childhood holidays

[eleanor2]

i was thinking how nice it would be to hear of childhood holidays.the difference between then and now.as children we only ever really travelled to wales.we camped or stayed in a old caravan.there was never any money.but we had no expectations and playing on the sand.was great fun to us.when i was a bit older we stayed in a flat in rhyl.me and my sisters were the nuicance kids who hung around the amusements hoping to find pennies that had fallen in the slot machines.we would spend the whole day on the beach.money was sparse.one holiday i can remember the car having a problem and the bit of spending money we had .had to be saved to get the car fixed.yet these holidays were fun.we had some fun times in the paddling pool on the front at rhyl.i suppose having a big family has its positives and negatives.we always had fun cus we all played together and were happy doing anything.

[Crocus]

Childhood holidays, yes. We usually went on holiday once a year during December as it's our annual long summer holiday. My gran, aunts and uncles all lived in one town, as well as my dad's relatives. We used to stay at my granny's for 6 weeks, and it was heaven to me. Us children played along for hours on end, and then on Boxing day everybody packed up, and the whole of the family went camping and caravanning at the seaside, much to my delight. It's the place we still go to every Sunday.

[jazzactivist]

My family first had a caravan near Weston Supermare, which we loved as children even though it was almost on its own in the middle of a field. As soon as we arrived we would run about outside, explore the lttle wood and stream, and slept out in sleeping bags under the stars if the weather was good. Then my dad bought a holiday cottage in Wales from the Spar notice board. It was a tiny traditional Welsh cottage right up a hill above Treceith (sp?) near Tenby. We had to get there up a long stony track in my dad's Morris Minor - all packed in with my Dad, Grandad and his dog in the front, and my Mum, Nanna, me and my sister and our dog in the back. Our things were stowed in the boot and on the roof rack, and we towed by Dad's little fishing boat on a trailer at the back. No wonder the car kept breaking down!

We went in the evening, which was very exciting for us kids, and arrived in the dark. It seemed like a really long way but was only over the Severn Bridge and the whole journey probably only took about an hour! The cottage was stone and had one room downstairs with wooden seats around the edges and a fold down bed and an Aga type stove in the middle, and two tiny attic bedrooms. We had a strange sleeping arrangements to keep the peace, with me and Nanna in one room, my Dad and Grandad in another, and my mum and younger sister downstairs in the warmest room. My mum grumbled all through the holiday that it wasn't a holiday for her, and she often stayed back at the cottage reading while my dad and I went fishing, and Nanna and Grandad took my younger sister into Tenby to "look at the shops". When we woke up in the morning we had to go down into the village to see what the weather was like, as we were above the cloud line. I remember them as such fantastic times though, full of freedom and fun.

After my family emigrated to South Africa we used to go camping and then in a caravan and later hired a wooden cabin up the Garden Route on the east coast, usually at Storms River Mouth. It was an environmental place before its time with a beautiful, rugged coast, walks in the rainforest, a fresh food restaurant, and outdoor cinema that showed nature films. One thing that we always did was on the first day of any holiday was go to the nearest library and sign in as holiday members. Then we took out the maximum number of books allowed to add to our existing pile of library books!

OH and I probably have similar holidays now. We like to go to holiday cottages and cabins in our little car and spend most of our time reading, eating and exploring, and our first stop is always the book shop! I've always longed for a campervan though...

[Crocus]

We still have our caravan but don't really use it anymore. I would love to have motorhome, not a big one, just for the two of us. I don't fancy struggling with caravan tents and stuff anymore. We've had many many caravan holidays, which was lovely, but I think a motorhome will be quite nice know. x

[franbee]

We didn't have many family holidays when I was a child, I suppose my parents couldn't afford it, or Dad, being a farmer, didn't get much time off in summer. We used to go and stay with family, mostly Granny, who lived with Auntie at Ingleton, in the Yorkshire Dales. In fact, my brother and I used to go and stay on our own when we were quite young, Mum would put us on the bus, and 1 hour later, we got off opposite Granny's house. Auntie worked, and had no car, but sometimes on her day off would take us walks, round the waterfalls or in the woods. If we were lucky, one or other of our cousins would be home from boarding school, they were older than us, and got up to all sorts. I remember T taking me on the back of his motorbike, I must have only been 8 or 9.
Another time we stayed with another Auntie in Manchester. This was a real eye opener for me, a country girl, the huge buildings, endless trolley buses, and the stores with escalators and lifts to their 6 floors.
When I was 11, Auntie and Granny moved to another Dales village, Auntie was a pharmacist, and bought her own shop. I used to spend a lot of holidays there helping, mainly filling shelves and counting tablets, but as I got older Auntie taught me to make up prescriptions, lots of medecines were made from scratch then, mixtures and ointments.

And now, we have just ordered a small campervan! So next time we go to France, it will be going with us!

[Crocus]

That sounds marvellous Fran - you will enjoy it a lot, I'm sure! X

[eleanor2]

wow i love hearing about your childhood holidays.wasnt it so much more exciting as a child.jazz love the sound of those attic bedrooms and aga in the downstairs room.i once went on holiday with a posh friend i was about 14.in a cootage not far from the beach in anglsey.i saw a very different holiday.we were quite spoilt with attention as well as money.late night swims and then back to the cottage for hot soup or hot chocolate every night.oh those were the days.