Random recollections from 1940s England

Visits to the seaside

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.

Red squirrels

In my childhood in the 1940s it was entirely normal to see red squirrels scampering around; not a grey squirrel was ever in sight.

Ice skating

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.

The best time to have been born and grow up

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.

This website Join me in the 1900s is also known as Join me in the 1900's and is © Pat Cryer.