You know you’re getting older when……

[CaptainHaddock]

When you have not just one pair of cheap glasses but a pair in every room because you're forever forgetting where you left them.

 

[AM9]

When you have not just one pair of cheap glasses but a pair in every room because you're forever forgetting where you left them.

It's getting like that for me as my prescription changes every year. So I have backup specs of varying compliance with my current eyesight.

 

[DelW]

I'm assuming he means the wardrobe type thing and not the Barnes Wallis invention...

I think it would be unwise to keep one of the latter in a bedroom

 

[Ken X]

I think it would be unwise to keep one of the latter in a bedroom

Might make the earth move though.

 

[Gloster]

When you take a shower and think that things look fuzzy. You then realise that you forgot to take your glasses off before getting into it.

 

[317 forever]

When you take a shower and think that things look fuzzy. You then realise that you forgot to take your glasses off before getting into it.

Or, as I do, you often drop the soap while having a shower.

 

[LYradial]

Or, as I do, you often drop the soap while having a shower.

Or, instead of soap you use the invigorating stimulating body wash you got for Christmas and and the wife says “I see it hasn’t worked“

 

[swt_passenger]

When you have not just one pair of cheap glasses but a pair in every room because you're forever forgetting where you left them.

At least I’ve only got to the stage of having upstairs and downstairs glasses…

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

At least I’ve only got to the stage of having upstairs and downstairs glasses…

I too fall into that category...

 

[Gloster]

You get a sudden rush when you read something exciting, but then realise that you misread it due to your failing sight and it is of no interest. I came across an item saying Free Webinar and misread it as Free Winebar, only to be disappointed a second or two later when I reread it; it is at least an anagram.

 

[nw1]

I can't remember if I've said this already (which I guess is a sign of getting older in and of itself) - but when units you remember being introduced into service start being withdrawn.

 

[norbitonflyer]

I can't remember if I've said this already (which I guess is a sign of getting older in and of itself) - but when units you remember being introduced into service start being withdrawn.

In some cases, even the 365s have been withdrawn, that replaced the 317s that replaced the 312s I remember when they were new. (I am not quite old enough to remember the intruduction of the DMUs that were replaced by the 312s - and of course a few of the 31s which worked alongside them are still going strong!)

 

[The exile]

In some cases, even the 365s have been withdrawn, that replaced the 317s that replaced the 312s I remember when they were new. (I am not quite old enough to remember the intruduction of the DMUs that were replaced by the 312s - and of course a few of the 31s which worked alongside them are still going strong!)

Indeed - my first experience of “new trains” (there weren’t many around in Scotland in the early to mid 70s) was on the 312s on visits to grandparents. Have very hazy memories of the non corridor stock they replaced.

 

[martin butler]

When units and locos, you remember from your youth, are not just no longer in service, but are extinct or down to just one, sat silent in a museum.

 

[PeterC]

When units and locos, you remember from your youth, are not just no longer in service, but are extinct or down to just one, sat silent in a museum.

When that applies to the units that replaced the units of your youth.

 

[AM9]

When units and locos, you remember from your youth, are not just no longer in service, but are extinct or down to just one, sat silent in a museum.

it gets even more weird when you can remember the life's service of two classes or more. Until the late '50s/early /60s the GEML had LHCS services from Liverpool St. to Colchester and Clacton hauled by ex-LNER 4-6-0 locos such as B17s, culminating with Britannias in the late '50s until full electrification when 305s, 308s and 309s took over. These slammer EMUs survived until the late '80s when the 321s were introduced. More recently, the 720s came along making them the third generation of outer suburban commuter trains on the GEML to serve Colchester and beyond. *

* there were additional types deployed such as the class 312s in the late '70s and the class 360s in the naughties, but both of these were effectively supplements for the main classes used throughout the route.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

When old fogies like me, in Manchester city centre, hear people's names that were not used when I was young, over seventy years ago.

A teeneage boy was playing music on his smart phone on a nearby bench and it sounded like someone had asked a girl her name and her sung reply sounded like....."I'm Horney Horney-Horney"

 

[martin butler]

For me its when you pass someone seemingly talking out loud to themselves, back in the day, if you did that, you were often whisked away to a nice clean padded cell where young men in white coats, would give you a nice jacket to wear,

I was tempted to start singing a very funny song, Well I found it funny, "ther;re coming to take me away, ho hee haha, "

It seems that nowadays, its some new device an ear piece that enables you to talk to people.

 

[Lewisham2221]

For me its when you pass someone seemingly talking out loud to themselves, back in the day, if you did that, you were often whisked away to a nice clean padded cell where young men in white coats, would give you a nice jacket to wear,

I was tempted to start singing a very funny song, Well I found it funny, "ther;re coming to take me away, ho hee haha, "

It seems that nowadays, its some new device an ear piece that enables you to talk to people.

Bluetooth earpieces have been around for about 20 years, they're barely newer than widespread mobile phone usage itself.

 

[contrex]

I can't remember if I've said this already (which I guess is a sign of getting older in and of itself) - but when units you remember being introduced into service start being withdrawn.

I remember as a wee lad, EPBs replacing the original 1925 stock on Victoria - Orpington, and I remember, over 30 years ago, them being withdrawn, and now their replacements are going.

 

[Lewisham2221]

When old fogies like me, in Manchester city centre, hear people's names that were not used when I was young, over seventy years ago.

A teeneage boy was playing music on his smart phone on a nearby bench and it sounded like someone had asked a girl her name and her sung reply sounded like....."I'm Horney Horney-Horney"

Assuming both paragraphs are part of the same statement; that sounds like the song Horny by Mousse T from 1998. It's not the girls name. If you're not otherwise familiar with usage of the phrase "I'm horny", I'm not sure whether I should advise you to Google it, or not... (Discretion would perhaps be advised)

 

[martin butler]

I remember as a wee lad, EPBs replacing the original 1925 stock on Victoria - Orpington, and I remember, over 30 years ago, them being withdrawn, and now their replacements are going.

Growing up in woking, I can remember seeing Bil's and Hals, on semis, 4 COR's on Pompy's, Veps only just being introduced, the last unkempt steam engines, then came the Warships, on the Exeter runs,

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Growing up in woking, I can remember seeing Bil's and Hals, on semis, 4 COR's on Pompy's, Veps only just being introduced, the last unkempt steam engines, then came the Warships, on the Exeter runs,

Well over seventy years ago, being a less-than-knowledgeable gossoon from "oop North". I thought names like BIL and HAL were based on the names of the Anglo-Saxon invaders of England...

 

[nw1]

Growing up in woking, I can remember seeing Bil's and Hals, on semis, 4 COR's on Pompy's, Veps only just being introduced, the last unkempt steam engines, then came the Warships, on the Exeter runs,

Sounds very like the scene of 1967. if you're interested there is a 1967 South Western Division CWN on the BR Coaching Stock groups.io group. It's absolutely fascinating and a real snapshot of the changeover period: a real mix of services still going strong in the 80s with services dating from the 30s.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Mar 2026 ==

Indeed - my first experience of “new trains” (there weren’t many around in Scotland in the early to mid 70s) was on the 312s on visits to grandparents. Have very hazy memories of the non corridor stock they replaced.

In a curious quirk, the only time I travelled on a 312 was in the 21st century, just. (April 2001, Liverpool Street-Colchester, ISTR it was the 1612 departure).

Similarly, the only occasions (three in total, two on the same day) I travelled on a 'Thumper' in regular public service were (just) in the 1990s, though I did also travel on one on the Mid Hants 10-year anniversary event in 1987.

 

[Western Lord]

I remember as a wee lad, EPBs replacing the original 1925 stock on Victoria - Orpington, and I remember, over 30 years ago, them being withdrawn, and now their replacements are going.

I suppose the longer life of trains (and aircraft and ships) make their passing more noticeable as we've experienced them for longer. We have all, however, been through several generations of cars, often without lamenting their demise (thanks to unreliability and rust). When I was a kid I thought the Vauxhall Cresta PA was the ultimate, looking like it could have been driven by Dan Dare in The Eagle.

 

[contrex]

I suppose the longer life of trains (and aircraft and ships) make their passing more noticeable as we've experienced them for longer. We have all, however, been through several generations of cars, often without lamenting their demise (thanks to unreliability and rust). When I was a kid I thought the Vauxhall Cresta PA was the ultimate, looking like it could have been driven by Dan Dare in The Eagle.

Yes, 1957 - 1962. Aged 8 in 1960, I thought they were the bee's knees. My father said they, and all Vauxhalls, were 'common', and kept our 1957 100E Ford Anglia until 1964, when he got a racing green mark 1 Cortina. The 1925 first EMUs for the SR, the '3 sets' lasted until early 1962, so 30-40 years, the EPBs ran from 1951 to 1995, so 40+ years, and the Networkers are around 35 years old.

The commanding officer of the Alleyn's School CCF, Lt-Col J Logan, aka 'Jock' Logan the Latin master, had a PB Cresta, which you'd think would make Vauxhalls not so 'common' in Dad's eyes. But no. He was triumphant when Jock's PB broke down on the M2 while taking him and 3 of us cadets to Shorncliffe (we never got there!). I totally didn't (and still don't) understand that sort of car snobbery. [Edit] Well, yes, I do. Dad sneered at things he couldn't afford!

 

[DelW]

When I was a kid I thought the Vauxhall Cresta PA was the ultimate, looking like it could have been driven by Dan Dare in The Eagle.

Yes, 1957 - 1962. Aged 8 in 1960, I thought they were the bee's knees. My father said they, and all Vauxhalls, were 'common', and kept our 1957 100E Ford Anglia until 1964, when he got a racing green mark 1 Cortina.

I grew up in the West Midlands, while the aunt, uncle and cousins whom we visited most often lived in Hertfordshire. Possibly for reasons of geography and local loyalty*, we always had BMC cars while they had Vauxhalls. There was quite a contrast when my uncle bought a Victor 101 estate (the knife-edge styled one) while we still had a Morris Minor 1000. The decades apart in their styling was very obvious although the actual vehicles were only five years different (1965 vs 1960).

I suspect more Minors have survived than Victor 101s though. I see the former on the road reasonably often, but I haven't seen a Victor of any variety in normal use for many years.

As it turned out, most of my cars have been Fords, though partly because many of them were company cars from an all-Ford fleet.

*We did have relatives who had worked at "The Austin" i.e. Longbridge plant.

 

[contrex]

I grew up in the West Midlands, while the aunt, uncle and cousins whom we visited most often lived in Hertfordshire. Possibly for reasons of geography and local loyalty*, we always had BMC cars while they had Vauxhalls. There was quite a contrast when my uncle bought a Victor 101 estate (the knife-edge styled one) while we still had a Morris Minor 1000. The decades apart in their styling was very obvious although the actual vehicles were only five years different (1965 vs 1960).

I suspect more Minors have survived than Victor 101s though. I see the former on the road reasonably often, but I haven't seen a Victor of any variety in normal use for many years.

As it turned out, most of my cars have been Fords, though partly because many of them were company cars from an all-Ford fleet.

*We did have relatives who had worked at "The Austin" i.e. Longbridge plant.

My mother's brother-in-law, uncle Jim, who lived in Orpington always drove BMC. The earliest I can recall was a Series MO Morris Oxford (like an enlarged Minor). Next was an Oxford III and the last one I remember before I left home was a veer over to Austin for an A60 Farina. His 'posh' brother-in-law, my Uncle Bob, stuck with the same Standard Ten for about 15 years until 1972 when he got a Vauxhall FE Victor (I have just identified it from a family photo). My father's brother, my uncle Clive, was for many years a senior manager at a Ford main dealer, Reginald Tildesley in Walsall. He had a Wolseley 4/44, a 100E van, a pink and white Consul Classic (a gorgeous car), a Corsair V4, and as I recall a Mk 4 Cortina before we lost touch.

 

[gg1]

I suspect more Minors have survived than Victor 101s though. I see the former on the road reasonably often, but I haven't seen a Victor of any variety in normal use for many years.

Purely anecdotally based on personal observation, the survival rate for Morris Minors seems to be better than any other 50s/60s car generally, even after taking into account their very long production run. Seems like around half of the cars from that era I see on the roads are Minors.

 

[contrex]

Purely anecdotally based on personal observation, the survival rate for Morris Minors seems to be better than any other 50s/60s car generally, even after taking into account their very long production run. Seems like around half of the cars from that era I see on the roads are Minors.

I had a pal who once worked at the Road Research Laboratory in Berkshire and he told me a tale about a batch of Standard Vanguard bodies that were meant for adding to running gear, engine, etc, but couldn't be because of a strike, so they had to be stored outdoors until the matter was resolved. They were treated with something or other to reduce corrosion, and apparently this batch were soldiering on long after all the others had gone to be made into razor blades.