Hotmetal There is a dimension between teatime and the cheese fondue… between the first pint of Double Diamond and the Bell’s or Irish Coffee at the end of the night. In the pit of man’s stomach… we call it the Twiglet Zone.

All massive blasts from the past…in our house, mainly around Christmas time…not the Fondue of course, far too posh for my parents. My dad loved making Irish coffee and floating the cream on it with the spoon….I liked drinking it to…there you go, I admitted it. I would still have a go today, except you have to use so much sugar to make the cream float, and I don’t use sugar.

One of the things I do remember were the family holidays to Butlins…don’t laugh, but I was only little, and I thought the place was magical….we used to go to the one in Bognor Regis. Disneyworld for the Brits.

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    Ha, Bognor Butlins! Me and the lads went there not sooooo long ago for a Ska weekender, which wasn’t 100% Ska, they had Dr and the Medics, Bad Manners (Buster Bloodvessel is now rather slim), a Madness tribute band, Pauline Black out of the Selecter and even Toyah Wilcox banging out Thunder in the Mountains. Memory Lane indeed.

    I used to love Irish coffee, not exactly diet friendly though was it? Very 70s/80s. Used to have one at the end of a meal at the Berni Inn…

    DavecUK It was indeed the puppet one from ’62.
    This should play from just before the “Gamma Rays on, Yobba Rays on” launch sequence,
    I particularly liked the sets and scratch built a few of the buildings.

    I didn’t see many of the “Twiglet Zone” episodes. (as we called it…)

      OMG Butlins! We used to go to to Minehead ( Bournmouth was too close to home to Portsmouth and wouldn’t have seemed like going away) and as a kid I absolutely loved it. I remember having our meals in these big halls on long tables with all the other holiday makers. The free funfair, the penny arcades, chasing the guy dressed as a pirate and throwing him in the pool. When you arrived you were put in a different house (a bit like Harry Potter) and we used to have friendly but very competative competitions against each other. Glamorous Granny and knobbly knees competions and not forgetting the free entertainment, comedians, singers, magicians, dancers and of course the Red Coates. Kids today would just roll their eyes and carry on heads down engrossed in their phones.

      The swimming pool with the large glass viewing panel so that you could see under the water like you can do in seaworld to look at the sharks. You went to one of the areas/bars where you got a drink to see it, all the people’s bottom halfs and ocassionally whole if the swam underwater, which I’m not sure is still there or would be allowed today.

      We did go to Pontins (book early as Fred used to say) Southport one year, but it wasn’t a patch on Butlins so went back there the following year.

        Pompeyexile The swimming pool, I remember, especially the roof with the Parrots. Floating on my back looking up at it all.

        The Cafe below, where people could look through the glass sides…you’re right, wouldn’t be allowed today.

        Happy days……The best thing of all about a Butlins holiday, even when I was 8….I could bugger off all day long and my Parents would only see me at breakfast and when I was asleep in the Chalet.

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          Yep, you felt as safe as houses at Butlins…my old mum never had a worry when like you I went out after breakfast and she didn’t see me for hours. Plus, because of the amount of Red Coates wandering around there was always someone you could go to if you needed.

            Pompeyexile A little more of that today wouldn’t go amiss…I wonder when it all went wrong. As kids, were were about 10-11 and we used to go out all day long trekking miles into the woods at Wisley common. Or go Night fishing…..just as a group of kids.

            You can’t do that today.

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              I don’t know if there is more danger out there for kids today or if because of social media and wider reporting it is just ‘seen’ more. There were still monsters out there targeting kids (Brady & Hindley) so why weren’t our parents so worried and like you, allowed me go out all day to the woods or on my bike for miles? Blimey I remember going on a really long bike ride and didn’t think twice about knocking on a stranger’s house door and asking for a drink.

              As for making dens in woods or going on adventures on bikes with their mates today, phones have ruined that. If I wanted to talk to my mates I used to go round their house…today? they don’t even need to get out of bed and they would rather play a video game than actually go out and use their imagination and skills in playing.

              We used to be out all day on our bikes or in the woods making camps or in the farmers fields piling the hay up and jumping out of the tree into the hay till it got dark. No one bothered you and you came home when you were hungry. As far as Butlins that was the bees knees the fun you could have. I remember eating in the large dining rooms on the long tables and when someone dropped any cutlery the roar in the room was mad. Talk about feeling embarrassed if it was you luckily I never dropped anything.

              Just now I was reminded of this…remember watching it on TV. The SAS certainly didn’t take any shit.

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                DavecUK I remember watching this live on TV while at work, Kate Adie lost it in a big way…

                    Rob666 I remember watching this live on TV while at work, Kate Adie lost it in a big way…

                    I seem to remember terrorism took a slight downward turn after that…the SAS considered the best in the world and probably still are today.

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                        DavecUK I seem to remember terrorism took a slight downward turn after that…the SAS considered the best in the world and probably still are today.

                        He Who Dares Wins Rodney!

                            5 days later

                            Above was the horse called trigger..

                            Now I’m remembering a time when things seemed to taste better in the past, I guess stuff had less additives?

                            • Milkshakes made with real milk, not water and powder
                            • The 1970s Wimpy and Chips…tasted fantastic and that plastic tomato on the table filled with Ketchup…64 wimpy franchises left in the UK?
                            • The Knickerbocker Glory (remember that one)
                            • At Butlins…the Golden Egg (diners/cafes)…a plateful of disappointment
                            • A time when Fish and chip shops were really good in the South and you got the imprint of an old newspaper on your food because they used the oil based ink

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                            When I was a pup my brother and I would take our go-kart walk around knocking on doors asking for old newspapers.We then took them to the local chippy and traded them in for a bag of chips and scraps. So, there you have it, two for the price of one; eating and being educated all at the same time.

                            I remember being in a Wimpy once as a kid and an American family walked in and ordered a burger and chips and after seeing what was presented to them, took one look at it and walked out in disgust.

                            Sweet cigarettes and that brown stringy stuff made out of coconut and put in a packet to look like tobacco called Spanish Gold… Don’t think those would be allowed today.


                              Pompeyexile Sweet cigarettes and that brown stringy stuff made out of coconut and put in a packet to look like tobacco called Spanish Gold… Don’t think those would be allowed today.

                              I agree, in fact, I believe sweet cigarettes are called something else now and I don’t think have the red bit on the end. I used to love Spanish Gold and had forgotten all about it!

                              It’s amazing how parents and companies thought it was OK to sell these products to kids and I wonder how much influence the tobacco companies had on this behind the scenes… e.g. paying for advertising, development and other things.

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                                I also remember the sweet cigarettes but did not like the peculiar taste they had.

                                Also remember the Spanish gold, this was one of my favourites, remember it being in a tube of yellowish paper about 100 mm X 20 mm. I still like shredded coconut today.