Childhood camping--sometimes a privilege, sometimes a punishment. I can go either way.
I once went to a chiropractor who said it was no wonder I had neck issues due to my "enormous" head. (Which is what every teen girl longs to hear.) I told him I needed it, as it held my enormous brain and never went back. Then I felt guilty for being rude, despite his rudeness. (Teen girl.)
What a bedside manner! That was a good answer, Lyndsey - isn’t it galling that you then felt guilty? I wrote a bit about rude doctors a few weeks ago. This one’s up there with them!
I love the way my parents weren’t precious about their vehicles back then. I guess it’s because it was post-war Britain and we didn’t have much money. My Mum was knitting once in said van, probably before the engine lid over-heated and scorched my bum, when her ball of wool fell through a hole in the floor. I can remember her being most indignant that my Dad wouldn’t stop and go back for it!
That is so funny, Rosy! We had similar vehicles when I was growing up. And my mum was always knitting, and us children were always getting our bottoms sorted by something - car engines, those dreadful plastic seats cars had, radiators...
Ah! This brought back memories of our family holidays when we set off down to Cornwall in an old van. The engine had a metal cover with a handle and was between the driver & passenger seat. I loved sitting on it until we had travelled a few miles and it got too hot and I had to scoot over and sit on my Mum’s lap.
Sadly, we never had a Bubble car but I adored them! I have Bubble car envy. Looking back, I think I just liked the name!
Funny memories Wendy. I remember my Dad trying to teach my Mum to drive and being in the back of a Marina as she bunny hopped around Kwiksave’s car park.
I was feeling your mother’s torment having endured a horror camping trip of my own. It did involve a 5 star reprieve in the middle of Australia. Many baths taken. Time for some lovely story comparisons with your sister. I wonder what her view was?
Oh, the 5 star reprieve sounds a tonic! Maybe you should write about that trip?!
Perceptive of you to use the word 'torment' there, Lisa. So much friction in their marriage. But they did both love camping, despite their different approaches to packing. Long after they owned that car, they would still go to bubble car rallies into their seventies, pitching a tent.
This brought back memories of 5 of us, plus a granny or two, stuck into the back of our ford hatchback to go camping. My dad used to turn off the engine when going downhill to save petrol. Such a great article and memories thank you and it's brilliant the guy contacted you and Herbie lived to tell another tale!
Haha! Turning off the engine to go downhill! What a wheeze! The number of people who got in the back of a car before seatbelts were compulsory is quite scary.
Mike’s first memory of being in a car was driven from Nottingham to St Albans down the M1 in a BMW bubble car about a decade earlier. He first threw up somewhere near Loughborough.
Funny, the things we remember. I was once on a bus with my ex in Nottingham (a city I don't know well), having used their 'Park and Ride' to get into the centre, and getting to a certain point in a street that was otherwise completely unfamiliar and exclaiming 'oh, this was where my sister threw up!' That had been a journey I took with my dad and sister years and years earlier.
Great piece! We didn't have a car, but this brought back hilarious memories of my Aunt's legendary Reliant Robin. Every lift home would be a nail-biting adventure - especially the roundabouts! :D
Thanks, Sarah! Lord yes, Reliant Robins were so unstable! In that same episode of Top Gear I mentioned where Jeremy Clarkson commented on Isettas, The Stig drives a Reliant Robin round a race track to see if he can keep it upright. He can't!
Love this. I recall traveling with a frozen rack of apple juice cans to keep food cold in the cooler in the back of our 64 Volvo. I love that you’d sit all day waiting to leave. And I recall seeing Herbie the Love Bug at the drive in with my mother and brother.. what’s a Stacker??? Inquiring American minds want to know. Also a boiled sweet?
Thank you, Eliza! Stackers were similar to Pringles. And boiled sweets I think would be called hard candy in the States? Good point! I will add a note!
I just looked up 64 Volvo and that looks a good old classic. I coveted a Ford Capri, with the long bonnet!
My dad drove us around Scotland in a Morris Minor in '62. I was 5 so I don't remember much. Long car rides put me to sleep. Must have been heavy head syndrome. Thx 😊
A Reliant 3 Wheeler Van, (Trotter style), Getting Closer to the Top of a Wold's Hill, (Obviously a bit Overloaded Wieghtwise - in the throes of a Sunday Treat -a Trip to the Local Tip).....Slowly Starts to Roll Downhill Backwards.
Managed to eventually Stall, Restart, and Wheeze on Upwards to Finally Reach the Pinnacle.
What a wonderful post, Wendy! I enjoyed it so much. I spent much of my childhood camping - a camper van and tent combo. My sister and I were just talking this morning about how I need to write a post about our (many, many) camping trips to Swanage (from Southampton!).
Childhood camping--sometimes a privilege, sometimes a punishment. I can go either way.
I once went to a chiropractor who said it was no wonder I had neck issues due to my "enormous" head. (Which is what every teen girl longs to hear.) I told him I needed it, as it held my enormous brain and never went back. Then I felt guilty for being rude, despite his rudeness. (Teen girl.)
What a bedside manner! That was a good answer, Lyndsey - isn’t it galling that you then felt guilty? I wrote a bit about rude doctors a few weeks ago. This one’s up there with them!
It was hard-wired in. BE GOOD. BE PLEASANT. Thankful I had the soul-wasteful part of that lifed out of me.
Oh, perfectly put, Lyndsey. Love it.
I love the way my parents weren’t precious about their vehicles back then. I guess it’s because it was post-war Britain and we didn’t have much money. My Mum was knitting once in said van, probably before the engine lid over-heated and scorched my bum, when her ball of wool fell through a hole in the floor. I can remember her being most indignant that my Dad wouldn’t stop and go back for it!
Ha! Priorities!
That is so funny, Rosy! We had similar vehicles when I was growing up. And my mum was always knitting, and us children were always getting our bottoms sorted by something - car engines, those dreadful plastic seats cars had, radiators...
Ah! This brought back memories of our family holidays when we set off down to Cornwall in an old van. The engine had a metal cover with a handle and was between the driver & passenger seat. I loved sitting on it until we had travelled a few miles and it got too hot and I had to scoot over and sit on my Mum’s lap.
Sadly, we never had a Bubble car but I adored them! I have Bubble car envy. Looking back, I think I just liked the name!
Aye. Those were the days.
Thanks, Rosy.
Yes, what they lacked in comfort, bubble cars made up for in cuteness.
And yes, weird where some of those old vehicles put the engines!
Funny memories Wendy. I remember my Dad trying to teach my Mum to drive and being in the back of a Marina as she bunny hopped around Kwiksave’s car park.
Thanks, Margaret. I’m just reminding myself what the Morris Marina looked like. Yep, I can picture learning to drive in that!
Although there was obviously no room for another, I was there with you. “Your mother’s having a bath”, hilarious.
We’d have squeezed you in somehow, Lisa!
My sister’s visiting me at the moment and she’d forgotten about mum going for a bath! It brought it all back!
I was feeling your mother’s torment having endured a horror camping trip of my own. It did involve a 5 star reprieve in the middle of Australia. Many baths taken. Time for some lovely story comparisons with your sister. I wonder what her view was?
Oh, the 5 star reprieve sounds a tonic! Maybe you should write about that trip?!
Perceptive of you to use the word 'torment' there, Lisa. So much friction in their marriage. But they did both love camping, despite their different approaches to packing. Long after they owned that car, they would still go to bubble car rallies into their seventies, pitching a tent.
Bless them, bubble car rallies, another thing to remember just for a giggle.
The dog's bollox! I spit out my tea!
This brought back memories of 5 of us, plus a granny or two, stuck into the back of our ford hatchback to go camping. My dad used to turn off the engine when going downhill to save petrol. Such a great article and memories thank you and it's brilliant the guy contacted you and Herbie lived to tell another tale!
Haha! Turning off the engine to go downhill! What a wheeze! The number of people who got in the back of a car before seatbelts were compulsory is quite scary.
Cars went slower and there weren't so many cars on roads. We all survived!
I, too, spluttered at the dog's bollocks!
I picked up my head up at the end of your newsletter. Herbie helped lift my spirit. And that BMW video clip is truly special. Auf deutsch, bitte.
Thank you, Jill.
Haha brilliant! We didn't have a car - but as there were seven kids, it probably wouldn't have got us anywhere even if we had.
Ha! You’d have needed a minibus, Georgina!
Thanks for your kind comment.
And probably some weapons!
Ha, yes!
Mike’s first memory of being in a car was driven from Nottingham to St Albans down the M1 in a BMW bubble car about a decade earlier. He first threw up somewhere near Loughborough.
Funny, the things we remember. I was once on a bus with my ex in Nottingham (a city I don't know well), having used their 'Park and Ride' to get into the centre, and getting to a certain point in a street that was otherwise completely unfamiliar and exclaiming 'oh, this was where my sister threw up!' That had been a journey I took with my dad and sister years and years earlier.
Oh wow! Poor Mike!
Great piece! We didn't have a car, but this brought back hilarious memories of my Aunt's legendary Reliant Robin. Every lift home would be a nail-biting adventure - especially the roundabouts! :D
Thanks, Sarah! Lord yes, Reliant Robins were so unstable! In that same episode of Top Gear I mentioned where Jeremy Clarkson commented on Isettas, The Stig drives a Reliant Robin round a race track to see if he can keep it upright. He can't!
Love this. I recall traveling with a frozen rack of apple juice cans to keep food cold in the cooler in the back of our 64 Volvo. I love that you’d sit all day waiting to leave. And I recall seeing Herbie the Love Bug at the drive in with my mother and brother.. what’s a Stacker??? Inquiring American minds want to know. Also a boiled sweet?
Thank you, Eliza! Stackers were similar to Pringles. And boiled sweets I think would be called hard candy in the States? Good point! I will add a note!
I just looked up 64 Volvo and that looks a good old classic. I coveted a Ford Capri, with the long bonnet!
My dad drove us around Scotland in a Morris Minor in '62. I was 5 so I don't remember much. Long car rides put me to sleep. Must have been heavy head syndrome. Thx 😊
Ha! Yes, probably!
A Reliant 3 Wheeler Van, (Trotter style), Getting Closer to the Top of a Wold's Hill, (Obviously a bit Overloaded Wieghtwise - in the throes of a Sunday Treat -a Trip to the Local Tip).....Slowly Starts to Roll Downhill Backwards.
Managed to eventually Stall, Restart, and Wheeze on Upwards to Finally Reach the Pinnacle.
Big Phews of Relief, all round.
Those three-wheelers were such a liability! Ha! I love that. A trip to the local tip being a Sunday treat!
Thanks for reading and commenting, Nancy.
What a wonderful post, Wendy! I enjoyed it so much. I spent much of my childhood camping - a camper van and tent combo. My sister and I were just talking this morning about how I need to write a post about our (many, many) camping trips to Swanage (from Southampton!).
Thank you, Emma. Glad you had that experience. Camping trips make very good memories, and anecdotes. A rich seam to explore!
I love your tongue-in-cheek sense of humor.
Thanks, Nancy! Glad you enjoyed.