nottmdon

I remember the “Sambo“ poem but it was “a rat came by and peed in his eye.” Odd as it may seem the man who delivered papers was nicknamed Sambo I recall many years later he was featured in the press as the oldest or longest serving paperboy delivering in the Meadows area. Whenever we saw him we used to call out “eyup Sambo” and he never failed to smile and say hello bless him.

I actually went back there in the late 1980s early 1990s took a bunch of colour photographs of the "Juniors" I have the images in black and white as well. My older brother enticed me to TBJ from "Welbeck" telling me that they gave you fizzy lemonade drinks at dinner times, I should have known better I found it hard to settle in as the "new kid". I was there for just under three years. Class teachers ? I had Mr Griffin, Mr Williamson and Mrs McCarthy the latter positively hated me, I never did find out why. The head was Derek Smith used to walk around in black football kit qu

The "Hopkinsons" actually owned both " Hopkinsons" on Station Street and "Pools Tools" on Carlton Street near the George Hotel at one time. Max Hopkinson ran Pools Tools long after they became separate companies I worked for him,he was a great boss, they moved to the Queens Drive Industrial estate and were taken over by a Sheffield firm "Economatics" not the best of employers to be honest with you. Pools Tools should have stayed where they were they may have survived if they had. It was a sad day when they were taken over.

sincere condolences to Anns family.

Blimey! As you were invoved in the "Music scene" I wonder if you knew David Gaunt at all? He was in a group in the old Meadows, they used to rehearse/Jam at the Old Meadows Boys Club.

Ah So! Not sure if I qualify as being "alive in a country where he is not" but it sounds like "spam" in any language to me lol.

Yes he was thats the guy. He used to play mainly reggae and ska music, Jimmy Ruffin, Jimmy Cliff , lots of Tamla Motown,that sort of thing. As kids grew up they migrated to the Town Arms (as was), more psychadelic lights lol, we used to wear white shirts because if you wore owt dark it showed every speack of dust up and you looked like you were in need of some "Head n Shoulders" lol! The Carousel Club did trade for a while as the "Play Girl Pussycat Club" not the" Playgirl Pussy Club" as I quoted before, anyway it was not used as an offensive term in thosedays, God it makes me feel owd now! l

Yes we spent many happy hours there playing cricket, football and participating in Archery. It was a ground used by the "Meadows Boys Club" on a Friday evening as a rule. The chap who took us for archery was called Bob (cant recall his last name now) I beleive, he was in the auxilary (TA) SAS as well which gave him a lot of kudos even before the SAS made the headlines! Boots recereation ground was at the side of Trent Pool.

Be a story worth hearing I'm sure Beefsteak.

same place as the carousel club on Wilford Crescent just up the road from the Paper shop on the opposite side of the road. Incidently Terry Hefford also lived just a few doors from it and he was also a Scout Master as I recall.

It also opened under the rather grand title of "The Play Girl Pussy Club" as I recall. I lived on Mundella Road and of course I was far too young to venture to the establishment as it was a "striptease club"

Jerry & The Pacemakers, the Beatles, or Freddie and the Dreamers. Jerry and the Pacemakers were the first Liverpool band to have three consecutive number ones weren't they? If so they would be my choice. Freddie Garrety( not sure of spelling) died last year after many years of ill health apparently he was mooted as "Britans Answer To Buddy Holly" all I know is he could sing and make me laugh at the same time, what a brilliant guy he was.

They were nearer the big blocks of flats (Rivermead?)upstream of the spenny bridge. As kids we used to play in the remains of the pools,they were tiled with pale blue tiles. When they built the flats they cleared it all away so that certain residents could use the space for moorings/river access.

I reckon the pub between Arky via Ryehill cottages to London road was the "Greyhound" there used to be like a little enclosed village of Almshouses on the left which I suppose was the nearest thing they got to "warden aided" in thosedays. They knocked down those houses and put an ugly grass hill there instead, what a waste of a lovely lot of little houses that was. Blimey I remember the Stewt/miners welfare, I boxed there as an amateur and drank there once or twice during my misspent youth lol! My Mum was brought up on Briar street and I still have fond memories of that part of the Medus as

Hello Dodie youre right about that, I do miss the old Medus though when whole extended families only lived streets away from each other, some lived next door to each other as did my grandfather and great grandmother so us kids had to be on our best behaviour because there was allways someone who would see you if you got into any mischief and the parents would soon hear of it! I think the thing I miss most is the sense of "belonging", whilst modern parlance calls it a "sense of community" I think it went a lot deeper than that. I havent found that feeling since childhood, the nearest I came