Posted in 1 Guildford Rd, Penrith Primary, tagged church, fighting, injuries, Penrith Primary on February 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Challenge out, news spreads, the crowd gathers behind church.
Chanting:
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Baying for action – if not blood.
My opponent – a name forgotten.
Shaped up in classic Queensbury,
Then rolled around in not-so-classic Greco-Roman.
Home with ripped shirt, dirt smears, blood stains (his).
Badges of honour? courage? skill? … or waywardness?
Posted in 1 Guildford Rd, Penrith Primary, tagged brandings, injuries, school games, schoolyard on February 14, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Circle of children standing akimbo, foot touching foot.
Tennis ball bounced in circle centre.
Bouncing diminishes to a roll,
Passing through legs – “IT” is chosen.
The game begins: SCATTER …
From the menacing throw.
Brandings!!*
Another game where tears flowed.
But uniforms only soiled (the mark of the ball) – rarely ripped.
Note:
* It was difficult to find anything online about this game. But I did find a version being played in a Malaysian High School. There the game was called Bola Chop and some of the descriptions about the intention of the game are spot on – eg
Throw the tennis ball at someone, really hard, with the intention of inflicting pain.
.
Posted in 1 Guildford Rd, Penrith Primary, tagged british bulldog, cocky laura, injuries, school games, schoolyard on February 13, 2012| 2 Comments »
Cocky Laura.*
Back playground, Penrith Primary.
Time: Lunch.
20, 30 or more line up at one side.
One IN! Cocky – in centre.
“1,2,3 Cocky Laura” – everyone charges to the other side.
Cocky … catches runners before they reach, they join Cocky tackling runners.
Winner: Last person brought down.
Losers: Mum’s: damaged clothes … & children!
Note & extras:
* The game was known by plenty of other names – most commonly British Bulldog. It was eventually deemed too dangerous but (in Britain at least) there was a move to allow its return. The attempt is an interesting insight into the difficulties of find the balance between a “nanny state” and reasonable risk. The Return of British Bulldog.
And of course the title of this post is Cat Steven’s
Posted in 1 Guildford Rd, Penrith Primary, Penrith South Primary, tagged bungers, Cracker night, explosives, injuries, luck, The Fates on January 21, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Overnight spike in population of dopes, daredevils, dummies, and sadists.
Letterboxes detonated, animals blasted, kids injured.
Common dare: holding an exploding twopenny bunger.
An explosive destroyer of letterboxes – with a young hand wrapped around the blast!!!
Bonfire nights – BANNED! No wonder.
My protective friends, The Fates, kept my hands intact.
365 Short Memories 