Childhood nostalgia is a funny thing. So many of the things we used daily back then have fallen by the wayside, we reminisce about them now with our rose-tinted glasses on full beam.
Our reliance on technology was growing rapidly but still like it moved at a snail's pace compared to what we're living through now. Without iPads and iPhones, Netflix and Disney+, we were still ahead of the curve when it came to making our own fun, especially during the summer holidays. We went out and made things happen, from bike ramps to climbing up and down quarries and how could we forget the outdoor swimming pools that were some of the best places to spend with friends.
Read More: 9 tellings-off everyone with a Welsh mam got growing up
1. Cor ona pop
Who can forget the excitement of when the Corona pop man and his trusty van would pull up in your street? You would take your bottles back to be recycled and get 10p per bottle too. See, in the valleys, they were recycling before it was cool. And what was even better than the taste of the pop is that back then it was made in and around south Wales, but mainly at the Welsh Hill Works, in Porth, now more commonly known as The Pop Factory/The Factory.
2. Only having some Channel 4 programmes late at night
Before the era of hundreds of TV channels, live pause and iPlayer, we had four TV channels, with some of Channel 4's English-language programming appearing within S4C's schedule.
3. Buying your CDs at Woolworths
Woolworths could be the highlight of a day "in town" with your friends, especially if your favourite band was releasing their new single, until it shut down in 2008.
4. The corded rotary phone (and phone books)
Compared to the touch tone phones of today, the corded rotary phone made making a call seem like forever. Add to that the time it took to find the number you wanted to dial from the phone book/Yellow Pages in the first place and all this made making a quick phone call a bit of a mission.
5. The big gigs at the National Stadium
Before the world class Principality Stadium, there was the National Stadium, where the likes of Michael Jackson and REM rocked it in the 1990s.
6. School desks that looked like this
These desks look like they date from the turn of the 20th century but a full 100 years later they were still in rows in schools up and down the country.
7. Bombing it around the bowl at Swansea Leisure Centre
When these slides opened in the 1990s they were one of the best things you could do as a kid living anywhere between Carmarthen and Bridgend. Epic.
8. Playground slides that would burn you in the heat
Summer was the best time to be in your local park and, if you had a massive metal slide, that would have a queue going up the steps and the anticipation of your turn would be all the motivation you needed to wait. However, that expectation would soon turn to dread and fear, as your turn arrived and you sat down on the slide and felt the metal burning your exposed legs. But your rite of passage would earn the admiration of your friends as you instantly regretted wearing shorts and braving the slide. After all of that and the sting of the burn, you duly went back around and queued up to do it all again as that was what summer was all about: fun!
9. Cwtsh glo
The coal was kept in the coal shed out the back (also known as the 'cwtsh glo').
10. Penscynor car sticker
Whether it was in the car window or the bedroom window, if you'd been to Penscynor, you had this sticker. And so did lots of other people.
11. Tovali pop
Still going strong in Carmarthen, mind.
12. Jeifin Jenkins
Does a Welsh-language children's presenter based on a Teddy Boy need more of an introduction? If you were a kid in West Wales in the early 90s this guy was your Fonz. Jeifin - whose TV shows included Hafoc, Jeifin and Jeifin yn Bobman (that's 'Jeifin Everywhere') - was occasionally accompanied by an overweight sidekick, Handel, played by no other than Huw Ceredig, aka Reg Harris from Pobol y Cwm, aka Fatty Lewis from Twin Town.
13. Arfon Haines Davies
There was a time when this was the face of Welsh news. No offence, Vincent Kane.
14. Wil Cwac Cwac
The books if you grew up in the 1920s (unlikely for anyone reading this) or the TV series if it was in the 1980s. Either way, one of the best names for a cartoon character ever.
15. Above-ground roundabouts
Staying at the local park, one of the best rides there was the big metal roundabout that would have the older kids pushing those brave enough to get on - faster and faster until they could take no more. Obviously, the next move would be to stop it as fast and quickly as possible to disorientate the rider and watch them stumble off as they battled against the g-force and motion sickness, with the aim of seeing them fall over giddy.
16. The playground rocking horse
The rocking horse was another playground ride that would take the strongest of stomachs (and backsides) to get the best out of it, especially if you had the older kids pushing it to see if they would be able to make it go as fast and high as possible. All this without falling off meant one thing - you had skill.
17. Concrete-floored playgrounds
If the above had you wincing at all, then remember this was before the time of soft playground flooring/chippings. We did all of the above on concrete floors and that was the best part of it all. The aim would be to do the rides without a cut or scratch. Although when you did fall and cut/graze yourself, you learnt that with pain comes the determination to get better at it and to not fall again!
18. Martyn Geraint
Martyn Geraint is a children's entertainer famed for his singing. You know, classics like "Un bys, dau bys, tri bys yn dawnsio". On Slot Meithrin, he used to present S4C programmes in much the same way Andi Peters did from the BBC broom cupboard. His sidekick was Wcw, the edgy one of the double act. Wcw wore a leather jacket and had a mohican. His favourite food was "bara, te a sos coch". He was pretty much a rip off of Ed the Duck - but he was a punk rock cuckoo, obviously.
19. Steamed Pies
With so many Italian cafés dotted around South Wales, a steamed pie was a treat like no other. A visit to one of the many Italian cafés meant great food and one of the best frothy coffees ever made - remember this was before the likes of Costa and Starbucks. Would the coffee houses of today stand a chance against the cafés of yesterday? The steamed pie was the café's calling card and was steamed using the coffee machine.
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How Cardiff looked when it hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1958
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