Ray’s Rants - Growing up in 1950s 1960s 1970s Britain

DIY disasters! Plumbing cock-ups. Ceilings and supporting walls crumbling. Chimney breast collapsing, nightmare. Central heating radiator bodge. Join me for a few do it yourself stories of absolute catastrophic proportions.

My son stole my house! Really? Traditions and values have gone. Curry for Christmas dinner? Christmas Eve in the pub. Fading memory.

Have you heard the expression, Bring Back the Birch? It was an evil punishment, not only for adults but school kids. School discipline, the ruler across your knuckles, the cane, six of the best... Has school discipline been lost these days? Also in this episode, speeding cars, how to stop strangers talking to you, home haircuts, and more...

In this episode, tight-fisted, mean, miserable, gits! Haha! Also, more skeletons in the cupboard. Hiding money from your partner. Lying about intentions. Keeping your cash a secret. Deceit. Lies. Cheating.

Do you have skeletons in the cupboard. Apparently, most people do! Dark secrets! Also, the small of home cooking, freshly baked bread, pies in the oven, cakes... bliss! Plus, the fate of out cherry tree. How many trips do you make to the rubbish dump? Join me this Sunday for a good old chat.

Are you getting your oats? Now, there's a question! Is your wife a housewife? In the old days, she was a slave! Whose house is it, anyway? We all hate politics! What was it like back then before social media?

In this episode, A Shocking Village Secret! Crikey! Christmas adverts. The Sunday tea trolley. Tales of the Riverbank. Andy Pandy. Bill and Ben. The Wooden Tops. Rats in the undergrowth. Peyton Place and loads more...

Board Games, do you love them or hate them? Back in the 1950s when I was a child, I used to cheat! Snakes and Ladders. Ludo. Chess. Draughts. Monopoly. Cluedo.

Have you experienced a midlife crisis? Have you left your wife and run off with a younger woman. Have you left your husband and and run off with a younger man? Oh, what a tangled web we weave! Also in this episode, a visit to the dentist, finding treasure at a derelict house, a haystack fire and more...

Who Are You Really? Do you ever put on a front, a facade, when you’re around other people? Do you change your demeanor, the way you speak, or even the way you express yourself depending on who you’re talking to? Which version is the real you? Do you wash and polish your car regularly?

In this episode, I ask whether you're happy. What is happiness? Have you lost the happiness? Also, vertical drinking in pubs to be banned??? Translated, standing up and having a beer! Stone the crows, there's another heatwave on the way... GRpmoiXm3ReweRK0KlsV

A shocking view from a tree! You won't believe what I saw from the top of a tree! Stone the crows! Reading the room... some people just can't read the room. They put their foot in it again and again! Diving down rabbit holes... apparently I do that a lot! Please, join me for a good old chat.

Hi, I've just popped in to see how you are.

In the old days, there were loads of tradesman. There are tradesmen these days, of course. But how did they differ in the 50s and 60s? Join me this Sunday and we'll find out.

When I was a boy, in the good old days! In this episode, I talk about decimalisation in the UK, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, sex drugs and rock and roll, funerals… What? Yes, funerals. Please, join me!

This Sunday, I'll be chatting about people's names. Old names, new names, double-barrelled names… How many Christian names do you have? Also, I'll be recalling the events during the storm of 1987 here in Britain. Please, join me.

Who remembers the iconic Hoovermatic Twintub washing machine? A staple in British homes during the 1960s, it was incredibly popular. And what about the Rolls Dishwasher that perched on the kitchen draining board? Join us this Sunday as we take a nostalgic journey through household and other items of the past that have since disappeared! Also, I’m chatting from Amberley Museum.

Who remembers the iconic Hoovermatic Twintub washing machine? A staple in British homes during the 1960s, it was incredibly popular. And what about the Rolls Dishwasher that perched on the kitchen draining board? Join us this Sunday as we take a nostalgic journey through household and othetr items of the past that have since disappeared!

What is traditional English food? Dishes like bubble and squeak, meat and two veg, toad in the hole, shepherd's pie and fish and chips come to mind. In this episode, Tricia chats about classic English meals, going all the way back to World War II. Not that we were around back then! Also in this episode, people opening their houses as shops in the old days. There were corner shops, of course, but also mid-terrace houses where people had converted their lounge into a shop. Join us this Sunday!

Hi, I hope you're well. Traditional English meals, school dinners, chip shops, transistor radios back in the 1960s... Join me for a good old chat.

Remember the joy of school holidays in the old days? Six glorious weeks of summer freedom! Imagine if we had mobile phones back in the 50s and 60s. How would we have reacted to social media? The days before computers, what did the banks do? What did the tax office do? Everything was written is huge books called ledgers. Imagine the work! Join me this Sunday as we take a nostalgic journey back to those golden, and sometimes not so golden, days.

This Roaming Rant took me to St Mary's Church, Sompting, West Sussex. Built in the 11th or 12th century, the church is one of only a few on Britain with a Saxon tower. Please, join me for a look around the church.

I've been to church! More on that later. Also, I have a sore throat, we had great weather on Sunday... Why address letters to, for example, Mrs Fred Smith? Is she a man? That's her husband's name, not hers! That was the way things were in the old days. Does that still happen?

Live Your Life! Live and let live. In other words, let people get on with their lives and you get on with your life. Don't interfere with or poke your nose into other people's business. Punishing children. What are your thoughts on spanking kids? Also, kids in pubs. Should children be allowed into pubs? Please, join me this Sunday for a good old moan... I mean, chat.

Welcome to another of Ray's Roaming Rants. This time, I visit St Mary the Virgin Church at Clapham, West Sussex. The church, built in the 12th century, is in the woods. What better location for a lovely old building! I hope you enjoy this short episode.

Hi, I’m pleased to announce that my new website, raysrants.info, is now live! Check it out to explore a collection of photos and video clips from my recent travels. Many of you have been asking to see pictures from the various places I’ve visited so, I hope you’ll enjoy what I’ve shared. I'll be adding more so do visit the page regularly.

It's raining again! Is the summer over? Crickey, I don't think it had even started. In this episode, the weather, falling in love with someone you should have, the Boy Scouts Bob-A-Job week... I hope you'll join me.

History, whether global or personal, can be either boring or fascinating. In this episode, I discuss the mistakes we've made in our personal histories and whether we've learned from them. I also talk about the history of London trolley buses, trams, diesel engines, trains, the pipeline from the Isle of Wight to France, and much more. Join me for a chat which, hopefully, won’t be boring!

This is the first of a new series, Ray’s Roaming Rants. We had a lovely time on the Isle of Wight. I made a few audio recordings of various places we visited during our stay which I hope you will find interesting.

I've been to the Isle of Wight. I won't bore you with the details but, in this Midweek message, I'll tell you a little about our holiday. Quarr Abby, Yarmouth Castle, the Solent, the weather... Please, join me for a quick chat.

Steam trains, electric trains, diesel trains, getting married and... Getting married? What's that got to do with trains? I'll be in the Isle of Wight when you listen to this episode. Fingers crossed the weather is good!

It's that time again. Welcome to another Midweek Message. Mods and Rockers, hippies... Who remembers the weekends in Brighton? Happy days! Did you have a scooter or a motorbike? Join me for a quick chat.

Dinosaurs roamed the Earth 66 million years ago! What's that got to do with the 1950s? Not a lot. Alfresco, BBQs, eating outside... that wasn't a thing back in the 1950s and 60s. But it's very popular these days. Join me this Sunday for a chat about anything and everything.

Hello and welcome to yet another Midweek Message. The weather, cars, loud adverts, shouting and... I tell you a joke! Please, join me for a midweek chat.

In this episode, on this beautifully sunny weekend, I recall a few stories from the 1960s. PLUS! A recording of a well known DJ on a well known radio station in 1973! This snippet will bring memories flooding back for many of you. Those were magical radio days. Please, join me this Sunday.

The summer has arrived! Probably only for a day or two... No, I mustn't be negative. The weather is beautiful. Holidays in Britain in the old days were great. The roads were clear, no potholes, driving was lovely... Did you go to Spain for your holidays back in the 70s? English fish and chips, English beer... You'd think we were back home!

Adultery in the 1950s? Perish the thought! Did people lie and cheat on each other back in the old days? Two-timing, deceit, lies... Not in the good old days, surely? Join me this Sunday and we'll find out. Also in this episode, Carnaby Street in London, local shops, landline phones, sound effects and more!

Clothes back in the 60s and 70s, strange characters, Lambretta scooters and more... Please, join me for this Wednesday's Midweek Message.

Welcome to another Midweek Message. I've had a great deal of positive response about the Nurse Diane Interview so, I might try and set up more interviews. Thanks for all your emails, keep them coming. The weather here has turned colder... there's a surprise! But, we have a wall of heat of the way! Whatever that is!

In this episode I welcome Diane, my sister-in-law, into the studio. She's a retired nurse and she chats about her days working in hospitals and a GP's surgery. The operating theatre, the wards, the matron, a nursing school, sticking needles in people, giving patients alcohol... Please, join me for a very interesting chat with Nurse Diane this coming Sunday.

We've had an extremely high tide which caused floods in a nearby town. Where's the summer? In this Midweek Message I chat about the weather, as usual, hospitals, dentists and more. Please, join me.

Etiquette Morals Integrity Principles Respect Decency... Do such things exist these days? Would you give up your seat on a bus to a pregnant woman? Would you help an elderly lady cross the road? Please, join me for a chat this coming Sunday.

It's that time again! Welcome to another Midweek Message. Idiots behind desks, youngsters shouting in the pub, people who show off and so much more...

Some people have all the luck, some people have all the fun. Luck plays a big part in some people's lives. You have to be in the right place at the right time, but some people are elsewhere at some other time. Please, join me for a chat this coming Sunday about lucky and unlucky people.

Summer flowers, pubs, tricycles, sourdough bread, coal fires... I have quite a selection of chat on this week's Midweek Message. Please, join me.

Living alone doesn't suit everyone. You get home after work and there's no one there, you wake up alone at the weekend, there's no one to share life with... However, some people wouldn't have it any other way. Was living alone in the 60s was any different from living alone today? Please, join me for a chat this coming Sunday.

It's that time again! How are you? Keeping well, I hope? Do you remember when the shops were closed on Sundays? I do, it was lovely. Sunday was a family day. Picnics together, eating meals together, watching TV together... Happy days!

Fashion has changed considerably over the years. Not only clothes but, hair. In the 60s, most of us lads had long hair. So did the girls. There was Twiggy’s side-parted pixie cut. The smooth short bob with bangs. For men there was the Afro, the long layered, the Boston and even the crew cut. Please, join me for a look back at fashion and hair over the years.

More on managers and do we need them, the awaful weather in Briton and loads more stuff. Please, join me on this wet Wednesday for a good old chat.

This Sunday, I'll be talking about school teachers back in the day, managers... do we really need them? Swearing. Are you okay with people swearing? Please, join me for a chat.