Games played as a kid.

[William Treseder]

Reading ToBW’s memories of playing bits of Tennis and Pitch and put when the relative sports were on TV, got me thinking.
When I was a kid, before Play stations, Xboxes, and mobile phones were around, and everywhere was fields 😂, me and my fellow Elyites, would pass the time playing 9 hole golf at Ely race course, outdoor bowls at the green in Plymouthwood Rd, tennis (at the same park as the bowling green, swimming at Empire pool and darts in anyone’s house whose Mum would let them put a dart board up.
Nothing seemed expensive then, as none of us had much dough anyway.
Used to save up and sometimes buy a putter or an iron at Giles Sports, and used to frequent Fry’s darts shop in Caroline St to buy stems and flights.
My Aunty used to work on the till in Asteys, so after coming out of Empire pool we’d nip over there and if she was on, we’d get a free bottle of pop and crisps.
Another favourite in the warm weather was swimming in Ely River. To this day, can’t believe I survived that 😂
Saturday mornings at the Regent cinema, watching Flash Gordon and cartoons was another great memory. The mass exodus downtown the steep steps of the cinema when it finished was more dangerous than a F1 race.
If you fell, you were history!
Used to play cricket up at Ely Rec. One day we’d acquired a real cricket ball. I was batting, and caught one as sweet as a nut, only for it to smash into the face of the hardest kid in Ely at the time. I didn’t hang about to see if he still had any teeth left, I just dropped the bat and ran home as quick as a rat up a drain pipe.
Being from the bottom of Ely, we’d regularly fight with the top of Ely, and sometimes we’d amalgamate and fight Fairwater and Pentrebane in Birdies Lane.
I remember one particular day we were scrapping with Fairwater, and I had a brand new pair of shoes on my Mum had bought me. We were a bit outnumbered that day, and as we retreated back a bit, I noticed one of my new shoes had come off during the scrap.
I had to quickly decide the easiest option. Go get my shoe back and risk a bit of a kicking, or go home and face my Mum. I decided it would be less painful to retrieve the shoe 😂
Don’t know why I’m rambling on about yrs gone but it’s a Sunday morning, so why not.

[BLUETIT]

Re: Games played as a kid.

You left out “allies” in the gutter and was it “jacks” ????? 5 stones on the back of your hand (posh kids had the metal type)

[splott parker]

Re: Games played as a kid.

You left out “allies” in the gutter and was it “jacks” ????? 5 stones on the back of your hand (posh kids had the metal type)

Gobs

[theclaw]

Re: Games played as a kid.

Curbs

[the other bob wilson]

Re: Games played as a kid.

Reading ToBW’s memories of playing bits of Tennis and Pitch and put when the relative sports were on TV, got me thinking.
When I was a kid, before Play stations, Xboxes, and mobile phones were around, and everywhere was fields ��, me and my fellow Elyites, would pass the time playing 9 hole golf at Ely race course, outdoor bowls at the green in Plymouthwood Rd, tennis (at the same park as the bowling green, swimming at Empire pool and darts in anyone’s house whose Mum would let them put a dart board up.
Nothing seemed expensive then, as none of us had much dough anyway.
Used to save up and sometimes buy a putter or an iron at Giles Sports, and used to frequent Fry’s darts shop in Caroline St to buy stems and flights.
My Aunty used to work on the till in Asteys, so after coming out of Empire pool we’d nip over there and if she was on, we’d get a free bottle of pop and crisps.
Another favourite in the warm weather was swimming in Ely River. To this day, can’t believe I survived that ��
Saturday mornings at the Regent cinema, watching Flash Gordon and cartoons was another great memory. The mass exodus downtown the steep steps of the cinema when it finished was more dangerous than a F1 race.
If you fell, you were history!
Used to play cricket up at Ely Rec. One day we’d acquired a real cricket ball. I was batting, and caught one as sweet as a nut, only for it to smash into the face of the hardest kid in Ely at the time. I didn’t hang about to see if he still had any teeth left, I just dropped the bat and ran home as quick as a rat up a drain pipe.
Being from the bottom of Ely, we’d regularly fight with the top of Ely, and sometimes we’d amalgamate and fight Fairwater and Pentrebane in Birdies Lane.
I remember one particular day we were scrapping with Fairwater, and I had a brand new pair of shoes on my Mum had bought me. We were a bit outnumbered that day, and as we retreated back a bit, I noticed one of my new shoes had come off during the scrap.
I had to quickly decide the easiest option. Go get my shoe back and risk a bit of a kicking, or go home and face my Mum. I decided it would be less painful to retrieve the shoe ��
Don’t know why I’m rambling on about yrs gone but it’s a Sunday morning, so why not.

I used to occasionally walk to the Regent to watch the Saturday morning shows. Birdies Lane was usually quiet at that time of day, but it wasn't always and so discretion became the better part of valour on those days as there was never more than four of us and we figured Flash Gordon could wait till next week as he wasn't worth getting filled in for.

My main memory of playing with a real cricket ball came on a day when there were street parties for some reason. We had a "proper" cricket game as part of the celebration and I opened the batting with someone who always played baseball and could hit the ball miles. i remember we put on fifty of which my share was four before I was given out LBW from a delivery which hit me in the balls. Given I was only about five foot tall at the time, I probably was out, but that was no consolation as I was helped off in agony with most of the fairly big crowd watching no doubt thinking "I'm glad that blocker's out".

[Wash DC Blue]

Re: Games played as a kid.

You left out “allies” in the gutter and was it “jacks” ????? 5 stones on the back of your hand (posh kids had the metal type)

Is that Marbles?
My Mother, from Pill always called them arlees.

[Hilts]

Re: Games played as a kid.

During the summer in parks and fields there were always games of cricket going on with youngsters.

Never see it these days.

[Des Parrot]

Re: Games played as a kid.

Anything with wheels! Living in a rural area, with woods, ponds & quarries. Initially without an engine, then later with. 2, 3 or 4 wheels.

[William Treseder]

Re: Games played as a kid.

Anything with wheels! Living in a rural area, with woods, ponds & quarries. Initially without an engine, then later with. 2, 3 or 4 wheels.

Bogeys!!! I forgot about them. Had a few of those over the yrs. scaffold plank, 4 wheels (sometimes all the same size,) cross frame with rope or string to steer, no brakes.
About 10 of us all made bikes one summer, from old frames, and bits of other old bikes we could get our hands on. Planned a big day out to Barry Island to test them. Got halfway down Plymouthwood Rd hill, when I hear my mate Reggie Cann, shouting out from behind me “ get out of the fuc*ing way!! I look, and his handle bars have fallen off and he’s trying to steer with the forks!!

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Re: Games played as a kid.

Is that Marbles?
My Mother, from Pill always called them arlees.

I heard it as 'alleys'.

[Underhill1980]

Re: Games played as a kid.

Go over Glan Ely fields fields with a football and play for hours on end.

[Hot Shot Hamish.]

Re: Games played as a kid.

One of my favourite memories as a kid was playing cricket in the yard at Cilfynydd Primary with a “Corkie”. One of the boys hit it over the railings and smashed the glass in his parents front door. He ran down to the house and was having a massive bollocking off his mother. We were shouting down to him to throw the ball back to us in the yard so we could carry on with our test match. Unfortunately he didn’t come far enough out of the house to throw it and threw it through the fanlight above the door smashing that too. I think at that point the test match was abandoned as we were pissing ourselves laughing too much!!

[Rock_Flock_of_Five]

Re: Games played as a kid.

Go over Glan Ely fields fields with a football and play for hours on end.

Throwing Dutch-arrows. Those things could really travel quite a distance.
Skateboards, made out of those really crap adjustable rollerskates with the nut in the middle, and the hard composite wheels that barely turned.

Clackers - which eventually got banned, as so many kids got injured.

GAT guns (preferably the all-chrome one). I took one to school once, because a boy in one of the remedial classes wanted to buy it from me. I got summoned to the headmaster's room at lunchtime. The boy had fired a pellet at another pupil (that would be sensationalised these days as a major school shooting incident :hehe: ). I should have known he wasn't the responsible type :hehe:

Alleys (sp?) and their bigger cousins.... 'bompers'.

Anyone else remember the craze of tightening two bolts together onto a central nut that was filled with matchheads? The secret was to just nip the matchheads and then throw it to the floor and watch it explode upwards of 50 ft in the air. Everyone was doing this in my high school playground!

Also, to my shame - going out armed with a flat-head screwdriver and nicking car badges. We'd swap them in school later.

I realise that some of my choices aren't really games, but they kept us occupied for hours and hours.

[Forest Green Bluebird]

Re: Games played as a kid.

Throwing Dutch-arrows.

Only thinking about them last week.

I used to be with the 4th Whitchurch Scouts (poor relation of 1st Whitchurch) near Forest Farm and Melingriffith canal ... making the Datch arrows was part of the Bush Craft badge!

They did go a long way if the release was just right. Were they a hunting method a few centuries ago?

Apart from getting a straight stick and some string, I forget how to make them fly. Any ideas?

[Tuerto]

Re: Games played as a kid.

Scrumping in the large gardens of Cyncoed, usually before the fruit was ripe!