# What do you miss from long ago?



## taximan (24 May 2020)

This is aimed at riders of a certain age. When I was out this morning struggling with the wind and the hilly terrain with which we are blessed with in our part of Yorkshire, a couple of young whippersnappers of about 60 or so flew past me as if I was standing still, (which I almost was) and I wished that I still had the energy that I had been blessed with when I started cycling back in the sixties. this set me thinking what else I missed from those early days. I think top of my list was getting home after a long cold ride and having a hot bath while my Mam got a meal ready for me (bless her). Then perhaps it was the fact that the roads were a lot quieter, especially at the weekends, Another thing was finding my way around the country with the help of my Bartholomew's 1/2 inch maps, which I still have although my eyesight is no longer up to reading them now. What do you miss?


----------



## gavroche (24 May 2020)

Spending week ends and summer holidays at my Grandma's farm when I was only 10.


----------



## Drago (24 May 2020)

On The Buses.


----------



## monkers (24 May 2020)

I'm 63 .... 'young whippersnapper' ... I'll take that. 

From childhood ... I miss Spangles.  Acid drops and the like from Woolworths. I sure don't miss secondary school, but then I bunked off for about half of my secondary education and went out on my bike each day instead.

Cycling-related ... I miss my beautiful blue and chrome Bob Jackson from near 50 years ago.


----------



## Sharky (24 May 2020)

I think I used the Barts 1/4 inch maps.

I miss some of the long rides I used to do before I was 20. Born on Merseyside and started my cycling there and did many a ride north to Kendal, East to Buxton and South into North Wales, particularly Llangollen. But it all came to an end when my family relocated to Kent and I joined them in 1969. Never stopped cycling, but I miss those long rides I did with my first club and solo.


----------



## Slick (24 May 2020)

A 32 inch waist.


----------



## Baldy (24 May 2020)

Hair.


----------



## freiston (24 May 2020)

I still have my Barts 1985 Midlands edition but tbh, I don't really miss it - in the modern world I can research my routes and make plans a lot more easily; I can use Osmand on my phone to help me out on the road too and my phone is a lot better than me at finding where I am on the map. I still use OS sheet maps on occasion. The roads have changed quite a bit since then - there are a lot of A roads that I used to cycle on that I wouldn't dream of cycling on now, not because of the volume of traffic per se but because those roads seem to have been "upgraded" to motorways without the official status (I think this bears out with accounts of cyclists being stopped by police on major A roads that the cyclist is legally allowed to cycle on and also I have heard people wrongly stating that cycles aren't allowed on certain A roads). I went out on the bike today and it was like lockdown is over - loads of motor vehicles (mainly cars) on all the types of road I went on.


----------



## gbb (24 May 2020)

Speed.
I always commuted regularly, then at around 40 I started getting seriously interested in cycling and I'd commute daily, just a couple miles but I'd hit it as hard as I humanly could, sprint sprint sprint. Add the more distance rides, add inclines I would attack, sweat sweat sweat.
Age and health have seen it gone now.


----------



## Drago (24 May 2020)

Diana Dors.


----------



## sleuthey (24 May 2020)

taximan said:


> What do you miss?


 Good health.


----------



## Drago (24 May 2020)

Flintlock pistols.


----------



## sleuthey (24 May 2020)

...... oh, and my hair.


----------



## matiz (24 May 2020)

Rod brakes.


----------



## Drago (24 May 2020)

Public executions.

And kids doing outrageous things on implausibly badly maintained bikes with no safety gear.


----------



## Landsurfer (24 May 2020)

Shops being closed on Sundays and bank holidays ..... Oh! the wait for the toy shop to open after Christmas/ new year .....


----------



## Sharky (24 May 2020)

Drago said:


> Diana Dors.


And she was in one of my favourite nostalgic films - "A boy, a girl and a Bicycle" as was the late Honor Blackman.


----------



## BoldonLad (24 May 2020)

At 72, I miss:

1. my youthful energy,
2. "real" rice pudding, ie made, not from a tin
3. a local delicacy, fresh baked Stottie Cake (a sort of flat bread, you can still buy it, but, not freshly baked).
4. "real" black pudding, with skin you could not cut, and, lots of "white bits" (fat).


----------



## raleighnut (24 May 2020)

A decent pint of Mild.


----------



## Mo1959 (24 May 2020)

monkers said:


> From childhood ... I miss Spangles.


I loved them too. We used to have a butcher's van came round the doors and he used to leave the kids a packet of spangles. 

I miss the quiet roads. Hardly anyone had cars when I was young and you could play footie, tennis, etc on the street for ages before the very occasional car would come.


----------



## Sharky (24 May 2020)

Landsurfer said:


> Shops being closed on Sundays and bank holidays ..... Oh! the wait for the toy shop to open after Christmas/ new year .....


Yes, we used to go round our local supermarket on a Sunday with our kids and their bikes and rollerskates. Great fun. 
Also miss our kids, they seem to have grown up and fled the nest and are taking their own kids to the local parks.


----------



## Cycleops (24 May 2020)

Drago said:


> On The Buses.


Rather than 'On the buses' I miss the buses themselves. Those wonderful open rear platform RTs and Routemasters. You could jump on and off when you wanted. As a kid I would get a Red Rover and travel all over London with my mate from school spotting numbers. We would stamp on the floor upstairs at a stop so the driver took off before he should thinking it was the conductor, before we got thrown off.
Happy days of simple pleasures.


----------



## rrarider (24 May 2020)

The common availability of batteries for Wonder lights.


----------



## Sharky (24 May 2020)

Cycleops said:


> Rather than 'On the buses' I miss the buses themselves. Those wonderful open rear platform RTs and Routemasters. You could jump on and off when you wanted. As a kid I would get a Red Rover and travel all over London with my mate from school spotting numbers. We would stamp on the floor upstairs at a stop so the driver took off before he should thinking it was the conductor, before we got thrown off.
> Happy days of simple pleasures.


It was Trolley Buses going past our house and one night, the overhead cable must have shorted out as it was going past and lit up the road like Blackpool illuminations.


----------



## Sharky (24 May 2020)

Most of all , I miss saying "Hello Mum", "Hello Dad" and "Hello Sis"


----------



## Slick (24 May 2020)

Sharky said:


> Most of all , I miss saying "Hello Mum", "Hello Dad" and "Hello Sis"


Same.


----------



## a.twiddler (24 May 2020)

Life before the scourge of the mobile phone. How did we ever manage before you could be contacted wherever you were, when conversations weren't interrupted by "I've got to take this", when people didn't have their noses in their social media instead of talking to the people who were actually there. Endless texting all around you. When every tiny thing that happens is recorded by some passer by with a camera/video phone. Except when you really need some back up evidence eg after an accident. When everyone has to have a drawer full of chargers to cater for various generations of obsolete phones. 3G 4G 5G. Built in accelerated obsolescence. Pusillanimous battery life. Aaargh! Aaargh! Did I say Aaargh? And Aaargh again!


----------



## derrick (24 May 2020)

People with common sense.


----------



## screenman (24 May 2020)

Slick said:


> A 32 inch waist.



I had a 28 inch waist when I got married at 18 years old. That is never coming back the best I have done in recent years is a 34.


----------



## kynikos (24 May 2020)

Frozen Jubblies


----------



## Salad Dodger (24 May 2020)

Monday night dinner from when I was a kid: the leftovers from Sundays chicken dinner, in thick gravy, with chips. Followed by the last bit of Sundays home made treacle sponge with thick custard.

My Mark 1 Ford XR2. I bought it new, and loved I to bits. I should never have parted with it.


----------



## Slick (24 May 2020)

screenman said:


> I had a 28 inch waist when I got married at 18 years old. That is never coming back the best I have done in recent years is a 34.


I was always built more of a sprinter than a climber but I did lose a lot of weight just before I got married as well. Wasn't sure if it was working on a flare stack in the middle of the north sea trip after trip or if it was just a dose of the worry. Either way, I've been making up for it ever scince. 😊


----------



## overmind (24 May 2020)

School milk in those mini bottles. Drinking it with a straw.


----------



## steveindenmark (24 May 2020)

Fish and chips in newspaper. I have been in Denmark for 15 years.


----------



## a.twiddler (24 May 2020)

Vesta Ready Meals. They even did a Biriani at one time (nothing like any Biriani that I ever had in a restaurant, but I liked in itself.) Chicken Supreme, Beef Curry, Paella, Beef Risotto and Chow Mein. The only one you can get now is Chow Mein. All a pale shadow of the real thing that we know now, but a comfort food from times past.


----------



## Fab Foodie (24 May 2020)

Being young, in a world of magnets and miracles....


----------



## Gunk (24 May 2020)

In 20 years time these will probably be the good old days, it’s easy to look back with a rose tinted version of what life was like in the old days. I’m 55 now and my focus is on the here and now, After decades of hard work and being reasonably careful, I’m 5 years off being able to finally be completely financially free, my kids are now nicely balanced teenagers and soon will be young adults, I’m on my second marriage and luckily this one has been a success. I don’t really miss Smash, Vesta’s and Watneys Red Barrell. Frozen mash is better, Tesco’s ready meal curries are brilliant and I much prefer Hob Goblin.

They only thing I do miss is my Mum, it’s such a shame she didn’t see her Grandchildren become the bright and lovely kids they turned out to be.


----------



## pawl (24 May 2020)

kynikos said:


> Frozen Jubblies




Suggest you talk to Drago about Y Fronts


----------



## pawl (24 May 2020)

Tractors I could slip stream Haystacks don’t ask me why


----------



## a.twiddler (24 May 2020)

Buttocks. When I peer at the sad relics of former glory in the mirror I think, my goodness, where did they go? To think, I even light heartedly thought of changing my name to Butt Buttox at one time, they were that impressive. Now_ those _were the good old days.


----------



## biggs682 (24 May 2020)

Going out on my bikes


----------



## EltonFrog (24 May 2020)

Nothing, everything was sh!t in the 60’s and 70’s, even worse in the 80’s and don’t even get me started on the 90’s. I wouldn’t go back even if I could. Everything is much better now. Even the the telly, ‘cos I don’t watch it.


----------



## a.twiddler (24 May 2020)

The 1970s. For me anyway. Would I like to re live it? Probably not. It is said that you should never go back. But I learnt and experienced so much, and I can still listen to the music anytime.


----------



## Toshiba Boy (24 May 2020)

Going for a Sunday morning ride with my Dad. At least where he is now, the wind is always at his back.


----------



## Ming the Merciless (24 May 2020)

Guards vans on trains. Chuck your bike in, sit in the guards van with it. No need to book.


----------



## ruffers (24 May 2020)




----------



## Fab Foodie (24 May 2020)

YukonBoy said:


> Guards vans on trains. Chuck your bike in, sit in the guards van with it. No need to book.


Good point!


----------



## a.twiddler (24 May 2020)

ruffers said:


> View attachment 524632
> 
> View attachment 524635


Mmmm potato puffs. When I started Grammar School in 1963 the Tuck Shop sold those. Preferred the plain ones though.


----------



## nickyboy (24 May 2020)

Nothing

I'm in the here and now. Don't look back, always look forward...cos it's the direction we're travelling


----------



## ruffers (24 May 2020)

a.twiddler said:


> Mmmm potato puffs. When I started Grammar School in 1963 the Tuck Shop sold those. Preferred the plain ones though.



I loved all the flavours but the salt and vinegar was the first pic I found


----------



## RoubaixCube (25 May 2020)




----------



## rogerzilla (25 May 2020)

Sunday club runs before Sunday shopping ruined the roads. Not having to justify not wearing a h*lm*t. Standardisation of bike components.


----------



## BoldonLad (25 May 2020)

EltonFrog said:


> Nothing, everything was sh!t in the 60’s and 70’s, even worse in the 80’s and don’t even get me started on the 90’s. I wouldn’t go back even if I could. Everything is much better now. Even the the telly, ‘cos I don’t watch it.



You more or less have my vote. 60's my teenage years, 70's newly married, mortgaged, winter of discontent, 80's were not too bad, changed wives. 90's struggling to repair my finances and fund children at University. I don't own rose coloured spectacles.


----------



## PaulSB (25 May 2020)

Riding with my cycle buddies and cafe stops...................................


----------



## taximan (25 May 2020)

PaulSB said:


> Riding with my cycle buddies and cafe stops...................................


 one of our regular stops was at Ripon, just off the market place, probably the best cream cakes in Yorkshire. I must make the effort to go and see if it is still there sometime although its probably a 'Subway' now which is not the same thing at all.


----------



## Grant Fondo (25 May 2020)

The old lady that used to sell very small pasties from her front garden in Milton Abbas in Dorset. Best I have ever tasted and always got one or two on my regular 50 mile route c. 1980. Bless her


----------



## colly (25 May 2020)

Hours of endless fun.


----------



## Julia9054 (25 May 2020)

taximan said:


> one of our regular stops was at Ripon, just off the market place, probably the best cream cakes in Yorkshire. I must make the effort to go and see if it is still there sometime although its probably a 'Subway' now which is not the same thing at all.


I recommend Oliver's Pantry just off the market square in Ripon. 
Gawd, I miss cafe stops . . .


----------



## rogerzilla (25 May 2020)

colly said:


> View attachment 524753
> 
> 
> Hours of endless fun.


Did you only use it for rude words too?


----------



## colly (25 May 2020)

rogerzilla said:


> Did you only use it for rude words too?


Yes. My mum gave me a clout for printing shoot all over the place.


----------



## Once a Wheeler (25 May 2020)

As Spike Milligan said: 'Everybody's got to be somewhere.' Which means that wherever you are you cannot be anywhere else. By the same token, everything you do stops you from doing something else. So long as you have a good long list of things to do because you were always doing something else, the notion of missing things from the past does not really apply: those things made up all the experiences you need to do what you are doing now. What's next on the list?


----------



## Blue Hills (25 May 2020)

rogerzilla said:


> Sunday club runs before Sunday shopping ruined the roads. Not having to justify not wearing a h*lm*t. Standardisation of bike components.


still plenty of standardisation surely if you don't chase the marketing?


----------



## Blue Hills (25 May 2020)

colly said:


> View attachment 524753
> 
> 
> Hours of endless fun.


seem to remember some sort of smell about that thing.
The ink?
The rubber?


----------



## colly (25 May 2020)

Blue Hills said:


> seem to remember some sort of smell about that thing.
> The ink?
> The rubber?


Now you mention it yes.😄😄 Probably the ink. Maybe meths? Dunno not sure.


----------



## Blue Hills (25 May 2020)

colly said:


> Now you mention it yes.😄😄 Probably the ink. Maybe meths? Dunno not sure.


smells are odd things - i suspect we'd both know it instantly if we ever came across it again - but haven't smelt it since very early childhood - presumably something discontinued, possibly for health reasons.

If anyone on here has one stashed away praps they could give it a quick sniff for us.

And report back - if they surface again.

edit - i possibly still have the odd book somewhere with my printing from a John Bull on an inside cover.


----------



## taximan (25 May 2020)

edit - i possibly still have the odd book somewhere with my printing from a John Bull on an inside cover.
[/QUOTE]



So have I, 'Swiss family Robinson'


----------



## Onlynutsnbolts (26 May 2020)

Fab Foodie said:


> Being young, in a world of magnets and miracles....


High hopes!!! 👍


----------



## Fab Foodie (26 May 2020)

Onlynutsnbolts said:


> High hopes!!! 👍


Indeed! A line that sums up many thoughts....
Actually, I seem to identify with many of PF's lines and sentiments...


----------



## DSK (27 May 2020)

As a little kid I used to stick my leg back, using the heel of my trainer on the back tyre to brake.... brake levers are boring lol.

Now that I'm a parent myself, I understand why my parents were tearing their hair out every weekend when we went to buy trainers.


----------



## MichaelW2 (27 May 2020)

I miss having shoes with proper animal paw print soles and a compass inside.


----------



## Blue Hills (27 May 2020)

MichaelW2 said:


> I miss having shoes with proper animal paw print soles and a compass inside.


They were bizarre weren',t they?
Hardly going to fool/impress a tracker.
Tuf?
What happened to them?
Simpler simpler times for sure.


----------



## taximan (28 May 2020)

Tuf?
What happened to them?
Simpler simpler times for sure.
[/QUOTE]

Yes I remember Tuf, but what about 'Eagle' shoes? I think they were a junior version of Tuf probably late 50s. I always had a pair just for school etc but the rest of the time it was plimmies in summer & wellies in winter ,


----------



## Dave7 (28 May 2020)

Making a cart from a plank and an old set of pram wheels. A piece of rope to steer it.
I recall deciding to go down a stupidly steep hill to the Mersey. What was I thinking?? Absolutely no chance. I can still see my bleeding knuckles after I flew off.


----------



## Hover Fly (28 May 2020)

Blue Hills said:


> They were bizarre weren',t they?
> Hardly going to fool/impress a tracker.
> Tuf?
> What happened to them?
> Simpler simpler times for sure.


Wayfinder, Tuf were just ordinary school shoes.


----------



## Electric_Andy (28 May 2020)

I miss reasonably priced Lego Technic. I was going to buy a pnumatic truck kit I had when I was about 10. Probably 25 quid I thought. No, £189


----------



## MichaelW2 (28 May 2020)

Electric_Andy said:


> I miss reasonably priced Lego Technic. I was going to buy a pnumatic truck kit I had when I was about 10. Probably 25 quid I thought. No, £189


Freeform Lego kits used to be the only way to buy. Now you can still get them but most products have a specific plan to follow so you know what to do. Everything is awesome.


----------



## mustang1 (28 May 2020)

It seems this is a cycling related question otherwise I would have said things like:
Free time
No mobile phones and other such tech
Car parking spaces readily available. 

But cycling related:
Free time (haha)
No mobile tech to record rides (I suppose today I have a choice).


----------



## freiston (30 May 2020)

MichaelW2 said:


> I miss having shoes with proper animal paw print soles and a compass inside.


Wasn't it Clark's Commando shoes that had the compass in them?

Edit: A bit of websurfing confirms the Tuf Wayfinders had the compass (and the animal paw prints) - the Clark's Commando shoes came with a badge


----------



## HMS_Dave (30 May 2020)

Jazz mags in hedgerows in the 80s. I dont really miss them but they were memorable. Even archeologists are interested in their discovery. 

https://newsthump.com/2013/01/23/archaeologists-discover-porn-mag-in-hedge/


----------



## Blue Hills (30 May 2020)

freiston said:


> Wasn't it Clark's Commando shoes that had the compass in them?
> 
> Edit: A bit of websurfing confirms the Tuf Wayfinders had the compass (and the animal paw prints) - the Clark's Commando shoes came with a badge


thanks for that - I remembered them being Tuf.
I well remember nagging my mum for a pair.
I assume there was a premium for the joy of being able to simulate a stampede of small animals.


----------



## Blue Hills (30 May 2020)

HMS_Dave said:


> Jazz mags in hedgerows in the 80s. I dont really miss them but they were memorable. Even archeologists are interested in their discovery.
> 
> https://newsthump.com/2013/01/23/archaeologists-discover-porn-mag-in-hedge/



I was a small town country boy so yes remember this.
Where did urban dwellers dump them?


----------



## HLaB (30 May 2020)

EltonFrog said:


> Nothing, everything was sh!t in the 60’s and 70’s, even worse in the 80’s and don’t even get me started on the 90’s. I wouldn’t go back even if I could. Everything is much better now. Even the the telly, ‘cos I don’t watch it.


At least telly back then was more original its largely repeats now. Other than nostalgia like you there is no way I want to relive the 70s ,80s or 90s (thankfully I missed the 60s)


----------



## HLaB (30 May 2020)

YukonBoy said:


> Guards vans on trains. Chuck your bike in, sit in the guards van with it. No need to book.


I did that last year


----------



## Dayvo (31 May 2020)

The simplicity of life: take the '80s, for example.


----------



## Blue Hills (31 May 2020)

HLaB said:


> At least telly back then was more original its largely repeats now. Other than nostalgia like you there is no way I want to relive the 70s ,80s or 90s (thankfully I missed the 60s)


What happened at the millennium to lift your mood?
Did I miss a second coming?


----------



## Blue Hills (31 May 2020)

Dayvo said:


> The simplicity of life: take the '80s, for example.


Not sure i understand your post dayvo.
Being sarky?


----------



## Vantage (31 May 2020)

Big family get togethers at my grandparents house.
Racing my mum to the front door in the morning to get the cream at the top of the milk bottle.
'Helping' my dad with DIY jobs around the house and the cars...which were always being fixed/built.
Shooting my brother in the arse with my bb gun 
Quieter roads. And cars that weren't the size of small houses.


----------



## Blue Hills (31 May 2020)

those stencilled pictures on old pint milk bottles.
Quite possibly my first experience of art.
I do seem to remember peering at them for ages.
and you could touch the art - feel it.


----------



## colly (31 May 2020)

In shoe shops: Those boxes where you, as a kid, inserted your feet and looked down through a glass viewer to see the outline of your feet inside the your shoes to see how much room your toes had.
I doubt they were actually x-ray machines but in the 1950's/1960's who knows? 

This was a time when kids were given small samples of mercury to hold and examine.


----------



## Blue Hills (31 May 2020)

colly said:


> I doubt they were actually x-ray machines



No more than those glasses advertised in the back of kids' comics promising that they would be able to see through the clothes of the young woman next door.


----------



## recumbentpanda (31 May 2020)

Ahem! 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe-fitting_fluoroscope


----------



## neil_merseyside (31 May 2020)

colly said:


> I doubt they were actually x-ray machines but in the 1950's/1960's who knows?



Withdrawn due to health concerns of irradiating children's feet !


----------



## Dayvo (31 May 2020)

Blue Hills said:


> Not sure i understand your post dayvo.
> Being sarky?


No, not at all! Can't imagine why you'd assume that.

I was 20 in 1980. I started travelling (and haven't really stopped). I played cricket during the summers and rugby during the winters (when I wasn't away hitch-hiking and bumming around on beaches. I had a variety of different jobs, which allowed me to comfortably pursue my sport and travelling. I had a number of girlfriends, although no-one serious enoughp to 'settle down' with. I had a great bunch of friends with whom I went on cricket/rugby tours, skiing holidays, the Munich Oktoberfest, concerts and sporting events. I had the best time of my life in Israel - 8 months as a volunteer. I had very good family ties but wasn't spoilt at all. I took everything in my stride and with a smile on my face. I've been lucky to have been blessed with good health and fitness. Life was simple, not easy, just uncomplicated, and that's how I like it. No pretense, no bullshit, just fun.

Why did you think I was being 'sarky'? Maybe you had a 'shitty' '80's?!


----------



## JPBoothy (31 May 2020)

neil_merseyside said:


> Withdrawn due to health concerns of irradiating children's feet !


I was scared that they would crush my feet because they looked like the compactor from a scrap yard 

I suppose it would be handy if they only had the smaller sizes in the shoes that you liked though as they could crush them to fit


----------



## JPBoothy (31 May 2020)

Dayvo said:


> No, not at all! Can't imagine why you'd assume that.
> 
> I was 20 in 1980. I started travelling (and haven't really stopped). I played cricket during the summers and rugby during the winters (when I wasn't away hitch-hiking and bumming around on beaches. I had a variety of different jobs, which allowed me to comfortably pursue my sport and travelling. I had a number of girlfriends, although no-one serious enoughp to 'settle down' with. I had a great bunch of friends with whom I went on cricket/rugby tours, skiing holidays, the Munich Oktoberfest, concerts and sporting events. I had the best time of my life in Israel - 8 months as a volunteer. I had very good family ties but wasn't spoilt at all. I took everything in my stride and with a smile on my face. I've been lucky to have been blessed with good health and fitness. Life was simple, not easy, just uncomplicated, and that's how I like it. No pretense, no bullshit, just fun.
> 
> Why did you think I was being 'sarky'? Maybe you had a 'shitty' '80's?!


Sounds great to me.. I just wished that I'd been more confident and mature enough to take advantage of what was on offer at the time. I used to work behind a bar throughout the 80's with a great bunch of lads/girls and often look back and utter the infamous words "what if " to myself. Talk about maturing late though, it is only now that I've hit my mid 50's that I seem to have developed that 'whatever' attitude


----------



## JPBoothy (31 May 2020)

freiston said:


> Wasn't it Clark's Commando shoes that had the compass in them?
> 
> Edit: A bit of websurfing confirms the Tuf Wayfinders had the compass (and the animal paw prints) - the Clark's Commando shoes came with a badge


I think you needed to be a Commando to lift the clumpy things off the floor.


----------



## colly (31 May 2020)

recumbentpanda said:


> Ahem!
> 
> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe-fitting_fluoroscope


Pedoscopes ........................Hence a Jimmy Saville free zone.


----------



## HLaB (31 May 2020)

Blue Hills said:


> What happened at the millennium to lift your mood?
> Did I miss a second coming?


Elton never mentioned them in his OP but all I can remember is a Millennium Bug. Its been non stop viruses since then; its all 5G's fault


----------



## Ming the Merciless (31 May 2020)

Dayvo said:


> No, not at all! Can't imagine why you'd assume that.
> 
> I was 20 in 1980. I started travelling (and haven't really stopped). I played cricket during the summers and rugby during the winters (when I wasn't away hitch-hiking and bumming around on beaches. I had a variety of different jobs, which allowed me to comfortably pursue my sport and travelling. I had a number of girlfriends, although no-one serious enoughp to 'settle down' with. I had a great bunch of friends with whom I went on cricket/rugby tours, skiing holidays, the Munich Oktoberfest, concerts and sporting events. I had the best time of my life in Israel - 8 months as a volunteer. I had very good family ties but wasn't spoilt at all. I took everything in my stride and with a smile on my face. I've been lucky to have been blessed with good health and fitness. Life was simple, not easy, just uncomplicated, and that's how I like it. No pretense, no bullshit, just fun.
> 
> Why did you think I was being 'sarky'? Maybe you had a 'shitty' '80's?!



Ah but that’s not about the 80’s that about you being in your 20’s and in a certain stage of your life. All you describe can and is being done in this decade. Well it is when lockdown lifts across the world.


----------



## Salty seadog (31 May 2020)

Nostalgia 

Can't believe it took 7 pages.


----------



## Dayvo (31 May 2020)

YukonBoy said:


> Ah but that’s not about the 80’s that about you being in your 20’s and in a certain stage of your life. All you describe can and is being done in this decade. Well it is when lockdown lifts across the world.


Yes, but I was in my 20s during the '80s. I am now 60 and doing next to nothing now that I did then.

It doesn't matter if others can do 'all that' after the lockdown has been lifted, it isn't ME doing it. And even doing those things in the '90s as a 30+ man was much different to the previous decade.

I wasn't 20 in the 70s or the 00s, so your point is irrelevant. Society has changed immensely in 40 years. And while the lockdown is still in force here in Norway, it has virtually no effect on my life or day-to-day routine at all.


----------



## Ming the Merciless (31 May 2020)

Dayvo said:


> I wasn't 20 in the 80s or the 00s, so your point is irrelevant.



Eh, you said you were 20 in 1980. Therefore you were in your 20’s in the 80’s!


----------



## Dayvo (31 May 2020)

YukonBoy said:


> Eh, you said you were 20 in 1980. Therefore you were in your 20’s in the 80’s!


Typo, should have been 70s. I'll edit now. 👍


----------



## screenman (31 May 2020)

Miss from the past, in truth I cannot think of anything my rose tinted spectacles are not working.


----------



## slowmotion (31 May 2020)

neil_merseyside said:


> Withdrawn due to health concerns of irradiating children's feet !


My mother was an anaesthetist and knew a bit about radiology. She absolutely forbade us from using the X-ray machines in shoe shops.


----------



## slowmotion (31 May 2020)

Oh yes.....white dog poo.


----------



## snorri (31 May 2020)

YukonBoy said:


> Guards vans on trains. Chuck your bike in, sit in the guards van with it.


My parents chucked their child in from time to time and after about 3h 30 minutes the guard handed me over to my uncle along with the mail bags for the final 2 miles in a post office van. I didn't even have a label round my neck.
I knew when I was approaching the destination as the accents of the platform staff at each station gradually became more like the accent my uncle spoke. Most of the stations are closed now and the ones that are left are unmanned.


----------



## Mrs M (31 May 2020)

Nothing.
Good times are now and still to happen


----------



## davidphilips (31 May 2020)

Parents, pets and friends that have passed away, and cars that you could repair almost any thing on and service at home?


----------



## Blue Hills (1 Jun 2020)

recumbentpanda said:


> Ahem!
> 
> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe-fitting_fluoroscope


colly is clearly older than I thought.
I'm no spring chicken but was totally unaware of those - never seen one - that wiki article seems to show that they effectively disappeared in the UK long long ago. Will follow colly's childhood memories with more interest.


----------



## JPBoothy (1 Jun 2020)

HLaB said:


> I did that last year


I am still amazed that in these times of Health & Safety overload (In the Western World anyway) that the rail companies would rather have a bike/pram in amongst the passengers where it is likely to become a lethal missile and obstruction with sharp edges in the event of a crash, rather than providing a separate goods type car.. Although, I know the answer is of course 'money' as with everything in our greedy society today. Lives are expendable, regardless of what manufacturers claim


----------



## MichaelW2 (1 Jun 2020)

colly said:


> In shoe shops: Those boxes where you, as a kid, inserted your feet and looked down through a glass viewer to see the outline of your feet inside the your shoes to see how much room your toes had.
> I doubt they were actually x-ray machines but in the 1950's/1960's who knows?
> 
> This was a time when kids were given small samples of mercury to hold and examine.


They were xray machines. My mother, who had radiological safety training and was pregnant, refused to be anywhere near them and got some funny comments at the time. Experts knew that x rays were dangerous at that time.


----------



## colly (1 Jun 2020)

Blue Hills said:


> colly is clearly older than I thought.
> I'm no spring chicken but was totally unaware of those - never seen one - that wiki article seems to show that they effectively disappeared in the UK long long ago. Will follow colly's childhood memories with more interest.


My childhood memories are mostly of me being in trouble.

Yet again.


----------



## further (1 Jun 2020)

I remember pubs.


----------



## Slick (1 Jun 2020)

further said:


> I remember pubs.


You must have been doing it wrong.


----------



## Ming the Merciless (1 Jun 2020)

Going to the pub


----------



## Profpointy (1 Jun 2020)

a.twiddler said:


> Vesta Ready Meals. They even did a Biriani at one time (nothing like any Biriani that I ever had in a restaurant, but I liked in itself.) Chicken Supreme, Beef Curry, Paella, Beef Risotto and Chow Mein. The only one you can get now is Chow Mein. All a pale shadow of the real thing that we know now, but a comfort food from times past.



I remember my mum occasionally cooking those, and for years I thought I didn't like curry. Turns out I did like curry very much but to paraphrase the late, great Douglass Adams: a food almost, but not entirely unlike curry


----------



## Profpointy (1 Jun 2020)

BoldonLad said:


> You more or less have my vote. 60's my teenage years, 70's newly married, mortgaged, winter of discontent, 80's were not too bad, changed wives. 90's struggling to repair my finances and fund children at University. I don't own rose coloured spectacles.



On the other hand inflation washed away your mortgage in a few years


----------



## Profpointy (1 Jun 2020)

MichaelW2 said:


> I miss having shoes with proper animal paw print soles and a compass inside.



I really really wanted a pair of those


----------



## Profpointy (1 Jun 2020)

w


colly said:


> In shoe shops: Those boxes where you, as a kid, inserted your feet and looked down through a glass viewer to see the outline of your feet inside the your shoes to see how much room your toes had.
> I doubt they were actually x-ray machines but in the 1950's/1960's who knows?
> 
> This was a time when kids were given small samples of mercury to hold and examine.



I was given a small vial of mercury by the dentist. I used to play with it in my hands but gradually it all disappeared. I guess it was lost in the carpet or we breathed it in.


----------



## Profpointy (1 Jun 2020)

My uncle, now in his eighties reckons his was the luckiest generation. They were the first not to have anyone shooting at them. If you left one job on the friday you could walk into another on the Monday. You went to university totally free. And any debts or mortgages were made trivial by inflation. He does have a point even though many things are better now in other ways


----------



## johnnyb47 (1 Jun 2020)

When we were kids we would always help out at the farm loading the freshly cut straw bale's from the fields to the tractor trailer. The fields were adjacent to the sea over looking Bardsey Island.. Once loaded and completely knackered we would all climb up on top of the bales and back to Aberdaron to unload it down the farm.. Trundling down the narrow lanes you had to keep a keen eye open for telephone wires. Everytime we came to one, we would all have to duck down to avoid getting caught up with it. The sun sets and views were stunning perched up high on the bales. Health and safety would have a field day nowadays as to what we did.. Going through Aberdaron nobody would bat an eye lid. We thought we were millionaire's after the farmer paid us £10 for a days work


----------



## Dogtrousers (1 Jun 2020)

@Profpointy 's uncle is a wise man. He was in the vanguard of the luckiest generations. Sandwiched between the horrors of world wars, and ... er ... whatever comes next. Economic collapse, climate emergency, plague etc. With our nice post-war consensus benefits of education for free, affordable housing and final salary pensions (OK I missed out on that last one but two out of three ain't bad).


----------



## Slick (1 Jun 2020)

johnnyb47 said:


> When we were kids we would always help out at the farm loading the freshly cut straw bale's from the fields to the tractor trailer. The fields were adjacent to the sea over looking Bardsey Island.. Once loaded and completely knackered we would all climb up on top of the bales and back to Aberdaron to unload it down the farm.. Trundling down the narrow lanes you had to keep a keen eye open for telephone wires. Everytime we came to one, we would all have to duck down to avoid getting caught up with it. The sun sets and views were stunning perched up high on the bales. Health and safety would have a field day nowadays as to what we did.. Going through Aberdaron nobody would bat an eye lid. We thought we were millionaire's after the farmer paid us £10 for a days work


You don't know how lucky you were. My friend was killed riding o the back of a silage trailer and hit his head on the lintel of the byre. I think it was worse that it was his dad who was driving, although the truth be told I was too young to fully understand.


----------



## johnnyb47 (1 Jun 2020)

@Slick 
Good grief. I didn't press the like button as it may come across as insensitive. Thinking on now that I'm older and wiser, the things we used to do back then were totally reckless, but society was completely different. Thank god for health and safety nowadays that help to stop such tragic events your friend went through


----------



## Notafettler (1 Jun 2020)

Broken biscuits from Woolworths.


----------



## Notafettler (2 Jun 2020)

Henry's fish and chip shop. Chinese chippy. His Chinese curry was magnificent. Fish chips and Chinese curry. His secret recipes went to the grave with him.


----------



## Chris S (2 Jun 2020)

Solatio shoes, or 'slats' as they were known then. Just the things to wear with your tank-top.


----------



## Notafettler (2 Jun 2020)

Dayvo said:


> The simplicity of life: take the '80s, for example.


And where would you put it?


----------



## Chris S (2 Jun 2020)

Notafettler said:


> Broken biscuits from Woolworths.


And misshaped chocolates. They probably go to landfill now.


----------



## snorri (2 Jun 2020)

johnnyb47 said:


> we would always help out at the farm loading the freshly cut straw bale's from the fields


Oh dear, I still think of bales as being quite a recent invention that replaced sheaves which I threw up with a pitch fork to the expert who built the stacks in the stackyard. Not that I threw them up for long, it was tiring work!


----------



## Mike Ayling (2 Jun 2020)

Being a whippersnapper of 60 again!
Like others I don't think the good old days were that good.

Mike


----------



## Blue Hills (2 Jun 2020)

johnnyb47 said:


> When we were kids we would always help out at the farm loading the freshly cut straw bale's from the fields to the tractor trailer. The fields were adjacent to the sea over looking Bardsey Island.. Once loaded and completely knackered we would all climb up on top of the bales and back to Aberdaron to unload it down the farm.. Trundling down the narrow lanes you had to keep a keen eye open for telephone wires. Everytime we came to one, we would all have to duck down to avoid getting caught up with it. The sun sets and views were stunning perched up high on the bales. Health and safety would have a field day nowadays as to what we did.. Going through Aberdaron nobody would bat an eye lid. We thought we were millionaire's after the farmer paid us £10 for a days work


Sounds idyllic.
You a character in an enid blyton?


----------



## Blue Hills (2 Jun 2020)

Dogtrousers said:


> @Profpointy 's uncle is a wise man. He was in the vanguard of the luckiest generations. Sandwiched between the horrors of world wars, and ... er ... whatever comes next. Economic collapse, climate emergency, plague etc. With our nice post-war consensus benefits of education for free, affordable housing and final salary pensions (OK I missed out on that last one but two out of three ain't bad).


I always reckon that the absolute best time to be born, if you survived, was at the height of the blitz.


----------



## Curto80 (2 Jun 2020)

My Raleigh Burner. Wish I knew where it is now.


----------



## Notafettler (2 Jun 2020)

JPBoothy said:


> I am still amazed that in these times of Health & Safety overload (In the Western World anyway) that the rail companies would rather have a bike/pram in amongst the passengers where it is likely to become a lethal missile and obstruction with sharp edges in the event of a crash, rather than providing a separate goods type car.. Although, I know the answer is of course 'money' as with everything in our greedy society today. Lives are expendable, regardless of what manufacturers claim


As accidents are extremely rare on trains what you really mean is you want to be guaranteed a place to put your bike. By the way goods type cars were for...goods. There aren't any on trains anymore. .


----------



## Notafettler (2 Jun 2020)

It used be caramac but it's back now. One of my daughters sent me a caramac tree.....I was sick


----------



## JPBoothy (2 Jun 2020)

johnnyb47 said:


> @Slick
> Good grief. I didn't press the like button as it may come across as insensitive. Thinking on now that I'm older and wiser, the things we used to do back then were totally reckless, but society was completely different. Thank god for health and safety nowadays that help to stop such tragic events your friend went through


You read my mind @Slick as I was just about to hit the like and thought the exact same thing  

I'm always amazed by how casually the older generation will drop a sad tale into a conversation as if it was an everyday occurrence back then.


----------



## Slick (2 Jun 2020)

JPBoothy said:


> You read my mind @Slick as I was just about to hit the like and thought the exact same thing
> 
> I'm always amazed by how casually the older generation will drop a sad tale into a conversation as if it was an everyday occurrence back then.


It might not have been an every day occurrence but it was a way if life for some.

The older I get, the more sad tales I seem to remember.


----------



## colly (2 Jun 2020)

Bomb sites.

I'm very glad they aren't being produced anymore but they were terrific places for young kids to play on. Dangerous as it comes of course. 
I moved out of Fulham when I was nine so that source of entertainment came to an end but I collected (and subsequently lost) no end of what I thought were interesting objects.
One place must have been a repository for a museum or or somesuch because under every other brick was a fossil. Big ones small ones. Being a kid I had no idea of the value or worth but I knew what fossils were.


----------



## Blue Hills (3 Jun 2020)

colly said:


> Bomb sites.
> 
> I'm very glad they aren't being produced anymore but they were terrific places for young kids to play on. Dangerous at it comes of course.
> I moved out of Fulham when I was nine so that source of entertainment came to an end but I collected (and subsequently lost) no end of what I thought were interesting objects.
> One place must have been a repository for a museum or or somesuch because under every other brick was a fossil. Big ones small ones. Being a kid I had no idea of the value or worth but I knew what fossils were.


You wouldn't recognise fulham now colly. Don't know if you've ever seen the film "hue and cry". Very good scenes of kids playing on london bomb sites.


----------



## JPBoothy (3 Jun 2020)

Slick said:


> It might not have been an every day occurrence but it was a way if life for some.
> 
> The older I get, the more sad tales I seem to remember.


My mum has told me of at least one more Aunt & Uncle that I would have had if they hadn't died young of something minor which would probably be easily curable with todays more advanced Medicine


----------



## Dayvo (3 Jun 2020)

Notafettler said:


> And where would you put it?


In the front of your mind: have a trip down memory lane and be nostalgic. Or not.


----------



## Mr Whyte (4 Jun 2020)

I`m only 58 but what I miss is going out for bike rides with friends after school back in the late 1960s in our suburb in Australia.


----------



## alecstilleyedye (4 Jun 2020)

kynikos said:


> Frozen Jubblies


you can get them in tesco...


----------



## Chris S (4 Jun 2020)

Cadbury's Soya Choice. It was a meat substitute that contained beef fat. I wonder why it didn't sell?


----------



## GetFatty (4 Jun 2020)

Baldy said:


> Hair.


I don't actually miss my hair. Convenience is far better


----------



## GetFatty (4 Jun 2020)

Gunk said:


> Frozen mash is better,


I've only just discovered frozen mash and it is a wonder of the world!!


----------



## rogerzilla (4 Jun 2020)

Dave7 said:


> Making a cart from a plank and an old set of pram wheels. A piece of rope to steer it.
> I recall deciding to go down a stupidly steep hill to the Mersey. What was I thinking?? Absolutely no chance. I can still see my bleeding knuckles after I flew off.


We had one of those. Once crashed while carrying a tin of paint on the front. 40 years later, the mark is still there on the pavement


----------



## sheddy (4 Jun 2020)

Public Information Films on TV.


----------



## Salar (4 Jun 2020)

Being picked up by my uncle, jumping into the sidecar and going off fishing.


----------



## rogerzilla (4 Jun 2020)

HMS_Dave said:


> Jazz mags in hedgerows in the 80s. I dont really miss them but they were memorable. Even archeologists are interested in their discovery.
> 
> https://newsthump.com/2013/01/23/archaeologists-discover-porn-mag-in-hedge/


Saw one last year on the riverside path* just by my house. Ah, the nostalgia.

*this makes it sound bucolic but the River Cole in Swindon is pretty much a drain for road run-off. I did see a little egret down there last month, probably wondering why the water tasted of rubber.


----------



## Dogtrousers (4 Jun 2020)

This is in the general cycling section, and the OP was broadly cycling related, so on a cycling topic I tried to give it a think.

I have nostalgia for going youth hostelling. Often used to do short solo trips. I'd get my hostel chores out of the way the night before and leave early in the morning. Bike groaning under the weight of Too Much Stuff, heading off into the (relatively) unknown with the morning sun on the dew. (All mornings were sunny back then).

On the bike, although my chain pretty much never comes off these days, I miss being able to use the friction lever on the front mech to coax it back on without stopping. Indexed mechs might be efficient and ergonomic and all that, but a friction one is like having an extension to your hand.

I miss cotter pins too. I used to really enjoy ... just kidding. Good riddance to the buggers.


----------



## Gravity Aided (4 Jun 2020)

Blue Hills said:


> colly is clearly older than I thought.
> I'm no spring chicken but was totally unaware of those - never seen one - that wiki article seems to show that they effectively disappeared in the UK long long ago. Will follow colly's childhood memories with more interest.


Had them in the States, in every Buster Brown Shoe store. My mom always said that if a shoe salesman can't fit you, why is he a shoe salesman? Also, she read it was bad for you in _Colliers'_ magazine.


----------



## JPBoothy (4 Jun 2020)

sheddy said:


> Public Information Films on TV.


Did 'Charlie Says' count as one of those


----------



## taximan (4 Jun 2020)

Something I do not miss, twice round the block and they were cream crackered


----------



## Lozz360 (4 Jun 2020)

Sharky said:


> It was Trolley Buses going past our house and one night, the overhead cable must have shorted out as it was going past and lit up the road like Blackpool illuminations.


Trolley buses in London were de-commissioned in London in 1962. I have a vivid memory of watching the overhead lines being dismantled along the Greenford Road where my Grandparents lived. I must have been three years old. I now understand that trolley buses never ran along the Greenford Road. So it must be a false memory. I still don't understand it though.


----------



## Lozz360 (4 Jun 2020)

The only thing I missed from before was tax relief on mortgages (in the 80's).


----------



## Sharky (4 Jun 2020)

Lozz360 said:


> Trolley buses in London were de-commissioned in London in 1962. I have a vivid memory of watching the overhead lines being dismantled along the Greenford Road where my Grandparents lived. I must have been three years old. I now understand that trolley buses never ran along the Greenford Road. So it must be a false memory. I still don't understand it though.


The one which went past our house was on the Prescot to St Helens route. Maybe from Liverpool. I would have been 10 in 1960.


----------



## wafter (4 Jun 2020)

Hope.


----------



## Ming the Merciless (4 Jun 2020)

The lack of cars during lockdown makes me nostalgic for when it was perfectly safe for kids to rides bikes long ways down main roads. Plus nostalgia for when parents let their kids go out and explore and ever minute of their activities didn’t need to be planned.


----------



## JPBoothy (4 Jun 2020)

I miss being able to go to work and just being left alone to do your job without there being a training course or new procedure being introduced every other day


----------



## Dogtrousers (4 Jun 2020)

Cycleops said:


> Rather than 'On the buses' I miss the buses themselves. Those wonderful open rear platform RTs and Routemasters. You could jump on and off when you wanted.


Mr Grumpy here. I bloody hated Routemasters. They outlived their usefulness by several decades in London. Hideously uncomfortable with minature seats. Terribly unreliable, you'd see them at the side of the road broken down all the time. And as I once discovered, almost impossible to board if you're on crutches. I was glad to see the back of the buggers.

Wanders off muttering.


----------



## Captain Sensible (4 Jun 2020)

Summer holiday editions of kids comics such as Victor and Beano. Being read whilst munching on a 9d Cornish mivi ice cream.


----------



## Blue Hills (5 Jun 2020)

sheddy said:


> Public Information Films on TV.


Talking Pictures TV sometimes shows old ones.
Including one about washing and returning milk bottles.


----------



## Blue Hills (5 Jun 2020)

Captain Sensible said:


> Summer holiday editions of kids comics such as Victor and Beano. Being read whilst munching on a 9d Cornish mivi ice cream.


Yep, remember those - used to get them from a news stand opposite blackpool north pier.
It was above a public toilet where i also remember other mysterious holiday reading matter - oddly worded notice about "venereal disease" or whatever they called it. Can't remember what their advice was but I wasn't going to have need of it for a few years anyway. So back to the bumper beano delights.


----------



## rogerzilla (5 Jun 2020)

Blue Hills said:


> Talking Pictures TV sometimes shows old ones.
> Including one about washing and returning milk bottles.


The Charley Says* one about the mortal danger posed by teapots baffled me until I actually did knock over a freshly-filled teapot a few years ago. I got straight into a cold shower but I temporarily lost a lot of skin from my stomach!

*Charley the cat voiced by Kenny Everett. Which is something else I miss.


----------



## pawl (5 Jun 2020)

Roy Rogers.Hopalong Cassidy Loan Ranger .Dan Dare Buck Rogers.Bored now Feel free to add to the list.


----------



## Dogtrousers (5 Jun 2020)

pawl said:


> Roy Rogers.Hopalong Cassidy Loan Ranger .Dan Dare Buck Rogers.Bored now Feel free to add to the list.


Champion the Wonder Horse.


----------



## figbat (5 Jun 2020)

Blackcurrant and liquorice humbugs. The ones I remember were so big that they were _2p_ _each _at the sweet counter at our local store.

Also Pacers.

My mk1 Toyota MR2 T-bar.


----------



## Blue Hills (5 Jun 2020)

Dogtrousers said:


> Champion the Wonder Horse.


I just remember that, maybe it was repeats, and it had been shipped from the states anyway.
In truth i fear that you would find that any many other progs from the period somewhat ropey if you were to see them again.
So, sad to say, you are probably missing your youth, facing your mortality.
Sorry for gloom, a tad hungover.


----------



## Ming the Merciless (5 Jun 2020)

Sherbet dips and gob stoppers


----------



## JPBoothy (5 Jun 2020)

figbat said:


> Blackcurrant and liquorice humbugs. The ones I remember were so big that they were _2p_ _each _at the sweet counter at our local store.
> 
> Also Pacers.
> 
> My mk1 Toyota MR2 T-bar.


Pacers used to be called Opal Mints didn't they? Probably giving my age away a bit there 

I still refuse to pronounce Nike as Nik'ee', and Nestles as Nest'les' (ley) or any of the other pointless pronunciation changes that are made. Don't get me started on the re-naming of sports stadiums/football grounds


----------



## Dogtrousers (5 Jun 2020)

I used to cycle round to my friend Martin's on Saturday mornings. Him and his brother would still be in their pyjamas watching the telly (Champion the Wonder Horse, Casey Jones). All this - getting up late, watching telly in the morning - would have been unthinkable in our household. I think they even had a colour telly.


----------



## Gravity Aided (5 Jun 2020)

JPBoothy said:


> Don't get me started on the re-naming of sports stadiums/football grounds


Yes, really. I do not think such advertisements should intrude on places of cultural significance, like sports stadiums. We have enough hustling being done by the powers that be for their friends in the conglomerates without defacing sports stadiums and venues. It is one thing to tastefully sponsor a team, but another to plaster your name all over it, after the edifice itself has been built largely at the public expense.


----------



## Gravity Aided (5 Jun 2020)

Dogtrousers said:


> I used to cycle round to my friend Martin's on Saturday mornings. Him and his brother would still be in their pyjamas watching the telly (Champion the Wonder Horse, Casey Jones). All this - getting up late, watching telly in the morning - would have been unthinkable in our household. I think they even had a colour telly.


Whoah! Color Telly? That's pretty fancy!


----------



## Dogtrousers (5 Jun 2020)

Gravity Aided said:


> Yes, really. I do not think such advertisements should intrude on places of cultural significance, like sports stadiums. We have enough hustling being done by the powers that be for their friends in the conglomerates without defacing sports stadiums and venues. It is one thing to tastefully sponsor a team, but another to plaster your name all over it, after the edifice itself has been built largely at the public expense.


Kind of off topic, but to do with stadium sponsorship.

A mate of mine took his daughters to an event at the Millennium Dome O2 Stadium. He bought a cup of coffee from a coffee chain outlet as they emerged from the tube. As they entered the O2 he was stopped by security. "Excuse me sir, you are carrying a cup of _<Chain X>_ coffee. You can't bring that in here. This is a _<Chain Y>_ stadium." And they took his coffee off him.


----------



## Gravity Aided (5 Jun 2020)

Blue Hills said:


> I just remember that, maybe it was repeats, and it had been shipped from the states anyway.
> In truth i fear that you would find that any many other progs from the period somewhat ropey if you were to see them again.
> So, sad to say, you are probably missing your youth, facing your mortality.
> Sorry for gloom, a tad hungover.


Hey, I was just facing my mortality earlier in the week, cannot say it was fun, but people did a lot of that, back in the day, as well. Nice to have all the health care and testing I now have, as opposed to the sort of medicine we used to have in the States back in the day. Cheaper, yes, but with more "negative outcomes" than nowadays, due to a lack of ongoing and consistent health care and testing.


----------



## Dogtrousers (5 Jun 2020)

Gravity Aided said:


> Whoah! Color Telly? That's pretty fancy!


Many years later I recognised my childhood friend Martin on telly. He was being interviewed on a program about what it was like being bald. 

Hmmm ... Me (limited childhood exposure to colour telly, and certainly no telly during the day) full head of hair. Him (colour telly on Saturday mornings) bald as a coot. Coincidence? I think not.


----------



## Gravity Aided (5 Jun 2020)

Dogtrousers said:


> Kind of off topic, but to do with stadium sponsorship.
> 
> A mate of mine took his daughters to an event at the Millennium Dome O2 Stadium. He bought a cup of coffee from a coffee chain outlet as they emerged from the tube. As they entered the O2 he was stopped by security. "Excuse me sir, you are carrying a cup of _<Chain X>_ coffee. You can't bring that in here. This is a _<Chain Y>_ stadium." And they took his coffee off him.


That is just plain wrong, depriving a man of his property because it is not the right brand. I used to favor Arsenal. I cannot root for O2.


----------



## Blue Hills (5 Jun 2020)

Gravity Aided said:


> Whoah! Color Telly? That's pretty fancy!


The first colour telly i saw was i think in the states. Though i was in rural Lancashire. A primary school teacher was showing us his slides. He"d been to visit some friends in the states and snapped a pic of this wonder in action.


----------



## Gravity Aided (5 Jun 2020)

Warner Brothers' cartoons like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Foghorn Leghorn with all the violence intact. Great comedic timing, entertaining, and a lesson or two in how the world actually works. Who doesn't want to see a 16 ton weight dropped on a malevolent coyote?


----------



## JPBoothy (5 Jun 2020)

Dogtrousers said:


> Kind of off topic, but to do with stadium sponsorship.
> 
> A mate of mine took his daughters to an event at the Millennium Dome O2 Stadium. He bought a cup of coffee from a coffee chain outlet as they emerged from the tube. As they entered the O2 he was stopped by security. "Excuse me sir, you are carrying a cup of _<Chain X>_ coffee. You can't bring that in here. This is a _<Chain Y>_ stadium." And they took his coffee off him.


Again, slightly off the OP's topic but -

I can't understand who makes the decision (and why) to put sticky tape over the brand name of a presenters shirt/hoody/coat on tv shows. Would it be to stop free advertising being given to that manufacturer, or would the manufacturer want paying for the advertising of their brand without their consent? Why disguise just the clothes then and not the vehicles they drive?


----------



## figbat (5 Jun 2020)

It is probably to cover a brand that is a competitor to an endorsed brand.


----------



## JPBoothy (5 Jun 2020)

Gravity Aided said:


> Warner Brothers' cartoons like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Foghorn Leghorn with all the violence intact. Great comedic timing, entertaining, and a lesson or two in how the world actually works. Who doesn't want to see a 16 ton weight dropped on a malevolent coyote?


Yes, I think my Dad and I were still laughing out loud to the Warner Bros cartoons you have mentioned when I was in my teens. Sadly a lot more of the previously silent ones are now having voices added to them, and the later kids programmes such as Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam & Horrid Henry (even Thunderbirds) are now filmed in CGI which just seems to lack the same warmth and gives a more 'sterile' look to them. I accept that things have to be updated for the new generation, but it's a shame to change the classics. I suppose it just demonstrates the lack of imagination that today's writers have if they can't think of anything new. Every film has at least one sequel these days too.


----------



## rogerzilla (5 Jun 2020)

Gravity Aided said:


> Who doesn't want to see a 16 ton weight dropped on a malevolent coyote?


Also, I really wanted to work for the ACME company. They made some great stuff.


----------



## freiston (5 Jun 2020)

Dogtrousers said:


> ...On the bike, although my chain pretty much never comes off these days, I miss being able to use the friction lever on the front mech to coax it back on without stopping. Indexed mechs might be efficient and ergonomic and all that, but a friction one is like having an extension to your hand.
> 
> I miss cotter pins too. I used to really enjoy ... just kidding. Good riddance to the buggers.


I still have a friction front shifter and I've been running my rear shifter in pure friction too mode during lockdown - I switched the front from (9 speed) indexed to friction on a temporary basis just to see what it was like but now I can't be arsed to change it back because it works well enough and there isn't much point.

I hate cotter pins too and haven't had them since 1980.


----------



## Gravity Aided (6 Jun 2020)

JPBoothy said:


> Yes, I think my Dad and I were still laughing out loud to the Warner Bros cartoons you have mentioned when I was in my teens. Sadly a lot more of the previously silent ones are now having voices added to them, and the later kids programmes such as Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam & Horrid Henry (even Thunderbirds) are now filmed in CGI which just seems to lack the same warmth and gives a more 'sterile' look to them. I accept that things have to be updated for the new generation, but it's a shame to change the classics. I suppose it just demonstrates the lack of imagination that today's writers have if they can't think of anything new. Every film has at least one sequel these days too.


Banks took over Hollywood. Banks want a "sure thing" for their investors. Hence the sequels, and the demise of creativity.


----------



## Mike Ayling (6 Jun 2020)

Dave Slant said:


> I`m only 58 but what I miss is going out for bike rides with friends after school back in the late 1960s in our suburb in Australia.


That doesn't happen now in Melbourne's eastern suburbs.

Mike


----------



## Mike Ayling (6 Jun 2020)

freiston said:


> I still have a friction front shifter and I've been running my rear shifter in pure friction too mode during lockdown - I switched the front from (9 speed) indexed to friction on a temporary basis just to see what it was like but now I can't be arsed to change it back because it works well enough and there isn't much point.
> 
> I hate cotter pins too and haven't had them since 1980.


Yes, the square taper crank was the best cycling innovation ever IMNSHO

Mike


----------



## Mike Ayling (6 Jun 2020)

rogerzilla said:


> Also, I really wanted to work for the ACME company. They made some great stuff.


*Wile E. Coyote vs. ACME Company*


Wile E. Coyote, Plaintiff -v.- Acme Company, Defendant



Opening statement of Mr. Harold Schoff, attorney for Mr. Coyote:​ 

My client, Mr. Wile E. Coyote, a resident of Arizona and contiguous states, does herein bring suit for damages against the Acme Company, manufacturer and retail distributor of assorted merchandise, incorporated in Delaware and doing business in every state, district, and territory.

Mr. Coyote seeks compensation for personal injuries, loss of business income, and mental suffering caused as a direct result of the actions and/or gross negligence of said company, under Title 15 of the United States Code, Chapter 47, section 2072, subsection (a), relating to product liability.

Mr. Coyote states that on eighty-five separate occasions he has purchased of the Acme Company (hereinafter, "Defendant"), through that company's mail-order department, certain products which did cause him bodily injury due to defects in manufacture or improper cautionary labeling. Sales slips made out to Mr. Coyote as proof of purchase are at present in the possession of the Court, marked Exhibit A. Such injuries sustained by Mr. Coyote have temporarily restricted his ability to make a living in his profession of predator. Mr. Coyote is self-employed and thus not eligible for Workmen's Compensation.

Mr. Coyote states that on December 13th he received of Defendant via parcel post one Acme Rocket Sled. The intention of Mr. Coyote was to use the Rocket sled to aid him in pursuit of his prey. Upon receipt of the Rocket Sled, Mr. Coyote removed it from its wooden shipping crate and, sighting his prey in the distance, activated the ignition. As Mr. Coyote gripped the handlebars, the Rocket Sled accelerated with such sudden and precipitate force as to stretch Mr. Coyote's forelimbs to a length of fifty feet. Subsequently, the rest of Mr. Coyote's body shot forward with a violent jolt, causing severe strain to his back and neck and placing him unexpectedly astride the Rocket Sled. Disappearing over the horizon at such speed as to leave a diminishing jet trail along its path, the Rocket Sled soon brought Mr. Coyote abreast of his prey. At that moment the animal he was pursuing veered sharply to the right. Mr. Coyote vigorously attempted to follow this maneuver but was unable to, due to poorly designed steering on the Rocket Sled and a faulty or nonexistent braking system. Shortly thereafter, the unchecked progress of the Rocket Sled brought it and Mr. Coyote into collision with the side of a mesa.

Paragraph One of the Report of Attending Physician (Exhibit B), prepared by Dr. Ernest Grosscup, M.D., D.O., details the multiple fractures, contusions, and tissue damage suffered by Mr. Coyote as a result of this collision. Repair of the injuries required a full bandage around the head (excluding
the ears), a neck brace, and full or partial casts on all four legs.

Hampered by these injuries, Mr. Coyote was nevertheless obliged to support himself. With this in mind, he purchased of Defendant as an aid to mobility one pair of Acme Rocket Skates. When he attempted to use this product, however, he became involved in an accident remarkably similar to that which occurred with the Rocket Sled. Again, Defendant sold over the counter, without caveat, a product which attached powerful jet engines (in this case, two) to inadequate vehicles, with little or no provision for passenger safety. Encumbered by his heavy casts, Mr. Coyote lost control of the Rocket

Skates soon after strapping them on, and collided with a roadside billboard so violently as to leave a hole in the shape of his full silhouette.

Mr. Coyote states that on occasions too numerous to list in this document he has suffered mishaps with explosives purchased of Defendant: the Acme "Little Giant" Firecracker, the Acme Self-Guided Aerial Bomb, etc. (For a full listing, see the Acme Mail Order Explosives Catalog and attached deposition, entered in evidence as Exhibit C.) Indeed, it is safe to say that not once has an explosive purchased of Defendant by Mr. Coyote performed in an expected manner. To cite just one example: At the expense of much time and personal effort, Mr. Coyote constructed around the outer rim of a butte a wooden trough beginning at the top of the butte and spiraling downward around it to some few feet above a black X painted on the desert floor. The trough was designed in such a way that a spherical explosive of the type sold by Defendant would roll easily and swiftly down to the point of detonation indicated by the X. Mr. Coyote placed a generous pile of birdseed directly on the X, and then, carrying the spherical Acme Bomb (Catalog #78-832), climbed to the top of the butte. Mr. Coyote's prey, seeing the birdseed, approached, and Mr. Coyote proceeded to light the fuse. In an instant, the fuse burned down to the stem, causing the bomb to detonate.

In addition to reducing all Mr. Coyote's careful preparations to naught, the premature detonation of Defendant's product resulted n the following disfigurements to Mr. Coyote:

1. Severe singeing of the hair on the head, neck, and muzzle.

2. Sooty discoloration.

3. Fracture of the left ear at the stem, causing the ear to dangle in the aftershock with a creaking noise.

4. Full or partial combustion of whiskers, producing kinking, frazzling, and ashy disintegration.

5. Radical widening of the eyes, due to brow and lid charring.

We come now to the Acme Spring-Powered Shoes. The remains of a pair of these purchased by Mr. Coyote on June 23rd are Plaintiff's Exhibit D. Selected fragments have been shipped to the metallurgical laboratories of the University of California at Santa Barbara for analysis, but to date, no explanation has been found for this product's sudden and extreme malfunction. As advertised by Defendant, this product is simplicity itself: two wood-and-metal sandals, each attached to milled-steel springs of high tensile strength and compressed in a tightly coiled position by a cocking device with a lanyard release. Mr. Coyote believed that this product would enable him to pounce upon his prey in the initial moments of the chase, when swift reflexes are at a premium.

To increase the shoes' thrusting power still further, Mr. Coyote affixed them by their bottoms to the side of a large boulder. Adjacent to the boulder was a path which Mr. Coyote's prey was known to frequent. Mr. Coyote put his hind feet in the wood-and-metal sandals and crouched in readiness, his right forepaw holding firmly to the lanyard release. Within a short time Mr. Coyote's prey did indeed appear on the path coming toward him. Unsuspecting, the prey stopped near Mr. Coyote, well within range of the springs at full extension. Mr. Coyote gauged the distance with care and proceeded to pull the lanyard release.

At this point, Defendant's product should have thrust Mr. Coyote forward and away from the boulder. Instead, for reasons yet unknown, the Acme Spring-Powered Shoes thrust the boulder away from Mr. Coyote. As the intended prey looked on unharmed, Mr. Coyote hung suspended in air. Then the twin springs recoiled, bringing Mr. Coyote to a violent feet-first collision with the boulder, the full weight of his head and forequarters falling upon his lower extremities.

The force of this impact then caused the springs to rebound, where upon Mr. Coyote was thrust skyward. A second recoil and collision followed. The boulder, meanwhile, which was roughly ovoid in shape, had begun to bounce down a hillside, the coiling and recoiling of the springs adding to its velocity. At each bounce, Mr. Coyote came into contact with the boulder, or the boulder cam into contact with Mr. Coyote, or both came into contact with the ground. As the grade was a long one, this process continued for sometime.

The sequence of collisions resulted in systemic physical damage to Mr. Coyote, vix., flattening of the cranium, sideways displacement of the tongue, reduction of length of legs and upper body, and compression of vertebrae from base of tail to head. Repetition of blows along a vertical axis produced a series of regular horizontal folds in Mr. Coyote's body tissues-- a rare and painful condition which caused Mr. Coyote to expand upward and contract downward alternately as he walked, and to emit an off-key, accordion like wheezing with every step. The distracting and embarrassing nature of this symptom has been a major impediment to Mr. Coyote's pursuit of a normal social life.

As the court is no doubt aware, Defendant has a virtual monopoly of manufacture and sale of goods required by Mr. Coyote's work. It is our contention that Defendant has used its market advantage to the detriment of the consumer of such specialized products as itching powder, giant kites, Burmese tiger traps, anvils, and two-hundred-foot-long rubber bands. Much as he has come to mistrust Defendant's products, Mr. Coyote has no other domestic source of supply to which to turn. One can only wonder what our trading partners in Western Europe and Japan would make of such a situation, where a giant company is allowed to victimize the consumer in the most reckless and wrongful manner over and over again.

Mr. Coyote respectfully requests that the Court regard these larger economic implications and assess punitive damages in the amount of seventeen million dollars. In addition, Mr. Coyote seeks actual damages (missed meals, medical expenses, days lost from professional occupation) of one million dollars; general damages (mental suffering, injury to reputation) of twenty million dollars; and attorney's fees of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. By awarding Mr. Coyote the full amount, this Court will censure Defendant, its directors, officers, shareholders, successors, and assigns, in the only language they understand, and reaffirm the right of the individual predator to equal protection under the law.


----------



## JPBoothy (6 Jun 2020)

Gravity Aided said:


> Banks took over Hollywood. Banks want a "sure thing" for their investors. Hence the sequels, and the demise of creativity.


Sadly everything is about Investors and profits today, and when the advertising people try to say that they are 'giving people what they want' by repeating the same old formula (sequels etc..) that is total BS.


----------



## JPBoothy (6 Jun 2020)

Mike Ayling said:


> That doesn't happen now in Melbourne's eastern suburbs.
> 
> Mike


Probably because kids would rather sit inside playing on their xbox or playstation now as opposed to the danger/risk element


----------



## neil_merseyside (6 Jun 2020)

JPBoothy said:


> Probably because kids would rather sit inside playing on their xbox or playstation now as opposed to the danger/risk element



So said kids then never realise that speed hurts, this lesson is usually learnt early from minor cycling spills and then you naturally avoid impacts from then on, but no they think that you just press reset after being killed, and think real life is a game...
If they realised just how much a six foot drop from a tree hurts they wouldn't risk an off of any kind in a car like the Citroen AX (nicknamed a pAXo as if you crash one you're well stuffed).


----------



## JPBoothy (6 Jun 2020)

neil_merseyside said:


> So said kids then never realise that speed hurts, this lesson is usually learnt early from minor cycling spills and then you naturally avoid impacts from then on, but no they think that you just press reset after being killed, and think real life is a game...
> If they realised just how much a six foot drop from a tree hurts they wouldn't risk an off of any kind in a car like the Citroen AX (nicknamed a pAXo as if you crash one you're well stuffed).


Definitely.. I do think that we spend too much time saying "don't do that" these days rather than as you say letting them learn the hard way. The problem is that there are so many things to do from the comfort of their own bedroom (xbox/playstation/internet/sky tv) that they don't need to go out and use their imagination to have fun. I'm 55 now and I'm still always outside pottering about when the weather permits


----------



## Mike Ayling (6 Jun 2020)

JPBoothy said:


> Probably because kids would rather sit inside playing on their xbox or playstation now as opposed to the danger/risk element


We did not have playstations etc in the fifties (my era) and sixties but there are hordes of helicopter parents now.

Mike


----------



## Mike Ayling (6 Jun 2020)

JPBoothy said:


> Probably because kids would rather sit inside playing on their xbox or playstation now as opposed to the danger/risk element


We did not have playstations etc in the fifties (my era) and sixties but there are hordes of helicopter parents now.

Mike


----------



## RichardB (6 Jun 2020)

Bartholomews half inch maps were works of art. Nice colours, beautiful typography, and exactly the right scale for a bike trip.


----------



## Blue Hills (7 Jun 2020)

RichardB said:


> Bartholomews half inch maps were works of art. Nice colours, beautiful typography, and exactly the right scale for a bike trip.


Yes they are beautiful but surely I'm not the only one who finds them a pain to read. I much prefer the cleaner clarity of OS and for most things on the bike these days have gone to OSM digital.


----------



## JPBoothy (7 Jun 2020)

Mike Ayling said:


> We did not have playstations etc in the fifties (my era) and sixties but there are hordes of helicopter parents now.
> 
> Mike


Sadly, I think I'm probably one of them. It sounds easy to say that a parent should refuse them a playstation/mobile phone etc but, you don't want them to be excluded and not 'fit in' at school by being the kids with nothing in common with their friends so it's a balancing act really. We have spent a lot of time outdoors with our children as they were growing up (walking/cycling/beaches etc..) but, once they reach a certain age they will want to do their own thing and all you can do is hope that the effort you put in during the early years will keep them on the right path.


----------



## RichardB (7 Jun 2020)

Blue Hills said:


> Yes they are beautiful but surely I'm not the only one who finds them a pain to read. I much prefer the cleaner clarity of OS and for most things on the bike these days have gone to OSM digital.


I haven't used one for many years, for all the usual reasons, but I didn't find them hard to read at all. Mind you, I had eyesight in those days.


----------



## Salar (7 Jun 2020)

No batteries required


----------



## RichardB (7 Jun 2020)

Salar said:


> No batteries required



Some of the boys at school had one, but parents balked at the cost, so I never learned to use one. One thing I did have was one of those bendy things that you used to draw an evenly-curved line on a graph. I went through several of those, because every time you hit your mate with it, the internal stiff bit broke and all your graphs had a kink.

Yes, I am aware this sounds dodgy.

(Update: ah yes, they are still around. Flexible curves. Nice.)


----------



## Salar (7 Jun 2020)

Yes, you can still get flexi curves, do you remember these, railway curves.

I started off in the drawing office using them to draw roads etc.


----------



## RichardB (7 Jun 2020)

No, never seen those. I had a sheltered childhood.


----------



## Sillyoldman (7 Jun 2020)

Being able to fall off a skateboard and just bounce without serious injury.


----------



## Shearwater Missile (7 Jun 2020)

Salar said:


> No batteries required
> 
> View attachment 528060


Still got mine somewhere and technical drawing set. I am sure Barnes Wallis used something like that. Perhaps.


----------



## Salar (7 Jun 2020)

Noggin the Nog,

I was fascinated by this and the sleepy voice a long, long, time ago.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jisqle37uWI


----------



## rrarider (7 Jun 2020)

Salar said:


> No batteries required
> 
> View attachment 528060


Fine instruments that helped put a man on the moon. They were good for 3 significant figures and that Faber-Castell 2/82N is the best slide rule ever made and was epensive. My own model 52/82 saw me through 6th form and the first 2 years at university. The lab in the final year had a Hewlett-Packard calculator costing hundreds of pounds in a cradle bolted to the bench. In the 3rd year I did buy a Sinclair Scientific calculator (only good for 3 significent figures) for the bargain price of about £29. I wish I still had that calculator as they go for a lot of money on e-bay. My last scientific calculator a Casio fx-61F, which I still have, is also highly prized on that auction site. If only I had a calculator with Nixie tubes in the display!


----------



## Salar (7 Jun 2020)

My go to calculator which I've used for 25 years for design work is the Casio fx-82SX, but the numbers on the keys are now wearing thin.

Also got a couple from the 80's and 90's in good condition, Casio fx-85M (nice and retro looking) and a Sharp-EL-5020


----------



## Ming the Merciless (7 Jun 2020)

Salar said:


> My go to calculator which I've used for 25 years for design work is the Casio fx-82SX, but the numbers on the keys are now wearing thin.
> 
> Also got a couple from the 80's and 90's in good condition, Casio fx-85M (nice and retro looking) and a Sharp-EL-5020



I had the fx-81 from the year before 😀


----------



## roley poley (7 Jun 2020)

carbon paper ,jackanory, swings made from the rope you nicked from truck flat beds when they did rope and sheet a load you were sorted all summer holidays if you had one.


----------

