What do you remember- seems impossible now

[mrs.tenacious]

When I was around 9 or 10 I spent a fair amount of time in the village pub 
but only because my best friend's parents ran it!

In the spring once a week on her parent's day off they used to take us both for a drive and picnic in the surrounding countryside, where we'd pick loads of primroses and bluebells.  Of course, you can't do that now; they're protected.
It was a simple pleasure, but I so used to look forward to it.

Every Friday night in the late 60s we were glued to the telly for the weekly episode of The Monkees - we used to swoon over Davy Jones and then practice being pop stars in the private accommodation upstairs - using the obligatory hairbrushes for microphones!

My friend always wanted to be the lead singer, which really annoyed me..... but I was too kind to tell her she was tone deaf 

[Jean McGurn]

Who remembers the metal washboards? No magic sprays in those days to get out the stains and dirt.

They were also useful as a musical instrument as well. Couple of metal thimbles on the fingers and rubbed up and down the board and hey you could play in a skiffle group  I remember doing that once at a youth club when the base player used an empty tea chest with a pole stuck in the middle and a piece of string from top to bottom. They only real instrument were the two lads who had guitars.

My 'musical' career only lasted that one evening or most likely even 15 minutes or so - rock'n'roll was so much stronger than skiffle so it was back to the record player and Tommy Steele, Swinging Blue Jeans, The Searchers and The Beatles. 

Jean

[Pejic]

We'd wait on the station platform until the train (steam) arrived and then the driver would lift us into the engine cabin, where we were allowed to throw coal into the engine and when the train was about to depart, we could pull the whistle, before being lifted back out of the cabin
Lizzie

This reminds me of a time when I was hitch-hiking from Devon to South Wales and I arrived at the River Severn Ferry (it was before the bridge) after the last one had left for the day.  Nothing daunted  I went on the station at Severn Tunnel Junction to ask about a train; only the signalman was about and he agreed to stop the next train to give me a chance to ask the driver!  The driver was happy to take me through the tunnel in the cab - again, I find it difficult to imagine the same thing happening today.  Happy days.

[eadaoin]

I arrived at the River Severn Ferry (it was before the bridge) after the last one had left for the day.  Nothing daunted  I went on the station at Severn Tunnel Junction to ask about a train; only the signalman was about and he agreed to stop the next train to give me a chance to ask the driver!  The driver was happy to take me through the tunnel in the cab - again, I find it difficult to imagine the same thing happening today.  Happy days.

about 4 years ago OH was coming home by train around midnight on the last train - he fell asleep and was woken at the last stop a few miles beyond our station. The driver let him stay on the train (which was returning non-stop to the engine sheds), stopped at our station, discovered it was locked up, and stopped again at the next stop to let OH out!

eadaoin

[mrs.tenacious]

Who remembers the metal washboards? No magic sprays in those days to get out the stains and dirt.

I remember my Mum scrubbing at my younger brother's nappies on a metal washboard in the early 60s. 

She also had an electric dryer called a 'Flatley' - basically a waist-high metal cased container with an electrical heating element at the bottom.  It had wooden slats across the top which she would hang the nappies and other washing on, then the lid would go on and the heater at the bottom would dry the clothes.

She also managed washing for a family of 6 for many years using a twin-tub machine wheeled into position near the sink, where the water would be taken from the taps to fill it, and a hose would run from the machine back to the sink for emptying.  I still remember helping her transfer the washed, soapy washing from one half to the other for rinsing, using the long wooden tongs.

Aren't we lucky now, just having to pop it all into the machine and push a few buttons!

[Deb D]

In the years pre-twin tub washing machines, there was the one with the agitator bit in a barrel-shaped doohickey, and a couple of mangle-type wringers up above.

One of the twin brothers managed to break his arm, putting it through the wringers 

There was one day, every year for about eight years, when one or another of my brothers would end up in Casualty at the local hospital.  It got so the staff were waiting for them to show up!

[Winterbloom21]

She also had an electric dryer called a 'Flatley' -

I remember those all right.    The only place in our little house that it would fit (for want of a better word) was in my brothers'  bedroom just behind the door.    You had to breathe in to get in and out of the room.    It was a lot better than the fifties, though.   My mother had a friend who lived up the road from us who had eight kids, all quite close together.     Whenever you went to her house, you could hardly see your hand in front of your face in the back room, from the steam of all the nappies drying on the fireguard.    Excellent for the bronchials, though!

[LizzieW]

Excellent for the bronchials, though!

Yes made them worse    I remember coming home from school on washdays to be greeted by lots of wet washing hanging around the kitchen or else it was hanging frozen solid on the washing line, which I then had to bring in, trying to fold it whilst it was still frozen.  Thank goodness for electric dryers - I never hang washing out now, so I've even been using the dryer in this mini heatwave we've had (still hot today in Hampshire).

[Braindead]

I remember sleeping top and tail with my sister on visits to my grandparents, then having to go to the outside loo - it always seemed cold!