Sunday evenings of yesteryear

[Arran]

A lot has been written about the daytime of Sundays of yesteryear but far less about the evening and its rituals. The time when the weekend was slipping away and Monday was approaching.

What were your experiences of Sunday evenings?

Were there any particular TV programmes you watched? Remember the 'God slot' with Songs of Praise and Highway!

Did anybody attend evening church services?

Did you leave your homework until Sunday evening or complete it earlier?

Was Sunday tea the classic fare of salmon and cucumber sandwiches with tinned fruit and evaporated milk for dessert followed by cakes, or did you eat something more exotic?

Were there any other regular rituals?

[zabadak]

Sunday night was bath night, not much on telly, sardines on toast for tea...

[Richard1978]

Bullseye was usually on a Sunday evening, as was Last Of The Summer Wine. Usually there was a Mum friendly drama like Howard's Way or Bergerac.

[Arran]

Sunday night was bath night, not much on telly, sardines on toast for tea...

Did you have a 7 day thermostat programmed to automatically heat a tankful of water on Sunday night or did you have to remember to switch the hot water on manually in the years before combi boilers? Or did you have one of those Ascot gas water heaters above the bath?

Have a read of the discussion about central heating.

https://forums.doyouremember.co.uk/f...entral-heating

[zabadak]

Did you have a 7 day thermostat programmed to automatically heat a tankful of water on Sunday night or did you have to remember to switch the hot water on manually in the years before combi boilers? Or did you have one of those Ascot gas water heaters above the bath?

Have a read of the discussion about central heating.

https://forums.doyouremember.co.uk/f...entral-heating

No, it was too long ago

[Semi42]

golden memories,
!I always visited my Grandmas with my dad, where a glass or two of alpine pop was waiting there for me along with Bandits or breakaways, clubs,viscounts or yo-yos or my favorite…toffypops. My comic of choice would always be there too , beezer, topper , whizzer and chips . Such happy days

[George 1978]

I saw a video on YouTube about this and the person narrating it seemed to have mixed Sundays and Saturdays up.

Yes, Highway with Sir Harry Secombe visiting a village in one of the smaller ITV regions. Perhaps a repeat of Rising Damp on afterwards; Hart to Hart; Cilla's Surprise-Surprise; That's Life!; Spitting Image; The South Bank Show etc. It wasn't just Sunday evenings either - torture: EastEnders omnibus on as a punishment in the afternoon (avoid like the plague); football or some Wild West film; Bullseye with speedboats to West Midlanders. Songs of Praise is more tolerable now than back then.

Bath night was usually Saturdays rather than Sundays. Dad had a shave on Sundays with his Remington; never on any other day of the week. Clothes was on a metal plug-in airer (or whatever it was called).

[Richard1978]

I remember Children's TV was hit & miss on a Sunday, with sometimes an odd mix of shows in the mornings, ancient cartoons, old live action shows, the odd anime and anything in-between.

In the afternoons one of the many versions of Pink Panther show were a common feature in the 1980s.

[Arran]

In the 1970s and early 1980s it was common to serve a salad for sunday tea alongside a cold savoury item. More often than not, salads were a work of knife art where radishes were pared into roses and cucumber slices shaped into gear wheels. At the time salads were viewed as adult food and children were not expected to eat them. The dressing was almost always salad cream.

The availability of the iceberg lettuce in the 1980s transformed salads into an everyday food rather than something confined to buffets and Sunday tea.

Many families would have a set of best tableware that would only come out for Sunday tea. A beautifully decorated teapot would be used instead of the Brown Betty or stainless steel pot. It was often received as a wedding gift.

[Cartimand]

There was the incredibly depressing "Sing Something Simple" on the radio, whilst mum ironed my school uniform for Monday.

[Arran]

Watching rented videos, picked up on Saturday, for a second time before returning them to the video shop on Monday. Many video shops were closed on Sundays.

[George 1978]

I am so glad of the Sunday Trading Act 1994 - it was frustrating not being able to buy a loaf of bread on a Sunday. The irony of writing this on a Sunday itself!

Other memories was playing board (or should it be spelt BORED?) games such as Snakes and Ladders and having the satisfaction of winning if it happened. Looking at the Funday strips in the News of the World's Sunday magazine (Small Talk by Roger; The Lockhorns; Donald Duck (by Disney of course); Robot Ron by Tom Johnston, etc) while having Sunday dinner. In the winter months: having some Bird's Trifle in a bowl around the time Bullseye was on - it seemed to take around three hours to prepare, and the finishing product didn't look anything like the illustration on the box, but it tasted almost delicious after you have had your dinner.

In the summer months: the local park; the Arboretum or even a day trip organised by a local group which I was a member of back then. Saying that however, I wouldn't mind banning Sundays in its entirety - it did have affect on one's mental health even back then - the feeling of relaxation and peacefulness only to be reminded of having to go back to school and things going back to normal first thing the following morning. It was pure torture - I still feel it now over 35 years later!