What sounds and actions from the 1950s to. 1970s do you miss hearing or are glad are no more?

Foghorns, we used to go down to the Kent coast at Walmer and when we first went there on foggy nights you could hear three foghorns, each sounding diffeence, oddly quite comforting

....... and, yes, the Broadmoor 10.00am Monday siren.

The dawn chorus, so loud it would wake me up, even if I had only been in bed for about an hour after a night on the tiles.

packets of crisps with little blue salt twists in them

For me it's the sound of the milkman's float and the glass bottles being delivered to everyone.
I also feel quite nostalgic when hearing the shipping forecast.

On the smell of tar - does anyone else remember popping the tar bubbles on the road in the summer (then getting a row from your mum for getting tar on your shoes or sandals)?

I loved that smell too Blondiescot. Also loved seeing steamrollers.

Birdsong, I miss the dawn chorus which used to be deafening, and very beautiful.

The coalman delivering sacks of coal on his wagon.

I must be quite lucky as I wake every day in spring and summer to the sound of birds chirruping away gaily - I live somewhere fairly rural. I think of my Gran every day due to this. She brought me up until my sister was born when I was 5 1/2. Lovely memories.

I miss the friendly chats from the days when the town shops were owned and staffed by locals who knew their customers personally. And the ding of the bell over the shop doorways of the smaller shops, welcoming my arrival and guaranteeing a friendly greeting from a familiar face. Life at a slower pace.

I remember the rag and bone man on a horse and cart...shouted something I never understood! Great for recycling everything
The milk float delivering gold and silver top milk. Blue tips pecking at the lids to get at the cream.
Playing in the spinney with friends...imagination games, no Internet or mobile phones so made our own entertainment. Happy days.
I don't miss the frost on the inside of my bedroom window!

Tits not tips

Miss:
The Corona Pop Man delivering once a week (we just had a couple of glass bottles of dandelion & Burdock, limeade or cherryade but really looked forward to it.
Home grown fruit & vegetables from my dad & grandads gardens (don’t miss the caterpillars)
The excitement of getting a comic delivered once a week.
All the kids skipping in the street for hours with an old washing line or French skipping with elastic.
Don’t miss:
The old b&w telly that we had to hit on top to stop the lines across the screen
Awful school dinners
School milk yuk!!
People smoking everywhere

I miss the ships hooters on New Years Eve coming from the docks

FannyCornforth

White dog poo
Doing PE in your vest and pants
Jim’ll Fix It
IRA bomb scares at school

(70s childhood)

You make me feel old Fanny. I was a new mum with a basket full of shopping and a toddler in the seat the bomb scare siren went off in M&S. We all had to wait to retrieve our buggies behind the barriers.

The shop bell in my Grandma's sweet shop. Just as you had got warm in front of the living room fire the wretched bell would go and summon you back to the freezing cold shop.

Blondiescot

On the smell of tar - does anyone else remember popping the tar bubbles on the road in the summer (then getting a row from your mum for getting tar on your shoes or sandals)?

Yes and finding an old lolly stick and writing your name in melted tar on the curb stones giving your identity away and mother using butter to get the tar off.
The daring put their sandals in and made footprints. They used to hire old men !!!! my age now to sit in a canvas tent with a brazier to stop us from doing it.I was such a good little girl,more tomboy.

The shipping forecast. I’m sure it must still be played somewhere. I had no idea what it meant, it was just very soothing.

Just one
My dad whistling as he cycled home from work

The steamrollers and smell of hot tar on the roads. Paraffin stoves where you had to go to the local shop with a container to get the fuel. Toasting forks, coal fires and of course the London peasoupers. I once got lost on my way back from school it was so thick- I would have been about 9 years old.

Auntieflo

Those plastic, folded rain hoods.

Once took the kids to a large wooden outdoor play park. I was sitting at a bench table and was joined by another women and her mum who was probably mid 70s.
It started to drizzle and, exactly as my mum would have done, granny started digging in her pocket. She spent ages getting a little packet open and proudly withdrew… a pair of plastic gloves! Her daughter thought it hilarious.. as did I. Just could not make eye contact 🤣

The sound of a train going over unfused rails. It is lovely and smooth going by train nowadays, but I miss the feeling of excitement of going somewhere with that dubbly-doo, dubbly- doo sound.

Night watchmen. One saved my friend and when we were being followed by a creepy man. The watchman chased him away waving a shovel at him!

The fog-horns on the Thames during those 50s smogs.

Marching bands. The boys and girls life brigade was in our street and their band marched regularly in parades . I loved the drums and the time keeping steps right outside our house … oh, and the baton twirling ! Magic !

J52

Braziers that the road mending men melted the tar in. I loved the smell of tar. Gasworks and the town gas holders.

I miss the small of tar too, but more than that I miss men actually mending the road!! We are a nation with potholes instead these days.