Even though it was war-time, my parents did take me to the seaside on rare occasions during World War Two because my mother liked the sea air. But the beaches were mined and barbed wire prevented entry. It took a number of years to clear the beaches after the war, so children of my generation grew up without ever paddling or swimming in the sea.
In my childhood in the 1940s it was entirely normal to see red squirrels scampering around; not a grey squirrel was ever in sight.
In the very harsh winter of 1947, crowds of people went ice-skating on the local pond. I am now confident that it must have been dangerous to commit the weight of so many people to pond ice, but apparently they got away with it.
If you have an old photo which would illustrate the way of life described on this page, I would very much appreciate a copy. Pat Cryer
I believe that I was extremely lucky to grow up in the 1940s and early 1950s. Life never felt hard, and children were provided the best possible of advantages:
A few years earlier and my generation would have been required to risk their lives fighting; there would have been no NHS, no free grammar schools, and no grants for university. There was a period of turmoil after the war while things were settling down. So our education would surely have suffered.
A few years later, with the deterioration of grants, I doubt if my father would ever have afforded to send me to University. I have been very lucky and am all too aware that others were less so.
The 1940s and 1950s are also written as the 1940's and 1950's.
This page gives some random recollections from my childhood in 1940s wartime Britain: visits to the seaside; red squirrels; and ice-skating on a frozen pond. Why it was a good time to grow up.