back in the day

Unknown

Meg and Marjorie

Photo from the WRVS Heritage Plus archive

Remembering the games we played

Photo from the WRVS Heritage Plus archive

Chatting over tea

Photo from the WRVS Heritage Plus archive

We played: Skipping, jumping over joined up elastic bands, stick and hoop, whip and top, marbles (in the gutter), conkers, kiss chase, knock down ginger, flicking ink pellets in the classroom, water bombs (made out of paper), cycling, collecting shrapnel, and using an air rifle.

We loved: Fives (like jacks but with stones), dolls and dolls houses, sewing, jumping, balls against the wall, hopscotch, hide and seek, tiddlywinks, cards (pontoon), cribbage, clapping games, solitaire, Ludo, snakes and ladders.

Margaret Wooler

When I was growing up, I had a tricycle and I learnt to ride a two wheeler on my aunt's bike up and down the back passage. When the war was on, I still used to cycle everywhere, and there would be dogfights and sirens and I would still be cycling. I used to collect shrapnel.  We used to play in the street: tag, skipping, ball games and marbles. We used to stand in a circle and weave in and out of the arms, singing 'in and out the dusky bluebells'.  We had to say 'Tippety tappety on your shoulder, you are the master', then take their place, and the next one would weave in and out. We used to play clapping games and sing chants. 'One, two, three, I spy sister Mary, sitting on the maypole dairy, kissing Charlie Chaplin'. We also played games of balls against the wall. 'One potato, two potato...' Other skipping songs were 'Salt, mustard, vinegar, pepper..'. We sometimes did it with two ropes or did the bumps (jumping once whilst the rope turned twice).