I took part in this documentary as a child. A follow up was made in 2000+ called 'Whatever Happened to The Dusty Bluebells'. I can't find it on KZfaq, but it's well worth watching if you can find it.

What a beautifully created piece of documentary

I played like that, born 1966, but we had some different songs and games. Marbles on drain covers, skipping, something up the wall, and football football football

That was a lovely trip down memory lane seeing kids playing out in the streets & hearing some old songs....fast forward only 20yrs & round where I lived there wasn't one kid playing in the streets due to traffic & idiot drivers...the only time I hear my neighbours kids these days is if they're kicking a ball around in the back garden, which only happens in school holidays, or I hear them talking when they're going to & from school. I guess a lot of kids are indoors watching TV or playing on games consoles.... it's sad to say, it, but I really think we had the better childhoods back in the 60s & 70s, the roads were safer for one thing & technology may be great for some things, but you can't beat learning to interact & build up social skills with others through playing together outdoors. You don't get that as much online, it's a very toxic place sometimes.

I learnt the dusty bluebells one from some Cypriot kids in Limassol Cyprus in about 1958, when I was about 8! They had memorized it from some other kids, even though they didn’t speak English! They couldn’t believe I didn’t know it! A Good memory! My favorite was ‘the big ship sails on the alley alley oh, the alley alley alley oh, the alley ally oh, on the last day of September, and the captain says it will never never do, never never do, never never do, on the last day of September….this was a winding in and out game too

Lovely video! We need these ‘third spaces’ back where people can mix and meet organically out of work and home (without needing to pay). That involves making them safer again with more community spirit

Superb! A lot of the same songs & games were sung & played in Scotland, and likely in streets and school playgrounds all over the Wales & England too. Songs passed down from generation to generation, hopefully still sung and played, but I highly doubt it.

How innocent....I wonder where they all are now

As a child of the 1950s growing up on a council estate in Harlow new town many of these songs and games are so familiar to me. Our street was full of kids “playing out” from dawn to dusk and often older folk would come out in the evening and join in. The paving stones were ideal for hopscotch and for many years I had a corn on the little finger of my left hand from playing “jacks”. There were a lot of ball games with variations of tag and games without balls such as chase games like “What’s the time, Mr Wolf” and “British Bulldog”. We would act out the cowboy tv series we saw or play “knights” with improvised swords and pretend horses. We had skipping ropes and hula hoops and skates and bikes. Our street was ideal for hide and seek. There were very few cars parked there then but now it is lined with cars so there is nowhere to play even if kids wanted to. All the parks we played in have been concreted over to make way for housing. It was a child’s idyll when I was a kid but it’s all gone now. The swings, the slide, the roundabout, the paddling pool. All gone.

I'm a Little Teapot! Yay Yay. Beautiful documentary bbc.

Beautiful, reminds me of primary school.

Not a mobile phone or iPad in sight, you cannot replace social interaction. Wonderful video.

Lovely video archive

4:40 we know that one in México. Marinero que se fue a la mari, mari, mar... Para ver que podia veri, veri, ver... Y lo unico que pudo veri, veri, ver... Fue el fondo de la mari, mari, mar

You had no choice but to make your own fun back then and play in the street but at least you knew who everyone was unlike today.

Check out 'The Singing Street', a 1951 short film from Edinburgh. It can be found on the National Library of Scotland website for free. They were doing In & Out the Dusting Bluebells as well.

I hope that some of these kids (in their 60s now I suppose) get to see this video

Nice archive video

When kids rulled the streets now its cars and "Perps !

"Oranges and Lemons, say the bells of St. Clement's/ You owe me three farthings, say the bells of St. Martins,/ When will you pay me? say the bells of Old Bailey,/ When I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch./ Here comes a candle to light you to bed,/ Here comes a chopper to chop off your head!"

I would swap that exquisitely-made short film for all contemporary television with its blare and bluster. It was wonderful. Beautifully-paced, poetic both in its narration and its visual beauty. The camerawork was so good, each shot could have been a still photograph. One second a very low viewpoint, then an overhead shot, then a more standard one. Children interacting, enjoying an outdoor life, playing games and singing songs with deep roots. There is much to be learned here.

Was rhat Laura Mcvie singing through the bars, I'm sure that was her name. Brigid Campbell, Peggy Fisher and others. The Gentleman talking over was the late David Hammond . Now I must go to that shop and buy some dulse.

Just brilliant!

No one plays outside any more. In the 80's I spent several summer holidays up in Redcar and my friends and I would hang out in Locke Park, where there were tons of boys by the side of the boating lake, fishing. I returned back in 2019 and the park was empty and the lakeside bare. Very sad.

Brings BK memories half I am unknown to but 😊 remember the others ❤..

Environments like these played a role in Roger Water’s composition of The Wall, as he was writing his interpretation of how adult superiority within education was indirectly abusing these kids as students, depriving them of not heeding to their standards.

Brilliant! Anyone recognise the nonsense song the girl on the steps is singing?

The Girl on the steps is singing Fair Rosa, hope this helps.

A million miles away.....

Fabulous :)

There were so many kids back then.

never to be seen again

*What's The Time, Mr Wolf?*

The girl on the stairs looks like a young Jennifer Gibney (Cathy Brown in Mrs Browns Boys)

*The Wicker Man* Vibes 😂

La verdadera infancia. Los años maravillosos que dejan buenos recuerdos.

I bet if you went back to that street now, every bit of space would be taken up by cars, including most of the pavements. And they wonder why kids don't play out any more.

Gone. All Gone. Replaced by Tick Tock and Snap Chat.

God be glorified in this generation Lord have mercy❤

And that was back in (19)72 - while in 2024: (Where is everybody???)

1920s Children: ‘Ringa Ringa Rosies’ 1980s Children:’ Zippy and Bungle at the jungle’ 2024 Children: ‘Ten Prime bottles sitting on the wall’

No knives

The cruelest forms of toture are always the oldest forms of torture.

Well it didn't last for generations, it's 2024 and they all went quite.

Do children sing and play anymore?😢

Well that was horrific

covers much of the same ground as the book 'the lore and language of schoolchildren', although in this case, video is far more beneficial to the preservation of this aspect of dying folk culture.

I am a little Dutch girl as pretty as pretty can be be be…

The days before rubber boat bandits.

Back when kids dressed appropriately

Today's kids are too fat and lazy to be playing outside. They've got very short attention spans so wouldn't be able to remember all these song lyrics. Give them a mobile phone, iPad, laptop or games console, Tik Tok, some fast food and (maybe even throw in a vape too) they'll be happy! 😂😂

Bit WHITE for the BBC?