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Gone out of fashion

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What you call Polly on a Mopstick was known as Packhorses at Uplands Secondary Boys in Smethwick. Boy stood with his back to a wall, cradling next boy's head under his arm. The rest of the team form a back. The other team leapfrog on and the first win if they can call Packhorses, Packhorses, 1,2,3. before back collapses. Banned on school premises in my time. Late 60s early 70s. A rough game!
 
MWS said:
I used play a game that was called British Bulldog at school in the late 70s, doesn't look as if it's the same game as the one in the photo.

It started with one person in the middle of the playground and everyone else on one side. Person in the middle chose someone and they had to get to the other side of the playground without the middle person grabbing them and saying British Bulldog 1 2 3.

If they made it to the other side, middle person chose someone else but if they were caught they also became a middle person. Game continued back and forth until one person was left on the side. Games could involve 30, 40 or 50 children.
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Played this at Scouts in a Church Hall in Bearwood. A few lads went into the Army. 'Character forming' I think Baden-Powell called it in Scouting for Boys...
 
Character forming !!?? . Perhaps the guy whose head was against the wall under the other's arm later became one of the "Donkeys2 who became generals in WW1. Definitely a possibility of brain damage.
 
mikejee said:
Character forming !!?? . Perhaps the guy whose head was against the wall under the other's arm later became one of the "Donkeys2 who became generals in WW1. Definitely a possibility of brain damage.
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I was being ironic. But I was brought up by my protective elderly widowed mother and British Bulldog as MWS described it (not Packhorses or Polly on a Mopstick) was played regularly in Scouts. Got me used to lads before I went to a rough secondary school. We used Quarterstaffs too and singlestick. All supervised by scoutmasters. These games are banned, naturally.
 
MWS said:
Is that real? Sounds like something someone would come up for April Fool's day/
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Very real. Mustard is a skin irritant, it causes blood to rush to your skin. Bit like deep heat or raljex or fiery jack. It is fine to put your feet in a dilute solution. Watch you don't get any on your delicate areas though. A very old fashioned remedy as used by mom born 1908. Mustard plasters were a thing as well, but I would avoid them as the skin on your body is more delicate than on your feet.
 
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Rosiebo11 said:
The Tulip Festival Canon Hill Park was always fun do they still do it?
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Gosh, I've got lots of memories and a few odd coloured snaps. Air balloons, parachute drops, clog carving, tulip buttonhole for all, windmill, dutch girls with their costumes. Big red edam and pale gouda cheeses. But all this stopped long ago. Did it make the 1970s - it ran from 1960 I think? There was a striking Dutch film about reclaiming land from the sea one year.
 
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It seems the festival only ran during the 60's. This photo from the Iron Room is from May 1968 - can't find anything later than that.
rc-4-cannon-hill-park-l-521-1.jpg
 
Stokkie said:
Gosh, I've got lots of memories and a few odd coloured snaps. Air balloons, parachute drops, clog carving, tulip buttonhole for all, windmill, lures being blown, mock up of a dragon boat, dutch girls with their costumes. Big red edam and pale gouda cheeses. But all this stopped long ago. Did it make the 1970s - it ran from 1960 I think? [Dunno what lures and the dragon ship are doing here, they are not from The Netherlands! There was a striking film about reclaiming land from the sea one year, that was Dutch!]
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Stokkie, the film was Dutch.
 
Pete, that pic. of Zebrite brings back memories, my Saturday job, but didn't get paid for it !!!
Also the Blackjack. I had an abscess on my right ear when I was about 9 and Dr. Butler, whose surgery was at Stockland Green, gave Mom some Blackjack which I had to put on for a week. When I went back the next week they knocked me out and cleaned it all out, then the week after went back to have what seemed yards of bandage removed with which they had packed the cavity. It did the job.
Dr. Butler and his wife were both qualified surgeons, lovely people
 
i too had a abscess in my knucke that went manky and started to smell.and hurt like hell (the doc said its gangrene) so lots of care and Blackjack for a few weeks and good as new
 
johnny082 said:
Pete, that pic. of Zebrite brings back memories, my Saturday job, but didn't get paid for it !!!
Also the Blackjack. I had an abscess on my right ear when I was about 9 and Dr. Butler, whose surgery was at Stockland Green, gave Mom some Blackjack which I had to put on for a week. When I went back the next week they knocked me out and cleaned it all out, then the week after went back to have what seemed yards of bandage removed with which they had packed the cavity. It did the job.
Dr. Butler and his wife were both qualified surgeons, lovely people
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Good luck with that today!
 
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