Listening intently grandma said to the wide-eyed young lad: 'What would that be then? 'A new Play Station, it's only £199'.

Grandma, sucking in a sharp intake of breath, and not wishing to appear dismissive of the idea, thought for a moment and replied: 'Well, that's not the sort of thing that grandmas buy…'

But, not put off by the answer, a few days later he telephoned her.

'Grandma, you know that new Play Station I told you about, well it isn't £199, it was just £99.'

'Oh dear,' she said, with a touch of sadness in her voice for her grandson's benefit. 'That is still too much for grandmas.' With barely a pause he replied 'OK, see yah.'

How things have changed, the expectations of many of today's children seem to be unbounded.

Hope and expectations seem to be inextricably tied together as far as a child is concerned. What did their parents and grandparents hope for Christmas when they were the same age, and then what did they actually get.

I will suggest there was some difference between the two.

There is always hope and the surprise element to look forward to.

One thing that children can and will look forward to will be the Christmas parties they will be invited to.

Our two featured photographs are fine examples showing children at their parties.

The children sitting at the long trestle and benches was taken in 1957 at the Dyers' Club.

For those not familiar with that club, today it is the Elm Royd Nursing Home in Brighouse Wood Lane.

This property started its life as a private house, and one of its owners was the Ormerod family, one of the most important families in Brighouse during the 19th century.

The name Ormerod first appeared in Brighouse with the arrival of two brothers John and Richard Ormerod in 1800. Richard died at the age of 20 in 1813 and was buried at Rastrick Cemetery.

The Ormerod family will be remembered in Brighouse for their connections with the Alexandra and the Prince of Wales Mills, the silk and woollen trades in the town.

But this John Ormerod, his father and other brothers were in business as long ago as the 1750s as 'Middlemen' or 'Chapmen'.

These were the men who carried by packhorse manufactured goods from the woollen trade from one manufacturer to the other, or from one manufacturer to the person who would finish the goods off.

Surprisingly, in 1823 John Ormerod was described as a wines and spirits merchant and died in 1853.

Two of his sons Hanson and Thomas Theodore were executors of his will with two other sons, Richard and Henry and a daughter Annie.

Among the property he left to be sorted out was what was described as brewery warehouses, building land and dwelling houses situated in Brighouse. Within 50 years he had become a wealthy and influential man in Brighouse.

Returning to the children, I well remember attending some of the Dyers' Club parties in the 1950s. There was as much pop as you could drink, mountains of sandwiches and crisps. You were fit to bust after the feast.

Then it was time to play games. The enthusiasm and energy after the tea took its toll, with a few of the party revellers ending up being sick.
Then it was the big moment when Santa arrived, the little ones went all shy and coy, while the know-all 10-year-olds thought they knew.

Those were great days, parties linked to your dad's work or club were something to really look forward to – no expense spared to ensure all the children had a good time.

Does anywhere still have these kind of children's parties?

The second featured photograph is all the children from Norwood Green at one of their village Christmas parties of over 50 years ago.

I still subscribe to the 'Norwood Green News', the village newsletter, while the big children's parties of yesteryear are a thing of the past.
Reading through the December issue there is still that village atmosphere and a number of activities that have the village children in mind.

It is wonderful to see how elements of that what many may think of as old-fashioned community spirit still live on.