In the good old days....

[CaaC (John)]

Ditch jumping in the local fields behind our council houses, many a time I misjudged the ditch and ended up it it amongst the bull rushes and frogs, come home soaked to the skin and my mum clipping me around the ears and telling me to strip off and get in the bath.

[Waylander]

One thing i think is good is getting rid of the hard surfaces at playgrounds, I had a head injury at one of these very young and then about 14yrs after falling on some farm equipment (rotivator) I needed a lot of stitches and then started getting headaches and a lot of health symptoms as the injuries did not heal properly and brought up other issues. 

One other thing I recall was swinging on a rope suspended form a tree branch across a stream to the other side, one of our chaps must have been heavier as he swung lower and bashed his knee on the wooden planks holding up the banks. He had sliced open the skin just below the knee.

[Devil]

Don't know if anyone else lived in an area like me growing up but Wythenshawe in Manchester was a huge housing estate with various different areas that basically had their own teenage gangs.

For a large part of my childhood and teenage life parts of Wythenshawe would be no go zone's.

Often we'd arrange meet ups with rival areas in Wythenshawe Park or Sale fields for huge gang fights. 

The only thing I could relate it to was football hooligism. You'd get 30 to 40 lads either end of the field throwing bricks and stones until someone would get brave and breach the gap and then a war would break loose.

So many lads would end up in hospital.

Absolutely crazy to think a lot of the lads now work together or drink in the same pubs and laugh about the battles with a respect for one another.

Really sad to think I used to really get excited about a Friday night at the park for a potential battle.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Devil

[Waylander]

6 minutes ago, Devil said:

Don't know if anyone else lived in an area like me growing up but Wythenshawe in Manchester was a huge housing estate with various different areas that basically had their own teenage gangs.

For a large part of my childhood and teenage life parts of Wythenshawe would be no go zone's.

Often we'd arrange meet ups with rival areas in Wythenshawe Park or Sale fields for huge gang fights. 

The only thing I could relate it to was football hooligism. You'd get 30 to 40 lads either end of the field throwing bricks and stones until someone would get brave and breach the gap and then a war would break loose.

So many lads would end up in hospital.

Absolutely crazy to think a lot of the lads now work together or drink in the same pubs and laugh about the battles with a respect for one another.

Really sad to think I used to really get excited about a Friday night at the park for a potential battle.

What age are you?

I had a number of fights at school and there was one gang incident where one of ours was picked on yet the claim was he had flashed at one of their mothers. He was crazy enough to do that too. The other dominant kid in our group told me not to get involved so I didn't.

The police were called and later that week three of the other gang blocked me in a school  corridor. I waited and then stepped forward and hit the one in the middle twice hard cutting his mouth. He looked at the others for support and they backed away and I went on to the next class unmolested. 

The worst I had was with a class bully trying to get money or food off of me, I offered to fight him instead.

That got him and then he coerced another kid to agree for me to give him food or money or he would hit my arm where the BCG vaccine plaster was. I advised the other kid if he hit my arm i would hit him. He did it and I hit him and he looked at the bully for support and didn't get it.

After lunch waiting for the class teacher and I see the bully with one of those old metal dining knives swinging it back and forth as though he was going to throw it at me as I watched I suddenly ducked and it hit the kid behind me cutting his head. He went to hospital and I was then thinking did he really mean to do it but what amazed me was the reaction of all the other kids who were insisting he must be expelled.

[Devil]

4 minutes ago, Waylander said:

What age are you?

I had a number of fights at school and there was one gang incident where one of ours was picked on yet the claim was he had flashed at one of their mothers. He was crazy enough to do that too. The other dominant kid in our group told me not to get involved so I didn't.

The police were called and later that week three of the other gang blocked me in a school  corridor. I waited and then stepped forward and hit the one in the middle twice hard cutting his mouth. He looked at the others for support and they backed away and I went on to the next class unmolested. 

The worst I had was with a class bully trying to get money or food off of me, I offered to fight him instead.

That got him and then he coerced another kid to agree for me to give him food or money or he would hit my arm where the BCG vaccine plaster was. I advised the other kid if he hit my arm i would hit him. He did it and I hit him and he looked at the bully for support and didn't get it.

After lunch waiting for the class teacher and I see the bully with one of those old metal dining knives swinging it back and forth as though he was going to throw it at me as I watched I suddenly ducked and it hit the kid behind me cutting his head. He went to hospital and I was then thinking did he really mean to do it but what amazed me was the reaction of all the other kids who were insisting he must be expelled.

39 years of age mate.

It was just something we did near us from about 13 years of age until about 17/18.

Then women and pubs became far more important.

[Waylander]

4 minutes ago, Devil said:

39 years of age mate.

It was just something we did near us from about 13 years of age until about 17/18.

Then women and pubs became far more important.

I thought you would have been older than m hearing about the gang fights, I'm 55.

I guess 17/18 is about the time you start work.

It happened to me about 16 and guess it was to do with exams and starting work.

[CaaC (John)]

7 hours ago, Devil said:

Don't know if anyone else lived in an area like me growing up but Wythenshawe in Manchester was a huge housing estate with various different areas that basically had their own teenage gangs.

I was born and lived in the Tilbury Docks area before we emigrated and it was a rough dock area, we had gangs around there too, I lived in Stevenson's Avenue and our gang were called the ' Top End  Street Gang' or TESG in short and at the bottom of the street we had the other gang  called BESG.

Back in my days, we had the old fashioned tin dustbins with tin covers with a handle, many a time we had a battle with the other gang on the local field called the Daisy Field, we would use the bin lids as shields and have sticks or fence poles as weapons and it was a bloody lethal battle.

It would only end when the local Bobby on his bike and uniform came frantically riding up yelling at us until we dropped our lids and sticks and fucking legged it and left the poor Bobby to pick up all the dustbin lids and replace them back in the street bins we had nicked them from.

[Bluewolf]

 

[Stan]

Are you finding these through your personal archive @Bluewolf?

[Bluewolf]

41 minutes ago, Stan said:

Are you finding these through your personal archive @Bluewolf?

Magazine by the side of the bed.... 

[CaaC (John)]

8 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

Magazine by the side of the bed.... 

I googled the pic and it came up with a load in Pinterest like this one 

[Stan]

24 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

Magazine by the side of the bed.... 

Dread to think what other magazines that are there...

[Bluewolf]

4 minutes ago, Stan said:

Dread to think what other magazines that are there...

[Stan]

6 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

Surely not - what a coincidence... @Whiskey said he was reading the exact same one the other day. 

[MUFC]

The new generation are the laziest fuckers on the planet. Remember when you'd come home from school drop your bag and go out. they come home and need a fucking nap at their age. It's unreal. 

[Bluewolf]

Just now, Stan said:

Surely not - what a coincidence... @Whiskey said he was reading the exact same one the other day. 

It's because they are on my side of the bed this week and not his... 

[Dr. Gonzo]

10 hours ago, CaaC (John) said:

I googled the pic and it came up with a load in Pinterest like this one 

Fuck me, is that fucking real?

"Guaranteed to deaden that sweet tooth." 

[CaaC (John)]

5 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Fuck me, is that fucking real?

"Guaranteed to deaden that sweet tooth." 

What about these 

 

[MUFC]

[MUFC]

[CaaC (John)]

[Bluewolf]

[CaaC (John)]

10 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

I might claim for all of the above plus getting caned & strapped on the palms of my hands!!

[Bluewolf]

6 minutes ago, CaaC (John) said:

I might claim for all of the above plus getting caned & strapped on the palms of my hands!!

I would get those claims in quick mate.. not sure how far back you can go historically but you might not be able to bring anything against Aristotle now.. Doubt you could get any decent witness statements to back up your claims anyway.. 

[CaaC (John)]

2 hours ago, Bluewolf said:

I would get those claims in quick mate.. not sure how far back you can go historically but you might not be able to bring anything against Aristotle now.. Doubt you could get any decent witness statements to back up your claims anyway.. 

60 odd years ago now buddy, the cane in the UK and the strap in Australia, even got a boot up the arse once by a teacher.