Childhood.....then and now.

I was watching my great grandson Cooper playing. He is six and Tristen is 10. I was thinking how different things are now. When I was six I pretty much was free to go inside or out within the garden or out in the road in front of the house without asking. I remember my parents chorus of "quit running in and out" or "don't slam the door" or "shut the door were you born in a barn".......well not so today. It's frowned upon. In fact when I let Tristen play outside and go to a friend over the ally I had Social Services on my doorstep. Because of that Gabby doesn't let Cooper outside in the garden without an adult with him. My back garden is fenced even though one can see through the fence.
(me at Whipsnade zoo with parents)

These kids have computers and tablets and some even have cell phones. While I think learning to use a computer is important I can't see that it should replace the art of playing. It's learning to play without toys that inspired the imagination of my generation. We had toys, just maybe a doll and pram or maybe snakes and ladders and for me mostly books. I collected empty food boxes and played store, or played school with younger kids haha. Or Post office. When the time came that I was allowed to wander then I was gone all day. My parents worked and so they would not know where I was at any given time once school was out.The six week summer seemed endless.
(helping Dad at his gardening job)

I had friends who were neighbours and I lived maybe 3/4 mile out of the actual village so most of my first friends lived on the hill. I would visit my Aunts who lived in the village at either end and often would get a bus to go see my Nan and Granddad who lived along Dunstable rd. They never knew when I would show up because none of us had a phone. I would then walk across the Downs to another Aunts house on Downside Estate and they would give me bus fare home if I didn't have it. None of them had cars. My parents got home from work around 6pm and Dad about 7pm just time for mum to make dinner.
(me and friend Jane)

More locally I sometimes played with the girl who lived at the Red Lion Pub and we would go over the fields and climb trees as high as we dare and jump out. One time I caught my dress on a branch, yes girls wore dresses even to play in. The dress tore right up the back hem to neck. We would paddle in the stream known as the Washbrook as my Dad did too when he was a child. We collected water cress, Sticklebacks and Frog Spawn. We collected Elderberries in season and got a few pennies for them weighed at the Chemist shop.
(Washbrook)

(down on the farm)


Most of my Summers were spent with my friend Margaret down on the farm. I have written about that before. I would walk down there a couple of miles and often walk back or catch a bus that was not very frequent so I had to be there or walk home. Those were wonderful days
(Blue Waters)

We made Mud pies and make our own toys and got dirty. I remember playing in someone's garden and their unused rabbit hutch was our oven to bake mud pies made in borrowed pie tins. Our parents didn't ask where we had been. If by chance kids got in trouble our local "bobby" would show up at their door. As it turned out the local "Bobby" became good friends with my Dad. We had been in Dunstable and on the Zebra crossing when a car didn't stop almost hitting us. A police officer saw it happen and Dad had to go to court. Well PC Davis came to the house to get a statement and they were best buddies from then on If he was in the neighbourhood (as he often was) he would stop in and have a cup of tea. Dad was free with the liquor to lace his tea. That became a tradition on his late night ventures on his bike patrolling the outskirts of his domain. He would peddle down to be sure the Red Lion had chucked everyone out on time and then bike back........I am sure the "tea" kept him warm. I am guessing he may have been given another to make the trip back uphill a lot smoother.
(Bobby at work)

(fields down Bidwell)

At Christmas rather than a room full of gifts as these kids get I would get one "big" gift and maybe a colouring book and crayons and a book. Stockings held fruit and nuts. As family always came by at Christmas I would maybe get a book from Nan and Granddad and one from Auntie Ivy and Uncle Norman. That was it really and more than enough for sure.The family all coming and going was gift enough with all the goodies mum had baked.

I remember a couple of gifts that I got and didn't like. My parents bought me a walkie talkie doll and that same year a teddy bear. I hated the doll and loved the Teddy who I still have. I have some of the books too. Another year they bought me a doll pram, a twin pram. Hmmmmm I did not like that at all ungrateful wretch that I was. Had never heard or seen a twin pram and removed one of the hoods haha. Mostly though it was all imagination.


As I got a little older I became friends with the boy down the road. Dad had sort of taken him under his wing when his parents divorced. He would come with us on Sunday drives to Ashridge and through all the little villages. Sunday drives were the thing back then. Well Mick and I would go for miles across the fields. Me getting chased by cows and him cheering me on from the sidelines. We would play down the chalk pits and go looking for Rabbits. I didn't know his intent would have been to take them home to eat. So as he and his dog were rummaging around down the rabbit hole I was busy petting a baby bunny. Boy was he pissed off.

We would go down to the Blue waters and Baulk searching for Birds nests, we both had a collection of eggs. You only took one if there were several and never more. We didn't know any better. It did teach me about nature though. to identify birds and beasts, trees and flowers. Dad bought me a wild flower book I would go sit over the fields and identifying plants. The Observers Book of Wildflowers. Later I would take pencils and paper and sketch sitting in fields or woods.

As you see my childhood was all about freedom. Now one would never dare allow a child to roam like that. If we were thirsty we would stop at a farm and ask for a drink of water. One time I was stung by a wasp and went and told a lady at a farm and she put a blue bag on it to bring down the swelling.

Tristen has legos but seldom has patience to actually get it done he cant wait to get back on his computer. We take him out as much as we can and walk and explore and I did start to teach him to ID trees by their leaves. I miss having him living here but time marches on. In the car he is not interested in looking out windows and spotting things, he likes my phone. I know, my fault in allowing it but, if it gets him out and into the woods and playing then so be it. We bought him a camera in the hope of sparking his interest in that. Technology is a good thing but, he also needs to be a kid.

The boys who lived around me built go carts out of wooden boxes and old pram wheels. Everyone got into that activity. No one had bikes. My own kids were always gone on their bikes once we lived in town here. Before that Laura would take them all over the place, in woods and swamps much like I did as a child. Probably the last generation to be free to do that. Such a shame that times have changed so much.

Babies no longer set outside in their prams all year round to get the fresh air. In summer a canopy and in rain a rain sheet covered them. When we went shopping the mothers left all the babies lined up outside the store. Can't do that now either heaven knows what would happen. Apparently even in good old England Health and Safety have come along and set up all the rules. Kids cant play tag here, no touching. Cant play rough, cant cope with the stress of a bully instead of learning to cope as we did. What will the future be? Well it waits to be seen..................