Tell Me Something............Anything!

[Marco]

we used to make catapults with suitable "y" shaped branches - eventually, I saved up enough pocket money to buy an aluminium one and was very close to taking my eye out when I let go of the wrong end

Also used to make boomerangs with ply wood and gave my mate a nasty gash on his forehead (a few stitches) when I hit him with it.

We also used to fire "Dan Dare" rockets (very small rockets for Bonfire night, any one else remember them?) through a piece of TV aerial (two wood pegs as handles) at a neighbours pigeons.

And what do kids do today, play video games - when I was a lad...........

Lol - I was more into air rifles (and when I was old enough) shotguns!

No, my dad and I used to hunt rabbits on the local farm, so bought me my first 20-bore shotgun (a Beretta) when I was 15, and it was great fun, plus plinking tin cans with air rifles and pistols in the back garden, and using paper bullseyes for target practice. Got pretty good at it, and won some trophies (as did he) at our local shooting club.

That was when I wasn't out riding my bike or playing footy in the local park with my mates, etc. I was certainly never short of things to do, and unlike kids today, didn't need 'entertainment laid on' for me (I made my own entertainment), or moaned about 'being bored'... Most need a damn good slap and a wake-up call!

Marco.

[Marco]

its a more dangerous world today of course and thus the extra protections most parents feel they need.

I know what you mean, but I'm not convinced in reality is is; perhaps more the perception we're given, and the fact that we're just more aware of the dangers now (because of available technology), than we once were - so the dangers were always there, just that they went more unnoticed.

I mean, paedos were rife in the 60s and 70s - look at all the evidence that's come out since about horrific child abuse that took place during those eras in particular [I mean would someone like Saville get away now with what he did then? I doubt it], so I don't really buy the assertion that today's world is in *actuality* any more dangerous - we're just much more aware of said dangers, and they're also perhaps a little different, that's all

Marco.

[Marco]

We used to have adventure playgrounds where you were given a hammer and nails and bits of timber and then go to build any structure you wanted, Climb conker trees to a great height, go scrumping, pop up to the chip shop and ask for free scraps, do penny for the guy, carol singing, we only had a black and white telly, no phone, and the windows used to freeze up on the inside every year. Great times when I look back.

Lol... Out of interest, what year/era are you describing, Paul?

I'm pretty sure we had a colour TV from around the early 70s, simply because I can remember watching Dr Who (and John Pertwee) in colour, and we always had a phone in the hallway. We had central heating and (Everest) double glazing installed in the late 70s, so no frozen windows, and even before that I always had s small 'Dimplex' electric heater in my bedroom, so the room was never that cold, plus a coal fire in the lounge

And as for chippies, my dad had two of his own!

Marco.

[Pigmy Pony]

Lol - I was more into air rifles (and when I was old enough) shotguns!

No, my dad and I used to hunt rabbits on the local farm, so bought me my first 20-bore shotgun (a Beretta) when I was 15, and it was great fun, plus plinking tin cans with air rifles and pistols in the back garden, and using paper bullseyes for target practice. Got pretty good at it, and won some trophies (as did he) at our local shooting club.

That was when I wasn't out riding my bike or playing footy in the local park with my mates, etc. I was certainly never short of things to do, and unlike kids today, didn't need 'entertainment laid on' for me (I made my own entertainment), or moaned about 'being bored'... Most need a damn good slap and a wake-up call!

Marco.

No doubt you had a stack of your own "entertainment" under your bed, together with your collection of stiff socks

Kids in Scotland these days won't get to do what you could do with airguns - thanks to one or two high-profile incidents a few years ago, Scottish airgun laws have gotten really strict.

[Marco]

No doubt you had a stack of your own "entertainment" under your bed, together with your collection of stiff socks

Kids in Scotland these days won't get to do what you could do with airguns - thanks to one or two high-profile incidents a few years ago, Scottish airgun laws have gotten really strict.

Yeah I know, I heard about that. We used to have a gun cabinet in the loft (which my dad built), with 3 shotguns, 4 air rifles and a couple of pistols in it, but then guns have always been a rather Italian thing...

Love it though - it was good fun, especially going hunting for rabbits, which we brought home and mum cooked. In Tuscany, rabbit is eaten more than chicken - still now!

As for 'entertainment' under the bed, probably the odd scud mag (I seem to remember 'Razzle' was a fav), but I was never really short of female company, certainly as soon as I reached secondary school!

Marco.

[struth]

I know what you mean, but I'm not convinced in reality is is; perhaps more the perception we're given, and the fact that we're just more aware of the dangers now (because of available technology), than we once were - so the dangers were always there, just that they went more unnoticed.

I mean, paedos were rife in the 60s and 70s - look at all the evidence that's come out since about horrific child abuse that took place during those eras in particular [I mean would someone like Saville get away now with what he did then? I doubt it], so I don't really buy the assertion that today's world is in *actuality* any more dangerous - we're just much more aware of said dangers, and they're also perhaps a little different, that's all

Marco.

I think it is, and not just pervys, although the net has expanded their reach no doubt.. But traffic has expended vastly.. when i was young every second home at best had 1 car, now most homes have 2 at least. certainly 1.

On the other side of course, medicine is so much better so less die of pretty much most things.

[Marco]

Yeah, from the traffic point of view, defo

Marco.

[Pigmy Pony]

I was never really short of female company, certainly as soon as I reached secondary school!

Marco.

Yes I can believe that - if you'd been at our school, only the girls would have anything to do with you. Us lads would be giving you a wide birth till you sorted out that Eraserhead hairdo

[Marco]

HAHAHA... Honestly, I was never short of mates either (led a wee 'gang' too, for a while, especially when motorbikes came into the equation, lol)

In our school, it was always 'geeks vs. the cool guys' (or at least our version of 'cool', lol), so you can probably guess which side I was on.

But yes, back then being a total hunk girlies were never far away

Marco.

[Pigmy Pony]

But yes, back then being a total chunk girlies were never far away

Marco.

Really? I thought only blokes went in for "chubby chasing"