mice, all sorts of military type planes were made, i,e,over fences,,under fences,,across gardens, etc,and that was even before you attempted to climb the said tree,for the spoils, there was a girl in our little gang, who was a better climber than any boy, she came out of horns mill, (and she probably knows who im talking about ),anyway, she climbed this apple tree, when all of a sudden, the vicar came tearing out,shouting his head off, all us boys disapeared, leaving her up the tree, as quiet as a =mouse,, the vicar didnt see her, and about half an hour later she met up with us, and WOW she even presented each of us with a rosy red apply,, and if maralyn sees this, her dad will tell her, scrumping was a sport,,untill the super-markets turned up, the above is a story i was told as a lad,,officer
Reply ID 61924
I didn’t realise I have been conversing with a pair of self confessed Apple thieves[:0][:D] Pity Google Street view wasn’t available back then. You could have planned your escape route[:D]
Reply ID 61926
quote:[img]http://foolstown.com/sm/hit.gif[/img] It's a fair cop.... come on Leemarb... you too! [img]http://foolstown.com/sm/hit.gif[/img]
Originally posted by Eyeone
I didn’t realise I have been conversing with a pair of self confessed Apple thieves[:0][:D] Pity Google Street view wasn’t available back then. You could have planned your escape route[:D]
Reply ID 61927
Other childhood memories,(to name but a few) Playing games like hop-scotch, knock-down ginger, French skipping, Queenie Queenie, who’s got the ball – played in the street as there were hardly any cars… Making soap-box carties from pram wheels and odds and sods we found in dad shed Eating bags of crisps with the little (now deemed dangerous) blue twist bags of salt.. Saturday morning pictures...(remember cheering for Zorro!) being *it* - and playing off-ground touch.. catching tiddlers in the stream at Harham Jam sandwiches...gob stoppers...[img]http://www.smilies-and-more.de/pics/smilies/persons/080.gif[/img]
Reply ID 61928
Frys Five Centres, Spangles, Fruit Polos and Blackcurrant Cresta (its frothy man)
Reply ID 61929
quote:Showing my age now, but wasn't Frys Five Centres once called Frys Five Boys?
Originally posted by Leo Densian
Frys Five Centres, Spangles, Fruit Polos and Blackcurrant Cresta (its frothy man)
Reply ID 61930
Before my time but yes it was.
Reply ID 61931
What was Frys Five centres? I remember their Chocolate Mint cream bars.
Reply ID 61933
Frys Five Boys was (I think)just milk chocolate and was early C.20th. Five centres was 1970's and contained if I remember correctly a mixture of fondant flavours all in one bar - orange, lemon, lime, pineapple,and strawberry. No peppermint though - the Peppermint cream was a separate item. And bring back Cadburys Old Jamaica too!
Reply ID 61941
quote:I may be getting past my prime but I'm not early 20th Century! [:)] Five Boys was definitely still around in the late 1960's but, you're quite right about it being just a chocolate bar.
Originally posted by Leo Densian
Frys Five Boys was (I think)just milk chocolate and was early C.20th.
Reply ID 61942
quote:1902 - 1971
Originally posted by Deveraux Five Boys was definitely still around in the late 1960's but, you're quite right about it being just a chocolate bar.
Reply ID 61963
Everyone interested in sweeties here (sorry, admin, not specifically Hertford) maybe interested in http://www.aquarterof.co.uk which is a sweetie heaven website..
Reply ID 61967
quote:I don't know about that, it's just what HERTFORD needs. What a great site [:D] It would certainly be a good replacement for Woolies pick and mix!
Originally posted by Arty
Everyone interested in sweeties here (sorry, admin, not specifically Hertford) maybe interested in http://www.aquarterof.co.uk which is a sweetie heaven website..
Reply ID 61976
quote:Ah Five Centres - those were fantastic. You can still get Old Jamaica in Australia - I can bring you some back in January!! Do you remember the Cadburys Milk Tray in a bar - all those different little mini chocolates in a bar?! You can still get that in Oz too [:D]
Originally posted by Leo Densian
Frys Five Boys was (I think)just milk chocolate and was early C.20th. Five centres was 1970's and contained if I remember correctly a mixture of fondant flavours all in one bar - orange, lemon, lime, pineapple,and strawberry. No peppermint though - the Peppermint cream was a separate item. And bring back Cadburys Old Jamaica too!
Reply ID 61982
Used to love the lime barrel in the Milk tray bar (along with the rest of the bar of course!) I’ve still got the fillings to prove it![:)]
Reply ID 62016
Transistor radios, roller skates (Jackos) School dinners (tapioca pud – frogs-spawn) Cheese and potato pie… [img]http://www.langkawi.dk/smileys/b189.gif[/img] Jamboree bags, Jubbly (frozen o.j.) Liquorice/Spanish wood sticks (made your teeth go brown) penny lollies [img]http://www.langkawi.dk/smileys/b189.gif[/img] Sweet cigarettes Cadbury milk chocolate in a push-up box (tiny individual bars) came in Bourneville dark too. Sweeties, came from large glass jars, weighed out on metal scales, poured into nice little white bags, held in place on the counter by string…………..you could even buy 2 ounces if you only had a few coppers to spend.
Reply ID 62019
quote:Wow!! Now expecting my first delivery this weekend [:)] (It would have been the smiling smiley though I won't have any teeth left).
Originally posted by Arty
Everyone interested in sweeties here (sorry, admin, not specifically Hertford) maybe interested in http://www.aquarterof.co.uk which is a sweetie heaven website..
Reply ID 62020
Broken biscuits from Woons, they had them in tins in front of the counter as I remember!
Reply ID 62021
With Easter approaching, we'd be painting hard-boiled eggs and roll them down hill on Easter Sunday to crack, then peel and eat them. Not as many chocolate Easter eggs around though they seemed to taste nicer, especially the dark chocolate ones. Decimilisation in Feb 1971 - my favourite quote was the older lady saying "Why didn't they wait until all us old people had died?"
Reply ID 62145
and WAGON WHEELS so big= ya had to roll them home with a stick,,[8D] and policemen on bikes,, i and a friend, both of us about 11 = 12 years old, biking back to hertford from hertford heath one autumn evening, got stopped by a copp,, sorry a Mobil bike policeman, ELLO ELLO THEN ,= no lights i see,= sorry officer,,= well, well,you boys never learn, do you,,= and he promptly unscrewed,and removed the velves from both our bikes tyres, leaving us to push our bikes back into town, with his last remark ringing in our ears, to my friend of = tell ya dad ill see him in the dim later, as he rode off laughing his helmet off,, [:)]
Reply ID 62357
radio programs after school, 1950 ish,, calling round my Nan's, she would cut the knob end off a fresh loaf of bread, a bit of cheese, and whilst i devoured that, she would listen to MRS DALES DIARY, a lady married to a country doctor, named Jim, she used to start the program, saying = I'm worried, Jim's not feeling himself lately [:I] then there was DICK BARTON with his trusty side kick SNOWEY they used to sort out the world problems for us kids, with the saying, a hank of hair,, and a piece of bone, you new then, that a villain had copped it.
Reply ID 63187
how about when school diners were diners, meat pie, mashed potatoes,cabbage and Swede, apple pie and custard,, something different five days a week, only four and a half pence a day, (9 old pennies), with the head cooks cry of ANYONE WANT SECONDS put their hand up,, and an mportant part of them was, all sourced from local suppliers
Reply ID 63190
quote:Ooooh yes leemarb, that reminded me about school custard -- one lump or two![IMG]http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/begging.gif[/IMG] School dinners were not exactly healthy though -- tasty, I admit, (with the exception of frog spawn (tapioca) and filling...but not exactly what Jamie Oliver would have dished out![:o)] All those jam roly-poly portions...and lovely stodge!!! No help in keeping the waistline in trim! The only time we saw fruit on offer was in the school orchard![}:)] I agree it was all local sourced, and the left-overs were poured unceremoniously into those large metal vats - commonly known as pig-bins!
Originally posted by leemarb
how about when school diners were diners, meat pie, mashed potatoes,cabbage and Swede, apple pie and custard,, something different five days a week, only four and a half pence a day, (9 old pennies), with the head cooks cry of ANYONE WANT SECONDS put their hand up,, and an mportant part of them was, all sourced from local suppliers
Reply ID 63192
The smell of greens wafting through the playground and dinner room-Yuk, even to this day the smell is awful, spotted dick with dead flies (currants)and custard - I can also remember the lorry came to pick the pig bins up every day, recycling waste even then. The small bottle of milk or orange with a straw at 10.30am God we were spoilt.........
Reply ID 63195
i started school in 1945,,and thinking about it jaycee ,,i honestly remember only one boy at school who was overweight, and he had a medical condition,,other than that, the rest of us all were =as they say fighting fit= and at our school,,not much went into the pig swill bins [;)] [:)] i dont think that weight was an issue at that time,, the 40 s and 50 s, but survival was = now cue the opening bars of the dam busters [xx(] note = have we got bigger or fatter in the last fifty years
Reply ID 63206
quote:You are so right leemarb.. I don't think weight was an issue back then, also I cannot remember too many (only two, possibly) overweight kids. I think the advent of fast food (Maccy Dee's etc) and processed foods containing loads of sugar and fat have contributed immensly. When I was a kid back in the 50's [img]http://www.langkawi.dk/smileys/w63.gif[/img] we only had a few coppers to spend on sweeties, and our pocketmoney was earned (not always [:p]).. We didn't have the money to go out and buy loads of chips etc., also, not forgetting we ran/walked about everywhere (no mum/dad ferrying us back and forth to school like nowdays). We went out to play after school, and in the hols - sometimes dawn to dusk,( with a paper bag with our lunch and a bottle of pop!) we made camps, played games and had lots of fresh air. No tv.. the telly only came on for kids late afternoon, i think.. and even then it was pretty basic. No sittiing around playing computer games and tv watching - we were outside having fun.[img]http://www.langkawi.dk/smileys/w63.gif[/img] [/img] God...I am getting old![img]http://www.langkawi.dk/smileys/w63.gif[/img]
Originally posted by leemarb
i started school in 1945,,and thinking about it jaycee ,,i honestly remember only one boy at school who was overweight, and he had a medical condition,,other than that, the rest of us all were =as they say fighting fit= and at our school,,not much went into the pig swill bins [;)] [:)] i dont think that weight was an issue at that time,, the 40 s and 50 s, but survival was = now cue the opening bars of the dam busters [xx(] note = have we got bigger or fatter in the last fifty years
Reply ID 63211
quote:Yes, but perhaps because of that lifestyle you are at least getting old![:)]
Originally posted by Jayceequote:You are so right leemarb.. I don't think weight was an issue back then, also I cannot remember too many (only two, possibly) overweight kids. I think the advent of fast food (Maccy Dee's etc) and processed foods containing loads of sugar and fat have contributed immensly. When I was a kid back in the 50's [img]http://www.langkawi.dk/smileys/w63.gif[/img] we only had a few coppers to spend on sweeties, and our pocketmoney was earned (not always [:p]).. We didn't have the money to go out and buy loads of chips etc., also, not forgetting we ran/walked about everywhere (no mum/dad ferrying us back and forth to school like nowdays). We went out to play after school, and in the hols - sometimes dawn to dusk,( with a paper bag with our lunch and a bottle of pop!) we made camps, played games and had lots of fresh air. No tv.. the telly only came on for kids late afternoon, i think.. and even then it was pretty basic. No sittiing around playing computer games and tv watching - we were outside having fun.[img]http://www.langkawi.dk/smileys/w63.gif[/img] [/img] God...I am getting old![img]http://www.langkawi.dk/smileys/w63.gif[/img]
Originally posted by leemarb
i started school in 1945,,and thinking about it jaycee ,,i honestly remember only one boy at school who was overweight, and he had a medical condition,,other than that, the rest of us all were =as they say fighting fit= and at our school,,not much went into the pig swill bins [;)] [:)] i dont think that weight was an issue at that time,, the 40 s and 50 s, but survival was = now cue the opening bars of the dam busters [xx(] note = have we got bigger or fatter in the last fifty years
Reply ID 63291
QUOTE FROM JAYCEE,, we ran or walked everyware. a tanner ( 6 old pennies ) for saturday mourning flicks (pictures).circ late 1940s the picture house opened for a sharp 10 am start,, generally the first film was short, and had government involvement,,i/e pig,goat,or bee keeping, great britsh railways, or countryside,doll,and jam making,plus other assortments,, then came the big film,, roy rogers,& tonto,, tom mix, etc,, all on trusty steeds that could outrun any ijiun horse, and they were all crack shots with their six-guns, ( NOTE= there was NEVER any blood to be seen),then after dodging arrows and bullets for over an hour or more, we generally came out into the sunshine, for the long WALK home, i say walk, cos most of the boys coming from the picture house then adopted a peculiar type of sideway hop-along trot, this involved a slow run with mostly the left leg leading, also the left arm extended with fingers holding imaginary reigns,and the right hand smacking his own backside (encouragement for imaginary horse)and said boy talking to his imaginary horse = gi-up,com-on, whooa up ol gal, even when asked -what is ya horses name, it was always SILVER, by this means small boys could cover miles and miles,obviously keeping an eye out for injiuns and the chance to find and recycle discarded TIZER, and BEER bottles, these were worth 2p and 3p respectivly at the outlet shop or off-licence, then said deposit monies were exchanged for penny lollies, liquorice sticks, or a paper funnel of toffees,, all an end to a perfect mourning. p/s anyone know why the bottle deposit system was stopped, = and they say recycling is the new in-thing,,
Reply ID 63293
I suspect the bottle deposits stopped when they discovered plastic. My father was a wholesale greengrocer (in Hertford!) and they had deposits on wooden boxes that had to be returned, then everything started to be packed in plastic / cardboard etc and that stopped. Now in the cut flower trade (I am in Hertford as well!)it is back to the old ways with reusable boxes, all be it start of the art and buckets that have to be returned to the auctions, again if you take one you pay for it and get the money back when it is returned. Tizer in returnable bottles now that is a memory, do they still make Tizer?
Reply ID 63299
quote:"saturday mourning flicks" Presumably in memory of the dead injuns![:D]
Originally posted by leemarb
QUOTE FROM JAYCEE,, we ran or walked everyware. a tanner ( 6 old pennies ) for saturday mourning flicks (pictures).circ late 1940s the picture house opened for a sharp 10 am start,, generally the first film was short, and had government involvement,,i/e pig,goat,or bee keeping, great britsh railways, or countryside,doll,and jam making,plus other assortments,, then came the big film,, roy rogers,& tonto,, tom mix, etc,, all on trusty steeds that could outrun any ijiun horse, and they were all crack shots with their six-guns, ( NOTE= there was NEVER any blood to be seen),then after dodging arrows and bullets for over an hour or more, we generally came out into the sunshine, for the long WALK home, i say walk, cos most of the boys coming from the picture house then adopted a peculiar type of sideway hop-along trot, this involved a slow run with mostly the left leg leading, also the left arm extended with fingers holding imaginary reigns,and the right hand smacking his own backside (encouragement for imaginary horse)and said boy talking to his imaginary horse = gi-up,com-on, whooa up ol gal, even when asked -what is ya horses name, it was always SILVER, by this means small boys could cover miles and miles,obviously keeping an eye out for injiuns and the chance to find and recycle discarded TIZER, and BEER bottles, these were worth 2p and 3p respectivly at the outlet shop or off-licence, then said deposit monies were exchanged for penny lollies, liquorice sticks, or a paper funnel of toffees,, all an end to a perfect mourning. p/s anyone know why the bottle deposit system was stopped, = and they say recycling is the new in-thing,,
Reply ID 63322
Saturday morning at the pictures was fun wasn’t it? … I loved Zorro! [img]http://www.smilies-and-more.de/pics/smilies/persons/105.gif[/img]The slashing sword making the sign of the *Z*...[:D] How I remember with fondness, the kids and their pretend horses - I was one of them! haha.. but naturally, being a horse lover, I was a cowgirl! Yeehaa! [img]http://www.smilies-and-more.de/pics/smilies/persons/105.gif[/img]The It was Roy Rogers and Dale Evans,(his wife) and the palomino horse was called Trigger! The Lone Ranger and his horse Silver oh yes…... and he would call out “Hi ho Silver” and gallop down the canyon in clouds of dust! Tonto was his trusty injun partner/scout and he would say” you are Kemosabe".[img]http://www.smilies-and-more.de/pics/smilies/persons/105.gif[/img]The Oh my - yes, collecting bottles and taking them back for a few coppers! Yay! I still have an old Tizer bottle stopper in my odds and sods button tin! Marilyn, yes, you can still buy Tizer - but IMO it's not the same...but I could be wrong - and it is the memory that's fading and not the taste! I think today's Tizer has lots of artificial sweetners - which alters the flavour! After that brain rush, I need a lie-down!*J*[:I]
Reply ID 65643
1940s and 50s holidays,,generally one day at the sea-side,, beach,, funny hat,,stick of rock,,thats ya lot,, 1948,,an uncle of mine,,bought a second-hand car,,a big black car,,head-lights,,running boards,,the lot,, decided to take his wife and daughter,,my aunt and uncle,,and myself to Bornmouth for the day,,flasks of tea,bottles of tizer, sandwiches, old army blankets for the beach etc,, had what i remember,,a lovely sunny day,,rounded off with a trip to see the lighthouse at beachy-head,, about 8 pm started for home,,bearing in mind that the roads in the fourties were more like our country lanes now,,i remember we got stuck in a traffic jam for a couple of hours,,or more,,and the car was -in my uncles terms- x # z # q # boilinmg up,, well,around midnight the car gave up the ghost -steam from the bonnet,,-oil running onto the road-etc-, on what was the old cambridge arterial road at enfield,,pitch black night,,and after about an hour-the only car to come along was a police car,, well all the grownups,,huffed and puffed,,then the two policemen hitched us up and towed us all the way back to hertford,,job done,, i never did know what happened to uncles car,,
Reply ID 65648
quote:Somehow I don't see policeman doing that these days.................
Originally posted by leemarb
1940s and 50s holidays,,generally one day at the sea-side,, beach,, funny hat,,stick of rock,,thats ya lot,, 1948,,an uncle of mine,,bought a second-hand car,,a big black car,,head-lights,,running boards,,the lot,, decided to take his wife and daughter,,my aunt and uncle,,and myself to Bornmouth for the day,,flasks of tea,bottles of tizer, sandwiches, old army blankets for the beach etc,, had what i remember,,a lovely sunny day,,rounded off with a trip to see the lighthouse at beachy-head,, about 8 pm started for home,,bearing in mind that the roads in the fourties were more like our country lanes now,,i remember we got stuck in a traffic jam for a couple of hours,,or more,,and the car was -in my uncles terms- x # z # q # boilinmg up,, well,around midnight the car gave up the ghost -steam from the bonnet,,-oil running onto the road-etc-, on what was the old cambridge arterial road at enfield,,pitch black night,,and after about an hour-the only car to come along was a police car,, well all the grownups,,huffed and puffed,,then the two policemen hitched us up and towed us all the way back to hertford,,job done,, i never did know what happened to uncles car,,
Reply ID 65698
as i said marilyn,,it was 1948,,and what i seem to remember as a kid,,most people were more helpfull,,and most things were a lot slower in pace,, can you imagine,,the cambridge arterial,,in the late 40s and 50s,,there was nothing moving on the roads after 10 or 11 at night anywhare,,exept for produce going up to london,, your dad would remember that marilyn
Reply ID 65699
quote:Yes he does he would have been one of the few moving in the early hours going up to the market at Spitalfields at 3 in the morning........... Somehow he doesn't fancy it these days, can't think why![:D]
Originally posted by leemarb
as i said marilyn,,it was 1948,,and what i seem to remember as a kid,,most people were more helpfull,,and most things were a lot slower in pace,, can you imagine,,the cambridge arterial,,in the late 40s and 50s,,there was nothing moving on the roads after 10 or 11 at night anywhare,,exept for produce going up to london,, your dad would remember that marilyn
Reply ID 65744
Marilyn,,your mention regarding produce runs into london,remind me of an incident that your dad may well remember,,in about 1947 - 8,, midd way between Gt Amwell, and Hoddesdon,,exactly where the mini roundabout serving the 100 Acre Estate is,,,there was a huge old oak tree next to the road,, in the early summer hours about 3 am ish,one mourning,,,the oak tree decided to come crashing down,across the A10,,,even though the road was a main direct rout into london,it was still only the size of our country lanes now,. the oak tree demolished a passing open backed lorry,,carrying open crates of apples to spitalfields market,,luckily,the driver was safe,,but the lorry was mortally wounded,,and the A10 was knee deep in apples. it took about three days to clear the A10, and traffic was diverted down St Margarets Road, well,,us kids had great fun,,didn't have to go scrumping for some weeks,,not for apples anyway,. and the joke doing the rounds at school for a week or so,,was DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE APPLE LORRY THAT GOT KNOCKED OUT BY AN OAK TREE,, great fun,,but school kid humor im afraid
Reply ID 65749
I will ask him about that, I am sure he will remember, he used to go up buying as he was a wholesale potato merchant and greengrocer in Ware Road, what is now Taylor Trading Estate next to the boarded up ex green's garage.
Reply ID 65778
in the 1940s that trading estate,when it was a chalk pit, along with the lower meads,,and the golf course above were our playgrounds and something to think about,,,in a kids mind,,,why were the school holidays always sunny and warm for the whole six weeks
Reply ID 65788
quote:Chalk Pit........................he always told us he bought a treacle mine!![:D] I do remember picking up loads of golf ball when I used to go up with him after he started the business there, they came over the "cliff" just hoping the houses don't eventually do the same thing.
Originally posted by leemarb
in the 1940s that trading estate,when it was a chalk pit, along with the lower meads,,and the golf course above were our playgrounds and something to think about,,,in a kids mind,,,why were the school holidays always sunny and warm for the whole six weeks
Reply ID 65803
quote:treacle mine,,,,he (ya dad) then turned it into a potato mine [8D] that hopefully turned into a gold mine [;)] and regarding golf balls,,at that time,,there must have been some lousy golfers around,,cos we kids regularly used to find golf balls in the gutters along ware road [:)]
Chalk Pit........................he always told us he bought a treacle mine!![:D] I do remember picking up loads of golf ball when I used to go up with him after he started the business there, they came over the "cliff" just hoping the houses don't eventually do the same thing.
Reply ID 65815
quote:He did indeed not forgetting the mushrooms, apples, bananas and everything else he had up there! That was before supermarkets when there were lots of independant greengrocers around.
Originally posted by leemarbquote:treacle mine,,,,he (ya dad) then turned it into a potato mine [8D] that hopefully turned into a gold mine [;)] and regarding golf balls,,at that time,,there must have been some lousy golfers around,,cos we kids regularly used to find golf balls in the gutters along ware road [:)]
Chalk Pit........................he always told us he bought a treacle mine!![:D] I do remember picking up loads of golf ball when I used to go up with him after he started the business there, they came over the "cliff" just hoping the houses don't eventually do the same thing.
Reply ID 67092
I loved Woolies in the late 50's/early 60's - bags of hot peanuts(6d each) from the machine just inside on the left, and the giant red weighing machine between the two double doors - and those lovely dark wooden counters with glass bits at the front, that stretched down into the depths of the store. ...and it was either 'short back & sides', or a 'Boston'. I know which one I prefered, but unfortunately my mum didn't agree, so 'short back & sides' it was, until I was 12!
Reply ID 67215
woolies,, an Aladdin's cave for us young kids,,marbles of all colors at 3p for ten,,lead toys,cowboys on horses, red Indians in canoes, tin plate cars etc, mostly at 3p a go,,a fortune in the midd late forties toys for girls as well, but i didn't take much notice of them, Saturday mournings my mum would say,,call into woollies, and get 3p worth of broken biscuits,,they came in 12 inch by 12 inch tins,not packets then,,and for 3p you got about a pound in weight worth of biscuits,, when i got them home my mum would say, " there used to be a few custard creams" i think she new i had, had a good sort through the bag on the way home. whats three old pennies worth now-a-days,or whats the equivalent value now
Reply ID 67219
quote:Ah, the Boston back. Curiously squared off cut that looked very stylish (so we thought) in the barber's mirror, but degenerated into a fluffy border between neck and Bay Rum shine a week later, which is probably why your mum insisted on the more economical clipped pit pony look. There was also the "tapered back", known as a DA, traditionally worn with a well greased quiff and the Roger Moore, which was a combination of quiff front and Boston back. Through the ages, there has never been a shortage of inventive ways to make oneself look a right nonse.[:o)]
Originally posted by homeless
I loved Woolies in the late 50's/early 60's - bags of hot peanuts(6d each) from the machine just inside on the left, and the giant red weighing machine between the two double doors - and those lovely dark wooden counters with glass bits at the front, that stretched down into the depths of the store. ...and it was either 'short back & sides', or a 'Boston'. I know which one I prefered, but unfortunately my mum didn't agree, so 'short back & sides' it was, until I was 12!
Reply ID 67220
I remember the big red scales in woolies and I didn't live in Hertford. They must've been in every store. They went up to 19 stone I believe.
Reply ID 67387
how about the two hertford cinemas,,( or the pictures,as we called them ), in the midd late fifties,,, first the castle cinema,, you had to get past the Commissioner all dressed up in a deep red and gold uniform,,then move across to the grilled payment desk,,an elderly lady, (i believe her name was Maud then sold you a DOWN THE FRONT SEAT for 1/6p,, you were then guided into the dark interior, not a big cinema,,very cosy i would call it now,, seated,,first the PATH NEWS would come on, jungle fighting in Malaya,or the Cyprus conflict,the queen visiting puddington somewhere or other,30 ducklings hatched in one nest in Hyde park, etc etc,then the first interval,get loaded up with ice cream,nuts, etc, served by a young lady from a very large tray slung from her neck,,must have weight a half hundredweight or more, then the B film starts, sometimes it would be how to make rush mats,rocking chairs,army life or whatever,or an American gangster film,,now the second interval,time for more ice cream,etc, now the biggy film, from here to eternity,,south pacific,,trouble in store etc,etc, lights go up,,and its time to go. p/s,,i fore got to mention the crafty FAG tried whilst the lights were down,saved as a special treat during the BIG film. second,,the county cinema,,saved that mainly for a Sunday afternoon,,and if you were lucky,a young lady on ya arm,, much the same as the castle, but much bigger and grander,,being grander meant that you could go upstairs for 2/6p, but first you sat in the (a-hmm) restaurant,and treated your young lady to beans on toast and a cup of tea,,when high tea was finished,timed to get into your seats as the films started,(and if possible seats in the back row) as well, the castle was a bit down at heel,the county very grand in our eyes,,but both had that majice, the music,the smells,even the exitement when entering ether, all in all, im sad that the youngsters dont have the cinema choices us older ones had,,in this town,,now
Reply ID 67391
Pathe news. You can now watch their old newsreels online http://www.britishpathe.com Just make sure you've got nothing to do that day!
Reply ID 67396
quote:Trouble in Store?? [8)] Didn't realise things were that bad leemarb. Kids don't know they are born these days [;)][:D]
Originally posted by leemarb now the biggy film, from here to eternity,,south pacific,trouble in store etc,etc,
Reply ID 67399
quote:Talking of which: http://www.britishpathe.com http://www.britishpathe.com
Originally posted by Anorak
Pathe news. You can now watch their old newsreels online http://www.britishpathe.com Just make sure you've got nothing to do that day!
Reply ID 67402
quote:ha dennis, dont get me started = kids=born=these=days,,,[}:)] [;)] im gettin back to me NORMAN WISDOMS now mate, to calm down[8D]
Originally posted by Leo Densianquote:Trouble in Store?? [8)] Didn't realise things were that bad leemarb. Kids don't know they are born these days [;)][:D]
Originally posted by leemarb now the biggy film, from here to eternity,,south pacific,trouble in store etc,etc,
Reply ID 67488
This thread is superb! Thanks for all those memory joggers. Here are a couple more, hopefully... The baker's van(Wren's)delivering bread. The Corona van, delivering bottles of fizzy drinks (cream soda was my favourite). The Sunday drive from Hertford through the country lanes to see my Uncle's family who lived in Kimpton - driving through Codicote and past those little cottages that backed onto the river - I dreamed of living in one of them, but now I'm so glad I don't because they're right on the road! At primary school we had 1/3 pint bottles of milk. In the winter the milk froze, it expanded, it forced its way up through the silver foil top and you had a little bottle of milk with a milk tube sticking up out of it. The crates of milk were put next to the boiler in the classroom where they got too warm - disgusting. Blue tits pecked little holes in the milk bottles and drank as much as they could. The milkman also sold orange juice in those little bottles - and it tasted better than any other orange juice, except for my nan's - which was divine (god knows why!). When I was in my early teens - working part time behind the counter in the Fine Fare Coffee Bar - that Juke Box was excellent (Jimmy Ruffin - Wherever I Lay My Hat). Red plastic bench seats - it was so good to get a window seat and look down on the world walking past you along Maidenhead Street. Hertford Gramar School dinners - yuck, except for Fridays, when inedible lumpy mash gave way to lovely chips. The stew was revolting, because the meat was mainly gristle that made you feel like vomitting. The cabbage was vile - just vile... and so was the rice pud with a dollop of stawberry jam in the middle. Today's school dinners are haute cuisine by comparison. Buying and selling american marvel 'superhero' comics in the school playground and wondering if those 'x-ray specs' they advertised on the back covers really could see through ladies' clothes. The list goes on, but I'll give someone else a chance...
Reply ID 67577
im glad you mentioned fine fare homeless,, around the time i was 16 = 17 we used to congregate up on the first floor of finefares opposite Woolworth's,later to be MC Donald's, and now empty,in their new coffee shop or bar,,drinking that new fangled frothy American coffee called espresso at about 4p a cup, great times,great times,chatting the girls,,all dressed in their what seemed to me-hundreds of petticoats,,,can i take you to the pictures,,o great what one do you want to go to castle or county,,=we at least had a choice back then= note= look back three or four to my post regarding hertford picture houses,,or now if you can find one =cinemas
Reply ID 69340
its nearly christmas,,SO CAROL SINGING in the very early fifties,,i used to go carol singing,,mainly the st andrews street area, at that time there was lots of back ally cottages,and shop owners living over shop etc, one evening i started at the top end,around the ebineeza church area,,a man stopped and said=why dont you try the pubs sonny,,that was the day i went from domestic, to comercial= starting at the big pub,foreget its name,,but the area whare walters petrol pumps were,,i worked my way down into the port vale area,,possibly seven or eight pubs in all. started by giving a rendering of silent night at each front door, the semi pub drunk would invite me into the pub,,shouting SHooosssh, quitet now,whilst lifting me onto a table,,then whilst i sang six or seven carols,,he would go round with his cap,when finished,he would empty same cap contents into my jacket pockets,,whilst the landlord would give me a lemonade and a packet of SMIFFS..saying-come back on friday night son= pay day=you see. happilly,,it seems that no-one needs to do the above now,,but at that time, two to three hours singing in the pubs,, i could earn more than my dear dad could earn in a weeks wages
Reply ID 69382
quote:I loved cream soda. Use to get a crate of lemonade/cream soda from the supermarket on the Ware road next/near the tyre garage.
Originally posted by homeless
This thread is superb! Thanks for all those memory joggers. Here are a couple more, hopefully... The baker's van(Wren's)delivering bread. The Corona van, delivering bottles of fizzy drinks (cream soda was my favourite). The Sunday drive from Hertford through the country lanes to see my Uncle's family who lived in Kimpton - driving through Codicote and past those little cottages that backed onto the river - I dreamed of living in one of them, but now I'm so glad I don't because they're right on the road! At primary school we had 1/3 pint bottles of milk. In the winter the milk froze, it expanded, it forced its way up through the silver foil top and you had a little bottle of milk with a milk tube sticking up out of it. The crates of milk were put next to the boiler in the classroom where they got too warm - disgusting. Blue tits pecked little holes in the milk bottles and drank as much as they could. The milkman also sold orange juice in those little bottles - and it tasted better than any other orange juice, except for my nan's - which was divine (god knows why!). When I was in my early teens - working part time behind the counter in the Fine Fare Coffee Bar - that Juke Box was excellent (Jimmy Ruffin - Wherever I Lay My Hat). Red plastic bench seats - it was so good to get a window seat and look down on the world walking past you along Maidenhead Street. Hertford Gramar School dinners - yuck, except for Fridays, when inedible lumpy mash gave way to lovely chips. The stew was revolting, because the meat was mainly gristle that made you feel like vomitting. The cabbage was vile - just vile... and so was the rice pud with a dollop of stawberry jam in the middle. Today's school dinners are haute cuisine by comparison. Buying and selling american marvel 'superhero' comics in the school playground and wondering if those 'x-ray specs' they advertised on the back covers really could see through ladies' clothes. The list goes on, but I'll give someone else a chance...
Reply ID 69383
I remember "exploring" Rockleigh House when it got closed. Found the telephone MDF in one half of the basement and a abandoned medical record store in the other half still with patients records still in there. I took about 6 of the batteries they had in the telephone MDF and used them for many years as backup batteries for the radio equipment. They where the old glass batteries and weighed a LOT!!. The house was later sold to a developer for some 150,000 according to a Hansard report http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1987/jan/23/nhs-property-sales The Nurses Training School was also a "explor" of mine. that got sold for some 370,000 Behind Rockleigh House there was a old tower or turret which I believe had formed part of the Castle's defenses many years past. At the bottom of Port Hill behind what once was the citizens advice bureau there was also another tower/turret that I found. I thought it got lost when they built Beane River View but according to google earth it's still there (the round object middle-ish of the picture) [IMG]http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1987/jan/23/nhs-property-sales Maybe someone can confirm that ? I also remember being able to walk from Portvale to Port Hill along what was the old railway line from Hertford North To Hartham, though I can't remember if you could get right into Hartham before they closed it off when they built the industrial unit's at the end of Chamber's Street. There a lot's of thing's coming back know but I don't want to bore you all to sleep.
Reply ID 69392
quote:http://www.hertford.net/hidden/
Originally posted by Joe
At the bottom of Port Hill behind what once was the citizens advice bureau there was also another tower/turret that I found. I thought it got lost when they built Beane River View but according to google earth it's still there (the round object middle-ish of the picture) Maybe someone can confirm that ?
Reply ID 69394
Used to go round the gardens of North Road house and up to Sele Mill when I was a kid, the folly wasn't the only strange creation in that garden! Its a very secluded and hidden part of the river Beane (?) that is wonderful to visit if you ever get the opportunity.
Reply ID 69396
quote:Thanks [:)]
Originally posted by Stevequote:http://www.hertford.net/hidden/
Originally posted by Joe
At the bottom of Port Hill behind what once was the citizens advice bureau there was also another tower/turret that I found. I thought it got lost when they built Beane River View but according to google earth it's still there (the round object middle-ish of the picture) Maybe someone can confirm that ?
Reply ID 69402
The Folly is still there in the grounds of Beane River Care Home
Reply ID 69543
can the above said folly still be accessed,,i didnt know it was there,,when i was a kid, i used to play by,,and IN the bean,at the bottom of brewhouse lane,,fishing,and paddling,,and knee deep swimming around,,but never dareing to assend the opposite bank,,cos it always looked so forebidding.
Reply ID 69544
quote:Yes
Originally posted by leemarb
can the above said folly still be accessed
Reply ID 69547
Only outside I think it is locked and fenced as an unsafe structure, at least it was when someone I know whated to go inside!
Reply ID 69856
how would you gain access to look at it,,,would it be though bean river view,,
Reply ID 69857
quote:Yes, you can just walk around the back
Originally posted by leemarb
how would you gain access to look at it,,,would it be though bean river view,,
Reply ID 69867
thanks steve,,ill give it a go,,when ive finished me hooverin, and washing up mate [:)]
Reply ID 69886
quote:If I remember there was a old green house and a brick building with a seat (folly ?) which had a room under it. This is of course going back many years now. I think this house has something to do with it but not sure [IMG]http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee206/evilbippy/15113749.jpg[/IMG]
Originally posted by Golden
Used to go round the gardens of North Road house and up to Sele Mill when I was a kid, the folly wasn't the only strange creation in that garden! Its a very secluded and hidden part of the river Beane (?) that is wonderful to visit if you ever get the opportunity.
Reply ID 69896
quote:It's best if you ask at reception, it is private property and the new home manager isn't the most friendly person[B)]
quote: Originally posted by leemarb how would you gain access to look at it,,,would it be though bean river view,, Yes, you can just walk around the back
Reply ID 69914
hi joe,,regarding your picture above,,is the access to the house in dimsdale street,,if so that would make its position on the opposite bank of the bean,,i only ask,,because it looks very familiar to me,,
Reply ID 70013
I remember Creasey's shop, at the Bull Plain end of the Arcade. They had a revolving display of cheap paperback books outside the shop and lovely bits of stationery equipment inside. Next door to Creasey's, going into the Arcade, on the left, was a really lovely proper old cobblers shop. Further down the Arcade was a shop on both sides that sold cheap household tat - they displayed their goods in boxes on both sides of the arcade. What were they called? The Arcade was lovely. Then, at the far end of the Arcade, you came to Creasey's printing works on the left. Was there a cafe on the right? I think so. If you turned left into the bus station there was a low wall to sit on ...and two sweetie vending machines, one of which sold Payne's Toffets. Insert sixpence into the machine, pull out the tray at the bottom, take your packet of Toffets, insert a lolly stick into the top of the tray to prevent the bar from coming down, partially close the tray until the next (free) packet of Toffets descends, open the tray and remove your FREE packet of Toffets, repeat the process until you get bored or until the machine is empty. Go to the bus stop. Get on the bus. Go home. Boys will be boys. [}:)]
Reply ID 70018
I remember the Toffet machine scam as a youngster. As an aside, as not Hertford, in the early '90s I surveyed and managed some works at the George Payne factory in Croydon. There were masses of rotating copper kettles (imagine copper concrete mixers with a wider neck) for producing the different ranges of boiled sweets and toffees. An array of beautiful machinery. And the smell - ahhhhh (much nicer than some of the other food manufacturing plants that I've surveyed and where I've managed works - eg Spillers Petfoods (yuk), Quaker Oats Sugar Puff factory (sickly), Heinz Foods (strange - everything smells of beef big-soup)). I also recall that the Paynes' factory manager was a throwback to the '50s and wore what looked like a brown de-mob suit with matching brown nylon tie.
Reply ID 70072
your slowly incriminating ya-self homeless,, next youll be telling us that you used to sneak into the county,,by the back door,, ha ha,,,[8D] i only knew about the county trick,,cos someone else told me about it aaahhmm
Reply ID 70073
I don’t think that defence would stand up in court leemarb[:)]
Reply ID 70075
quote:I think it's on Cowbridge on the chinese take away side. Looking at the river on the right. Thing is I didn't take the photo but I vaguely remember a house there. Sorry but the old little grey cells(as Poirot would say) can't remember that far back to be exact.
Originally posted by leemarb
hi joe,,regarding your picture above,,is the access to the house in dimsdale street,,if so that would make its position on the opposite bank of the bean,,i only ask,,because it looks very familiar to me,,
Reply ID 70077
I remember the tabacco shop on the corner of Fore Street & Railway Street. I also remember when Hertford got it's "superloo" and getting locked in there on one occasion due to a power cut in the town. Used to buy cakes at Pearces bakers. One time used to get all our DIY stuff from Texas Homecare in Bull Plain. Let's see one time I stuck my head into the Hertford club just to be nosey and see what it was all about and got asked to leave by a steward. I once tried, and failed, to "explore" the old Hertford North station at Hartham. After failing to get in I went and asked at Mc's to see if they would give permission but got told NO.
Reply ID 70079
Oh a couple of things just sprung too mind. Who remembers the PYO strawberries at Bengeo Garden centre? Also remember the guy who used to sell potatoes along the A119 between Waterford and Stapleford. Also along the B1000, the mobile food wagon that would park in the layby near the Tewin turnoff. Many a time I brought breakfast rolls there [:p]
Reply ID 70168
i believe both the potato man and the food wagon are still there joe,,
Reply ID 70170
Yes, can confirm that the potato man aka "Reg The Veg" is still there. He must be about 150yrs old by now, but still there in all weathers. The food van is still there as well.
Reply ID 70177
The guy selling Potatoes along the B1000 was not Reg the veg. He Only ever operated a mobile service around the streets of Hertford on behalf of the Vigus family. He then worked for himself from a trailer at the entrance to West Mill farm and today can still be found on the road Between Bengeo & Ware complete with his yellow tractor.
Reply ID 70178
Reg also sold Fruit & Veg from a lean to at the side of his house at the top of Watermill Lane.
Reply ID 70180
quote:I remember someone selling potatoes between Waterford and Stapleford,opposite the turning for Bullsmill,I think he only did Saturday though.this was along the A119 not B1000.
Originally posted by Eyeone
The guy selling Potatoes along the B1000 was not Reg the veg. He Only ever operated a mobile service around the streets of Hertford on behalf of the Vigus family. He then worked for himself from a trailer at the entrance to West Mill farm and today can still be found on the road Between Bengeo & Ware complete with his yellow tractor.
Reply ID 70187
quote:Yes you're quite correct. Must remember to read the post properly!
Originally posted by Eyeone
The guy selling Potatoes along the B1000 was not Reg the veg. He Only ever operated a mobile service around the streets of Hertford on behalf of the Vigus family. He then worked for himself from a trailer at the entrance to West Mill farm and today can still be found on the road Between Bengeo & Ware complete with his yellow tractor.
Reply ID 70191
quote:[:0] an apology? Lock it and send it to When Threads Go Bad quickly.
Originally posted by buzzquote:Yes you're quite correct. Must remember to read the post properly!
Originally posted by Eyeone
The guy selling Potatoes along the B1000 was not Reg the veg. He Only ever operated a mobile service around the streets of Hertford on behalf of the Vigus family. He then worked for himself from a trailer at the entrance to West Mill farm and today can still be found on the road Between Bengeo & Ware complete with his yellow tractor.
Reply ID 70219
now now,, then James [8D] lets give reg a rest,before he starts suing someone...[;)] on another tack,,what were your Christmases like,,, 1948 - 1950,,,i wonder why dad very secretly is painting that old bike up,,in the shed,,,all came to light on Christmas mourning,,mind you i was the only kid in the street with an orange bike, to me,,at 8 and 10 years old,,there really was a father Christmas,,at least a 100 mm of snow guaranteed,,home knitted woolen gloves and balaclavas,with the eyes and mouth openings always in the wrong places,, new fangled things that came in little wood and cardboard round ended boxes,,called dates,picked out with a stick,,making paper chains and decorations from pine cones and whatever was at hand,, Christmas mourning 5-30 am,,just cant wait any longer,,iced up windows,,inside,, down to living room,,there by the now dead fireplace was,, pillowcases with names on,,shivering with excitement,,unwrapping presents,,mostly in newspaper or that crinkly one color wrapping paper,,tied up with string,,no sell-o-tap then,, one-an orange,, another-firewood to light the mourning fire,,another a couple of pieces of coal,to go with the wood,,a few nuts,,-a jumper from Nan,,half a dozen lead soldiers from Woolworth's,,a bible in pictures from g dad,,a 4 oz bag of sweets,,etc. then mum getting breakfast,,a great choice,,porridge,,or bread and milk,,or toast and jam,,whilst dad made the fire up,,and that was all by 8 am, finally dad taking me down to the shed,,and presenting me with that orange bike,,saying,,look after it son,,cos it'll be ya brothers when you have done with it..and as I'm listening to him,,I'm thinking,,perhaps granddads got some black paint somewhere not bad really,,considering that we had just won a war,,and you had to have coupons for literally everything.. [8D]
Reply ID 71150
its during a winter like this one,that the open fireplace used to come into its own,,its unbelievable now,, to think that even in the 50s and 60s when i was a young man, most houses only had open fires,with,, if you were lucky,, that new fangled part,, the back boiler,, incorporated behind the fireplace, to heat water,, sometimes,, if you had more than one,, you usually coldent afford to keep more than the living room one alight,, coal was about 5/6p = 27p a hundredweight,, and when that was gone,, almost anything would be used to keep the fire alight,, logs, fencing,etc, with some neighbours resorting to floor boards, old shoes and cut up wellingtons,and pieces of car tyre,, not recomended,, because the chimney sometimes set alight,,its easy to now say,,how could people live like that,, but when you had a young familly,and the money had run out,, needs as must so they say,,
Reply ID 72598
one for you boys,,of a certain age. how old were you,when you were first alowed to wear LONG TROUSERS. my first time was in 1952, at twelve years old,, i was staying with my aunte and uncle for the school summer holidays in brewhouse lane (off St Andrews Street),and managed to talk my uncle into letting me have an old pair of his LONG TROUSERS picture this,,at the time i was about five feet tall,, wearing a regulation hairy gray school shirt under a home knitted V necked fair-isle jumper,,gray 22 inch bottomed long trousers,with above mentioned jumper tucked into trousers helping to pack out waistband,finished with a tightly buckled belt,, bottoms of trousers folded, then tucked into gray school socks,,all finished with a pair of Woolworths finest,, BLACK PLIMPSOLLS. i spent the rest of my holiday,marching round the streets of hertford, thinking that i was the cats whiskers. the reason i mention the above, is that i recently came across an old picture of my first day in long trousers
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