As older generations have said for many years, kids today have never had it so good.
For some of us, a trip to Blockbuster Video to peruse the large VHS cases was a treat – now, everything’s there on a screen, just a tap away, with no need to worry about fiddling with the tracking controls on the video player.
And Brooklands Park in East Worthing – who can forget the boating lake, train, golf centre and go-karting, which meant it could easily make a whole day out for families. Mind you, the new children’s play park there would have been great 30 or 40 years ago.
Blockbuster and Brooklands as it was were just two of the staples for children who grew up in Worthing in the 80s and 90s but there were many more.
Below, we take a look at 12 things that might spark some memories of childhood and adolescence – 11 of them fun, one perhaps less so.
Honourable mentions must go, too, to the late Horace Duke, who waved to countless children with his white-gloved hand while out and about in Worthing and Shoreham, often with his bicycle and wearing a straw boater, and to attractions like the boating lake and Peter Pan’s Playground.
5. Southlands Hospital
Work to demolish Southlands Hospital's main Harness Block in 2016. The sale of the land, which was developed for housing, part-funded the £7.5million eye unit at the remaining Southlands site Photo: Eddie Mitchell
6. Brooklands
Brooklands Park, in East Worthing, enjoyed its heyday in the 1960s but those who grew up in the 80s and 90s will remember the boats on the lake and the train which used to run round it Photo: Worthing Herald
7. Brooklands
Brooklands also boasted a popular paddling pool for many years – pictured here after its 2009 refurbishment. Who remembers climbing those rocks before they were fenced off? They certainly looked taller then. The pool is now sadly gone, along with the golf centre and go-karts. The new children's play park is brilliant, though Photo: Worthing Herald
8. Cromwells Madhouse
Nowadays, people walking into 28 Montague Street can expect to find shelves packed with books. But in the 90s, the shop was home to Cromwells Madhouse and its racks of t-shirts and jeans – baggy, of course Photo: Google