YES, played 'Cat's Cradle' and also showed my children - must show the grandchildren too when we get to Melbourne, where they've just moved to. The only skipping rope song, or rather spoken rhyme, I remember is the one where we were all playing together with two people turning the rope. It was: All in together girls, never mind the weather girls, when I call your birthday please run out. Then the caller, usually one of the rope turners, would call out all the months of the year and when yours was called you "ran out", ie away from the skipping rope. Then others would take turns at turning the rope and we'd do it again. I haven't heard the one about the lady on the hill - sounds interesting! Re cinemas, although I didn't go to the weekly Saturday shows I was often taken, by my grandpa, to the Cameo in High Street where all those films were on: cartoons, Superman, Captain Marvel, nature films, etc. I remember in our last few years there the Cameo changed to showing adults-only films, X rated in those days. The shops I cycled to, during school holidays to do the usual errands, were our local shops at the crossroads of Cardinals Walk and Parkstone Road. In those pre-fridge days housewives used to go every morning for the meat and vegs - those they didn't grow at home - for dinner, the midday meal as many husbands came home for dinner. After all, didn't take long on the bus from town. There was a butcher, a chemist, a newsagent, a sweet shop, a drapery and a green grocer. I don't remember many of the shopkeepers' names and they changed a few times anyway. Later, in the late 1950s I think, two more shops were built, one a hairdresser and I'm not sure what the other was. By then, going into town every day to school and then work, I didn't go to those local shops. When Mum and I went shopping in town in my childhood days we always called in at those shops on the way home to buy our sweet rations and "pay the papers" - for the week's deliveries - and collect the Sports Mail for Grandpa - he preferred it to the Sports Mercury and only took it in the football season. He went to the football match on his bike for years and when he died, of a heart attack at age 80, he had cycled to the football only a few days earlier. I think those shops were still there on our recent visit to England. If Dandelion & Burdock is still around WHY didn't I get some when over there??!! It would be interesting just to taste it again! They don't have it here, despite the prevalence of both plants as weeds, especially the dandelion. We went to Midland Educational for school stationery and suchlike. Wasn't it silly not being able to use biros at school? We had to use dip-in pens until we were about 14 and then we were allowed to use fountain pens. Footpaths were always pavements to us and lifts were given on bikes but never called a croggie. Remember the coppers and bike lights. Riding along Scraptoft Lane one evening two cops came past on their bikes and I said to my friends that I thought we ought to be putting our lights on. Sure enough, one of the cops heard me, or saw us lighting up, and said: "Yes, you need your lights on now." I once saw them riding their bikes 4 abreast along there too - naughty coppers! Jacks here seem to be the square snobs we had in Leicester, but it's years since I came across it; our kids didn't play it; must have gone out of fashion. I don't remember the jacks you describe in Leicester or anywhere else. I remember the cinemas you mentioned and our nearest was the ABC Trocadero, locally known as the "Troc". Apart from cinema there was dancing there and I went to dancing lessons there on Saturday mornings at one time. I know it was pulled down years ago; shame. There was another ABC cinema in town - was it the Savoy? They had the same films on anyway so we had a "big" cinema locally, not just a flea pit showing old films. The Shaftsbury was one of those; we passed it on the bus to town and our Dr's surgery was near it. The Troc had ABC Minors, Saturday morning films for the kids and they had a badge which many of them proudly wore at school. At first I thought it was some super organisation, like the scouts, but soon discovered it was just Sat. morning flicks. Interestingly, via Friends Reunited I think, an ex classmate from Humberstone School found me here. Her sister lives very near to us but the classmate is in Queensland. She met her husband at the Saturday night dancing at the Troc. I never went to that as my old school friends from Collegiate went to places in town such as the Bell Hotel and the Palais (no, we weren't under or over age!). Jan in cloudy, humid Nowra, NSW, Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: "J FLEETWOOD" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 10:36 PM Subject: [LEI] Memories...... > > Hi Jan > What a gem of memories. Thank you for sharing them with us. Have just had > a thought - does anyone remember playing 'Cat's Cradle'. I tried it the > other day to show a child & it all came back to me. She was mesmerised & > thought I was very clever............ > I would very much like to have a collection of the skipping-rope songs. Do > any of you remember them - like "On the hill there stands a lady, who she > is I do not know etc......... help me out here. > > Leicestershire Listers, P > lease keep these memories rolling in. Hope this thread will continue for > the next two weeks, so put on your thinking caps & let us have them. > > Regards to you all from a sunny Yorkshire day. > June FLEETWOOD (nee RAINBOW) > West Yorkshire. > > > > > From: John & Jan Marchant <[email protected]> Snip