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Apart from checking your relative's change ( I drove them crazy doing that EVERY time we met ),

Kellog's 'Variety Pack'  was always such a treat to see on the breakfast table.

Anyone else share this view? i am always reminded of those memories whenever I breakfast at a hotel that still uses this individual boxes...

Such a waste packaging nightmare now, really....

Any one else with small brilliant memories like this?

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I can't say I have any food related memories that get me that nostalgic, however I do recall the annual family performance in the lead up to bonfire night!

At that time local stores could provide only a limited range of smaller fireworks, so we were taken on the train (a treat in itself) to central London and the Selfridges store, where we were allowed to select the fireworks we most desired from the dazzling display beneath the counter. On the train home we took it in turns to take out our favourites and read the descriptions on the labels. (Can you imagine what "Elf n Safety" would say about that now?) At home, the fireworks were stored in our own bedroom for the week until bonfire night.

On the great night we were allowed to light a range of fireworks for ourselves, making the displays they made even more exciting to us.

The morning after, we would explore the local area trying to recover as many of the spent canisters and rockets as we could. On the rare occasion we found something that had failed to ignite properly, we then set that off in the field on our own. I can still feel the excitement today!

Is it any wonder I spent a career in the army learning about and using explosives - eventually in Bomb Disposal? 

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When I was about 6 or 7 I nagged my Mum to buy me a pack of Corn Flakes because there was a "skull" mask on the back of the packet but she made me wait until I'd eaten the whole packet before I got the mask. I haven't been able to stomach corn flakes since that day.........................

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I remember those Variety packs! Can't remember if it was 6 or 8 little boxes, but I remember we used to fight to avoid the cornflakes of which there were always 2 boxes!

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16 hours ago, Paddy said:

I can't say I have any food related memories that get me that nostalgic, however I do recall the annual family performance in the lead up to bonfire night!

At that time local stores could provide only a limited range of smaller fireworks, so we were taken on the train (a treat in itself) to central London and the Selfridges store, where we were allowed to select the fireworks we most desired from the dazzling display beneath the counter. On the train home we took it in turns to take out our favourites and read the descriptions on the labels. (Can you imagine what "Elf n Safety" would say about that now?) At home, the fireworks were stored in our own bedroom for the week until bonfire night.

On the great night we were allowed to light a range of fireworks for ourselves, making the displays they made even more exciting to us.

The morning after, we would explore the local area trying to recover as many of the spent canisters and rockets as we could. On the rare occasion we found something that had failed to ignite properly, we then set that off in the field on our own. I can still feel the excitement today!

Is it any wonder I spent a career in the army learning about and using explosives - eventually in Bomb Disposal? 

Were you one of the ba+*^rds at PERME, who demonstrated explosives to my team as part of our counter-sabotage training? The army guys used small amounts of explosives and det cord to blow up various bits of telecomms plant, such as cable etc. (I worked for BT at the time in the early 1980s). When they showed us what the effect of home made explosives (Co-op) on steel plate the results were impressive, but made more so by the army guys tossing gravel on top of the shelter we were in, to simulate shrapnel from the bunker where the explosions occurred. Anything to scare those lily-livered civilians!

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25 minutes ago, DaveG38 said:

Were you one of the ba+*^rds at PERME, who demonstrated explosives to my team as part of our counter-sabotage training? The army guys used small amounts of explosives and det cord to blow up various bits of telecomms plant, such as cable etc. (I worked for BT at the time in the early 1980s). When they showed us what the effect of home made explosives (Co-op) on steel plate the results were impressive, but made more so by the army guys tossing gravel on top of the shelter we were in, to simulate shrapnel from the bunker where the explosions occurred. Anything to scare those lily-livered civilians!

Not I!

I did have fun on one occasion whilst demonstrating the effectiveness of a dug-in gun position to a bunch of generals. I had laid out a range of small charges to simulate an artillery barrage and played it to the limits with the safety distances. I think I had one or two of the old duffers cacking their pants! Final piece was a simulated nuclear explosion, achieved with a 45 gallon oil drum, plastic explosive and diesel to produce a mushroom cloud. Very satisfying.

 

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20 hours ago, Paddy said:

 

Is it any wonder I spent a career in the army learning about and using explosives - eventually in Bomb Disposal? 

I used to have a sign in one of my workshops years ago that read "DANGER!  UNEXPLODED DIAGRAM!"

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Our favourite saying was; "The job where you don't learn by your mistakes".

 

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Anyone want to form a Blaster Bates Appreciation Society?

Bob Newhart's bomb defusing skit is also worth a listen.

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Just now, blakeyboy said:

Anyone want to form a Blaster Bates Appreciation Society?

Bob Newhart's bomb defusing skit is also worth a listen.

Our Commanding Officer when I was in Bomb Disposal was Colonel Bates, but we referred to him as "Master".

 

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Well, I bet it wasn't the first time in his life that that had happened....!!

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I remember collecting those cards in PG Tips boxes when I was a kid. The two most memorable series were flags of the world and unsolved mysteries of the world. It is a shame that they have stopped these more than 20 years ago. 

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I remember a ginger beer in the local cricket club was a great treat on a hot day, I also have fond memories of the pictures , esp disney films

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Oh my God yes...PG tips cards  - a obsession of mine.

Still got the lot somewhere...

And - Schweppes ginger beer in those curious brown bottles that blew your head off when you were eight.

On Tenby beach with a bottle of that in my hand - didn't get much better than that!

Mind you, my sister and I still find Vimto and a packet of Quavers an excellent combination.

 

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Talking about Vimto, I loved that with fish, chips & mushy peas from the local chippie, when I was a kid. I remember back then (about 7 or 8), I never used to eat the batter, but every last chip would be savoured, accompanied by salt and vinegar, and the aforesaid vimto (extra nice if the guy at the shop had only just taken it out of the fridge) - that was a fantastic Friday night treat for me and my sister, that Mum would get. Although I don't think my sister enjoyed it as much as I did. In fact I sometimes finished her's off as she often left most of them. It's a wonder I never put on any weight, the amount I consumed.  

Two more memories from childhood, one very painful, the other great. 

On one occasion a friend and myself had wandered off quite a long way from home, and were in some woods at the back of the estate. There was an old dead tree in there, with a hollowed out branch, which he stuck a large twig down. A few seconds later a swarm of wasps flew out and repeatedly stung us. I don't think I've ever run so fast in my life. I was throbbing in different places for hours afterwards. My friend actually got taken to hospital with anaphylactic shock. 

The great memory was in an amusement arcade in Southend, trying to work one of those grabber machines that always let go of the prize before you could drop it down the hole. I'd tried it a few times before a guy wandered across, and literally just lifted out the glass panel from the wooden surround, saying, "take what you want Son, we're getting rid of this machine today". Couldn't take it all as I didn't have a bag with me, but stuffed a load into my pocket. To be honest it was all worthless crap, but it gave me a thrill on the day.

I also remember the great storm of October 1987, seeing things flying down the street outside, and the general racket of the wind, falling masonry and objects banging as they collided with walls. Scary, for sure, but also absolutely fascinating.             

Edited by 1949threepence
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17 minutes ago, 1949threepence said:

I also remember the great storm of October 1987, seeing things flying down the street outside, and the general racket of the wind, falling masonry and objects banging as they collided with walls. Scary, for sure, but also absolutely fascinating.             

Yes, I remembered that well. Michael Fish so famously predicted that we would not be badly affected the night before. I woke up the next morning and was shocked to see that so many of the wooden garden fences and tress have fallen over. The wind blew off part of the school roof and the kids enjoyed an extended half term break.

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3 minutes ago, Sword said:

Yes, I remembered that well. Michael Fish so famously predicted that we would not be badly affected the night before. I woke up the next morning and was shocked to see that so many of the wooden garden fences and tress have fallen over. The wind blew off part of the school roof and the kids enjoyed an extended half term break.

What happened on the stock market was also interesting - the death of the yuppy

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4 minutes ago, copper123 said:

What happened on the stock market was also interesting - the death of the yuppy

I was too young then to know what happened to the stock market ...😀

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9 hours ago, 1949threepence said:

Two more memories from childhood, one very painful, the other great. 

Talking of painful memories.

I remember exploring the Abbey ruins at Lilleshall  in the early 70’s with my dear old friend Teasdale who, for no apparent reason, decided that it would be interesting to experience first hand the sensation of peeing on an electrified fence. Seeing him thrown backwards holding his crotch in agony put me off trying it myself. So funny.

That reminds me that i had a C-scope metal detector back then, very simple tool, only 2 knobs and it worked a treat. We found a rotted metal (?) box buried at depth and under a stone with what looked like medieval seals in it. They were wrapped in a rotted grungy leathery material as I recall and I thought I’d found the crown jewels. I often wonder what happened to them. I took them to school once for a project and they were unfortunately ‘mislaid’, never to be seen again. 

 

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I was working in an upstairs nightclub in Milton Keynes on the Great Storm night.

I couldn't hear the wind for the music, but I looked out of the window and  the top of the street lights were moving a full metre side to side like puppies tails

and I wondered what the hell was happening.

 

The Winter of '63 - with snow, even in the Midlands, up to the window ledges, with my dad optimistically pushing his bike up the drive,

hoping to get to work.....

 

In the summer of 64  he arrived with a brand new white Ford Corsair.  It looked like something from a film to me. Stunning.

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22 hours ago, Sword said:

Yes, I remembered that well. Michael Fish so famously predicted that we would not be badly affected the night before. I woke up the next morning and was shocked to see that so many of the wooden garden fences and tress have fallen over. The wind blew off part of the school roof and the kids enjoyed an extended half term break.

Yes, our school was closed until the following Thursday. 

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3 hours ago, blakeyboy said:

I was working in an upstairs nightclub in Milton Keynes on the Great Storm night.

I couldn't hear the wind for the music, but I looked out of the window and  the top of the street lights were moving a full metre side to side like puppies tails

and I wondered what the hell was happening.

 

The Winter of '63 - with snow, even in the Midlands, up to the window ledges, with my dad optimistically pushing his bike up the drive,

hoping to get to work.....

 

In the summer of 64  he arrived with a brand new white Ford Corsair.  It looked like something from a film to me. Stunning.

My Dad had a photo album full of pics from that Winter. One that sticks in the mind are milk bottles on the doorstep in which the contents had obviously frozen, expanded and lifted the foil tops off - which looked like little silver hats on top of cream stalks. Also, the ice patterns on the inside of the windows of his bedroom. No double glazing or central heating in those days, and the overnight temperature in the bedroom itself was close to freezing point, he told me.     

 

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28 minutes ago, 1949threepence said:

Yes, our school was closed until the following Thursday. 

Mine too! It is incredible how well children remember an unexpected extension to a school holiday!

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4 hours ago, blakeyboy said:

The Winter of '63 - with snow, even in the Midlands, up to the window ledges, with my dad optimistically pushing his bike up the drive,

hoping to get to work.....

I remember that very well. We had gone to Grandma's for Christmas. It snowed on Boxing Day and you were faced with a wall of snow when you opened the back door. But it was the continual cold that even a 4 year old could remember, trying to sleep in an unheated room or moving in with Mum and Dad. Come New Year, my parents went back home as father had to work and I was left there for a month or two.

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Winter of '63 - my friend Stewart and I were having a snowball fight outside his house a day or two before school was due to resume after Christmas when our French master/deputy headmaster emerged from his house across the way and ordered us up to school the next day (through foot deep snow) to address letters to all the pupils to tell them that the school would be closed for another week. We meekly obeyed him and struggled up to school along with a few other unlucky victims - imagine what today's kids would say to their teacher in similar circumstances !!!!

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