The Games we played
by Grafton Pearce Maggs
I look back on my childhood in the thirties as on halcyon days, a great deal of that happiness coming from shared moments with so many friends, playing in the street. In those pre-war days, Gloucester Place and its neighbouring streets, John Street and Westboume Place always seemed to be teeming with children. They played in groups, as determined by friendship and age and in spite of their numbers, there seemed to be no noise problem. I think this good behaviour was due to parental control and the fact that constables Jock Craiton and Ted Southall always seemed to be around the corner, knowing each and every one of us by name.
We were never bored, as there was a kaleidoscope of activities to join in, with the girls and boys tending to play in separate groups. The girls favoured games like ‘statues', hopscotch, skipping to such rhymes as 'salt-mustard-vinegar-pepper', tennis against the Vic wall and small groups would be showing early signs of domesticity, nursing dolls, knitting and corkwork. The boys favoured games like 'cat and dog', 'weak horses', French cricket, flicking cigarette cards, 'MOB'. 'outings' etc. Older lads sometimes made a 'devil-up-the-pipe', which was created by inserting a roll of newspaper in the bottom end of a drainpipe and igniting. If successful a strong updraught was created, drawing in air at an alarming rate which resulted in a dreadful howling noise reverberating up the pipe and causing some concern to the occupants of the house.
Less damaging was the 'Winter Warmer’—something I have not seen outside of Mumbles. A cocoa tin would have holes punched' in the lid and base. A piece of calico was inserted and set smouldering. The tin would be held at arms’ length and the owner would race up and down the street. The air rushing through the tin would cause the rag to burst into flame and the flames would stream out behind in spectacular fashion. Once static, the rag would return to a smoulder. This kept our hands warm, but there was a snag! With 20 or 30 children rushing up and down, a dense heavy fog would fill the street and dear Ned Way was heard to mutter, ‘it's like being back on the Somme’—and Ned knew all about gas on the Somme.
Then there were the seasonal games; conkers in the Autumn; whip and top (how I envied the skills of Mark Glover and Lennie Way who could belt a top 50yds with a flick of the wrist); metal hoops controlled by a rod and ring (the master here was Bernard Hullin). Summer saw the appearance of glass 'arlies’, these were beautifully coloured glass marbles bought from Steve Davies and played along the gutters to and from school. Windy days saw paper aeroplanes, my brother Colin swearing by greaseproof paper wings.
Every other year, the Corporation would spray hot liquid tar (gorgeous smell!) on the streets, throw shovelfuls of small clippings and then steam roller them in. Within minutes of the workmen moving on, hoards of children would descend on the road with little pieces of wood and scrape up the still molten tar on to the ends. A section of wall would be selected and laboriously, one's initials would be painted with the date and the year, hopefully preserved for posterity. In fact, the initials did last for many years and a careful look under the ivy along the church wall in Church Park will be rewarded with the remains of this early graffiti, done 70 plus years ago.
Glass Marbles
Winter evenings had magic all of their own. After tea we were allowed out to play for a few hours. The lamp posts in the street were foci for several groups of children, the favourite one being outside Torn Davies the baker's house. Here we were tolerated because Margaret and Elaine (his daughters) played with us. The evening usually started with me calling very respectfully ‘ Please, can Elaine come out to play, Mrs. Davies?’ Permission was usually granted and the girls would join us —Elaine with that lovely smile that always did something to my heart rate! Each lamp-post cast an island of soft, diffuse white light about 20 ft. across, surrounded by the relative darkness of the rest of the street. Within that circle we would group and discuss the games we would play, running out into the cold darkness and then drawn back like moths to the security of the light and our friends. Time would fly and soon it was 8 o'clock and one or more parents would give voice and, in spite of plaintive protests, would round up their charges. The street would become quiet again and the little white islands empty except for the occasional grown-up trespassing upon its territory.
These were some of the games we played, fuelled by Mary Taylor's sweets. Mary was a legend in her own time and she definitely had eyes in the back of her head. As she was once reaching into her window for a handful of toasted torpedoes or tiger nuts she muttered, ‘Keep thee hands to theeself, Grafton, I can see thee,’
A selection of articles by Grafton Maggs
Christmas in Mumbles between the Wars by Grafton Pearce Maggs
I was born in 1925, which implies that my conscious memory extends back to the late 1920s. So, by ‘Prior to World War Two’,
Going to the Tiv by Grafton Maggs
Another favourite pastime in the 1930s was ‘Going to the pictures.’ It was a special occasion with an excitement far exceeding that of a visit to the impersonal ...
The Saturday Tuppenny Tradition by Grafton Maggs
I remember so well those cold, drizzly, winter mornings, waking, as a little lad, to the soft grey light that filtered through the bedroom curtains.
They are giving away free ice-cream at Forte's by Grafton Maggs
Our generation was expert on ice cream in the thirties and with some justification as the days of the great mass producers had not arrived.
Village Schooldays by Grafton Pearce Maggs
‘Schooldays are the happiest days of your life!’, expressed a sentiment with which I have never been in full harmony.
The Instant Army that came from Nowhere by Grafton Maggs
May 2010 came, and went, remembered mainly for one thing. A General Election which, after all the counting . . .
Some members of ‘C’ Coy (Mumbles) 12th Bn. Home Guard recalled by Grafton Maggs & Duncan Bishop
Any additional names or details would be welcome