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Monday 28 April 2008

More Childhood Memories....


It was uncommon, when I was young, for working class people to have a car, but my uncle Adam had one. My Dad and his brother (Adam) went into business together and a couple of years on the business must have been doing well because Uncle Adam and Aunty Peggy bought a car. Uncle and Aunty had no children, just a Scottie dog called Morag, so they could afford a lot more luxuries than Mum and Dad, who had myself (8) and my brother (3) to provide for.


I thought the car was wonderful. I think it was a Ford Anglia, off white with a Salmon Pink roof, Aunty made a point of telling everyone the colour of the roof as though it was really important. To me the car was the height of luxury and Uncle and Aunty used to take us all out for a ride often, and as they paid for the petrol it meant that we had more outings than if we'd had to do the outings on the coach. I don’t think it was a big car but we managed quite well, Dad used to sit in the front with Uncle, Mum would sit in the back with brother on her knee, Aunty would also be in the back with Morag on her knee and I sat on a little stool in the back too. Of course there were no seat belts in cars in then and no thoughts regarding health and safety either!


I loved the outings in the car, we’d go to Blackpool or the Lake District, or just a drive in the country. We used to sing songs whilst riding along like ‘Ten Green Bottles’ and ‘There were 10 in the bed and the little one said, Roll Over, Roll Over’ or ‘We’re off, we’re off, we’re off in a motor car’. Uncle Adam was so much fun I adored him. I remember one particular time we had gone on a little jaunt and had to park the cark in a multi storey car park. As we were driving up the ramps into the car park Uncle said “you’ll all have to lean forward going up here so we don’t roll back!” Well of course we all leant forward, except my Dad who was laughing his head off. We always took a picnic which Mum and Aunty had lovingly prepared and I think that’s where my love of eating ‘al fresco’ originated.


I used to like dogs until Morag bit me! I was dancing with Uncle Adam one time when Morag jumped up and took a chunk out of my leg. It scared the living bejebus out of me and I was hysterical, I have been wary of dogs ever since, except our own lovely crossbred Guinness. So, as you can imagine, I really didn’t like sharing the back of the car with Morag on our trips. Morag and I would sit eyeing each other up and sometimes she used to bear her teeth at me and growl lowly if she thought I was having too much fun, she knew I was scared of her. Eventually Morag and I called a truce and she would even sit on my knee and let me stroke her head, but I still didn’t trust or like her very much! Anyway it was a small price to pay for being able to go out in the car.


I have such happy memories of our family trips in the car but once brother number 2 arrived a couple of years later there wasn’t enough room in the car for all of us, so the trips came to an end, well until a few years later when Dad passed his driving test and we got our very own family car. Now our grandchildren are so used to being ferried about in cars that if they go on a bus or a train it's a big thrill for them.

Oh happy Days!

35 comments:

Flowerpot said...

our great excitement at weekends was to go up to Dartmoor for a picnic in our car. I cant remember what it was bt my dad was so proud of it!

buffalodick said...

My dad sold Buicks from 1957 until retirement. Imagine having a big, new car just about every month! When someone sold the car(demonstrator) we'd get another one!

x said...

sounds like you had a wonderful childhood, akelamalu! except for the dog bit, partly. but you must have a lot of adventures as a little girl. =)

Anonymous said...

That's a nice memory. I can remember picniking wiht my family and how much I enjoyed that.

Anonymous said...

That's a nice memory. I can remember picniking wiht my family and how much I enjoyed that.

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

we had a 1947 packard and would take rides on country roads and the backseat had the gas or exhaust fumes and i would get SO carsick on those rides. there was never a bathroom either, we would stop in a graveyard and go behind a tombstone. i don't have a fond memory there! ha ha ha

smiles, bee
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

CG said...

My dad had a ford Anglia; pale blue it was. I was terribly car sick in it! My kids think a bus or train ride is such a novelty too LOL

Ali said...

What a lovely memory. I sometimes think it a shame our kids have so much, maybe they don't appreciate what they do have, but p'haps they will have fond memories in later life of something different.

Dumdad said...

Ford Anglia - that brings back some memories. Lovely car.

When I was little and we lived in Yorkshire my dad had a Humber Hawk. Very swish, we thought. But with five kids holiday jaunts were quite daunting. The car would be crammed with seven people (three in the front) and suitcases and bags as we made our way to the Dales. And we'd all get car-sick as my father smoked as he drove. And, of course, no seat belts. Happy days!

Akelamalu said...

Ah simple pleasures Flowerpot :)

How lucky were you Buff? :)

Yes I can honestly say I had a happy childhood Acey, well apart from the dog bite!

I still love picnics Citizen

I used to car sick too Bee,so uncle had to keep stopping so I could get out and take some fresh air.

It's amazing how many of us were car sick isn't it CG and yet we still have good memories of car rides?

Oh yes our kids will have memories just as good but of different things Ali probably a bus ride!

Crikey Dumdad you got more in your car than we got in ours! LOL

Cath said...

Strange isn't it how times change? My children are the same and are thrilled to go on a train or a bus. They have a lot of luxuries our kids and they just don't realise.

I remember the ford anglia - and a triumph herald! Ah - those were the days. Great memories.

Sorry I've not been over in a while. Real life keeps intruding on blog life!

Jo Beaufoix said...

Hee hee, I loved that. My kids love going on the bus or train, they get so excited. Miss M yells 'bus' whenever she sees one like they're very rare. :D

Laura Jane Williams said...

Don't little brothers just spoil everything...?!

Sandi McBride said...

My mortality got a wake up call when Daddy was taken ill last week (he's doing very very well) and my memoried, like yours, have overwhelmed me. I loved this post, and the dog named Morag (I had a Scottish Aunt named Morag...often wondered why anyone would name a child such an awful thing, lol...it would offend her greatly to know that there was dog with her name! Wonderful post
Sandi

Travis Cody said...

What a wonderful memory!

Ron said...

What a wonderful story and memory, Akelamalu!

I felt like I was there with you!

Isn't it amazing how (and not too long ago) cars were the ULTIMATE luxury? And now...it's a NECESSITY?

Times are CHANGING!!!

Great share!

Elaine Denning said...

My Dad had a few cars when I was a girl but my favourite by far was his Ford Zephyr. It had a huge bench seat in the front and I used to sit right next to him and roll his cigarettes. Great times!

Pam said...

never heard of that car before, but i do have some photos of me sitting on top of my dad's cars. we had some really cool ones through the years...excpet i don't think our green station wagon was cool, but it was very roomy for family trips!

love your childhood memories...i have many of my own, too, just wish i could remember them! LOL jk i remember some..may have to share sometime. i just know that we've always had some type of car for as long as i can remember.

Unknown said...

I also remember those grand times when it was a special treat for all of us to pile into the car and make a whole day's adventure just to be together and drive and stop on the side of the road to get out and have a picnic pick flowers and sing. My mother and father would turn the radio up and dance and we would all love to be together and share a cloud and the sunshine. We would stay out until late at night and then return home and dad would carry us all in to the house one at a time and put us into bed.
Thank you for the memory.

Akelamalu said...

Our luxuries were very simple compared to our kids' weren't they Cath?

Our's love going on the steam train or tram Jo!

LOL they certainly do GIM!

Don't tell your Aunt about the dog Sandi, thought I think Morag is Scottish for little girl so they could be forgiven for calling the dog that! Glad to hear your Dad is doing OK now, it's a really worry isn't it?

Thanks Trav x

Oh yes an absolute necessity now Ron, but I'm looking forward to getting my free bus pass next year when MWM and I will take full advantage of it!

You rolled your Dad's fags Miss U? I bet that skill came in handy later didn't it? LOL

Sometimes memories just overwhelm you don't they Ciara, I find it best to write them down when that happens and maybe use them at a later date - when the memory is fading! :(

Oh those were the days eh Dave! :)

Suburbia said...

I just love the look of cars from that era. A salmon pink roof! Now cars are so uninteresting in camparison!

escape said...

that's a sad experience with a dog. i love dogs and so far i didn't experience fiery dog acts.

you really have good memory.

Akelamalu said...

You can get some fabulously coloured cars now - I'd love a pink one suburbia!

Ah the memory thing dong - when you get to my age it's yesterday you can't remember not years ago! :(

Anonymous said...

Ahhh the good ol' days. For some of us they're ol'er than others... Lol!

bindhiya said...

Beautiful memories...Thanks for sharing with us...
Please stop by my blog...I have something for you :))

bindi

Linda said...

We used to take some wonderful car trips when I was a kid though I'm not sure how my parents put up with four kids on a road trip! Of course, that's back when gas was quite reasonably priced and a Sunday drive was the best way to spend the day.

My grandfather also used to pile a good six or seven of us grandkids in the back of his big ole' car and take us for Sunday drives, too, and those are some of my best memories ever! We never really went anywhere but it didn't matter because we were all together and having a great time.

Those were the days ...

Lo Kelween said...

i have not been bitten by dogs but i have seen one and it's terrible looking...the worse part is...you might get rabies...

we couldn't drive our old junk car for more than 2 hours, otherwise coz....it's too old to travel! hehe :)

the rotten correspondent said...

I still remember my dad's white convertible T-bird. I couldn't have been more than three.

It's really weird.

MarmiteToasty said...

Oh such lovely memories you have......

My dad use to have a pale blue Cortina when I was about 9, it was a 'works car'........ the car before that was a little tiny blue Austin A40....

I would LOVE an Anglia today lol.... or a morris minor :)

x

Akelamalu said...

I hope you're not inferring I'm old Josh! ;)

Thanks Bindi, I'll be over shortly. :)

Oh yes, those were the days Linda :)

You have an old junk car eh Elween? Still that's better than none!

That's brilliant that you can remember from when you were 3 years old RC!

The cars then had so much character didn't they Marmie?

Marianne said...

This is a lovely memory, it's a gift to be able to recall it all so vividly, I can hardly remember what I had for breakfast! Morag sounds hilarious, what a character.

Neoma said...

When we were kids we got so much pleasure out of family outings......now, my kids, won't go anywhere with us. I miss that. But they always want to stay home. Not sure why kids are so different today, but they are not so easily entertained as we were...

Akelamalu said...

Ah my short term memory is nowhere near as good as my long term memory Marianne ;)

I think because we didn't have much in the way of material things when we were kids we enjoyed simple pleasure so much more Nea. Kids to day have just about everything don't they?

Lifeless in Ohio said...

You have a nice way of telling family stories. I have enjoyed reading about your uncle, and I do like your music. I would like to invite you to check out Slice of Life Sunday which features family stories much like this one. I hope you will consider being a contributing writer. I do enjoy your writing.

Mother of Invention said...

WE used to fight over the window seats and who had to sit in the middle on the Hump!!! Our poor parents!
We sang a lot though and it was fun.