When I Were A Lad: Snapshots From A Time That Health & Safety Forgot
By (Author) Andrew T Davies
HarperCollins Publishers
Portico
10th August 2010
7th June 2010
United Kingdom
Hardback
128
Width 200mm, Height 154mm, Spine 15mm
390g
When I Were a Lad looks at the glorious-yet-risky childhoods of yesteryear before the Health and Safety officers told us we couldnt do everything because it was too dangerous.
The sleeper hit of Christmas 2009 more than 4,000 copies sold through Bookscan.
A book to send shivers down the spine of any parent who has spent years protecting their children from the slightest bump and bash.
A glorious romp though some of the most reckless photos from the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s, tagged with side-splitting captions.
Ah, the past. A time when children could play in the snow without a helmet, crampons and a risk assessment report. When footballs were made from rhino hide and cricket was played with one pad, if you were lucky.When I Were a Ladlooks at the glorious-yet-risky childhoods of yesteryear before the Health and Safetyofficers told us we couldnt do everything because it was too dangerous. It reflects on a time when children were allowed in with the animals at London Zoo; a time before the car seatbeltwas invented (let alone used); a time when you were allowed to dress up endangered species in goalkeeping kit and take penalties against them. The authors have trawled through the major historic archives to find some glorious photo opportunities where the safety angle of the participants was the last thing anyone thought of. Children perch happily on lethal, limb-mangling machinery, stand all-smiles on live crocodiles, feed brown bears with their hands and get scooped from the street by passing tram conductors! These truly were the days that Health and Safety forgot, back when I were a lad
Andrew Davies graduated from Wye College, the agricultural college of London University, in 1979 with a degree in Rural Environmental Studies. He was introduced to beekeeping by a pig-farming friend and has kept bees since 1991.