Top 10 childhood memories - from school dinners to buying sweets - revealed in new survey

From holidays with family to school trips with classmates, four in 10 adults say they wish they had appreciated special moments from their childhood more.

For folk in the North East, it turns out holidays, Christmas Day and visiting our grandparents are our favourite childhood memories. One in three (34%) treasure memories involving parents the most, followed by friends (26%) and pets (23%), outranking memories with siblings and wider family members .

Other notable memories include buying sweets from a local shop (30%), owning a pet (29%), and the first relationship with a girlfriend or boyfriend (27%). Meanwhile, the smell of a roast dinner triggers childhood memories for almost 18% of Brits. The survey was carried out by Comparethemarket .

READ MORE: 10 vanished Newcastle pubs - from the Farmer's Rest to the Haymarket

TOP 10 MEMORIES FROM CHILDHOOD

1. Family holidays, 37%

2. Christmas Day, 37%

3. Visiting grandparents, 35%

4. Going on school trips, 31%

5. Buying sweets from the local shop, 30%

6. Having a pet, 29%

7. Listening to pop music, 27%

8. A day trip to the beach, 27%

9. Your first boy/girlfriend, 27%

10. Getting a present you really wanted, 26%.

Buying sweets is a favourite childhood memory, according to a new survey (Mirrorpix)

Meanwhile, the findings also revealed that certain smells also triggered vivid childhood memories. The smell of a classic roast dinner is a key memory trigger for 18% of Brits. Over one in six (16%) say the smell of their grandparents' home also reminds them of their childhood, while 15% of Brits say the smell of school dinners takes them back to their youth.

TOP 5 MOST MEMORABLE SMELLS FROM CHILDHOOD:

1. Sunday roast, 18%

2. Grandparents' house, 16%

3. School dinners, 15%

4. Fresh cut grass, 14%

5. The beach, 12%

Alex Hasty, director at Comparethemarket, said : “What we remember from our childhoods and who is a part of our core memories differs from person to person." The survey data collected in this study was based on a survey of 2,166 UK residents aged 18 and over, which took place in August 2022. Read the full survey here.

READ NEXT

• The Newcastle chemist's shop nicknamed 'Dirty Dick's' - it was popular for well over 100 years

• The North East and its tales of ghosts, mysteries and curiosities

• Gateshead streets 'unfit for human habitation' and ready for demolition in the 1980s

• The story of Percy Main, North Tyneside, in words and photos

• Quiet Whitley Bay street that had once been the scene of death and destruction