15 things we grew up with in Manchester that kids these days are missing out on

From the pop man to to perilous P.E. lessons, here are a few things that will unlock memories of growing upChildhood experiences that kids these days are missing out on

With the summer holidays now upon us and the kids out of school, it’s easy for our minds to drift back to our own childhoods.

Back in the ’80s, ’90s, and even the’ Noughties, there were some fantastic places to visit in and around Manchester that made the summer holidays exciting. Yet despite some great additions to the city in recent years, it’s still hard not to think nostalgically about those decades.

Sadly, many of the things we grew up with have now gone, or become obsolete and have been replaced. From places we loved to visit to how we once entertained ourselves, all things have their moment before the world moves on.

Of course, we’re looking back at our youth with rose-tinted glasses, but isn’t that the nature of nostalgia anyway? And who says we can’t reminisce about childhood experiences that were once considered the ‘norm’ in Manchester but have since disappeared.

So with this in mind, here are some things you might miss from childhood. Let us know how many you remember and whether any should have been included.

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The pop manCorona wagon delivered ‘pop’ to people’s homes in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s

If you were a kid in Greater Manchester it was the ‘pop man’ or the ‘mineral man’ – either way, you loved seeing his wagon coming down your road.

Generations of Mancunians growing up in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s remember a now vanished delivery service. A lorry full of rattling bottles of lemonade, cola, cream soda, dandelion and burdock and pineappleade – commonly known as the ‘pop man’ – would visit your street every week.

WoolworthsWoolworths store in Stockport

Of all the retailers that have now been consigned to history, few have worked their way into people’s affections more than ‘Woolies’.

A fond childhood memory for many Mancunians, the one-time high street giant sold everything from DVDs to clothes, toys, school supplies and snacks. However, one thing many people still miss to this day, was the excitement felt as a kid taking a trip to ‘Woolies’ for their pick ‘n’ mix sweets.

The collapse of Woolworths in 2008 was not only the end of a shopping era but also left a hole in the heart of the High Street in towns across the country.

Catch a bus under the ArndaleThe Arndale bus station in Manchester. It opened in 1979, but never reopened after the 1996 IRA bomb(Image: Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester)

The Arndale bus station was open for less than two decades and closed in the most dramatic fashion. Opened on September 24, 1979, as part of the £100m construction of the Arndale centre, it replaced several other smaller, on-street stations in and around the city centre.

The Cannon Street station became one of Manchester’s busiest, but by the early ’90s, if not sooner, the station had become outdated. But its fate was eventually decided in the most dramatic fashion.

The Arndale was one of dozens of buildings badly damaged by an IRA bomb, which exploded just a few yards away on Corporation Street on June 15, 1996. The station never reopened. Cannon Street was wiped from the map in the huge reconstruction of the city centre that followed.

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Iconic late night TVEurotrash presenters Jean Paul Gaultier and Antoine de Caunes

They say the ’90s was a blur (pun intended), but if you were a teenager or young adult growing up in the decade it sure was an exciting time to be alive – especially when it came to television.

Thanks to the early days of satellite television, MTV was pumping out the latest Grunge, Hip Hop, Indie, Britpop, boybands and dance music hits straight to our living room and bedroom TV sets. But our terrestrial channels had also shaken things up as ITV and Channel 4 were now regularly broadcasting late into the night.

The late-night shows we enjoyed were edgier, more challenging, more vulgar than ever seen on terrestrial TV before; but they could also be ground breaking in both their format and content.

Some of the much missed shows from this era include Eurotrash, The Word, and The Hitman and Her.

Playing games in the streetKids play football in the street in Moss Side in 1993

Playing with a group of friends in the street after school was a huge part of growing up for many kids. Whether it was a game of man-hunt, conkers, British Bulldog or a quick game of heads and volleys, or Kerby, they gave us some of our favourite childhood memories.

Sadly, it’s a rarer sight to see children playing together in the street these days, while some games seem to have disappeared altogether.

Deathtrap playgroundsPlayground in Hulme, Manchester. 2nd May 1971

Many people will have great memories of playing for hours on swings, slides and monkey bars as kids. However, looking back, some of the playgrounds we played in as children probably wouldn’t exactly pass modern health and safety standards.

No doubt, there will be many reading this who still bear the scars, a chipped tooth, or remember a burn on the bum from a red-hot slide, we took as trophies from some long lost playground. What remains undisputed is that, despite the hard landings and minimal safety features, we still managed to have the time of our lives.

Climbing wooden frames and ropes in P.E.School P.E. gym back in the day

School P.E. (Physical Education) time was a real workout back in the day. You might be forced to do cross-country running, but the school gym wasn’t any easier. Stacks of strange smelling P.E. mats that would be your only cushion from a miss-timed vault over a stacked wooden box.

Many will also remember perilously clinging to the wooden climbing frames that were folded out from against the gym walls. Or getting friction burns as a track suited tormentor encouraged (yelled) at you to shin up and down a rope. Those were the days.

Tuning in to Top of the Pops every weekTop of the Pops was must watch TV growing up

Music chart TV programme Top of the Pops was broadcast weekly by the BBC from 1964 through to the Noughties. Part of many households’ memories, the programme was the world’s longest-running weekly music show.

But by July 20, 2006, the last episode of Top of the Pops aired. Whilst Christmas Specials have aired annually, we haven’t been able to watch the show weekly as we previously did since the 2000s.

Visit the Warner Bros shopThe Warner Bros. Store in Manchester Arndale(Image: Manchester Arndale)

When the Warner Brothers store arrived at Manchester Arndale in the early ’90s, it was a very exciting time. The huge store was topped with a giant Tasmanian Devil and the nearby fountain was guarded by statues of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd.

The store itself boasted enough cuddly toys and face cloths that expand in water to last you a lifetime. Visits to the Arndale Centre store were a rite of passage for many Nineties Manc kids, but the treasure trove of film and TV memorabilia shut up shop in 2001.

MSN MessengerMSN Messenger was how kids communicated in the early Noughties

One for the Millennial kids this. Long before the days of chatting to your mates on WhatsApp or Snapchat, there was MSN Messenger.

You’d race home from school – and if it was the early Noughties – switch on the family PC to log in to MSN Messenger to chat to your mates you’ve just seen at school.

MySpaceHome page of the popular internet networking site, MySpace

While we’re on the subject of now obsolete early Noughties tech, before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat – Myspace ruled the roost. Looking back, there was nothing more cringeworthy than uploading photos from nights out with your digital camera onto Myspace or being part of the political mine field that was carefully choosing who made it into your Myspace top 5.

Saying that, it was probably many people’s first introduction to coding as you desperately tried to make your profile page reflect your brooding teenage persona.

Buy a ClipperCard to travel on the busThe ClipperCard machine has now vanished from the front of Manchester’s buses

Introduced in 1979, the ClipperCard provided 10 bus trips for the price of nine – and also doubled as playground currency. Slotted into a machine at the front of the bus – with a satisfying click – they were part of Manchester life until 2004.

Local indoor waterparksThe Water Place, Bolton, 1996(Image: Pete Greenfield)

The summer holidays were exciting times for kids in the ’80s and ’90s, considering the many amazing places there were to visit. One popular option was a day out at the local indoor waterpark.

Whether it was Gorton Tub, or Bolton’s Water Place with its wave machine and water flumes, both places were hugely popular with children and teenagers. Sadly, both the Water Place and Gorton Tub closed in the early Noughties.

Sunny DelightSunny Delight fruit drink(Image: Mirrorpix)

Sunny Delight, made to appear like genuine fruit juice but containing minimal actual content, was a popular lunchbox item for children in the late ’90s. It quickly became a marketing sensation, ranking as the UK’s third most popular soft drink after Cola and Pepsi.

But its popularity dropped when concerns about its high sugar content were raised and reports of children turning orange – dubbed Sunny D Syndrome – from excessive consumption, which lead a name change and reformulation.

Granada StudiosAlien attraction at Granada Studios Tour back in 1996

Opening in a blaze of publicity in 1988 and envisioned as a ‘Hollywood on the Irwell’, the tour of the Quay Street studios attracted more than five million fans in its heyday.

Visitors could walk the cobbles of Coronation Street as well as exploring other sets from other Granada productions, including a mock Downing Street and a Sherlock Holmes-era Baker Street.

The attraction was also home to the world’s first – and possibly most terrifying – flying rollercoaster, Skytrak. By 1999, visitor numbers had dwindled and it shut its doors to the general public, although it continued to welcome visitors as part of hospitality packages until 2006, when it closed for good.