But despite that lack of mobile phones, there are good number of ways in which those children who grew up in Sheffield in the 1970s and the 1980s had it better than the children who are growing up in the city today.
And to prove it, we have put together a list of 13 ways in which those who were growing up all those years ago had things that today’s youngsters are missing out on.
Some are long gone – others have been lost in more recent years. Which ones do you miss most? And do you have things that you would add to this list?
1. Growing up in the 70s and 80s
We have put together a list of reasons why it was better growing up in Sheffield in the 1970s and 80s than today. Photo: National World
2. Millhouses Park pool
The outdoor pool at Millhouses Park was a big draw for families up until its closure in the 1980s. You would have to travel out of Sheffield for an outdoor pool nowadays. Photo: Sheffield Newspapers
3. Cheap buses
In the 1970s and 80s, children could get on a bus for 2p, with subsidised fares, making travel around the city affordable. It rose to a still-cheap 5p in the mid 80s, before finally being abolished. Today children pay 80p.Our picture shows a bendibus in the city centre in the early 80s. Photo: Sheffield Newspapers
4. Sheaf Valley diving pool
The diving pool at Sheaf Valley baths was available for anyone to try, with the chance to jump off the top board, for Peter Kay-style 'top bombing'. The drop from the top board seemed to take forever. Ponds Forge, built near the Sheaf Valley site has a diving pool but not with the same public access. Photo: Sheffield Newspapers