With my tongue firmly in my cheek and in the best style of Monty Python . You country softies with your fancy fields and fancy fresh air !!!! I was born in the inner city and the only time we saw fields and cows were when we went on the Pool rd. working men's club treat to Drayton Manor Park Once a year. We did see horses pulling the milk carts and rag and bone wagons so we were not totally starved of large animal presence Equally we knew what came out of them as two of our neighbours used to race to be the first to the fertiliser provided by our equine friends for their roses. Our nearest Piece of green was fosse recreation ground ,the running of which was jealously guarded by the ”parky “.If he caught you climbing the fence instead of using the gate he would ban you and tell you to come back tomorrow .We just went round to the furthest entrance and went in anyway ,he wouldn’t have recognised us as we all looked the same,Scruffy! It wasn’t until I was 10 that I found out cricket was played with two sets of wickets and two bats not a coat draped across a stick and a bat carved out a floorboard by my dad .Refreshment was a single tap just by the swings but it was free and if your mum have given you some jam sandwiches then it was alfresco dining . Entertainment on a Saturday afternoon was down to the Fosse flicks for 7d after which we would all spill out of the cinema and act out whatever we had just seen , okay if it was Flash Gordon , Zorro or an Audie Murphy film but not so good if it was a soppy film because then you couldn’t tie your coat around your neck, pretend it was a cape and make gun sounds. To go some where really exotic we would tell mum we were off to the Fosse Park but go to Abbey park instead to catch sticklebacks , She never did ask where the fish had come from. I joined the 32nd scouts in 1961 and it opened up a whole new world ,learnt how to cook , look after myself and most of all fell in love with the Vale of Belvoir. Although it was only 5 days camping It was the first holiday myself and other boys had ever been on. Sogoing back to my first comment about your fancy fields and fancy fresh air it was meant in the best possible taste hope i have not offended anyone .

Oh Graham.    I was just about to go to bed & then your e-mail appears just as I was shutting-down for the night. I for one am certainly not offended & I read your words & I felt for that young boy, but what a man he turned out to be.    To be able to look back on your childhood & obvious hardships your family had to face cannot be easy , but it sounds as if you did eventually have happier days & their memories.  I can share your memories coming out from the 'flicks'.   I loved the cowboy & indian films & I rode a horse all the way home firing my Colt 45 at anything & everything.   I remember Flash Gordon as if it was yesterday.   So thank you for sharing your memories with us.   June Fleetwood West Yorkshire   From: Graham Jennings <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, 15 February 2012, 23:19 Subject: [LEI] Memories With my tongue firmly in my cheek and in the best style of Monty Python . You country softies with your fancy fields and  fancy fresh air !!!! I  was born in the inner city and the only time we saw fields and cows  were  when we went on the Pool rd. working men's club treat to Drayton Manor Park Once a year. We did see horses pulling the milk carts and rag and bone wagons so we were not totally  starved of large animal presence Equally we knew what came out of them as  two of our neighbours  used to race to be the first to the fertiliser provided by our equine friends for their roses. Our nearest Piece of green  was fosse recreation ground ,the running of which was jealously guarded  by the ”parky “.If he caught you climbing the fence instead of using the gate he would  ban you  and tell you to come back tomorrow  .We just went round to the furthest entrance and went in anyway ,he wouldn’t have recognised us as we all looked the same,Scruffy! It wasn’t until I was 10 that I found out cricket was played with two sets of wickets and two  bats not  a coat draped across a stick and a bat carved out a floorboard  by my dad .Refreshment was a single tap just by the swings but it was free and if your mum have given you some jam sandwiches then it was alfresco dining . Entertainment on a Saturday afternoon was down to the Fosse flicks  for 7d  after which we would all spill out of the cinema and act out whatever we had just seen  , okay if it was Flash Gordon , Zorro  or an Audie Murphy  film but not so good if it was a soppy film because then you couldn’t tie your coat around your neck, pretend it was a cape and  make gun sounds. To go some  where really exotic we would tell mum we were off to the Fosse Park but go to Abbey park instead to catch sticklebacks , She never did ask where the fish had come from. I joined the 32nd scouts  in 1961 and  it opened up a whole new world ,learnt how to cook , look after myself and most of all fell in love with the Vale of Belvoir. Although it was only 5 days camping It was the first holiday myself and other boys had ever been on. Sogoing back to my first comment about  your fancy fields and fancy  fresh air it was meant in the best possible taste hope i have not offended anyone . ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message