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New to the forum and perhaps not able to reminisce as much as some due to the fact I was born in 1982 but happy to be on board. I have, in recent years, become extremely interested in the history of Nottingham prior to me turning up in the Meadows in 82. I have been using various sites to work on an in-depth family tree which has resulted in me wanting to know more about the city as far back as humanly possible. But for the odd family member, our lot tend to be born in Nottingham and remain in Nottingham forevemore. Thought I should say "Ay up!" So here I am! Ay up.

Here are some photos to prove that I went nowhere for my birthday: https://picasaweb.google.com/paul.simonite/3Nov2014?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNbVmfGPv6iSNQ&feat=directlink [clcik opn the first photo to bring up the album enlargements in Slide view form]

Like our Mam used to say, live and let let live

When I emigrated they had me jumping hoops left right and center ! being an electrical tradesman I had to furnish so much info and attend several interviews in Manchester it was a joke ! That plus all medicals of my wife and I and kids all paid for privately by me. Then when accepted we had 6 months to sell up and go. Nowadays it seems even speaking English is not really a requirement, especially for some of the working visas they issue. And some of these so called refugees walk in and get full government handouts, housing and then bring in 30 more of their family putting more strain on the

It's about 6:00pm, I've just been up to Sains to find the staff wearing cloaks and blood stained make up. I've wandered home amongst kids dressed as monsters and God knows what else. Is it just me, who else finds this commercialised, American originated load of Halloween rubbish a pain in the backside. My missus has suggested I turn off the lights to discourage morons banging on the door, no chance, my dogs will terrify them. Remember the good old days Bilbraborn when Halloween meant us sitting under the so called haunted arch at Dale Abbey and you crapped yourself when a cow started coughing

Great to see the good outcomes of those choosing to coming to Australia. However, for every success, it seemed that there was a disaster in the early days of the assisted passage and the stories abounded of families that returned home, thoroughly disillusioned with life down under. Probably giving rise to the term 'Whinging Pom' - the majority of unhappy migrants were those housed in the migrant camps; a barebones, Butlin style 'internment' style of living that was not what some people had envisioned in the land of milk and honey. Coupled with the heat, the flies and a strange, harsh lan

Do as above, or do as my Dad did with the telly when it did not work, give it one almighty thump........it worked almost every time

Late night levy, just another brainless idea dreamed up my this Loony Labour council. Those bars who pay will put up their prices to cover added costs. We were the first council to be hit by the WPL, Sky high car parking charges & draconian camera enforcement across the city. 24 hour bus lanes when we don't have 24 hour bus service. Have a wander in to the library on Angel Row & notice the majority of Housing Benefit & Council Tax claimants are mostly eastern European new arrivals. This late night levy is just another device to get the council more money to waste, Roll on the

Thanks for the welcome people. Guess that answers my question as to whether many frequent this place. Cheers all.

Welcome love!! Good luck with your search. I'm sure you'll enjoy the site

I never agreed with clubbing. In the mis 60's there was the Palais and another couple of clubs. Why pay a fiver entry when you've already had lots to drink. You may as well have another few pints in pubs. I hated dancing, and the beer in most of these establishments was crap. Get out early, get pi55ed, Chinese or Indian, then get off home. Sod the clubs !

For all our friends that have been asleep ,it's tribute time 10 years of Mick2Mes achievement,long may it continue

Can anyone recall their first outing completely alone? Trip to Grantham - 1960. Apart from an occasional bike ride over to my aunt's house in a suburb of Nottingham I had not, at the tender age of nine, ventured very far alone. I still remember that particular bright sunny day, it was the second week of the school summer holidays. The long hot days it seemed would stretch out forever, well at least hopefully until September. All of my friends at school called me Smiffy for obvious reasons. I did not know it at the time but I was about to embark on a journey that would be repeated many times

Well what a week! We decided to up-grade our broadband as we keep getting message's from BT that we had gone over our limit. It took us two weeks to decide what package we wanted, we ended up going for infinity bt 2. filled in all questions arrange monies and waited for our server modem to arrive, BT kept us up to date via e-mail. The day came and the package arrived on time it looked very smart at the side of the TV, we had to have a contract with BT for two years. SIMPLE or so we thought until our postman put a letter though the letter box and what did the letter say? BT was offering our p

Not specifically this issue but it's almost a daily thing about drinking, how many units, how many calories, how bad it is for you. I wouldn't disagree with that but most city centres would require a police presence the size of an army every weekend to enforce it and police numbers are being cut to the bone right now. But weren't 'On the Spot Fines' introduced a few years ago, whatever happened to them? The politicians constantly go on about the problem but the will isn't there to deal with it - nor the resources.

John Manley was one of the soldiers that fought off 4,000 Zulu warriors. The battle was made famous in the Michael Cain film, Zulu. He was buried in the Carlton cemetery in 1924 and they've now laid a memorial to honour him. http://www.nottinghampost.com/Red-coats-gun-salute-memorial-Zulu-battle-hero/story-23965451-detail/story.html

I would have to agree with you there Michael, some of the sights you witness on a Friday/Saturday night from drunk folk is just God awful!

I disagree that the problem of drunks and the trouble that's caused is insoluble. Anyone who is drunk and disorderly should be hit with a big fine, say £300. For a second offence it will be £600 and a third £1,000. I doubt many people would be getting the second fine because they'd start behaving themselves. Some of you will think this is a silly idea but it's the only way to cut it out. We have to start somewhere. I also think that anyone who has to go to hospital through alcohol related problems should be made to pay.

But like I said earlier, why should bars be penalised for the actions of their customers. My solution would be to reduce the hours of bars, cut back the closing time to 1am. This wouldn't affect traditional pubs because they wouldn't want to stay open later than that anyway. People would begin to drift away after midnight or decide whether to go on to a club without being pissed before they get there. But it's a problem which is insoluble really, it's the British way and people have to accept it. And the thing I resent most of all is the government telling me how to run my life!

Britain's railways were still largely a nationalised industry when I started. Typical of the public sector overstaffed. As a cleaner, we had three trains each to clean with long breaks in between, and an hours head-down at the end in a preheated first class compartment. This was at Nottingham carriage sidings in the 1970s. Even when I was promoted to Senior Railman carriage shunting, it was not what you would call busy. I was put on an intense shunting course with an experienced shunter, then tested on my knowledge by a station chief inspector. After that, it was just shunting incoming train

Nowt up with my duck suit "quack quack!" .... Yeah Zoe is a bit pwoar int she?

Missed Ivetas legs on strictly matey ! Still, Zoe made up for it.

Welcome to the Forum mi duck, lots on here to interest you and as a young `un there might be stuff you didn't know but I have to say you're not the youngest on here so no excuse for not posting !

My thinkimg exactly BasfordRed!

I've had to stop the gloating for a bit, never mind eh..

Ayup yoof & welcome.

I made application around 1978, at that time if you wanted in, you had to have a job offer, I had all the points required but somehow I had to find a job... I subscribed to the Melbourne Age and the Sydney Herald to scour the want ads. I even got photo copies of the telephone books for both cities with electriacl companies listings, God only knows how many applications I posted off, but it must have been a dozen a day for many months. I received many turn downs, but one day I got a letter offering me a job as an Electrical fitter with Joy Manufacturing in Sydney. I had to go to the Consualat

Very nice, but where's the Wetherspoon's?

My son moved to Oz three years ago to a very good job...his wife was homesick on finding she was pregnant and they have now moved back..But with a heck of a wedge in his bank which he has used back here to open a city center shop in Nottingham. Would never have happened if they had not taking the opportunity,even for such a short period.

In a similar vein to Trevor S's Gran, if things don't go as I wish I usually assume that there is a good reason and better things are waiting for me. I am sure that Australia's Loss was our gain Peverilperil

Thank you people... The close camaraderie, warm friendship and helpfulness of Nottstalgians make this Forum a pleasure to visit each day and many members, although never met, seem like close friends. Basfordred attained the 10K goal well before me and set the benchmark for others to follow (mustn't forget mick2me but he started it all, didn't he?) Of course, the Association games played a big part, alright, a major part in the scoreline but, the Forum in general is a great place to be - especially for ex-pats. Once again, your kind words are much appreciated....

Just got back from taking our dogs for a long walk. On the way back in the car the conversation turned, as usual, to other dogs we have had in the past and also to days gone by when we were younger. We had Radio Nottingham on in the background and as if by magic "Those were the days" by Mary Hopkin came on. I turned the sound up a little and as we listened to the words both of us fell silent and felt a little emotional.... "Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end"..... Not heard it for a long time, think it spent weeks in the charts to the point where it became irritati

When I was a kid we called it mischievous night, it was a night to go ringing doorbells and hiding, along with tapping on windows etc. etc. , not the commercialised, thing it is today

Another one that has a place in my heart is "In my Life" The Beatles. Smiffy

Them widows must love you firbeck ,with your sound system and barking dogs ,seems kids knocking on the door must be a treat for them.

Well said darkazana.

The kids were neither screaming nor digging up plastic skeletons Firbeck, if you the read the post properly instead of picking bits out of it. I do not mind being a minority of one. I am confident enough in myself to voice my opinions as I see things and speak as I find than to just follow the sheep. The adults were supervising their children and people who did not want to be involved were pitched well away from them. We had no complaints from anyone regarding the Halloween goings on. Everyone was very positive about it. And if you have been up to this particular campsite then you will know

Melissa, You also questioned it's relevance over here I was just pointing out that the old ways started here. It is our heritage whether you like it or not. As with many of the old traditions and celebrations, All Hallows Eve coincided with an ancient festival (deliberately set by the church, as were many Christian festivals) where our forebears communed with their ancestors. Samhain is the Festival of the Dead, the major theme being that death is a beginning, a rebirth. America is only around 500 years old, as we know it (obviously there were indigenous people there before it was "discovered"

Pagan isn't American, pagan (which is celtic for "of the country") is what we were long before Christianity came to our shores, and is the oldest of all religions. Halloween is American, the pagan celebration for the end of the summer and the beginning of the winter months is Samhain, and is very much part of our culture and ancestry, and therefore has every relevance over here.

Never been one to 'celebrate' Halloween either. All seems a little pointless if you ask me, it's pagan and American so don't really see what relevance it has over here! I agree with you though, Christmas stuff is probably being put on the shelves as I type. 6 Mondays until Christmas I believe, where did 2014 go?!

I'm onside too Firbeck and I live where it really got going. Don't remember it being celebrated in Nottingham when I was a kid. Maybe one or two adult dances but that was about it. Folks tell kids not to take candy from strangers for 364 days a year but on the 365th its o-k to bang on strange doors and beg for it. Strange logic! All the horrific looking stuff appears in the stores in September. Now they are probably putting up the Christmas trees today. Count me out.

Me to Firbeck, what a load of c..p .......how did we allow this to happen in the name of commercialism ? But then I never told my children lies about Father Xmas ......and that certainly is commercialism gone mad

Have to say I'm with you Firbeck.

On the other hand we have a great atmosphere on Kendal site tonight. Families and their children all joining in the fun and laughter, and such imagination and thought has gone into decorating the vans. We even came across grave yards and half buried skeletons as we had a walk round the site to take it all in. We have pitched families on one side of the site and those who choose not to be involved well away from the ghoulish activities.

Rule book knowledge was paramount when working in moving traffic, from knowing hand signals to understanding the rules about moving trains within station limits. Your own personal safety was your responsibility, but you always looked out for your mates. Local knowledge was important too. There were 16 carriage storage lines at Nottingham Carriage sidings when I worked there. You had to know exactly how many coaches you could get inside clear of all other lines. And to complicate things, Mark 2 coaches were a tiny bit longer than mark ones. On numbers three and four sidings, which both h

Proper railway work was very labour intensive, but it was skilled and you knew you had a job. Very interesting and always something new. We shunted with 08 class engines or 'Jockos' as we used to called them. I loved riding down the rough lines of the sidings on the front step, especially located for shunting staff to ride on. The 08s had a header tank for diesel which was hand-pumped by the driver. We shunters often did it for him. We often pulled the strings under the coaches to isolate the automatic brakes and then loose shunt them for quickness. If we were caught it was a form 1. I don't

I have been reading this with great interest. I have to tell you that some of the teachers mentioned are no longer with us - Mr Redding, Mr Robshaw, Mr Gilliver, Mr Newcombe, Miss England, Mr Bristow, Dr Peake, Mr Williams. I last heard a few years ago that Miss Betts had Alzheimers Disease and I have no doubt that some of the other Members of Staff have gone to the Staffroom in the sky. It was Miss Louden, Lois, who was the Maths Teacher and played cricket for England Ladies. Her nickname was Passion Flower or Pash when I was there 1961-8, then on to University. I still go up to Nottingham f

I remember all of those teachers, Alan. Miss Clarke was HORRIBLE! A few more names from me - Miss Allsopp (French), who was lovely, Miss Heath (PE), Mr Macnaughton ( Geog - strict but good fun)), Mr Hale (English), Miss Donaldson, later Mrs Payne( DS - "You'll never get a husband if you can't cook, girls"), Mr Lowe( Physics). All the girls fancied Mr Day!

The bobbies would only have been on traffic duty as the traffic lights wouldn't have been working because of the road works. !! Great picture by the way.

I used to sup in there and the Three Bridges, on a Saturday lunch time after overtime at Pork Farms in the mid 80's