When I was young, Dad would cycle to work every day.
I loved the idea of smoothly gliding along under your own steam .
In the infants ,he would wait at the gate at home time and hoist me up onto the crossbar sitting with my hands on the handlebars for the short trip home.
In those days, we walked nearly everywhere that was walkable .We never owned a car and buses and trains were only for long trips, so we did a fair amount of exercise without really knowing it.
Mum was a very fit lady. She had been a Ballerina in her past and would often do her limbering up exercises on the floor while we watched her.
In the school holidays ,we would go to the reservoir with mum and 'swim' or if she had a few pennies,she would take us to the boating pond which was used for swimming. There was even a small swimming pool in one park that was free but unsupervised. It was filled only in the summer and there was nowhere to change but it cost nothing and you could picnic after a swim and then play in the play park afterwards.
One park had a trapeze and mum showed me how to lift myself up and hang upside down on it much to the envy of the other children.
After we moved to flats, there was the big Lido that opened late spring (may/june) and closed at the end of September . I would borrow library books describing how to swim and practice and practice.
Swimming lessons at school were basic but we started them at age 9 and after 2 years I could do the 10 yards dog paddle. The lido was a good place to meet school friends when we were older and didn't cost a lot.
I think it was about 30 pence a person in the 1970's. Mum would sometimes give me the money to take my younger sister so that she could have a break from us. I was 8 years older so given full responsibility for her safety.
I didn't have a bike as a child so would beg rides from the other children who would often be glad to let someone 'watch' their bike while they played. I learned to ride one day in the park on a borrowed bike and was quite sad to have to hand it back and go home without one.
Secondary school was a bus ride away or walkable if there was time. If I walked, I could save the 2 pence fare . We didn't get pocket money so it was the only way to have any money if I wanted to buy anything and meant a lot of saving up and self discipline not to just blow it on chocolate.
Most days were of course 'No Spend days' .
School sports were a little ridiculous.
To begin with,we were required to have the sports uniform.
This was a small sleeveless singlet looking thing made of thick polyester that reached to above the knee.
White plimsolls with laces(everyone owned black slip ons because you had to have them for primary school), Hockey boots(!) and a Black plain swimming costume.
The singlet thing showed your underwear at the armholes and beneath.
Trainers were unheard of in 1972 .
PE was often various gymnastic poses or athletics. Nothing was explained properly.
We ran on the field in the plimsolls which jarred our feet ,I went over on my ankles almost every time.
In summer we 'played' tennis which consisted of hitting the ball over the fence and going to retrieve it.
In winter we might play badminton which was the same as tennis because the majority of the game was spent in walking to the wall and picking up the shuttlecock.
We played Hockey in our singlet things and plimsolls(most people didn't have hockey boots) even when it was snowing. Almost nobody knew the rules.
Netball was the only fun part.
We spent the rest of the day in our sweaty underclothes.
I desperately wanted to be in the Netball team and practiced with my equally keen friends at lunch times after the sports teacher had announced that only the practicing girls would have a chance.
Enid Blyton has a lot to answer for!
In her 'school' books, the girls play lacrosse and each week ,the head of the lacrosse team chose the most promising girls for the next game.
Most of us girls had read them and expected the same.
In secondary school, the PE teacher chose the teams in the first year(age 11) and those girls were 'the team' all through to 6th form.
There were around 100 girls in each year and only 7 are needed for a netball team with possibly 2 reserves,there was no 'B' team.
Obviously I might not have 'qualified' in any case but the criteria for choosing was pathetic and unfair. In no sport are the places in a team guaranteed to the participants because they were the first to be chosen 6 years earlier .
My vision of fitness was never in question,my vision of school sports and generally the integrity of teachers was the victim here.
I never willingly participated in school sports again.
At home,I borrowed mums limbering up books and followed the exercises.
I continued to walk to school 2.5 miles each way.
When I left school aged 16, I weighed 10 stone(140lbs) which was heavy for me, I started work 6 miles away from home. In London that is seen as a long commute! First I went by bus and watched my small wages drain away week after week.
Then some friends gave me a lift in.
After about 18 months I bought myself a bicycle( I had always wanted one ). Then I cycled to work every day.
To begin I walked the hills but it wasn't long before I rode the whole way.
My weight went down to just under 8 and a half stone( about 118lbs) and I could eat anything without fattening up.
I felt I had my fitness back no thanks to school.
In future years I worked 15 miles from home and cycled that distance too.
Swimming came back to me when we started to drive to work after I married.
I would go for several hours after work and swim up and down the pool (I managed 3 miles once).
Books were the only trainer but that was enough for me to improve on my 10 yards dog paddle.
I truly believe anyone can be fit and it needn't be expensive.
Sometimes you have to swallow your misgivings and just go for it.
You aren't doing it for anyone else so why do their opinions matter?
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