Summer of 1976

oh yes I remember, expecting my second child AND I got bitten by a ladybird!

I had my second baby in June 1976 and kept her in nappies only for most of the summer. I remember another mum with a baby daughter the same age, who dressed the child in warm clothes. When I said I wondered if the baby might be too hot, she said she thought this was how 'you were meant to dress a baby'. I think she did then go for nappies only.

What a summer! I was 27, with my first baby. Husband away for long periods and didn’t drive then so spent much of the time in the garden, as now.
Interesting to see what age difference there is between us all on Gnet. We would have had little in common then.

I was so lucky to be on a summer job in Scarborough that year and a few metres from the beach ,loved the job , loved the
town and the 'holiday romance' wasn't bad either!

I was still at school, but remember doing some lessons outside, under a couple of large trees, for shade.

I was so lucky to be on a summer job that year working in
Scarborough and a few metres from the beach, it was
glorious. Loved the job, loved the town and the 'holiday
romance' wasn't bad either!

We had a new kitten in June of that year and she was fascinated when the rain eventually arrived never having seen it before.
One lasting memory is in the September, standing along the road in the queue for the standpipe in the pouring rain.

I was taking my O’ levels in the summer of 1976. It was excruciating being shut up in the exam halls. It’s my excuse for not doing too well!

But in other ways it was lovely. We used to go to a local beauty spot to ‘revise’ and the summer seemed endless.

My eldest daughter was born in June 1976. The last month of my pregnancy I couldn't go out after fainting in the street one day waiting for a bus. The babies in the hospital only wore nappies. I remember my daughter in her pram wearing a beautiful white cotton smocked dress. She's 44 in a couple of weeks !!! That was one hot summer.

We, very fortunately, had just moved from a very hot 5th floor flat to a three bedroom house in Essex. We were as poor as church mice as the rent for the house was double the rent for the flat. Also my DH had the cost of commuting to London.

We were so happy though. We could not Afford to turf the patch of dirt which was our back garden but just to have that safe place to play was heaven. It was a huge housing estate, full of people like us who were part of the GLC slum clearance. The children loved playing outside, which was designed to be traffic free.

We are still here although about 20 years ago we thought of moving. The kids were horror struck as they had such happy memories. Even though they had all left home, they said the GCs love going to “the estate’ because it was the only place they can play out unsupervised.

Thank you for starting this. It has bought back such happy memories. Hopefully, the littler ones will be able to visit again soon.

I remember the day it ended - with a cloudburst. We just stood out in the warm rain laughing with relief. I think our farmers would feel the same today.

Yes, I remember the Ladybirds too, swarms of them like never seen before. We were in Essex at the time but I think they were in many parts of the country.

My first baby was born in July 1975 (hot enough in itself!) and spent most of her 1976 summer being protected from the heat. But what I most remember of 76 was the biting ladybirds and not being able to avoid stepping on huge clumps of the creatures when we went out.

It was hot and I as a teenager in love, days I shall never forget❤️❤️❤️❤️

Yup. Bliss.
Guaranteed sunshine, and warm seas.
Carefree youth, and no financial worries.
Every day was a holiday.

Grasshoppers hopped into the kitchen!

Trying to keep a new baby cool and a toddler entertained.
Thank goodness Mum and Dad came to stay, there was no paternity leave in those days.

yes certainly do. we were living i n Ringwood - sandy soil, and the first time and only time i've seen glow worms in the garden. wonderful sight

My C were 11 and 6, we and another family went to Abersoch for 2 weeks.
It started a love affair with the place which went on for many years.
We stayed on The Warren which is on the beach and there were organised activities for the children in different age groups.
All the children absolutely loved it, we hardly saw them for two weeks.
We all came home as brown as berries and moved straight away into a new house, I am still in it.
It was a wonderful summer.

1976: Two years married, we went to the best concert ever. Sitting on the Wembley pitch listening to Elton John, The Eagles, Beach Boys, Chaka Khan... It was so hot, reserved and shy as I was, I just had to take my t-shirt off. Felt very daring and liberated sitting there in my bra. But not as liberated as others...

I was a first year student nurse doing my first set of nights on a male orthopedic ward. The darkness was very short but it was so hot trying to sleep in the nurses home.

Working for HMRC in an obviously unaircon office, everyone opened the windows but we were right next to a brewery and the marmite stench made me heave. I'm not good in the heat anyway, when I was commuting to London, pregnant in 1981 I had to leave in July, earlier than I planned, baby was due in December and I had hoped to work until October/November

My second daughter was born at the beginning of August and I rememeber being 9 months pregnant was no fun in the heat

We were 16, and had been going out since the February. We made a DVD out of many of our ‘still’ photos, as a momento for the kids/ grandkids and all who follow. The ‘ Summer 76’ photo of me and my husband sitting by a reservoir, was the main feature, as the ‘ how it all began’ photo.

The plague of ladybirds is my lasting memory of 1976. It still gives me the shivers thinking about it.

I remember it very well. My daughter was born in December 1975 (that had been a very hot summer too - pregnancy was very uncomfortable), but that glorious 1976 summer meant that my baby spent so much time in her huge pram in the garden, under the shade of trees.