When I was a lad

When I was a lad

When I was a lad things weren’t so bad
We’ d laugh, run and play in the street all day
Few cars on the road, mostly bikes were rode
Two jackets on the street, footballers would meet
and we’d play all night, Cos the nights were light
We weren’t ranters and ravers, respected the neighbours

When shops shut at six, we’d hang around for our kicks.
When they closed all day Sunday we didn’t fade away
from hunger or starvation, we were a healthy fit nation
Hardly heard of cancer, healthy living was the answer
No Wholemeal just white, but we grew up alright
Water came from the tap, not that bottled crap!

We’d put sugar on our bread or margarine instead
We were never overweight from the food that we ate.
Because we’d walk never ride, always playing outside.
When we came home from school (where dinners were cruel)
Pudding made from stale bread was what we were fed
Cos it didn’t grow mould as it began to grow old
just one big fat slice and we’d be playing all night

Or we’d have corned beef stew just made with a few
onions and spuds which would make you feel good.
Or a cheese and potatoe pie, was always put by
made from hardened cheese, but really would please
between two pieces of bread, beat sandwich spread

We’d have custard and jelly in front of the telly
Takeaways were fish and chips, no pizzas or dips,
Radio aerials on the roof, no wifi or bluetooth
No Mobiles at all, just a phone box to call.
No computers those days, so we had to find ways
to keep ourselves amused, but there was plenty to choose

Snakes and ladders and draughts, arts and crafts
We used to like skipping eating bread and dripping
Playing Hopscotch or tag, sweets at threepence a bag
Empty bottles of pop, with threepence on the top
We picked Bluebells in the wood, but were always quite good.

Cos the Coppers big and burly would turn your hair curly
if they threatened to come, to speak to Dad or Mum,
At school we were blessed pots of ink on the desk
to dip in your split nib pen, no biro’s back then
Education wasn’t sparce, we had the three R’s

School holidays were fun, seven weeks in the sun.
But even if it poured we never went abroad,
We had more than our fill, on a day trip to Rhyl
We fell out of trees, lost teeth, skinned our knees
No Health and safety then, in those glorious days when
we played marbles and conkers, without do-gooders going bonkers

We had Macdonald Hobley, presenting shows on TV
With a plum in his mouth, cos he came from the South.
George Formby was wiley, so was Old Mother Riley
Take your pick, box thirteen, Billy Cotton Hughie Green,
Double your money, with Monica (she was funny)
Champion the wonder horse and Fury of course

Spearmint chewing gum, and don’t forget the fruit gums Mum
Tinned Carnation milk. creamy thick, poured like silk
Daz white knights would knock your door, gave you a fiver or more.
With Persil, a plastic flower, only two ad breaks an hour!
When programmes had all been seen we’d stand for the queen
Till the white dot went away at the end of the busy day

My Memories, of course, are not pure, but one thing is sure
They were the good old days, because of our ways!

Eric 12th May 2018