Does anyone remember the pieces of liquorice sticks? These were not as the sticks today but were a chewy root which tasted of liquorice which you spat out after the flavour had gone. Sherbert Dabs & Gob Stoppers also come to mind in the days when I used to go to the corner shop for my mother's cigarettes. She smoked Churchman's No: 1 & they cost 2s. 6d (in old money) Of course if I was buying cigarettes for my grandmother, they would be Craven A - remember the black cat on the packet. When our pocket money had run out & we couldn't afford a bag of chips, we used to ask for a bag of 'bits' or 'scratchings' which were the bits of batter etc. that were strained out of the fat. Delicious with salt & vinegar.................. We didn't have mobile phones, televisions, games, washing machines, fridges - am I frightening a few of you - you must be wondering how we survived. I remember life then as a happy time, spending the day in our local park with a jam sandwich for my lunch & hoping to keep out of the way of the park keeper if you had a ball - balls games were not allowed then. Trips to Abbey Park on the bus & even cycling from Wigston Fields to Bradgate Park at the weekend. We thought nothing of it & I can never remember being bored with nothing to do. Children are not allowed to take skipping ropes to school now as they are considered dangerous. In a couple of months we would have been looking for Whips & Tops - mushroom & carrot - to play with in the street. I was our street champion playing 'snobs' - little clay squares which you threw up & caught on the back of your hand etc. Oh well, happy days........ June Fleetwood West Yorkshire.

Hi June Yes I certainly remember them but called them liquorice root , I think they were 1d each Very nice when you started chewing but after a while it was like chewing a paint brush <g> Sherbet dabs, gob stoppers, black jacks, fruit salad, anglo bubbly, sweet tobacco, red liquorice laces, flying saucers, palma violets, bazooka joe, chewing nuts, liquorice torpedoes, spangles, opal fruits are just a few I remember And how about Jublee's :-) They were 4d !! (I could rarely afford one of those) Snob & Jacks & marbles were the quieter playground games (well sometimes :-) Tig in various forms, fruit stall, British bull dog were a few of the more raucous ones A bag of scratchings was very welcome with S & V on :-) We also thought nothing of coming home from school and jumping on our bikes and off to Braggy Park with a stop at Groby Pool on the way Why did they have a recreation ground that you could not do recreation in ? they all banned ball games and all had a grumpy park keeper , I think they trained them especially ;-) I read the by-laws in the rec' once, I recall being amused to know you could not take a bath in the park on a Sunday <vbg> Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > Does anyone remember the pieces of liquorice sticks? These were not as the sticks today but were a > chewy root which tasted of liquorice which you spat out after the flavour had gone. Sherbert Dabs > & Gob Stoppers also come to mind in the days when I used to go to the corner shop for my mother's > cigarettes. She smoked Churchman's No: 1 & they cost 2s. 6d (in old money) Of course if I was > buying cigarettes for my grandmother, they would be Craven A - remember the black cat on the > packet. When our pocket money had run out & we couldn't afford a bag of chips, we used to ask for > a bag of 'bits' or 'scratchings' which were the bits of batter etc. that were strained out of the > fat. Delicious with salt & vinegar.................. We didn't have mobile phones, televisions,

Hi All, My husband remembers rides on croggies too. There was also "crogs" which apparently you said with fingers crossed if you wanted a pause in a game to tie your shoelaces or something. He also remembers snobs, which we called Jack o' 5 Stones in London. Up came a few more memories of marbles and cigarette cards, football and cricket in the street, and French cricket. He played British bulldog in the Scouts and tig was tick to him ('He' in London). Most family historians have at least one branch of their families who migrated to London, and comparing Leicester's different words for games and things with the words we used down there made me think. If I thought I was learning a whole new language here, how did those migrants to London cope with a different vocabulary as well as back slang and rhyming slang? They must have thought they were in foreign parts! Lesley