Your Earliest Memory, What Was It?

[Bobbisox1]

Mine was my first pair of ‘hard’ shoes, my two sisters who were 17-29 years older than me , put together and bought me some tine black patent leather shoes with an ankle strap, my memory is of standing up holding the rails of a cot when they came in and tried them on me, I must have been around 18 months old I think
What’s yours ?

[carolegif]

Lying in my pram when suddenly my mother pulls back the sun canopy and the sun is glistening through a tree, (must have put my pram under it) and she is talking and laughing as she looks at me. I was about 18 months old too.

[Bobbisox1]

Ah that’s a lovely memory Carolegif

[roopower]

I can't be sure I can remember anything from when I was really young. Stories of me were legendary and told to anybody who'd listen. The first thing I know I remember was being in hospital when I was about six. I can remember the lovely Dr Scorer with his stethoscooe round his neck, the smashing nurse turning taps on in the bathroom to try to get me to wee ( I had a severe kidney infection) and the friendly boy in the next bed who 'went home' and I later discovered he had died with leukaemia. I also have vivid memories of coming round from having my tonsils out at nine, trying to climb through the metal bars of my prison. It was the top end of my bed!

[LadyCG]

Walking over the threshold of our new home in Hereford in October 1980. I was roughly 3 years and 9 months old. I have absolutely no memory before that - it's as if I chose not to remember the old life before our fresh start.

[ToraToraTora]

I can remember crawling and not quite being able to stand, then later I can remember climbing stairs but by one foot on then the other on the same step, etc.

[rockyracoon]

My first memory is of me singing Clive Dunn's Grandad to my Grandad at a Boxing Day Party in my aunts house. I had just turned 3 or 4.

[Bobbisox1]

I bet Granddad-loved it Rocky

[lankeela]

Staying at grandparents house in Wakefield with mum, dad arriving later in his furniture lorry which had an open back. Knock on the door to say the lorry was on fire and I vividly remember my dad being soaking wet and picking me up on his shoulder after having climbed in and driven the lorry further up the road away from the houses, taken the hose off the fireman as they were just standing behind the lorry pointing the hose into the back.and climbing in and moving furniture to get to the seat of the fire (he had been a fireman after the war). I was probably about three.

[JJ109]

The problem is when going back that far that although you can remember some early incidents you cannot remember which came first.

I can definitely put this one as under the age of 3 though, My parents, elder sister and myself were all sitting round the dinner table trying to think of names for my new brother or sister as my mother was expecting again....and I suggested all sorts of ridiculous names, most of which were not even names, eg rabbit and pergola boy or anything else that I could see.....and yes I knew what a pergola was then.

[dustypuss]

Looking at a steam train. We moved house when I was 6 months old .Years went by and at the age of 20years I decided to find the house that I was born in. When I found it (guess what!) It was next to a railway crossing.

[Buenchico]

A fascinating (in my opinion, anyway) video, on the subject of early memories, from Aunty Beeb and the OU. It's only four minutes long and, I think, well worth watching:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/why-your-first-memory-is-probably-wrong/p07jsv21

[Moorea7]

Probably about 3 - 4 years old, feeding hens and looking for eggs in a giant hen-house. A bit later, crawling under strawberry nets in the garden to eat the fruit.

[Barsel]

My earliest memory was my first day at school.
Standing outside the gate holding hands with my Mum.
Mum bent down and asked, 'Are you sure you have everything you need?'
I felt this might be a good time to tell her I wasn't wearing any knickers!
Poor Mum, she was already stressed it being my first day at school, but she completely lost the plot as she dragged me home shouting, 'Why did you wait until now to tell me?

[Peter Pedant]

I was roughly 3 years and 9 months old. I have absolutely no memory before that - it's as if I chose not to remember the old life before our fresh start.

children younger than this, deffo can remember. You can test them. BUT the whole things starts again around 3 y of age,
and see above, everyone's adult memory is around 3.
1956 suez and petrol rationing ( my father lost the coupons)

[Peter Pedant]

she completely lost the plot as she dragged me home shouting, 'Why did you wait until now to tell me?

one poor mum in our village had her youngest uringating on the pavement as she dragged him to school...

[Bobbisox1]

Haha, BA Barsel , that made me LOL

[Barsel]

Thank you Bobbi. I think it was also the first time I had seen my Mum get mad at me.

[Old_Geezer]

Lying in a carrycot on my grandmother's living room table, aware everyone was being quiet.

[ubasses]

Mine is being in a pram outside my grandparents house when my great aunt (became my favourite ) arrived, scooped me up and took me in with her. The next thing I remember was being pushed in a push chair and my mum telling me off because I kept putting my hands on the wheels.

[Bobbisox1]

I’ll watch Chris’s video later, some fascinating memories here