School Days - memories & outings

I was thinking Janet and John as well ! Just googled Philips Hobyars and I don't think our Janet and John could have been as exciting.

No they were very repetitive and boring! Children today wouldn't be interested in them, I'm sure.

Yes, 'Janet and John' for me as well, as soon as I got the hang of the reading caper, I fell in love with Beatrix Potter's world of 'Little Pig Robinson' and 'Squirrel Nutkin' and the art-work was so magical to me. Janet and John

Good Evening Philip and Ladies, Yes, I would think the children of today would definitely be interested in something/someone with three eyes.

I seem to remember Dick and Dora, Nip the dog and Fuffy the cat. These words were on every page, so repetitive but it must have worked.

We had Tip and Mitten, a dog and cat.

The Adventures of Brer Rabbit were about the first books I remember at school.(circa 1962)

Peter and Jane are the ones I remember and Topsy and Tim! Now my daughter brings home books from the Oxford Reading Tree series, still the principle of colour coded levels but with charaters called Biff, Chip, Floppy and Kipper .... something to do with dreaded phonics no doubt!

Just wondered, when you were young, what memories you all have of the long summer holidays, they seemed to go on forever and I always remember them as scorching hot. Municipal playgrounds seemed to be a big thing as they had all the swings and stuff to play on and peering over to the ladies and gents on the bowling green and thinking how boring it looked! I did have my 'stilts' and roller skates, dads used to knock a pair of stilts up, funny to think of now but quite normal then! When I had exhausted myself on the stilts, there was always an Enid Blyton mystery to solve and one of those iced 'Jubblies' that stuck to your mouth! Also, there always seemed to be thunderstorms that made the earth smell lovely. The old ladies had those stripey canvas door screens and the front doors left open behind them, most of the older folk had them down our street. Fly papers were in all the kitchens, which intrigued me. More insects about then, those magic dragonflies seemed enormous and those flying ant storms were more common. You knew it was coming to an end when you had to go to the outfitters for the new school kit

Summer holidays meant free to play where ever we wanted, ice creams, a week with a favourite aunt, always had a holiday away, never cared about any rain, didn't even think about Christmas as they do now, and yes, Foxcote, the days did seem longer and sunnier. Concerts in the shed, and if we dared, postman's knock!

Hello Foxcote, You have picked the right time of the year to ask this too. Not only because this years hols have not yet started here in Coventry, but also the warm weather which adds the atmosphere to our memories. Oh & yes, the dreaded "back to school signs" in the outfitters shop windows. I say that, but for most part, I liked school in the sense that is was life as normal. Back to hols though, so much of your post has jingled memories for me & Pam. It only needed one to be seen out on roller skates & soon the pavements were alive with them. I have only lived in two houses, both east facing, so we never had the pink 'humbug' sun screens. Most houses on the opposite side of Sewall Highway had them. I bet that both of our thoughts are not ten miles apart, as I have just asked my grandchildren what they are up to this evening, even before I read your post. The long holidays came to an end really for me at age fourteen to fifteen, as I had a school holiday job at the GEC in the stores, as well as a Saturday job at Lilleys greengrocers in Primrose Hill Street. Only 4 hours a day at first, but I really enjoyed them. I felt more grown up than I do now. I kept both until I started with Courtaulds. Back to the hols theme though, & being such an odd-bod, train-spotting had really taken a hold from age ten. Happy days, hey!

The roller skates, it's come to me, they were called 'Jacko's'! Thanks to Dreamtime and Philip for sharing their memories. The lure of the laptops has taken its toll on outside games, the children don't seem to play in groups so much as in the old days.

Summer school holidays in the 1960's for me meant playing out in Grenville Avenue until it got dark. I think the favourite game we played was 'rally 1-2-3' which involved hiding and getting back to base ahead of the nominated pursuer. Stoke Green was also a favourite spot, back in the days when it still had a paddling pool and sometimes an ice-cream van! I too remember spending pocket money on 'Jubblies' and also a cherry flavoured version called 'Jungle Juice'. We always went away on holiday to Cornwall for the first two weeks in August. My father didn't seem to have much more holiday during the year apart from Bank Holidays. It was a ten hour journey to Cornwall back in those days, but the feeling of arriving in what felt like another land made the travelling worthwhile. Back in those days families didn't seem to go away on holiday at other times of the year, just the customary two weeks in July/August. School came round again all too quickly, but at least by attending KHVIII I usually had at least ten days longer holiday than most of my pals!

Yes, Foxcote, I am sure the manufacturer was called "Jaco", without a K, they had full ball-bearings throughout. Hi Beesman I bet you remember the traffic queues at Honiton, where the old A303 joined the A30! or did you travel the A38, Bristol Exeter & Plymouth way?