things that seemed impossible. On TV we had Dr. Who that was set in time and the future, but Mr Reece's stories were out of this world with talk of small phones the size of a box of swan vesta or watches that were two way radio and memory sticks that would contain the complete encyclopaedia or  all the words in the English dictionary, you could phone your house to switch the lights on and warm up the house. All this around a story that kept us on the edge of our seats.

This got me thinking of the things we did as children in the early sixties and what the children of today have! I have left some blank spaces, so send in your memories.

TO ALL THE Children WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's 40's, 50's, AND 60's

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and / or drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints that we would chew each night. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets.  As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a lorry or truck on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cakes and sweets, white bread and real butter and drank lemonade with sugar, but we weren't overweight because we were always outside playing. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K. There was only one phone in the street  and you asked permission to use it. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then  ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into  the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games or computers at all, no Internet or Internet chat rooms no 199 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones,  we had friends and we went outside and found them! We always had a ball. We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given spud guns for our 10th birthdays, made up  games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen,  we did not put out anybody's eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! If a policeman clipped our ear and our Dad found out we knew we get another one from him

Despite this our generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years  have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If you are one CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with your children so they will know how brave their parents were.

Who Fancies a trip down TV Memory Lane??? to see the TV programmes we used to watch as children click here This will show your age!

Oh and Mr Rees if you are still with us, did Peter, John and the girls ever get back home?

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