There are some elements of life in Britain that we’d definitely miss if they disappeared, like a nice cup of tea, excessive apologising and Walker’s crisps.
But what about the things that have quietly vanished, and we only realise how intrinsic they are to the British experience now they’re gone?
They’ve been chewing this over on the AskUK subreddit after user Mel_Ran posted this:
What’s something in the UK that quietly disappeared without anyone noticing?
I was thinking about all the little things that used to be everywhere but are basically gone now. Things like phone boxes, local record shops, corner newsagents, or even just certain brands of snacks. Stuff that felt normal growing up but somehow vanished without anyone really talking about it.
What are some things you remember that just quietly disappeared?
And people realised that there are lots of things missing that we used to take for granted, like these…
1.
‘According to my mum, insects. She says she really notices it when driving. When she was young apparently you used to get so many more insects on the windscreen.’
–Otherwise_Koala4289
2.
‘Adding on to this to say WORMS. Where have my wriggly friends gone? I used to see so many worms whenever it rained but now if I’m lucky I’ll see one.’
–MamaKuromi
3.
‘Rolos, you hardly see them in the supermarkets anymore, I miss them.’
–Tight-Principle-743
4.
‘A media that was genuinely informative. Most still seem to think it still is when it’s really just rage bait now.’
–Electricbell20
5.
‘Dark chocolate Bounty. They just quietly disappeared. I miss them so much.’
–RabbitRabbit77
6.
‘Green spaces. I don’t mean destinations, family day out areas managed parks, I mean empty fields, patches of ‘unused’ land, that were in fact used by the community. They just weren’t used in ways that generated money besides the random fair/ cheap community event that appeared there annually.
Feels like like every single patch is getting sold to developers and housing plonked on it.’
–No_Masterpiece_3897
7.
‘Panda Pops.’
–Ok_Aioli3897
8.
‘Juicy Fruit chewing gum, or any stick chewing gum for that matter.’
–kingtutscoffeehut
9.
‘I loved getting a 10p mix before school. Three Blackjacks, three Fruit Salads, two eggs and two fizzy bottles! I still remember my order because I got the same every time.’
–Nuthetes
10.
‘Victorians. When I was younger, there were very elderly people knocking around who would have been alive in Victorian times, now there are none.’
–jtfrm
11.
‘Happy Shopper, daily newspapers, grumble mags found in bushes, cigarettes, Panini sticker albums, comics, kids playing in the streets, (instead of balaclaved up Yoofs on illegal ebikes/escooters), teenagers wearing coats that are a different colour to black, magazines that don’t cost over five quid, small cars, alloy wheels smaller than 15 inches.’
–Cyclesteffer
12.
‘Video Plus. I remember the first time I had a video recorder with that swanky addition.’
–ImpossiblePut6387
