Wincingly Cringeworthy

Hello David McKee sadly died about a month ago.  He was 87, which is a good innings in anybody's book. You're probably thinking... who? To tell the truth, I'd have been doing the same. If you'd mentioned the name "Michael Bond" to me I'd automatically have a mental picture of... "Paddington Bear". Oliver Postgate (good name!)......

Almost 50 years later this still sends shivers down my spine... and not in a good way. It's in the same category as scraping fingers down the blackboard for many people (which strangely I don't mind that at all, do you?)... Honestly... I feel unforfortable writing this and bringing back the memories... The incredible power of triggers......

As you can probably guess, it's not a bad job to be the person behind the virtual counter in an online sweetshop. Aside from being surrounded by sweets (ahhhh the smell!) and taste-testing a gazillion new ones to see which will make it onto AQuarterOf.co.uk, we also get to embark on the occasional fun project. And that's what we did a smidg...

As Vic Reeves would have said... "You wouldn't let it lie...". Brace yourself for a nostalgic rant... Don't you find it depressing how many reboots there are... They take something that worked in the past... And "bring it up to date". Uggghhh. It could be a film e.g. Mary Poppins... It could be a television programme e.g. Haw...

I took William, our 13 year old, shopping the other day to buy a new pair of trainers.   The old ones had lasted about 3 months until he grew out of them...  Pesky meddling adolescence! It was an experience... There is a brand... which I refuse to name but I bet you can probably guess which one it is... which makes very...

As I look out of the window here the sky is grey and it's raining. Back in the day, before there was 24 hour a day entertainment for children (on-demand television so you can watch whatever you like whenever you like, tablets etc etc), it was the sort of day that we'd mope around, bored. At the time being bored seemed to be the worst thing ...

Back at the end of the 70s a new, how did they come up with that idea, programme appeared on BBC2.  I can remember if it was on Sunday afternoon or, and I think I'd probably plump for this if I had to, at about 6.30 on a Wednesday or Thursday evening. It was called "The Great Egg Race". Ring any bells? The premise was simple... T...

As I'm doing mundane stuff around the house and in the garden I spend a whole load of my time trying to think of obscure nuggets of things that I remember from when I was little.  Not the most obvious stuff... that just doesn't have it (whatever "it" is).  But the leftfield stuff which we've probably all almost forgotten about... Th...

How many of these childhood Christmas memories can you remember?

The devil is in the detail they say... and that was certainly true when it came to tokens at Christmas. One, in particular, made my heart sink when I was 9...

Remember Stickle Bricks?  Take a trip down toy memory lane...

Do you agree with my controversial list of the worst biscuits ever? ... from an 8 year old's perspective anyway...

How many of these can you remember?  Have I left out your favourite?

How many of these memories remind you of birthday parties when you were little?

Iconic foods you thought had long since disappeared... or have they???

It was one of the staple puddings of school dinners at our junior school. In the queue I would repeat to myself internally... "Please don't let it be... please don't let it be..."... willing it with all my might.  What was it?

I say that these are the most nostalgic snacks ever. Or am I wrong?  You decide...

Remember when the coolest cats wore orange foam headphones?

Did did you do this too on Sunday afternoons?

They wrote well.  They leaked horribly.  But what else were they really good for?  

They were unscratchable... and you could smear them with butter and jam, pour coffee over them... wipe'em down and then pay them. Because Tomorrow's World said so!

Do you remember tribbles?  Or this song from 1987 that was number 1 for two weeks?

There's one item from my childhood that stands head and shoulders above all others as being completely and horribly unfit for purpose.

What's brown and not very sticky?

Bird goes up, bird goes down, bird goes up, bird goes down...

How many Saturday morning tv programmes can you remember from over the years? Here's a load of them to rekindle some memories.  How many can you remember?

It's Frothy Man!

Memories of going back to school after the long summer hols...

Remember buying cereal just for the fab toy inside the box?

​Do you remember this from when we used to watch television programmes at school?

Was he really married to a former lap dancer?

A pedal down childhood bikes memory lane!

Remember this from the 1970s? It's orange juice... but not as we know it! 

Loads of memories of the most nostalgia-inducing ice lollies from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Which was your favourite?

Back in the 70’s there was a British toy company called Palitoy. Ring any bells? They made my sister’s favourite doll at the time Penny Puppywalker But they also made Pocketeers... remember them?

Did you get the 1990’s music reference in the title? See more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF2ayWcJfxo When I say hmmm I don’t mean it in a good way… these are things where manufacturers seemed hell-bent on spoiling really good things with rubbish options. For instance… (and I was going to paste a picture here but clearly the manufac...

What happened each December, about now, that got us so excited?

Remember Tim? We phoned him up and he always told us the same thing. What am I on about?

What's missing today which was abundant when we were little?

The battle of "new and improved" vs "classic original recipe".