| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) 07:13 - Apr 17 with 1688 views | chicoazul |
When I was a teenager me and my few mates used to play loads of tennis.
We would just walk to school where the courts were and play. They were open and kept in a decent condition. You would just….play, for as long as you wanted.
That’s over 30 years ago.
There are tennis courts near where I live now. They are kept permanently locked. In order to play you have to get a code off a private company that manage them and give them your mobile and address.
Similar quiet middle class towns in the Home Counties.
What changed in those 30 years? Why was this given to me but taken away from modern children? |  |
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 07:24 - Apr 17 with 1611 views | bluelagos |
And we could buy and smoke cigarettes without a care in the world. Playing on the railways and climbing onto the electricity thingy to get yer ball back.
One of our favourite games was jumping over a fire. We would find a ditch, build a fire and the game was to jump over it.
Knock down ginger and getting chased by angry man when our ball hit his fence. Silly old sod never worked out the angrier he got the more we would do it. |  |
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 07:36 - Apr 17 with 1575 views | WeWereZombies |
Balls
Used (and lost) a few of them when I played tennis twenty years ago, needs a key for a lock on the courts back then - but it was the local club so probably a lot cheaper than through a private company. True that thirty years ago the village I lived in had courts on the recreation ground that were open to all but I still paid my subscription to the tennis club, I guess through a sense of civic duty...but also because it got me a stake in the draw for Wimbledon tickets. Yep, tennis always has been quite a middle class sport. |  |
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 07:37 - Apr 17 with 1574 views | Buhrer |
| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 07:24 - Apr 17 by bluelagos |
And we could buy and smoke cigarettes without a care in the world. Playing on the railways and climbing onto the electricity thingy to get yer ball back.
One of our favourite games was jumping over a fire. We would find a ditch, build a fire and the game was to jump over it.
Knock down ginger and getting chased by angry man when our ball hit his fence. Silly old sod never worked out the angrier he got the more we would do it. |
Knock down ginger was great fun. We terrorised the local area and enjoyed being chased sometimes all evening in fear of some scary man or the coppers.
One recent summer i showed my children the joys of "jumping the fire"... its now brought up regularly as an example of my lunacy. A good one was having a battle throwing blazing sticks at each other at night from opposing fires. Combined with scrumping in sheds for cans to roast on an open camp fire.... fireworks and war combined - twtd. [Post edited 17 Apr 7:41]
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 07:38 - Apr 17 with 1562 views | Herbivore |
The relentless march of modern capitalism, fam. |  |
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 07:47 - Apr 17 with 1514 views | WeWereZombies |
| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 07:37 - Apr 17 by Buhrer |
Knock down ginger was great fun. We terrorised the local area and enjoyed being chased sometimes all evening in fear of some scary man or the coppers.
One recent summer i showed my children the joys of "jumping the fire"... its now brought up regularly as an example of my lunacy. A good one was having a battle throwing blazing sticks at each other at night from opposing fires. Combined with scrumping in sheds for cans to roast on an open camp fire.... fireworks and war combined - twtd. [Post edited 17 Apr 7:41]
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Ah the joys of Guy Fawkes night, waiting outside the Peachey's in Garrick Way in the weeks before and seeing if the bigger boy had successfully bought a box of bangers so that we could fit them into a hollowed out hole at the end of a stick and pretend we had a gun when we lit it and it went off. | |
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 08:00 - Apr 17 with 1453 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 07:37 - Apr 17 by Buhrer |
Knock down ginger was great fun. We terrorised the local area and enjoyed being chased sometimes all evening in fear of some scary man or the coppers.
One recent summer i showed my children the joys of "jumping the fire"... its now brought up regularly as an example of my lunacy. A good one was having a battle throwing blazing sticks at each other at night from opposing fires. Combined with scrumping in sheds for cans to roast on an open camp fire.... fireworks and war combined - twtd. [Post edited 17 Apr 7:41]
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Let me tell you, giving fire-breathing a go using petrol when pissed is quite an eye opener too. |  |
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 08:31 - Apr 17 with 1378 views | thebooks |
Thatcher, my friend.
Back in the day, you got free university education and housing too.
Murray Road rec had decent courts. I think you can still play in the arboretum in Christchurch Park, which is a beautiful setting. |  | | |
| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 09:04 - Apr 17 with 1311 views | NthQldITFC |
The triumph of cold amoral capitalism, ego and competitive consumerism over socialism has obliterated much of the goodness of society. The clue's in the name. |  |
| # WE ARE STEALING THE FUTURE FROM OUR CHILDREN --- WE MUST CHANGE COURSE # | | Poll: | It's driving me nuts |
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 09:12 - Apr 17 with 1287 views | Basuco |
50 years ago the tennis court in my village recreation ground were kept locked, so if our football went into the court we had to climb over the 6 foot high chain link fence to get it back, our goal backed onto the fence. As you can expect every now and then it got damaged and the tennis club used to complain, we said why not leave it unlocked then we could walk in, they refused and continued to lock it and complain about the "damage". So maybe not too much has changed. |  | | |
| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 09:14 - Apr 17 with 1260 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 08:31 - Apr 17 by thebooks |
Thatcher, my friend.
Back in the day, you got free university education and housing too.
Murray Road rec had decent courts. I think you can still play in the arboretum in Christchurch Park, which is a beautiful setting. |
Hmm now there's a thought...
Oh, too late!
https://discovertreeclimbing.co.uk/ | |
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 09:15 - Apr 17 with 1255 views | GeoffSentence |
Capitalism, everything has to be monetised.
Another thing kids have lost is the ability to play in the street.
We used to play tennis and football in the street and just stop and get out of the way whenever a car came along.
You can't do that now not only because there are so many cars that even in quiet streets you'd moving out of the way more than playing, but also because there are cars parked everywhere taking all the space. |  |
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 09:20 - Apr 17 with 1228 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 09:15 - Apr 17 by GeoffSentence |
Capitalism, everything has to be monetised.
Another thing kids have lost is the ability to play in the street.
We used to play tennis and football in the street and just stop and get out of the way whenever a car came along.
You can't do that now not only because there are so many cars that even in quiet streets you'd moving out of the way more than playing, but also because there are cars parked everywhere taking all the space. |
Not to mention those electric ones creeping up on you....and not just milk floats! | |
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 09:22 - Apr 17 with 1224 views | RobTheMonk |
- We had a hardcourt area at the school where there were tennis courts in the summer, or out of season we'd play football (or make up games with a football such as wallball or football tennis), skateboards were used a lot on it too. Now it's locked behind gates.
- Outdoor swimming pool was just down the road. A season ticket was about £30. The pool was open from Easter until end of August. Now it's open for about a month of the year.
- Football pitches are now housing estates or have planning permission to be housing estates.
- I was lucky enough to have the school sports hall key as I used to lock up in the evenings as I only lived down the road, so we had free access whenever it was free providing we treated everything with respect (we did).
To be fair, where I live now is really community driven with free access to tennis courts, play areas, outside gym and a few other bits. |  | | |
| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 09:33 - Apr 17 with 1170 views | heavyweight |
It works both ways. I cut the grass for a local village green / play area. There is climbing equipment, fitness stations, swings and a five a side area with goals. I've never seen anything being used and no evidence that the football pitch is ever played on. |  | | |
| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 09:41 - Apr 17 with 1147 views | lowhouseblue |
where i lived the courts were always locked. the recreation ground was an area of spasmodically cut grass and the only equipment was one set of swings. it's a lot better now. |  |
| And so as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, I notice it's the end of the show |
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 09:42 - Apr 17 with 1147 views | NthQldITFC |
| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 09:33 - Apr 17 by heavyweight |
It works both ways. I cut the grass for a local village green / play area. There is climbing equipment, fitness stations, swings and a five a side area with goals. I've never seen anything being used and no evidence that the football pitch is ever played on. |
This is also true - kids are at home being programmed to consume. Makes for quieter walks for me. Which was nice. | |
| # WE ARE STEALING THE FUTURE FROM OUR CHILDREN --- WE MUST CHANGE COURSE # | | Poll: | It's driving me nuts |
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 10:12 - Apr 17 with 1089 views | Tangledupin_Blue |
| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 09:15 - Apr 17 by GeoffSentence |
Capitalism, everything has to be monetised.
Another thing kids have lost is the ability to play in the street.
We used to play tennis and football in the street and just stop and get out of the way whenever a car came along.
You can't do that now not only because there are so many cars that even in quiet streets you'd moving out of the way more than playing, but also because there are cars parked everywhere taking all the space. |
Yes, capitalism.
Everything has to be monetised...
...including any injury sustained when child slips on damp leaves and whacks his head on the hardcourt surface. I suspect plenty of 'public' facilities are locked away because councils fear being held liable. |  |
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 10:21 - Apr 17 with 1065 views | thebooks |
| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 09:33 - Apr 17 by heavyweight |
It works both ways. I cut the grass for a local village green / play area. There is climbing equipment, fitness stations, swings and a five a side area with goals. I've never seen anything being used and no evidence that the football pitch is ever played on. |
That’s because house prices forced everyone out apart from people who managed to buy in 1986, or anyone renting out a second property on Air bnb 😁 | | | |
| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 10:36 - Apr 17 with 1018 views | leitrimblue |
| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 07:24 - Apr 17 by bluelagos |
And we could buy and smoke cigarettes without a care in the world. Playing on the railways and climbing onto the electricity thingy to get yer ball back.
One of our favourite games was jumping over a fire. We would find a ditch, build a fire and the game was to jump over it.
Knock down ginger and getting chased by angry man when our ball hit his fence. Silly old sod never worked out the angrier he got the more we would do it. |
Was obviously a fan of knock down ginger and fag smokin, but I truely believed chasing other kids around the estate with a stick dipped into a dog sh1te ( sh1tty stick as it was known) was a way of life.
I'm sure skateboards, bikes etc had there place but it's hard to compete with the satisfaction of chasing another kid/ kids around the estate with a stick freshly dipped in dog sh1te |  | | |
| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 11:25 - Apr 17 with 928 views | ElephantintheRoom |
Tennis? You posh git! We played football in the road with a tennis ball and jumpers for goalposts. Now that empty road is lined with cars on both sides of the road - and you take your life in your hands crossing it with all the 4x4s and SUVs rushing by
Meanwhile the kids are at home playing video games on line | |
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 07:46 - Apr 18 with 609 views | chicoazul |
Lot of talk about capitalism ITT. I think I should say it doesn’t cost anything to use the court. It’s just a couple of added layers of bureaucracy that 14yo me didn’t have to hurdle or worry about. For me it feels more a societal thing than a money thing? They told me they are kept locked for cleanliness and HSE reasons…🙄 | |
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| When I were a lad (caution; Modern Britain post) on 08:11 - Apr 18 with 573 views | bournemouthblue |
Pretty sure the courts at Christchurch Park are free?
I know the court at our Cricket Club's ground is free too although we are perplexed why the local council has never charged for them, given they are always pushing our rent up and looking to refurb them at great cost in the not too distant future |  |
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