So who built a den when a kid?

I came from Cyclops st Grimesthorpe, i played on a small field and what we called

the tip lots of street kids would collect any old wood and build a hut.

We used old railway sleepers and corrugated sheets and tarpaulin a chap use

to bring us. If you were lucky like we were we had a small drop leaf table given us

and an old 2 seater settee what binmen should have took away.

Still got the scar on my finger i cut on the corrugated steel sheet.

Loverly days, kids can't make their own Enterainment like we did.

Happy days. Brian

Brian, would that be the field that was below Cyclops Street leading to Petre Street or across Petre Street -which was a real tip- the back of which overlooked the quarry behind the 'Who Can Tell' ?

Brian, would that be the field that was below Cyclops Street leading to Petre Street or across Petre Street -which was a real tip- the back of which overlooked the quarry behind the 'Who Can Tell' ?

------------

Hi Stpetre, Yes that right the field across Cyclops st, it had pigeon cyotes

on that tip, Tommy Ward and Johnny Butler had pigeons on there. Brian

As the mother of three small kids I can tell you that they certainly can make their own entertainment! However kids that are seen alone playing in woods, abandoned buildings etc are branded as 'feral'.

Do you actually know any children?

Certainly did build them. In Bowden Houstead woods, on the Manor fields ( behind City Rd Cemetry), in Buck Woods and other nearby woodland. The best place we ever had was on a narrow strip of land between the gardens of houses on Stonecliffe Road and Harborough Avenue on the Manor estate. It was accessible only by climbing over a wall with a 4 or 5 foot chainlink fence on top and, apart from campfire smoke, invisible from the outside.

It was probably the only one we made rainproof courtesy of some flexible plywood sheets wedged between branches of shrubs.

I lived on Deerlands Ave more or less opposite park gates. We were always building dens on the back field. Had some great fun. Them were the days. The kids today don't know what its like to play out all day with friends. Doing the things we used to get up to. They don't know what they are missing.

Built one in the coach inspection pit of my grandfathers coach garage.

Yes we did on Grimesthorpe best times of my life some of the things we found would be worth hundreds today loved it !

We once found some old clocks in a derelict house. Some of them were in glass domes others looked like carriage clocks there were all kinds of clocks. We used them for target practice not realising their possible worth.

In the early 60s we found an old air raid shelter on derelict ground adjacent to the Pheasant (lane Top). We clambered into the hole to get inside and found loads of stuff ie,tinned food , tin hats and other war stuff like gas masks and so on. Spent weeks down there in the summer hols playing war game. We lit it up with candles and it was fantastic. To our horror the bulldozers moved in and ruined it all. Oh well......

Those corrugated iron sheets ffrom disused Anderson Shelters made good dens.

my brothers built an underground den with corrugated sheets .grass sods on top and a wooden beer barrel for the shute to get in it . i used to pinch my dads biggest gooseberries from bush and sit in den to eat them . those were the best days.

I think every normal lad in the fifties built a den with the mod cons, a fire with a chimney ( a piece of old drainpipe) those were the days. I do have a mate who never ever did the things that normal lads did, never went train spotting, never collected birds eggs, never read comics all he thought about was football and other sport. Very sad really a lost opportunity of childhood.

We built a den in my mate's garden. Bricks, broken up soap boxes, tarpaulin roof, grate, chimney. We used to go in for a secret smoke thinking our parents wouldn't smell our clothes later. A girl got a bit over amorous in there one day and lunged at me. We broke through one side of the den and landed in next door's rhubarb patch.

We built a den in my mate's garden. Bricks, broken up soap boxes, tarpaulin roof, grate, chimney. We used to go in for a secret smoke thinking our parents wouldn't smell our clothes later. A girl got a bit over amorous in there one day and lunged at me. We broke through one side of the den and landed in next door's rhubarb patch.

I'll bet you crumbled at her advances, eh, mike.

echo.