Childhood Games

There is an immense difference in games that children currently play and those played when I was a child. Obviously technology plays a not inconsiderable part in all walks of life today including children's games. Obviously there are things like Xbox, Nintendo etc but even simple games such a Battleships is now controlled by a little electronic chip. Back when I was a kid there was no such thing as chips unless they came from the local chippy at 3d a bag - that about 1.5p in today's terms!

So what sort of games did we play? Most were very simple and required a minimum of things for the players to acquire. The simplest were sometimes the best and could be played impromptu because all they required was just some other kids! One such was a great favourite of mine, British Bulldog. For those unfamiliar with the game it required no set number of players and just some open space either outdoors or in a lrge indoor area such as a school hall. One player was initially selected to be the bulldog with object of catching one of the others as they all attempted to run past. Any caught player then joined the initial bulldog until all had been caught then it started again ad infinitum, usually until most of the players were called home by their parents or there was an excess of casualties to render ant further paly impossible. Needless to say most participants often bore some evidence of having played this boisterous game in the form of assorted grazes, bruises or torn clothing!

Ice hockey was very popular post-war with quite a few professional teams in Britain. Naturally many youngsters liked ice hockey even if they had never seen it and wanted to play their own version. One inherent problem was the obvious lack of a suitably frozen area for the majority of the year especially in the long school summer break. The next ideal place was a school playground but they were mostly out of bounds outside school hours and also invariably with locked gates. Nothing else for it but to play in the street then. Equipment was simple, most had roller skates, not of the rubber wheeled variety which were a luxury and only for rich kids but of the steel wheeled kind which were very noisy on any hard surface.

The other essentials included a stick which was generally a domestic broom unless your Dad made one for you from an old broom handle and a piece of wood for the blade. The final necessity was a puck which inevitably was a round two ounce tobacco tin which were always fairly esaily available.

The teams would be picked and play would begin, in my case on the road outside where I lived. The goals were in the ubiquitous form of two coats placed some feet apart at either end of the deemed playing area. A referee never figured in the game, decisions being made by popular opinion according to local rules. The reader is best left to imagine the amount of noise generated by some dozen or more pairs of steel wheeled skates; an empty tin being whacked around sliding on the road surface and the inevitable yelling and shouting that accompanied play. The duration of the game was often determined by the noise level tolerance of those who lived either side of the pitch!

Games involving a tennis ball were perennially popular because the basic equipment need could be carried about in a pocket. Dancing Dollies was quite popular if there was a blank wall available, preferably not the end of house otherwise play could well be foreshortened by the irate inhabitants. One player was selected as the thrower, the rest lined up against the wall. When play was signaled those against started dancing about with the object of avoiding being hit by the ball from the thrower. Those hit withdrew until that game was over until there was only one left against the wall, that player then became the thrower and play recommenced.

An all to obvious game to which I shall briefly allude was football using a tennis ball wit the advantage that it could be played almost anywhere. Not liking football I was never involved thankfully!

There was a hybrid game of football and cricket that I enjoyed, again requiring just a tennis ball, some players and again a blank wall. A crude representation of cricket stumps would be chalked on the wall and a bowling crease at a pre-determined distance. Despite shortages of many things and rationing still in force there never seemed to be a hint of a chalk shortage. Two teams were picked and tossed to determine which side would bat, often the toss was not made with a coin as most if not all of us would not have such a thing so a cigarette card would suffice. The 'batsman' stood in front of the wicket, when the ball was bowled the idea was to try to kick the ball away and make runs between the wicket and the bowling crease. Again, umpiring decisions were made by popular opinion and local custom. The innings was ended when the last man was out then the erstwhile bowling side would bat. Game was over when local residents had had enough, too few players being left due to having been called home or a more interesting attraction appealed, often a steam lorry delivering coal, the dustmen or a motor car which were quite uncommon then.

Another favourite was a local version of tennis, the game being known due to one or two households in the street having the luxury of a television set and their kids having seen Wimbledon on it. The street again was the favoured playing area and the only equipment needed was a tennis ball and a skipping rope, the latter usually being begged, stolen or borrowed from one of the player's sisters. The rope was used to denote the net when laid across the road between the kerbs. Court boundaries were the kerbs and twitems of clothing placed on the kerbs at either end. Hands were used as bats, play started and points awarded for your opponent failing to return the ball or hitting same out of play. The official tennis coring system was an utter mystery to all of us so we scored on the basis of table tennis to twenty one points.

In our particular street new sewers had been recently laid in the centre of the road with nice new tarmac laid to cover the trenches and interspersed at regular intervals by big, shiny, round manhole covers. Shortly after completion of these works it was obvious that not only had new sewers been laid but also our very own race circuit à la Ben Hur so the first races were naturally enough roller skates again. When local intolerance to the noise became too great we retrieved our bicycles and tricycles and hod our very own cycle speedway track.

Another game was particularly popular during winter and short daylight hours, that of Knock Down Ginger. For those unfamiliar with the concept one the gang would knock on a door, run away and hide with rest and observe the hapless house owner's reaction. Greater sport was to be had by knocking on the same dorr a number of times but there was the hazard of increased possible retribution.

It is quite sad that many of these games are no longer played for reasons of security of youngsters playing out in the street or safety considerations by various authorities. A sad indictment of modern times when was had in very simplistic ways.