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HOLIDAYS WHEN I WAS A KID

  • Thread starter Thread starter DAVE BRICK
  • Start date Start date
We always went to Taybont North wales. Half of Holte road went in the back of a lorry with a soft top. The women would sit plucking the chickens on the way. On arrival the children would go to the farm with pillow cases to have them filled with straw and the men folk would dig a couple of holes that would be our toilets for two weeks. The tents were varied from a massive bell tent for get togethers to tiny two person tents for sleeping. You had to crawl in them and had a camp bed if you were poash. Have pressed manage atachments but nothing is happening so will try later. Jean.
 
Most of my hols during the 1950's and 60's were spent at Arley (weekends too) but we had a black and yellow painted 'gypsy varda' at Hampton Lode where we spent the odd Friday, or Saturday night (it was like living in a cupboard!) during good weather. It was lovely to sit outside next to a small fire, until the sun went down. We also had a sort of very basic chalet (called the 'hut'!) next to a river somewhere near Enville Common, but I'm unsure as to its exact location, as it was sold/abandoned (?) when I was a mere toddler.....although I still have a collection of fosils found in the red shale of the ford that crossed the river, close to the 'hut'. Our first real holiday (apart from a couple day trips to Rhyl) was in North Wales, at Talybont ....I loved that area, and eventually ended-up at college, just up the road at Harlech (Coleg Harlech) where I spent the best few years of my life! It was gob-smacking to wake-up of a morning and to look out across the miles of beautiful beaches from the height of the college tower-block (now demolished, I understand?) ....I spent hundreds of hours on that beach; what a place to study! I also used to take my books and study on top of the walls of Harlech Castle (before I gave-in to vertigo!) .....reading ''Macbeth'' up there was really something different! Mind you, the beer in Wales was pretty grim!
 
We always went to stay with my aunty Ethel (born Aston 1901) she lived in Boscombe near Bournemouth. I have so many happy memories of these times my Mom and Dad used to swim with us and play in the sand. My aunty had a beach hut were we would stay all day. My mother would cook a full dinner for six on one gas ring!!
 
we had a chalet on Millers Cottage Abergele the chalet was called Aston Villa and was built by my father and is two
brothers, taking wood and felt, nails etc from Brum on Friday, work the weekend building chalet then home on Sunday
robb128
 
Wendy said:
We always went to stay with my aunty Ethel (born Aston 1901) she lived in Boscombe near Bournemouth. I have so many happy memories of these times my Mom and Dad used to swim with us and play in the sand. My aunty had a beach hut were we would stay all day. My mother would cook a full dinner for six on one gas ring!!
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Wendy, what a lovely childhood you must have had at Boscombe.
 
First Holiday I ever had was with my Gran & Aunt Mable to Morecambe just after the second World War
 
Cadeau said:
Wendy, what a lovely childhood you must have had at Boscombe.
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Graham we had a wonderful childhood. I often read stories on here of families who never went to the seaside which makes me realise how lucky we were. I know now this was all down to my Dad. Here is my sister and me on a farm we used to visit in Llewingwiryil mid Wales it belonged to my Dad's boss the family were the Reece family and they were lovely always made us so welcome. I loved to go with my sister and explore. The only thing we were frightened of was their black bull he was not very friendly.One day he found he could lift the stones on the dry stone walling with his horns. He would flick them over the wall at walkers. He had to be moved when the discovered what he was doing.
Babs2520_2520Wendy2520Wales252068.jpg
 
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1949 my one & only skegness holiday thats my dad in the pinstripe ,me on the wall & my kid brother in the sand.
 
We also had some good holidays. We used to go to Newquay in Cornwall, that was one hell of a journey. There was my dad and mom plus 6 children, and even our gran and grandad sometimes, don't ask how we all fitted in a triumph mayflower, but we did somehow. Anyway i digress. it would take something like 18 hours or more to get there, as there were no motorways and a car that was hopping on if it reached 40mph. Anyway we had just had 2 weeks in a tent (x army) with our primus stove when we set off for home. We had only got a few miles down the road when we broke down. My dad stood there with bonnet up when a big lorry stopped and asked if we needed any help. The lorry driver asked where were we heading, my father replied Birmingham, the man said he was going right through Birmingham and would put a rope on and tow us. So off we set a car full of adults and children. after what seemed like days to us kids, (now i know why kids always ask are we there yet.) we arrived outside our house, I remember my dad pulling out his last 10 bob note and offering it to the lorry driver. No thanks he said all he wanted was a nice cup of tea. So into the house we went. My mother opologised and said she was sorry but we had no milk. The lorry driver replied did we not notice what truck he was driving, yes you guested it, a very large milk tanker, so he took two empty milk bottles and filled them up. We never had much money, but had some very interestin holidays.
 
Stars what a brilliant story could you imagine that happening today.......no fear! What a great bloke that tanker driver was. Thanks for sharing with us!
 
hi stars
what a lovely story and what a picture you paint of yesteryear, most of that great generation have passed on now, and what a change to to days " me, me, mine,mine, generation and society.
paul
 
Stars,

That was a great story of how life was, thanks for sharing it with us all.

Graham.
 
Hi again, glad you enjoyed my story about the milk tanker. I also remember my dad one year telling my mother he had bought a very large tent for our holliday in Newquay, Cornwall that year. After loading everything on the roof rack and in the boot, my mother asked my dad why he had a dirty old brown sheet on the roof, he replied that's the tent. The poles were like telegraph poles, (ok a slight exaggeration ) but they were thick. anyway off we set in our triumph mayflower, You remember the one it was the one the milk tanker towed us home in the previous year. Anyway after many hours on the road and rolling down the big hills to save petrol, ( come on be honest i bet some of your dads did it. ) we arrived and started to put up this huge tent. After my mom had finished looking around the camp site with lots of nice modern tents. She turned and looked at our new tent and said ( WHAT IN GODS NAME IS THAT THING ) she made a quick retreat to the car and sat hiding her face. my dad asked what was the problem, It is a dirty colour. My dad said all x army tents are like that. So my dad managed to coxe my mom to come to the tent, telling her they don;t make like this anymore, they were built to last them days. How right he was. That evening we were sat in the huge tent with the primus stove going, it was lovely and warm. when all of a sudden the heavens opened up. The rain came lashing down with a strong wind blowing a gail. tents were blowing down all around us. my dad stood by the doorway with one hand on the tentpole looking out. He shouted to people to come on inside out of the rain. He looked so proud as he looked across at my mom saying you see what i mean. I felt so proud of my dad after taking so much stick from my mom about this dirty old brown tent it turned out to be one of the few tents still standing in the morning. And if my memory serves me right we had a few good holidays with that old tent. As i said we had no money, but we had some very interesting holidays.
 
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Stars I just love your recollections. I bet a few here can relate to your stories. We had a friend just like your Dad and I remember one weekend away when some of our air beds went down. He went off to the local farm for some straw. He came back with a bale of straw on his trailer and we split the air beds and filled them with straw.He said these are paliasses we slept on them at the farm we stayed at as kids The kids just loved it and slept soundly on their new beds.
 
Thanks wendy. I can recall many times we went away and some of the old cars and vans we went in, i don't know how we made the trip half the time. But thanks to my mother and father we had some great times in the 50s and 60s. bye
 
My wife just reminded me of a story i told her some years ago. It was while on holiday in Newquay Cornwall. One morning we all went down to the beach for the day. It was a lovely sunny morning and me my three brothers and two sisters were playing on the sand when our mom and dad said they were just popping on the front for a jug of tea. My dad said don't wander away and he put a big chalk cross on one of the rocks and said don't stray away, and off they went to get the jug of tea. I then came up with a great idea for a joke, as i thought then. So i went around putting crosses on all the rocks. When my perents came back with the tea they asked where is our sister, to which i said i don't know. We looked everyware but could not find her anyware. So we went to the police station where my sister was sat in the corner talking to a police woman. After hearing my sister say she was waiting on a rock with a cross on it but nobody came, i stood at the back behind my brothers. My dad said he can't understand it he only put a cross on one rock. I had a sore bottom that night. Perhaps this is why i always wanted to be noughts when we played noughts and crosses. I did say sorry to my sister though. The things you did for a laugh when you were kids.
 
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