i think your all forgetting the most important proggy we all watched daily in the school summer hols, the Banana splits, remember the tune 1 banana 2 banana 3 banana FOUR, and get on board were the double deckers, and the classic arabian nights, " size of a testicle i think they chanted as the rings touched " and talking of cola cubes, i have a mixed bag of sweeties in front of me as we speak it has cola cubes, rhubarb and custards, pineapple cubes and pear drops, made by bassetts, yummy, specially the little soft bit in the middle of the cola cube, later all.

Wendy - was that sweet "Striper" bar?

Lion Bars have changed now I come to think of it. I think Nestle took itupon themselves to start changng flavours and consistency when they took over Rowntree Mackintosh. Rolos are soft now, not hard and chewy like they used to be...

Twix tastes different than it used to as well.

I think they've reduced the sugar and salt in Weetabix, hence the different flavour.

Does anybody remember the horror that was the Singing Ringing Tree on TV?

Hiya - I was just about to suggest that the stripey bar was called Spangles but I may be thinking of something different. I vaguely remember something that had little crystal pieces in the chew which made it 'spangle'. Mmmm, lovely. Talking of things that taste different these days - I used to love Golden Nuggets breakfast cereal as a kid, but the ones you can get these days seem much smaller and less crunchy. Mind you, everything seems much bigger when you're only 3 foot high I guess! The singing tree? Was that the one on a game show a bit like Crystal Maze?

Ah that was it - The Adventure Game on Planet Arg! Musn't forget Camblewick Green and d'ya remember Saturday Swap Shop? Those gorgeous Noel Edmund's sweaters!!

Striper? ooohhh.... It could have been!

I travel in and out to Edinburgh everyday, and everytime I pass the brewery the smell of the hops etc for some reason reminds me of the Weetabix of my childhood.

re: Singing Ringing Tree, the chappie that sits next to me remembers it! Says it was awfie sinister.

... I thought Bagpuss was sinister.

Wendy

Hey CD... Spangles were a hard boiled sweetie. Square shaped ... I remember choking on one at PS.. I got the afternoon off school!

Adventure Game was ACE!!!! Doogyrev!

Wendy

Was it maybe a Splicer????
Wendy

...deffo a Striper bar.

The Singing Ringing Tree was indeed rather sinister.

An Eastern European thing complete with man/bear thing and hideous dwarf. Still haunts me 29 years on!!

I'll find a link to it somewhere, hang on...

and here's a link to a site with pictures.

That dwarf still gives me the creeps...

The Singing Ringing Tree

No wonder our after shcool antics class was always empty, its all coming out now, we know what you lot were doing all those years ago

Stop giving away your ages already, next you will be talking about SESAME STREET

Ah phew - made it to Winnipeg and turned on the tele. to watch Top of the Pops (they stopped showing it on BBC America), Grange Hill, Red Dwarf (and even sat through Andy Pandy this morning.)

Any sweetie fanatics out there in Winnipeg (and I believe Toronto too?) can try out Suger Mountain - they've got tons of choccie bars like curly wurly, double deckers, toffee crisp and loads of penny chews (probably more than a penny though!!) and pick n mix - just heaven! Safeways even has our faves like PG Tips, Cream Crackers, English style loaves, curry sauces, hot cross buns, tubes of smarties etc. Shame about the bacon though - haven't found any good Danish type rashers since leaving Blighty 6 years ago - ah well, can't have it all I s'pose.

Hey,

Did you know that you can still watch those old time favorites here in Canada, like Grange Hill, Andy Pandy and others on either Satellite or Cable on the BBC Kids channel ?


Wiz

Yeah - BBC Kids is even better than BBC Canada and then a quick hop to BBC World during those grown up moments!!

I'm kinda proud that I'm from a generation that remembers these shows and grew up without 24 hour TV. It astounds my children that there used to be a shutdown of television at night, no breakfast program schedule and that children's programs had a fixed limited time. Watch with Mother after lunch and an hour or so late afternoon. We spent loads of time outside in the fresh air actually being healthy.

Good point Stepnek. While we are all harping on about classic kids shows from the 1970's and 1980's most of these shows were shown between 4pm and 6pm. That's when kids shows were on, not 24 hours a day. My own 2 oldest kids (5 year old twins) watch far too much tv and I'm fast becoming a stickler for getting the TV switched off and finding something else for them to do.
[steps down off soapbox]

But yes, I remember those great shows with fondness. Bod, Bagpuss, Camberwick Green, Battle Of The Planets, Saturday Superstore (and the Multi-Coloured Swap Shop before it). I would be just a child, with 10p in my hand, walking to the end of the road to get 10 penny sweets - that was a lesson in decision making. I usually split between those cola bottles and Black Jacks. I had a fondness for Fruit Salds. Curly Wurly's too!

Am I looking through rose-tinted glasses or were things really a bit more innocent for children in those days? Kids shows could be funny, charming and even sad sometimes and didn't have to have tie-in products or explosions or have that edge of knowing irony which seems to lace most things aimed at kids these days.

I think we've lost something recently.