Happy times
GROWING up in Glasgow after the Second World War was tough on city families, trying hard to make ends meet.
But for the children, the city was a playground.
Our feature in Friday’s Glasgow Times about old childhood street games and songs prompted a great response from readers.
David Hamilton, who grew up in Anderston, says he and his pals made the most of “a vast playing area, stretching from the River Clyde to Sauchiehall Street”.
He recalls: “Our local park was the West End – many a happy day sliding down Hill 60 on cardboard boxes.
“During school holidays we would pass our time making sledges – obviously not for snow, but for the sloping gradients on the pavements in and around Anderston.”
David and his friends made good use of local joiner’s yards and car repair shops too. “From the garages we would salvage old ball bearings, add some sticks round the edges – two wooden axles and a large board and you had a bogie,” he says.
“We had string tied for steering and away we went. All the sledges were different, some decorated with coloured beer bottle tops or maybe an orange box for seating.” He adds: “No need for a horn, the sound of the old bearings on the concrete would send all pedestrians scattering...” David also remembers making bows and arrows from cane, weighted with flat pieces of lead