Sundays in the "olden days"

Absolutely drene! Couldn’t remember the name !

MissA, I also was never allowed to say I was bored, never knew why but can honestly say to this day I don't even say it and have never heard my two sons say it either.
Sunday was Sunday school in the morning, I was the teacher for a small group of young children, mostly from a children's home in the parish, we read Bible stories and they all drew pictures before a sing song and home for Sunday lunch. One of our neighbours had a car and they would sometimes take me for a ride in their car to the seaside or into the country with them, then back again for tea and to watch a children's TV programme because we didn't have a TV at our house. I remember sooty and sweep been on sometimes, but other times we went to Church for Evensong.

In the summer we would go out for picnics. In the winter we would play monopoly with my dad while mum cooked the Sunday roast ??

I quite liked Sundays as a child and now I'm retired with no Monday morning blues, I still try to 'keep Sunday special'. It was the only day I got to spend time with my Dad as he was rarely home from work by the time I went to bed during the week. Sunday mornings he would work in the garden with an 'old boy' who came to help him. They would come in for a cup of coffee at 11 and then go back to grass cutting/hedge trimming and staking my mother's beloved dahlias. My mother would always prepare a roast Sunday lunch single handed and I well remember the smell of the meat cooking with Two Way Family Favourites on the radio in the background. Bill Crozier, Jean Metcalfe and that exotic sounding place - Akrotiri. After lunch we always went out 'for a spin' in Dad's Rover, usually to a beauty spot somewhere outside the city. Then back for tea and cake before attending Evensong - my Dad was churchwarden so it was pretty much compulsory for me to attend. Once I reached my teens I'd joined the Church Youth Club which always met just after Evensong so a whole gang of us would squeeze into a back row pew - 'Sinners Corner' the vicar called it - and whisper about which boy we fancied. Some of us are still friends more than 50 years later.

Sundays at home were boring in those days, that's true. The elderly wanted their day of peace and rest after a hard week's work and assumed the children behaved accordingly. I remember my parents talking negatively of neighbours that did go out on Sundays. Now it's the opposite. Nowadays, you are considered a hermit when you don't do anything in the weekends. I also remember quite vividly being jealous of those that went for a day at sea. The only thing we ever did was a bicycle trip of an hour without dad who wanted to watch television. I think we only went once to sea when I was a child. Luckily, there were my grandparents that lived nearby. That's one thing I was allowed to: taking my bicycle to visit my grandparents. They had allowed me to install their attic as my "club house", with old furniture and old findings, but it was a place I could call my own. And they let me do my thing there. And we also walked the flower and vegetable gardens, my grandfather and I, admiring the flowers and greens growing. So, after all, when I dig deeper into my memories, Sundays were not that all boring any more. The love for gardening is still alive, even now at 62, thanks to my grandparents and our lazy Sundays.

I've always loved Sundays Church home for a fry up for lunch visit to my Gran all the family having a lovely roast Songs of Praise and Sunday night at the London Palladium Home to bed That was my 60s childhood

Sad to read about such miserable Sundays! We loved it, Dad was home at weekends from his ship and cooked breakfast, that was a treat. We lived with our grandparents, and had a big extended family. Sunday School when young, and it was fun, and we met la lot of friends. We never had roasts, but a good dinner, and the radio. In summer I was sent for a big tub of icecream from Mary at the Italian café, shared out with fresh strawberries. My grandfather loved the hills, and often took me for walks up the braes, and on alternate Sundays our aunt and cousins came for tea. There were often bands playing across from the house, and we had no restrictions on playing outside. The only thing I didn't like was the thought of school next day. Apart from that they were very happy times., and I'm grateful for the memories. ?

I am amazed by the scale of indoctrination into both RC and Protestant sects that was still being practiced in the 1960s! I had no idea there was so much. Likewise I thought the working classes were in the forefront of rebellion against Sabbatarianism certainly from the 60s onwards. It seems I was mistaken if these few anecdotes are typical.

My memories were from the 40s and 50s Caleo there are a lot of younger GransNetters on here ( of course I'm not jealous )

Sodapop, I should have said "into" or "as recently as "the 1960s.

Caleo it was not until 1994 that the Sunday Trading Act was introduced.

Before then, Sundays were a family day, pleasurable for most but not all as is evident on the thread.

Buses ran frequently so visits and trips could be undertaken; shopping was not the Great British Pastime that it seems to be now where children are dragged around the shops on Sundays, supposedly for enjoyment.

Allsorts. You were lucky to have public transport on a Sunday. I had that privilege too, as I lived in Edinburgh. BUT now I live in a village, neither that nor tthe local market town has bus services on Sundays and none at all any evenings. Pretty frustrating for young and old. If you are not a car owner, you are nothing. As a child I was a voracious reader. Still am.

I quite liked Sundays. If we were at our Grandparents we would walk to church (a good three miles). If we’re were at home we’d go to church in the car. Then family dinner with grandparents and after that Dad would take a dinner round to my Great Uncle and we might go with him. I was fascinated by the fact that my Great Uncle had never seen the sea! Family time, baths and hair wash ready for school. My grandparents did have views on appropriate activities for a Sunday, but my parents were pretty tolerant. I always feel sad that Sunday opening hours were changed and deprived so many people the opportunity of spending time with the family.
I guess it depends on your family though…