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Growing Up In Brum - Roy Blakey Inspired.

Posh was having no holes in your socks, if you had any!!

Eddie.

I was standing in a pub, when this guy walked in, ordered six large Scotch, and five pints of beer, then started to down them rapidly.
Turned to me and said "I should not be doing this with what I have"
"Crikey" I said, "What have you got?"
"50p" he replied.
 
These current postings have made me remember one of my Aunties, in the 1940's, saying, about a neighbour that she thought was 'stuck up'.

"She thinks she is better than the rest of us. She probably wears a clean pair of knickers every day!".

Eddie
 
MOMS TO THE RESCUE.
( Camouflage and repair )
It was a sure thing for some kids that sooner or later they would find that during their games and adventures the
" accident " occurred. Cuts and scrapes to Elbows, Knees and Shins, torn jacket pockets, lost buttons, torn sleeves, paint or oil on trousers or dresses seemed to be fairly typical accidents.
Trying to delay the inevitable it eventually became obvious that ' facing the music ' had to be accepted.
Into the house, as quietly as possible, try and make things look reasonably normal.
NOT A CHANCE.
Mom takes a look at you as you ' creep ' into the house.
HERE WE GO.
" For crying out loud. What on earths happened? Your Dad will go barmy when he sees that. It's about time you started to grow up a bit. Come here, let's see what we can do ".
Good old Mom.
Sorted.
 
Got to learn how to take your come-uppers.

Mom did her best but Dad found out anyway.
image.jpg

I will try and keep your Dad out of it this time young lady.
image.jpg
 
I really love your little pieces Roy - simple statements but they paint the picture so well!
Look forward to the next one.
 
Going back to the "Posh" theme, I was in Dulwich, south London the other day. Now that it posh but I'm not sure that I really care for it. Cafes have the irritating tendency to give your change on a small silver tray even if you are only buying one coffee. You're therefore made to feel guilty if you don't leave a tip. Bakers mainly sell artisan bread. Many shops are "purveyors of --". A ladies clothes shop will be a boutique. Food is claimed to be sourced locally and free-range. Florists and a bookshop are present. People certainly look well-off. Famous schools are in the area and there is a Picture Gallery. Is there anywhere like that in Birmingham; perhaps Edgbaston? In the main, Birmingham people were always unpretentious and straight-speaking, and I like that characteristic. Dave.
 
farmerdave said:
Going back to the "Posh" theme, I was in Dulwich, south London the other day. Now that it posh but I'm not sure that I really care for it. Cafes have the irritating tendency to give your change on a small silver tray even if you are only buying one coffee. You're therefore made to feel guilty if you don't leave a tip. Bakers mainly sell artisan bread. Many shops are "purveyors of --". A ladies clothes shop will be a boutique. Food is claimed to be sourced locally and free-range. Florists and a bookshop are present. People certainly look well-off. Famous schools are in the area and there is a Picture Gallery. Is there anywhere like that in Birmingham; perhaps Edgbaston? In the main, Birmingham people were always unpretentious and straight-speaking, and I like that characteristic. Dave.
Click to expand...

All that sounds very Nigel Slater; he's always going on about artisan bread and so on. (I like him, though).
I couldn't say if there is anywhere similar in Birmingham, but you are probably on the right track with Edgbaston...also Harborne and Moseley Village, perhaps?
My relatives in Birmingham think that Waitrose is posh. I don't know. I think that I would have thought that out-of-school activities like Brownies and Guides and ballet lessons were posh, though saying that, my older sister was a Guide for a while. I had music lessons but they were school-based, and it was at a time when music lessons and instruments were free in schools (1960s).
 
POSH???? Just back from a visit to Brum. Talk about POSH even the door into St Martins in the Bull ring, is glass and automatic? Not to mention the shops in Grand Central. John Crump
 
" EXPOSED ".
( Tidemarks and holes in those socks ).
1940's.
Most days it would be a bit of a rush after getting out of bed to get ready for school. Quick on with the clothes and a dash downstairs to have a ' splash ' wash in the kitchen sink ( needed to get that done pretty quickly, the lukewarm water bit was not very enjoyable ). Fast bit of toast or a bread dip and we were ready.
School lessons being ticked off as we progressed through the morning sessions. Done our Maths and geography classes. The last period before the dinner break is for PT ( physical training ).
Class is marched over to the Gym room. Shoes off -- Shirts off -- get lined lined up.
Jees, looking along the line, there is the embarrising sight of some of us stood there not looking too clean and tidy. It seemed like half of us had little signs of ' dirt rings and tidemarks ' ( where we had scrimped on our morning washes ) and the taters ( holes ) in our socks didn't look too good either.
Heck, not much point in worrying too much though. You could only put on the clothes that had been laid out for you and those dirt rings, well it was only clean dirt really wasn't it.
Might have a word with our Mom when I get home.
Well, about the socks bit anyway,
 
Roy,
You talking about PT bought back some not very fond memories. I always considered myself a bit of a dare devil & would have a go at most things, but that dreaded horse filled me with fear (not that a dare devil like me would show it ) & to make matters worse some poor soul made a hash of the vault & broke his arm. In a way i was glad because the horse was off limits for a while but soon it was back, & though i always managed to vault the horse it still scared the whotsit out of me!!!
 
I was never very physical, and hated PT. We used to stand there like half starved youngsters. Which half the time we were. Like Smudger I hated the contraptions, although, and probably because I was a bit taller, I had a slight interest in high jumping, with the old cane placed across the bars, and a coconut mat to land on. Not like these modern guys. Now all highly technical, and certainly not half starved.

Talking about socks. When a hole appeared in my sock I would just pull it down towards the toe, until another hole appeared, and so on. In the end the sock was all holes, and lots of sock remains in the toe area. Lovely times. Who was talking about POSH?!!

Eddie
 
Eddie,

I absolutely hated PT and games too. The PT instructor was ex-Armjy and lived to be 105. When at the age of 13 the Schools Medical Officer pronounced (incorrectly) that I had a weak heart, I could have kissed him and thankfully took the little certificate that said I was excused PT and games for the rest of my school life. I feel sure that the PT instructor could have stuck a knife in me when I produced the certificate at the next lesson.

I tried working the same dodge when I went for my National Service medical, but they did some extensive checking and pronounced that the Schools M.O. was mistaken. But the next best skive was to join the band at my permanent RAF Station a few months later and that excused me from guard duties, fire piquet, and various other things and made me virtually bulletproof as far as the Station Police were concerned. Some days it rains, but on other days the sun shines brightly, ha ha!

Maurice
 
You have to add me to the list of hating PE at school. With regards to the vaulting horse, I would run up, sit on it, and then wriggle off to the other end. I couldn't even manage handstands or forward rolls let alone backward springs. The trips to Moseley Road swimming baths usually had me hanging on to the bar in the shallow end and doing some kicks. I did learn to swim later in life. In rugby, I always tried to work out the best place to stand in order to avoid the ball but that didn't always work out. Sometimes a heavy chap would come charging towards me with the ball and I would make a feeble attempt to stop him using one hand. The one thing that I was good at, which did come under "sports" at school, was chess. I always enjoyed walking and cycling but these did not come under school activities. Dave
 
sospiri said:
Eddie,

I absolutely hated PT and games too. The PT instructor was ex-Armjy and lived to be 105. When at the age of 13 the Schools Medical Officer pronounced (incorrectly) that I had a weak heart, I could have kissed him and thankfully took the little certificate that said I was excused PT and games for the rest of my school life. I feel sure that the PT instructor could have stuck a knife in me when I produced the certificate at the next lesson.

I tried working the same dodge when I went for my National Service medical, but they did some extensive checking and pronounced that the Schools M.O. was mistaken. But the next best skive was to join the band at my permanent RAF Station a few months later and that excused me from guard duties, fire piquet, and various other things and made me virtually bulletproof as far as the Station Police were concerned. Some days it rains, but on other days the sun shines brightly, ha ha!

Maurice
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Thanks Maurice. Your post resulted in my laughing for about 10 minutes. It rang so true with my own thoughts on PE and games. Dave.
 
Roy Blakey said:
The old school Vaulting Horse.
( Some could, some couldn't ).
Sketch : View attachment 101472
Click to expand...

Could it be that the reason so many kids feared the horse was pyschological? The thought of dammaging one`s dangly bits would be rather painful!!! Then again, having that thought in your mind might make you jump even higher to get over the horse. Btw, in these days of elf & safety do schools still use such aparatus?
 
I can't remember having to use the vaulting horse, though we definately had at least one (it was a mixed school). I didn't like games, but did like "making shapes on the wall bars" and especially dance, which I was good at, but we didn't do enough of it.

The sketch made me laugh!

maria
 
farmerdave said:
You have to add me to the list of hating PE at school. With regards to the vaulting horse, I would run up, sit on it, and then wriggle off to the other end. I couldn't even manage handstands or forward rolls let alone backward springs. The trips to Moseley Road swimming baths usually had me hanging on to the bar in the shallow end and doing some kicks. I did learn to swim later in life. In rugby, I always tried to work out the best place to stand in order to avoid the ball but that didn't always work out. Sometimes a heavy chap would come charging towards me with the ball and I would make a feeble attempt to stop him using one hand. The one thing that I was good at, which did come under "sports" at school, was chess. I always enjoyed walking and cycling but these did not come under school activities. Dave
Click to expand...
I know we shared the same secondary school so can directly relate to your comments. I was OK with ball games even played in first team at cricket and cross country was good because you could get it done in forty minutes and go home. But never good with things that involved turning upside down ie forward rolls and handstands. I will confess I hated the trips to Moseley Rd or Sparkhill and to this day cannot swim.
 
I hated the box, the horse, the ropes, the bars, and the hurdles, the teacher used to put them the wrong way round so they wouldn't fall over, and high jump, same reason the bar wouldn't come down if you didn't make it. I was good at throwing things thanks to my brother who showed me how, so I wasn't too bad at javelin and discus. I didn't like tennis and still don't, I won't watch Wimbledon!! At hockey you could get revenge on the bullies when you whacked them with the hockey-stick! I've still got mine, it was my Aunt's!
rosie.
 
Smudger said:
Could it be that the reason so many kids feared the horse was pyschological? The thought of dammaging one`s dangly bits would be rather painful!!! Then again, having that thought in your mind might make you jump even higher to get over the horse. Btw, in these days of elf & safety do schools still use such aparatus?
Click to expand...

thanks smudger that post made me laff

lyn
 
Smudger said:
Could it be that the reason so many kids feared the horse was pyschological? The thought of dammaging one`s dangly bits would be rather painful!!! Then again, having that thought in your mind might make you jump even higher to get over the horse.
Click to expand...
Good thinking Smudger. Perhaps a row of upturned drawing pins placed half-way along the top of the horse might have giving us the incentive to jump higher. Dave.
 
Well, I'm glad to hear that so many of you hated games & PT - I thought it was just me being a wimp! When I did my square bashing, etc., in the RAF we never had all that apparatus and didn't do much in the way of games either. The dreaded boxing was only if you volunteered for it and then, of course, you became one of their blue=eyed boys. We did a bit of pseudo hand-to-hand combat, but it was mostly play acting. Due to horrendous weather, we didn't even have to do the week's camping, so all in all I reckon I got off pretty lightly. The horse with the handles is the pommel horse and I hated the beam as well.

Devonjim, your dislike of the swimming baths was also shared by me. If after six lessons you couldn't swim, you didn't have to go again. Needless to say, I still can't swim despite living by the sea for over 50 years!

Maurice
 
With the box version of the horse, it could be taken apart and set at several different levels, so at a lower level it was less frightening!
 
Maria,

I think our PT instructor was a sadist as it was always set as high as possible !

Maurice
 
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