Things you never see anymore

[Vowels]

I witnessed someone be ejected from a non-league game for chanting as people around kicked up a fuss as they claimed it was 'the quiet stand'.

 

No such rule exists and I've never heard of that stand being designated 'quiet' although it usually is. He wasn't unruly. Wasn't drunk. Offered to move to another stand, despite having paid the extra for a seat. The stewards sent the police in and the police removed him.

 

Shambles.

[bovril]

11 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Used to love it. Perfect for a lazy Saturday morning.

Wasn't it TWS at 8am, something else at 9, Football Italia at 10 and NBA at 11? I remember sitting in my living room watching Channel 4 all morning as my family slowly got up and wandered downstairs. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

Can't remember seeing anyone giving the dickhead sign for years.

 

Or maybe it's because I stopped being a dickhead.

 

Also, microfiche... does it still exist?

[Mike Oxlong]

9 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Can't remember seeing anyone giving the dickhead sign for years.

 

Or maybe it's because I stopped being a dickhead.

 

 

Either that or your eyesight’s not as good as it used to be 

[Trav Le Bleu]

3 minutes ago, Mike Oxlong said:

Either that or your eyesight’s not as good as it used to be 

[Alf Bentley]

9 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Can't remember seeing anyone giving the dickhead sign for years.

 

Or maybe it's because I stopped being a dickhead.

 

Also, microfiche... does it still exist?

 

I genuinely had to Google it to find out what the dickhead sign was.

 

I don't think anyone's ever made the dickhead sign to me. One finger and two fingers certainly, the wunker sign occasionally....but no dickhead sign.

 

Maybe I've been a lifelong annoying twat, occasionally a wunker but never a dickhead? 

 

 

[DJW1]

On 13/12/2025 at 23:40, Free Falling Foxes said:

 

Good ole V sign, two fingered salute.

 

Seems to have been replaced with the 'Up yours' middle finger and w4nker gesture.

Nice photo from "Kes"!

[Parafox]

 

@davieG will get this.

 

If you spotted an engine number that you hadn't seen before you'd look it up in the trainspotting book and put a line through it to show it had been "spotted".

 

The trainspotting book had the numbers of every registered engine in England. It was a task back then to "collect" as many as you could. Schools had clubs for the nerds like me (and plenty of others), which arranged travel to different areas and station yards like Crewe to find the rarer numbers that wouldn't come through Leicester.

 

It genuinely was a popular hobby for kids back then.

 

 

Edited 15 January by Parafox

[davieG]

13 minutes ago, Parafox said:

 

@davieG will get this.

 

If you spotted an engine number that you hadn't seen before you'd look it up in the trainspotting book and put a line through it to show it had been "spotted".

 

The trainspotting book had the numbers of every registered engine in England. It was a task back then to "collect" as many as you could. Schools had clubs for the nerds like me (and plenty of others), which arranged travel to different areas and station yards like Crewe to find the rarer numbers that wouldn't come through Leicester.

 

It genuinely was a popular hobby for kids back then.

 

 

Yeah Ian Allen LMS Region

 

My brother and I used to visit siblings in London and take in all the main line stations. Another popular destination was Grantham. 

[DJW1]

16 hours ago, Parafox said:

 

@davieG will get this.

 

If you spotted an engine number that you hadn't seen before you'd look it up in the trainspotting book and put a line through it to show it had been "spotted".

 

The trainspotting book had the numbers of every registered engine in England. It was a task back then to "collect" as many as you could. Schools had clubs for the nerds like me (and plenty of others), which arranged travel to different areas and station yards like Crewe to find the rarer numbers that wouldn't come through Leicester.

 

It genuinely was a popular hobby for kids back then.

 

 

Yes, I too was a trainspotter, in the late 70s and early 80s. I had the book that included the multiple units (DMUs and EMUs)!

I grew up near Toton depot and also spent summer afternoons and evenings with my pals fishing (do kids go fishing these days?) or playing cricket near the train lines, pausing to jot down the numbers of passing trains.

If my train was pulled by a particular loco then I wrote "H" next to its number (Haulage). Occasionally the driver would let us go in the cab for a few seconds - this was recorded as a "C" in the book!

[Guest worth_the_wait]

3 hours ago, DJW1 said:

Yes, I too was a trainspotter, in the late 70s and early 80s. I had the book that included the multiple units (DMUs and EMUs)!

I grew up near Toton depot and also spent summer afternoons and evenings with my pals fishing (do kids go fishing these days?) or playing cricket near the train lines, pausing to jot down the numbers of passing trains.

If my train was pulled by a particular loco then I wrote "H" next to its number (Haulage). Occasionally the driver would let us go in the cab for a few seconds - this was recorded as a "C" in the book!

I think it was called "The Combo".     The Combined Volume of all locomotives and multiple units.    Also had preserved steam locos as the final section, if memory serves me correctly.

 

You can still see a fair number of railway enthusiasts these days at the busier stations ... ones like Nuneaton, Stafford and Peterborough.

[Guest worth_the_wait]

On 22/12/2025 at 18:35, boots60 said:

When I started going regularly 1973-74 season it was 20p for juniors in the pop & 25p in the kop. Still had money over for a programme & a doughnut from my 50p pocket money.

Yep, that's right.   Pop side was 20p kids 40p adults, and the Kop was 25p kids 45p adults.

Most of the hard-core went in pens 3 and 4.     If I remember rightly, pen 3 didn't have kids prices ... so the younger element went in pen 4.

(and pen 3 didn't have any toilets for women either.   Not that you had that many birds in pen 3 anyway, but there were always a few)

 

 

[Parafox]

2 hours ago, worth_the_wait said:

Yep, that's right.   Pop side was 20p kids 40p adults, and the Kop was 25p kids 45p adults.

Most of the hard-core went in pens 3 and 4.     If I remember rightly, pen 3 didn't have kids prices ... so the younger element went in pen 4.

(and pen 3 didn't have any toilets for women either.   Not that you had that many birds in pen 3 anyway, but there were always a few)

 

 

 

Very 1970's 

Edited 16 January by Parafox

[DJW1]

Do "football special" trains still exist? I went on several in the 80s

[Parafox]

16 minutes ago, DJW1 said:

Do "football special" trains still exist? I went on several in the 80s

 

I don't think so. 

 

The cost and disruption to modern timetables would make it difficult. 

 

I think you just get on a scheduled service to wherever (and return) and if you're lucky you'll get a seat and not get beer chucked over you.

[worthosoriginals]

Hitchhikers,  don't see many/any of them anymore

[Parafox]

8 minutes ago, worthosoriginals said:

Hitchhikers,  don't see many/any of them anymore

 

Too risky.

[worthosoriginals]

6 minutes ago, Parafox said:

 

Too risky.

Previous ones collected by lorry drivers and never seen again.

Made it go out of fashion.

[Parafox]

1 minute ago, worthosoriginals said:

Previous ones collected by lorry drivers and never seen again.

Made it go out of fashion.

And that's why it's against most trucking companies policy to allow drivers to pick up hitchhikers for obvious reasons.

 

I drove class one for a while and I know there's continuous in-cab video recording these days. Truckers can't get away with anything and nor should they.

[davieG]

My brother and i had a competition with a couple of gals as to who could get to Doncaster from Leicester,  they beat us by about 3hrs.

[worthosoriginals]

12 minutes ago, Parafox said:

And that's why it's against most trucking companies policy to allow drivers to pick up hitchhikers for obvious reasons.

 

I drove class one for a while and I know there's continuous in-cab video recording these days. Truckers can't get away with anything and nor should they.

Are the rolled up carpets in the back out of sight from the cameras?

[Guest worth_the_wait]

2 hours ago, DJW1 said:

Do "football special" trains still exist? I went on several in the 80s

Not really.  Or certainly not like they used to in the British Rails 60's, 70's and 80's.   For various reasons eg:

 - There's not the spare rolling stock capacity just lying around unused waiting to be used,

 - The timetable is much busier and there isn't as much spare capacity to stick on special trains at short notice.

 - Separate Train Operating Companies (TOCs) leads to it being no one's overall responsibility and it just doesn't get done.

 

There's no longer the expectation of "football specials" ever being run, and most young people have either got a car, or know someone with one.   So there's just not the demand for special trains, like there used to be years ago.       Having said all that ... you do still get the occasional ones.   I think Chelsea still have occasional charter special trains, or they certainly did up to a few years ago.

 

The last proper "football special" I'm aware we had, was Derby away for the Friday night FA Cup 4th round match in 2016-17.     East Midlands Trains ran a special extra train there and back.

 

(not sure whether we had one the year after away to Peterborough, or whether Cross Country just put on a longer train for the normal service?)

 

[Heathrow fox]

ELF. FINA MOBIL and TOTAL petrol stations

[Free Falling Foxes]

9 hours ago, Heathrow fox said:

ELF. FINA MOBIL and TOTAL petrol stations

Only a couple of days ago I asked if Fina was still around when I noticed my Grandson plying with a toy tanker similar to this.......

 

[davieG]

Made In Leicester

Rob Hubble 

The Swiss Cottage

This one was Lee Circle.