I was 10 or 11 when The Beatles were releasing consecutive hit singles: Please Please Me, She Loves You yeah yeah yeah. They were on the radio, screaming Beatlemania on the BBC news. I was so excited I wanted to scream. Me and my three brothers formed a band: guitars made out of wood from an old smashed up piano, cardboard boxes for drums. We attempted growing mop tops during the summer holidays, but a short back 'n sides was required when back to school.
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How can I ever forget playing hop-skotch?
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O yes, we played that as well. It was usually the first game we were playing in spring when we were allowed to wear shorts again although it was still too chilly. 
We needed to play something that kept us warm. We often didnāt need chalk but scratched the grid and score into the ground with a little stick. Thanks for reminding me of the rules which I wouldnāt have remembered nor would I have thought that those rule would be available on the internet.
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Riding my Bikeā¦
Helping Dad in the gardenā¦
Sorting out them Injunsā¦
Getting a good strip wash after a busy dayā¦
And finally off to bed with Tedā¦
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That brings back memories Foxy.
When I used to stay with my grandparents Iād have to have a sink wash, they actually didnāt have a bath.
I took it in my stride and didnāt think twice about it. I couldnāt be quite so accepting today, and certainly no picciesā¦there are some members selfies we could do without! 
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I did all the usual things that children did in the 1950s. I also seem to remember a game called āStickā where we stood with our feet together on the grass then someone would throw a knife into the ground inches from one of our feet and we would have to move that foot to where the knife was and then it was thrown next to the second foot. This would continue until we couldnāt move our feet any further apart without falling over - the person who could get the furthest distance between their feet without falling was the winner. No-one was ever stabbed by the knife I hasten to add! Wouldnāt be allowed today for sure 
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ā¦or trike if you like. That must have cost an armā¦Great photos, Bob.
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What we were all into could depend somewhat on the area or environment we were brought up in but reading through the thread, there looks to be interests and pastimes that were common to many of us.
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Absolutely Margaret but we called it āStretchāā¦
āTin can Tommyā was also very popular. We used to stack tin cans up in a pyramid and throw a ball at them to knock them over. Two teams, one would run like mad when the cans went down and the other team would try and hit the opposing players with the ballā¦Once you got hit, you were outā¦
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I had a lovely childhood growing up on the coast. We swam and played on the sands in summer, when we got cold we ran over the marshes and jumped creeks to warm up. We made mud slides to slide down into the water and we covered ourselves in mud from head to foot to show off to holidaymakers who used to gasp ālook at those kidsā.
We had a very good playing field in the village with slide, swings, witches hat, climbing frame etc. great gangs of kids would gather in the summer evenings and we played rounders or had horse pepper fights. We all had penknives and pulled horse pepper up by the roots and then chop it into chunks and throw it at our opponents. Some people may know this plant as Alexanders.
Other times we played skipping games in our road. Bigger girls would have a huge rope across the road and would turn it so us younger ones could skip and we would learn all the skipping rhymes.
A friend and I used to sneak to a lonely field where a family kept ponies. We used to pretend they were ours and we would ride them bareback. Nearby was an old wooden Shepherds hut which we took over as our den so it was good to use when it rained.
I canāt imagine kids today had such a carefree childhood.
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They were great times back then. Almost without a worry, parents not fretting over what might happen. The days of innocence are long gone.
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