What was your childhood like?

Number24

Since we come from many different backgrounds and countries, I thought it would be fun to know how our childhoods were.

I'll start:

I grew up in a small community with four families. Other than them I had to go more than a mile to meet other people and about three kilometers to the nearest shop. Both my parents were teachers, but they ran had a farm together with my grandparents. There was no kindergarden, so we just spent our days in the area. There were allways old people or farmers around that kept an eye on us, but our days were not organized by adults much of the time. Our time was split between school, playing, work on the farm and family life. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents who had grown up in a way that differed little from the 19th Century. I loved listening to them talking about the past. My mother made the meals and the family allways ate the meals together. Doors were only locked at night for privacy and the keys were left in the ignition of the cars. Most of the adults had known each other all their lives. Generally they were politically liberal and religiously more conservative. I can't remember seeing any adults I knew drinking alcohol. We got a new girl in class when I was 12 who had divorsed parents, which was new to me. I knew no immigrants. I remember the first time a black man spoke to me ) I know much of this is strange now, but in general I think I had a nice childhood.

always shaken

We lived in Stockwell South London ,in a 4 story house ,that was typical for that area My mum would by all her groceries locally in Brixton market,we would never go into the west end ,,even though we probably lived 3 miles away. We had no car ,well no one did either. A holiday would be at Camber sands by coach ,no colour tv no fast food ,and definitely no restaurants. We had pie mash and jellied eels as a treat ,most south Londoners ate it .Roger Moore lived at the end of our road,he was just a jobbing actor and a model then , (his dad was a sergeant at the local police station. My mum sort of new him as was very good looking ,and would often pass in the street. David Bowies house backed onto ours (he wasn't famous then ) and we went to the same school.There was still bomb damage in places from the war ,that us kids found fascinating .We moved out to the suburbs,like most white people did ,due to the influx of West Indians coming here.Now the irony is today ,that the west Indians are moaning that they too are now being forced out ,by the white people ,who want to buy up the 4 story houses that we once occupied ,because Chelsea is so expensive.
I do recall my first taste of racism at school ,a new boy ,he was black, came to our school,he was the only one then , and I befriended him ,as he stood on his own in the playground ,then I was promptly told by the other boys that I couldn't play with them either 8-) We moved to a house in Kent ,now part of London ,and low and behold Roger Moore lived in a house in the next road ,he was the saint by now.
"OH NO its that bloody family from Brixton again) )

Number24

Just like my childhood, in other words? )
I was born in 1971. We had one TV channel and one radio channel, but the TV was in colour. When was your childhood?

Silhouette Man

stag wrote:

always shaken wrote:

We lived in Stockwell South London ,in a 4 story house ,that was typical for that area My mum would by all her groceries locally in Brixton market,we would never go into the west end ,,even though we probably lived 3 miles away. We had no car ,well no one did either. A holiday would be at Camber sands by coach ,no colour tv no fast food ,and definitely no restaurants. We had pie mash and jellied eels as a treat ,most south Londoners ate it .Roger Moore lived at the end of our road,he was just a jobbing actor and a model then , (his dad was a sergeant at the local police station. My mum sort of new him as was very good looking ,and would often pass in the street. David Bowies house backed onto ours (he wasn't famous then ) and we went to the same school.There was still bomb damage in places from the war ,that us kids found fascinating .We moved out to the suburbs,like most white people did ,due to the influx of West Indians coming here.Now the irony is today ,that the west Indians are moaning that they too are now being forced out ,by the white people ,who want to buy up the 4 story houses that we once occupied ,because Chelsea is so expensive.
I do recall my first taste of racism at school ,a new boy ,he was black, came to our school,he was the only one then , and I befriended him ,as he stood on his own in the playground ,then I was promptly told by the other boys that I couldn't play with them either 8-) We moved to a house in Kent ,now part of London ,and low and behold Roger Moore lived in a house in the next road ,he was the saint by now.
"OH NO its that bloody family from Brixton again) )

That was an interesting story.

Indeed is was - most admirable, AS. -{

Ammo08

I grew up in Memphis, TN in the early 60s in an area named Frayser. We had woods all around to play in. There were tons of kids all around us and we played baseball, football and other games. My dad was mechanic and my mom was a waitress. My cousins lived next door and another set of cousins down the street. We were blessed. We had good schools.

Absolutely_Cart

Born in the suburbs of northern New Jersey, half-hour away from New York City. Financially speaking, we were in good shape. Never got abused and all of my physical needs were met. My family had no real culture, education, legacy/cause or anything to leave behind. So I guess my childhood was literally nothing.

AlphaOmegaSin

I was born in Germany (Dad was in the Army) And we moved back to Britain a Year later. We lived in London for a bit before moving to North Camp in Hampshire. I lived there until I was 14/15 and then we moved to Ash in Surrey and my Mum remarried a couple of Years later. Infant School wasn't very memorable but Junior School was a bit better. My Secondary School Life was ****, getting bullied practically every Day (Which led to a Suicide Attempt)

Things were much brighter in College. I got several good Qualifications and I met the Woman I love with whom I'll be having a Child with in several Months.

Thunderpussy

It's amazing what finding someone to share your life with, can do for you . -{

I'm still working on my life story, talking to my legal people on what I can include.

always shaken

Number24 wrote:

Just like my childhood, in other ) words? )
I was born in 1971. We had one TV channel and one radio channel, but the TV was in colour. When was your childhood?

In answer to number 24 I was born in 59 that's 1959 not 1859 AOS you cheeky sod ) ,We moved to Kent when I was 7 ,and I remember most of the men in my road all watching the 66 world cup final (we had the only TV in the street) .We would play in the local parks and woods as kids we would swim in the lake and skate on it in the winter ,when it froze over .We would make catapults ,and bows and arrows ,from the woodland ,how we never lost an eye or drowned is beyond me . But my parents made us swim at a very early age 6+ .im staggered now that some adults I talk to cant swim ,(we live in a flood plain for gods sake )My mum signed me up in the ST Johns Ambulance Brigade when I was 8 , and spent many a happy year ,camping at Bexhill ,
and doing first aid duty at various Kent functions .(I think all small boys should join something ,wether its the cubs/scouts ect)
One of my best duties was to be first aider cum life guard at the local lido , this gave me chance to pose in my cozzie and sunglasses
I was one of the few boys at school who had all 3 swimming survival awards(I was 14) and show off to the girls (who probably thought I was some kind of dik-head) ) I then got fed up of trying to save people ,and wanted to kill them instead ,so I joined the army cadets .We learnt how to shoot a .303 lee enfield rifle ,a .303 Bren gun (left over from the war) all manner of marching up and down , polishing dust bins .We was allowed to go to local barracks
on a visit ,where they let us shoot the new 7.62 SLR (gods own rifle) yep great days as a kid . My dad an avid Millwall fan would take us down the Den on a Saturday ,they always lost ) but the partisan south London crowd ,a formidable bunch , would always
cheer on the Lions enriched with farts and lots of swearing )oh to be a small boy again.

AlphaOmegaSin

You should write a Book AS

hehadlotsofguts

"The details of my life are quite inconsequential." )

always shaken

Oh come on ,any one born upt North as us southerners say ,must have great northern tales ,pray do tell ,
we have an international audience who would love to hear of life int north

hehadlotsofguts

Born in Sunderland Tyne And Wear, raised in County Durham. I have CP. At the age of 14, i won the silver for Discus and the gold for javelin at the athletics at Jarrow in 2004. Quite proud of myself when i won that. I have fond memories of staying in a caravan in South Shields and we'd go to the beach and go to the amusements.

My other favourite place to go is Seaton Carew. Loved getting a lemon top, or a 99 with monkey's blood on.

Ammo08

In 1965 my dad retired from Gulf Oil and we moved from Memphis to a little town in Southern Missouri named Doniphan, on the Current River. I loved it there, the school was excellent, lots of friends and lots of stuff to do, hunting, fishing, tubing on the river, boating, it was paradise...I graduated in 1972 with 100 other folks and I'm still friends with them, we have a reunion every 5 years and have a pretty good turnout. I only live 25 miles from there now and I try to visit often.

chrisisall

In the 60's I grew up in upstate NY, all I thought about was Star Trek, Lost In Space & Batman. Our town had like 200 people living in it. Small. One room schoolhouse like in The Little Rascals. Moved to Long Island for my teens, and kids were not so friendly in this new urban wasteland, so I got beat up a few times at school until I saw Enter The Dragon & took lessons and became... INVINCIBLE! -{ ) Bond revival triple features and 'Apes' movies ruled my leisure time.

0073

Grew up in army base, was a boy scout, hunted, fished, hiked, martial arts classes and shooting both civilian and military weapons (benefit of dads occupation), you know the usual stuff.... Who on earth would find any of this interesting. 8-)

Thunderpussy

I was born quite young, luckily my mother was there, so I wasn't lonely. I wouldn't
Say I was an ugly baby, but after my birth. The doctor smacked my mother ! did
Well at school always coming first ...................... In the dinner queue. Attended the
University of life, the School of hard knocks and the kindergarten of getting the sh*t
Kicked out of me. ) only yesterday my daughter asked me.
'Can my mother come down for the weekend?' So I said: 'Why?' and she said: 'Well, she's been up on the roof two weeks already, as Bob Monkhouse once said.
"Growing old is compulsory - growing up is optional." {[]

As a kid I remember being let out of the house in the morning and then not arriving home
Until evening. Spent all day with mates running around the local countryside and swimming
In a few local quarries. These days kids are almost prisoners.

Number24

I know it's asking alot, but I would like to read a serious account of your childhood, TP.

Thunderpussy

My childhood was pretty much the same as many of the other members here. Grew up in a Town, but
surrounded by countryside, so loads of messing about there and yes we had a few big quarries, which
we'd go swimming in as our town didn't have a swimming pool. I was a big Sci-Fi fan frowing up, so
watched everthing from Dr Who, Star Trek, Space 1999, Thunderbirds etc. Did a bit of Course Fishing &
Karate, and even at a young age, I'd take my Dad's old camera and go taking pictures of the local
landscape.
My big ambition as a Kid was to be a Policeman, but due to the Crazy country of N.Ireland, For me to
Join the RUC, would have meant leaving home and never really seeing my parents or family again except for
fleeting unannounced visits, as the IRA would try and Kill you. as I come from a Catholic Background ( Only in
N.Ireland do you get Catholic or Prodestant Athiests ) ) and it's still as dangerous, I know one young guy
who is serving at the moment, and talking to him at a wedding I was photographing, I mentioned how great it
was these days that he could be a Policeman, while in my day it would have been too dangerous. He told me of
a recent visit to his parents, in which he got a phone call from the Station to be ready to leave in ten minutes as
they had received information the real IRA or some other group where going to his house.
So I guess I'm a bit naive, thinking everthig was " Normal". I do believe if I'd been living in another part of the UK,
I'd have been like a few others here, probably become a policeman or soldier, did my twenty odd years and then opened
a small business somewhere.
So basically I had a happy childhood, luckily never met Jimmy Saville or any Pedo Priests. Happily spent my days pretending
to be Dr Who running around old scrapyards & Fields . ) which all help turn me into the model citizen I am Today. )

Number24

So you're an Atheist Catholic who wanted to join the RUC? Nothing strange about that

Other than the weather, it sounds very different from what we have over here. For the last months Our police have actually been armed, due to intel that ISIL supporters are planning to attack Norwegian police or military personel. Many still feel it's unneccesery, including some police. The other day I saw two police officers at the local COOP. They were carrying pistols, but there were no magazines in their pistols.

AlphaOmegaSin

Interesting Story TP {[]

Number24

I'm glad I started this thread. There are so many good stories here, and it's remarkable how different backgrouns we come from. I hope more members post. We come from from huge cities, a cluster of houses by a fjord, an army base, even small towns! )
TP was an Atheist Catholic, I'm a liberal Protestant and God knows what AS believes in ....
Several of us have some sort of military background, but I wonder if there are any pacifists here? I would also like to hear from more people from non-English speaking countries. In short: everyone seems to have something interesting to share. :007)

chrisisall

Number24 wrote:

Several of us have some sort of military background, but I wonder if there are any pacifists here?

*raises hand* I'm a pacifist. B-)

Ammo08

I joined the USAF in 1972, just weeks after graduation as a nuclear weapons specialist. I built the MK-12A MIRVs for the Minuteman III ICBM, I was stationed in Wyoming and California....

Number24

chrisisall wrote:

Number24 wrote:

Several of us have some sort of military background, but I wonder if there are any pacifists here?

*raises hand* I'm a pacifist. B-)

Number24

I have to ask: How do you feel about having buildt nuclear weapons now, in hindsight?

Thunderpussy

I too am a pacifist, ............and I'll kill anyone who says I'm not ! )

0073

Thunderpussy wrote:

I too am a pacifist, ............and I'll kill anyone who says I'm not ! )

Well you do know what they say; you have to be able to kill in the first place, to choose not to!

Thunderpussy

) an old quote from Kenneth Williams, asked if he could kill a man ?
His answer was, .............. "Eventually !"

Number24

I'm being boringly serious again, TP. You considered at some point to join the military. Have you changed your mind about pacifism, or was just the oportunity to make a joke too inviting? :v

Thunderpussy

) only making a bad joke, N24 ( I like that abbreviation )
Please regard all my posts as sad jokes.
Seriously, I'm not a pacifist. Although I was against many of the recent
wars that Britain's politicians seemed so eager to send our troops off
to.