K
Kandor
Guest
Growing up in Nechells and of course in other inner city areas, fun and pastimes where pretty much what we made them,
We never relied on material things simply because in most cases, we never had them to start with.
I remember walking home from Sutton Park when I was about 8 (Where DID I get the energy from in those days?)
Anyway I remember falling into a small stream in Kingstanding on our way back home, two really nice kids around our ages took me back home to get cleaned up.
Their Mom did the best she could and told me to say to my Parents I'd fallen in the Brook but apart from a few scratches and ripped clothes I was fine.
Pretty good plan apart from one thing...Mom would have killed me.
The golden rule back then was 'Do what you want but never bring trouble back to the door'
The way I saw it, muddy ripped clothes constituted trouble and a severe belting, besides, I was a black belt in those days at gettin upstairs and
changed without Mom seeing me...
We used to swim in the canal up by Belmont Row back then,
I cant remember the name of that disease you could catch from Rats urine in water (I think its Weils) I do know one thing though,
I drank gallons of the stuff....
I also used to come out covered in green slime.
Its amazing how we never seemed to catch anything in those days,
I truly think we were the hardiest kids on the planet..
We also used to play a game called 'Bashes'
If the one kid jumped off a 10ft wall then the others had to follow him, or live the rest of their days in eternal shame.
I remember the one time I jumped a 6ft gap between two garages, the next thing I remember I was lying on my back, the first and only time in my life that I've been knocked out.
And you want to hear something strange? I never felt a thing and it was even quite pleasent, I was black and blue for days after though.
Alan, Derek and me also had some of the finest bows around, our arrows were the real thing, brass tipped and bought for 5 bob from Rackhams
I remember firing the one arrow high up into the air, when I looked where it was about to land I shouted for Derek to run,
Derek was picking up his Anorak as the arrow flashed through his hood and buried 15 inches into the ground.
We played silly games like Hopscotch and Outings, we balanced on the thin white railings that ran all around Hindlow close,
We played hide and seek, we built Go karts and Skateboards, we put together old Bicycles,
We played with what we had and we lived with what we lacked,
The only luxury I ever had was my own cheap Telescope,
It allowed me to look up at the Stars...
And writing this right now, I have never felt further away....
When I was young,
I lived back home in Nechells.
The Stars were my friends,
I cannot answer why,
Now I am old,
I live out in the country
And Heaven is so high,
I cannot touch the sky.
We never relied on material things simply because in most cases, we never had them to start with.
I remember walking home from Sutton Park when I was about 8 (Where DID I get the energy from in those days?)
Anyway I remember falling into a small stream in Kingstanding on our way back home, two really nice kids around our ages took me back home to get cleaned up.
Their Mom did the best she could and told me to say to my Parents I'd fallen in the Brook but apart from a few scratches and ripped clothes I was fine.
Pretty good plan apart from one thing...Mom would have killed me.
The golden rule back then was 'Do what you want but never bring trouble back to the door'
The way I saw it, muddy ripped clothes constituted trouble and a severe belting, besides, I was a black belt in those days at gettin upstairs and
changed without Mom seeing me...
We used to swim in the canal up by Belmont Row back then,
I cant remember the name of that disease you could catch from Rats urine in water (I think its Weils) I do know one thing though,
I drank gallons of the stuff....
I also used to come out covered in green slime.
Its amazing how we never seemed to catch anything in those days,
I truly think we were the hardiest kids on the planet..
We also used to play a game called 'Bashes'
If the one kid jumped off a 10ft wall then the others had to follow him, or live the rest of their days in eternal shame.
I remember the one time I jumped a 6ft gap between two garages, the next thing I remember I was lying on my back, the first and only time in my life that I've been knocked out.
And you want to hear something strange? I never felt a thing and it was even quite pleasent, I was black and blue for days after though.
Alan, Derek and me also had some of the finest bows around, our arrows were the real thing, brass tipped and bought for 5 bob from Rackhams
I remember firing the one arrow high up into the air, when I looked where it was about to land I shouted for Derek to run,
Derek was picking up his Anorak as the arrow flashed through his hood and buried 15 inches into the ground.
We played silly games like Hopscotch and Outings, we balanced on the thin white railings that ran all around Hindlow close,
We played hide and seek, we built Go karts and Skateboards, we put together old Bicycles,
We played with what we had and we lived with what we lacked,
The only luxury I ever had was my own cheap Telescope,
It allowed me to look up at the Stars...
And writing this right now, I have never felt further away....
When I was young,
I lived back home in Nechells.
The Stars were my friends,
I cannot answer why,
Now I am old,
I live out in the country
And Heaven is so high,
I cannot touch the sky.
