Things you wouldn't dream of doing now.. but back then
Discussion
Apart from heading off into the fields to play all day in the summer holidays with friends when none of us were older than 10, I reckon I actually put myself at more risk with my (relatively sedate) mountain bike trails riding these days than I ever did in the Seventies of my childhood.
My grandfather, on the other hand. He was a civil engineer by trade, and the only time I ever saw him not in a collar and tie was in a swimsuit. One of the most correct, upstanding members of society I've ever met... He got into all sorts of trouble with a couple of cousins when he was ten.
My great-grandparents' farm was at the bottom of a sunken lane with trees growing over the top, so one day they decided it would be entertaining to try and knock the postman off his bike when he cycled down the lane to deliver the post.
A length of rope was promptly tied to a branch spanning the lane, and they set about finding something suitable to tie to the other end of the rope to create a pendulum. Obviously it needed to be heavy enough to provide a decent swing, but not so heavy that it might cause serious injury to the postie.
So, you might wonder... What did they choose?
A live piglet!
My grandfather, on the other hand. He was a civil engineer by trade, and the only time I ever saw him not in a collar and tie was in a swimsuit. One of the most correct, upstanding members of society I've ever met... He got into all sorts of trouble with a couple of cousins when he was ten.
My great-grandparents' farm was at the bottom of a sunken lane with trees growing over the top, so one day they decided it would be entertaining to try and knock the postman off his bike when he cycled down the lane to deliver the post.
A length of rope was promptly tied to a branch spanning the lane, and they set about finding something suitable to tie to the other end of the rope to create a pendulum. Obviously it needed to be heavy enough to provide a decent swing, but not so heavy that it might cause serious injury to the postie.
So, you might wonder... What did they choose?
A live piglet!
A few years back while traveling along the motorway in a friend's MG midget, it started to rain. We sped up to around 85 so the rain didn't come in, but then one of the wiper blades came loose somehow. Fearing scratched glass, the only thing to do was to stand up, lean over the screen, and fix it. That was fairly dumb.
As a kid, I lived near an old power station (Carrington) and also the Manchester - Liverpool railway line.
There used to be some huge pipes coming from the power station & into the River Mersey - presumably for cooling. We never bothered with them until someone put up "KEEP AWAY - DANGER" signs so of course we had to shimmy across them about 40' in the air.
There was also a railway bridge we called "Thunder Bridge" which crossed over the Manchester Ship Canal. It was called this because when a train went over at speed, it made a noise like thunder. To prove you were a double hard b
d, we used to climb the embankment, get onto the bridge, climb onto the outside of the bridge and hold on until a train came.
Yeah, fk that.
There used to be some huge pipes coming from the power station & into the River Mersey - presumably for cooling. We never bothered with them until someone put up "KEEP AWAY - DANGER" signs so of course we had to shimmy across them about 40' in the air.
There was also a railway bridge we called "Thunder Bridge" which crossed over the Manchester Ship Canal. It was called this because when a train went over at speed, it made a noise like thunder. To prove you were a double hard b
d, we used to climb the embankment, get onto the bridge, climb onto the outside of the bridge and hold on until a train came.Yeah, f
k that.
I was brought up on a farm so the level of dangerous stuff myself and my brother and cousins were exposed to was high.
Used to climb anything, make tunnels out of the stack of 100's of square straw bales, a bit like jenga, pulling bales out and rebuilding them on top so we could make a tunnel... forgetting about the structural integrity of the stack as we yanked bales out from the bottom to put on the top. But alas, we were OK. Despite it collapsing a few times.
Incidentally, a close family friend (adult, farmer for 40 years) was killed a few years ago when a stack of round bales fell on him, crushed him to death. Very sad but just goes to show how easy it is for stuff like that to go disastrously wrong.
Also been driving tractors and pickups around the farm since I was 10 years old, including moving said round bales and gates and fences using the forks on the tractor. Only injury resulting from that was my old granddad walking into the spike one morning after I left it 2ft off the ground when we finished up the night before. Few stitches and he was fit to give me the kick up the arse i deserved.
Also remember myself and my brother sitting on the fold down 'bootlid' of my granddads subaru justy(?) pickup on the way to and from some of his land which happened to be across the village, legs dangling, on occasion dragging our legs on the road, scuffing our wellie boots up, then pulling ourselves back into the flatbed. TBF if i seen someone doing that now i'd think ' tts'... but at the time my parents and grandparents saw no wrong.
Used to climb anything, make tunnels out of the stack of 100's of square straw bales, a bit like jenga, pulling bales out and rebuilding them on top so we could make a tunnel... forgetting about the structural integrity of the stack as we yanked bales out from the bottom to put on the top. But alas, we were OK. Despite it collapsing a few times.
Incidentally, a close family friend (adult, farmer for 40 years) was killed a few years ago when a stack of round bales fell on him, crushed him to death. Very sad but just goes to show how easy it is for stuff like that to go disastrously wrong.
Also been driving tractors and pickups around the farm since I was 10 years old, including moving said round bales and gates and fences using the forks on the tractor. Only injury resulting from that was my old granddad walking into the spike one morning after I left it 2ft off the ground when we finished up the night before. Few stitches and he was fit to give me the kick up the arse i deserved.
Also remember myself and my brother sitting on the fold down 'bootlid' of my granddads subaru justy(?) pickup on the way to and from some of his land which happened to be across the village, legs dangling, on occasion dragging our legs on the road, scuffing our wellie boots up, then pulling ourselves back into the flatbed. TBF if i seen someone doing that now i'd think '
tts'... but at the time my parents and grandparents saw no wrong.Went to a boarding school, recall the art teacher sometimes put on some fun stuff at weekends, highlights include ...
Zip wire from the top of an oak tree, two ladders tied to the tree to get up, end of other end of rope tied to land rover.
Oh, yes - drive land rover forward so rope goes slack, tie someone to the middle of the rope, via another rope, drive land rover back until rope pulls tight, end result of course is that you shoot up rapidly, then loop over the main rope about three times.
Oh, being pulled through the woods by the same landrover, sitting on old tractor tyres ...
Don't recall any serious injurys, would never get away with it today though.
Zip wire from the top of an oak tree, two ladders tied to the tree to get up, end of other end of rope tied to land rover.
Oh, yes - drive land rover forward so rope goes slack, tie someone to the middle of the rope, via another rope, drive land rover back until rope pulls tight, end result of course is that you shoot up rapidly, then loop over the main rope about three times.
Oh, being pulled through the woods by the same landrover, sitting on old tractor tyres ...
Don't recall any serious injurys, would never get away with it today though.
Edited by mph999 on Monday 29th June 23:23
Ritchie335is said:
When I was 16 I came off a Yamaha TZR125 at around 80+mph into ditch/tree. The impact was enough to wreck the bike, bend the forks back, buckle the wheel, burst the tyre.
I was wearing shorts, a t-shirt and trainers. I did have a helmet on which the visor was smashed off of.
I had barely a scratch on me.
I was wearing shorts, a t-shirt and trainers. I did have a helmet on which the visor was smashed off of.
I had barely a scratch on me.
All kinds of stupid countryside related stuff, such as this
Www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzdOZnyNw10
Although I'd certainly still do it. Unfortunatly the driver is no longer with us
Some of the most stupid would have to include full speed quad bike jousting and how close you can get to each other with air rifles without drawing blood. You have to go quite a long way, it turns out.
Www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzdOZnyNw10
Although I'd certainly still do it. Unfortunatly the driver is no longer with us
Some of the most stupid would have to include full speed quad bike jousting and how close you can get to each other with air rifles without drawing blood. You have to go quite a long way, it turns out.
Stuff you'd probably get pilloried for nowadays....
- sitting on dad's lap driving the car
- parents in front and 5 of us in the back of my dads caravan towing Landcruiser all the way to Spain and back - we just had the back folded flat and all sat in the back drinking beer and listening to Nik Kershaw (blame my sisters)
- driving around town on hot days drinking beer
- (this will get the PHers frothing at the mouth) back in the 80s never bothering about taxing my car or bike; you could get away with not renewing stuff for months
- sitting on dad's lap driving the car
- parents in front and 5 of us in the back of my dads caravan towing Landcruiser all the way to Spain and back - we just had the back folded flat and all sat in the back drinking beer and listening to Nik Kershaw (blame my sisters)
- driving around town on hot days drinking beer
- (this will get the PHers frothing at the mouth) back in the 80s never bothering about taxing my car or bike; you could get away with not renewing stuff for months
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