Turkey twizzlers and mint custard - Your memories of school dinners

Packaged, processed and full of nostalgia – school dinners in the 1970s and 1980s.

Things have changed when it comes to eating lunch – or is it dinner? – at school.

This week is national school meals week – a whole week dedicated to the canteen food on offer to children at lunchtimes across the UK.

Gone are the days of turkey twizzlers and lumpy mash followed by sponge pudding and custard every day.

Sometimes the custard was pink or green and tasted of mint!

Youngsters can now enjoy tasty and nutritious meals that are prepared fresh each day with mouth-watering options like chicken curry, spaghetti bolognaise and roast dinner on the menu.

Chicken tikka with rice is a tempting choice on the menu

They’re prepared by dedicated kitchen and canteen staff across Wirral courtesy of catering company Edsential, which provides 20,000 meals a day and around five million meals every year across the country.

The menus run on a three-week cycle and support sugar swap and juice free days as well as meat free Fridays and there is always freshly baked bread, seasonal vegetables and salad followed by fresh fruit and organic yogurt available.

They’re a real hit with hungry children taking a break from the classroom with youngsters in Early Years and Key Stage One entitled to free school meals every day.

Roast beef with all the trimmings

But what were school dinners like in days gone by? What do you remember about midday meals when you were growing up?

We asked and you told us – in your hundreds!

Here are some of the meals – good and bad - that you remember from your childhood:

• Jenny Hope: A different variety of sponge pudding nearly every day but chocolate was the best.

• Kevin Fullerton: Chicken supreme, chips, rice and plenty of salt and vinegar and then Manchester tart.

• Lincoln Evans: Half a pint of full fat milk with a plastic straw.

Half a bottle of milk with a straw was a daily playtime staple Picture Pexels

• Chloe Gate: School cake with white icing and sprinkles. Strawberry ice cream that was like frozen mousse.

• Son F Gilmore: I remember chocolate pudding with mint flavoured custard that was bright green but it was lovely!

• George Reid: Sago with a wee bit of jam in the middle.

• Bev Gale: Chips, cheese and gravy, melted moments and the best flaky sausage rolls.

• Kitty Hevz Sadler: Turkey twizzlers and anything pre Jamie Oliver.

• Grant Pengelly: Flapjack and milk.

• Gwyneth Whitaker: Potatoes, turnip and hot dogs.

• Chris Bowden-Smith: Butterscotch tart on a pastry base with cornflakes standing on top.

• Dawn McEwan: Chips, cheese and gravy.

• Andy May: Being the oldest on the table, I dished it out and guess who got the most!

• Jonathan Miller: Chips, beans, chocolate sponge and mint custard, and a carton of drink – all for 60p!

• Christine Raine: Chips, fishcakes and curry sauce. That’s where my obsession started, I think!

• Emma Noble: Cowboy pie and school cake. Cowboy pie was sausage and bean pie.

• Dale Adamson: Mash being served with an ice cream scoop.