firbeck
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Posts posted by firbeck
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Firbeck, old son, you are starting to get out of order
Ok, Ok, I hold up my hands and apologise to everyone I may have upset, I get belligerent and carried away sometimes, I shouldn't do it, yes I am a self opinionated get when I feel the need to be, I shall consider my responses accordingly, sorry.
I understand where Rob t is coming from, I sympathise, on other Forums, such matters are not allowed to be discussed, it's not right is it, trouble is, I don't know where we stand on here, and what the results of certain discussions would be, you have to be carefull, unfortunately, I am not.
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Any body know owt???
Mine has packed up ( 3 months out of extended warrenty of cource) The light is on but the motor aint working . Where there was ice is now water!!
Give it a good kicking, it always works.
Seriously, direct a hair dryer onto the motor and all the electrics, sometimes things drip and cause a short, it's worked for me on all sorts of things including cars, worth a try, just make sure that you wear rubber gloves and wellies, only joking.
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Can't recall the bands thing on radio 1 ? know "Flowers in the rain" by The Move was first record played though, when was Joe Loss Show on radio friday dinners? was that radio 1? not what the teenagers wanted! except when The Who did guest spot c/w with Moon and wrecked everything!
When Radio's 1 & 2 started in 67, the amount of actual 'needle' time was restricted by what was called the Phonographic Performance Ltd, this meant that only 7 hours of record music could be played across both channels during one day.
This meant that we had to suffer a cool DJ like Dave Cash having to feature such live gems as the Ray McVay Sound, ( didn't he play for Notts as well ), other epic bands as Denny Piercy, Bob Miller and his Millermen, The Northern Dance Orchestra and of course Joe Loss. What these traditonal dance hall musicians thought of having to play such Classics as 'Purple Haze' is anyones guess.
I can't find out though when this practice stopped, I don't recall it lasting very long.
Of course the creation of Radio 1 was brought about by the pirate stations, though from my recollections, it was almost impossible to pick them up in Nottingham, they were mainly broadcast from the Thames estuary and my little transistor radio couldn't cope, no doubt more sophisticated sets could, but they were always in the living room and parents wanted to listen to 'Sing Something Simple' on a sunday night, not Johnnie Walker, though they do now. Even Radio Luxembourg was a bit fuzzy, the reception used to really wax and wane. I won a competition on the Kid Jensen show once and never even heard it, I only found out the next day when I went to school and kept being congratulated, I thought it was a wind up till a big parcel arrived in the post, a very nice hand written letter from Mr Jensen and my prize, an album called 'Moves of Vegetable Centuries', I bet Luxembourg couldn't wait to get rid of that one, it met it's demise at Pete Bowdens party in Wollaton, mangled under a chair leg, accident or design????
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Wasn't the record label red, and wasn't the reason for them bringing out these versions of 'hit' songs something to do with copyright and objections by performing artists.
If you remember, when Radio One first started, they were forced to employ naff live bands doing cover versions of hit records because the Union of Performing Artists thought, and quite rightly so, that their jobs would be on the line due to the fact that the BBC were about to go wall to wall with recorded music, which quite frankly is what the public wanted, I seem to remember that the situation didn't last long.
Woolies were quite keen to introduce their own brands, I seem to remember a train set called Playcraft, the Woolies version of Hornby Dublo and Triang. At the time, Triang were a bit dodgy with their realism but Woolies Playcraft made Triang look like hand built kits!!
The best bit about Woolies was the Airfix kit section. Airfix produced their models in polythene bags with the instructions and lable attached with staples. These used to be displayed in a very haphazard way in Woolies, bits used to fall out of the bags. We used to trawl through the displays and pick up the bits that had fallen out into the bottom of the display shelves. The nice young Sandie Shaw look alikes on the counters couldn't give a damn, we were positively encouraged to tidy up for them.
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Curses, I have a photo of the Elizabethan, Lightning and a Javelin lined up in front of the Rolls Royce hangar at Hucknall. I'll have to work out how to publish it on here, photobucket needs a bit of thought.
My brother was a cheeky sod, he would blatantly walk into the airfield from the footpath along the slagheaps, I remember him climbing into the cockpit of the Spitfire. Nobody said owt. This picture looks to have been taken on the grass next to Bulwell Hall woods, I have a few bits of Hucknall ephemora, pictures, airshows, and I have one of these on DVD, shot in colour in 1963, plus the demise of the Belfasts in the 70's.
The Elizabethan was always flying about with wierd engines, sometimes jets, pistons, anything they fancied at the time, sad that it was tainted with the Munich disaster, it wasn't the fault of the aircraft.
Theres one at Duxford having a massive makeover at the moment, I assume it's the only one left.
I've just checked, it is the only one left, the final example of the Airspeed Ambassador.
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He should take a leaf out of his Aunt Annes book, a horsey figure I know, but so's my missus. I gather that she carries out more important royal appointments and is a patron of more charities than all the rest of the stooges put together, she's what Royalty should be about, no hair pulling when she got divorced from her chinless pre-arranged wimp either. Then we have the Duke of Gloucester, took the time out to do something usefull and become an architect, he travels to his royal appointment by train, not bloody first class either. I think that the former Catherine Worsley, Duchess of Kent, summed it all up when she pulled out of the Royal enclave in order to use her influence to do some good, I bet they hate her for it.
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Talking of 'odd' instruments in shop windows,,,,, there used to be a couple of shops up mansfield road, on the left (sorry - 'junk shops' we called 'em) They always had a Phono-fiddle in the window, priced at £1.
I always intended to get one,,,, don't know why, cos I can't play music (tone daft),,, just fancied the oddity.
I remember them, one particular shop used to be a mecca for buying really old Victorian postcards for naff all, I bought a violin bow from there for about 10p so I could attempt to play my Futurama the Jimmy Page way.
I recall another small record shop at the top of Alfreton Road, right next to Canning Circus. On the day that Sgt Pepper came out, and I don't think it was released until 12:00, I drew out the requisite 30 bob from my post office account and cycled up there from Wollaton. I cycled home with this precious item under my arm, wobbling all over Ilkeston Road, fortunately my old man caught up with me on his moped near the Wheelhouse and put the record in his pannier bag.
By the time I got home he was already listening to it, cheeky sod, he loved it too.
I've still got it, in perfect condition with the cut outs untouched, probably not worth much though even if it is a first edition.
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Robson Green is possibly the worlds worst actor, how he gets away with being in so many productions is beyond me. Whatever he does, it's always the same quizically faced actor playing himself, I'm sure he's a lovely bloke, but thats not the point.
I won't watch this programme, I love fishing stuff even though I'm useless at it, but to me it's just another opportunity for 'Mr Glam' to be promoted by the powers that be. There must be so many real celebs and actors that would make a really good programme out of it, but maybe the lovely Robboe's career is hopefully on the wane and that's what it's all about, we have to make money out of this useless guy, don't we TV companies.
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There are too many alternate threads but on the same theme on this forum, please could somebody in the modulator hierachy combine them so that they don't go off in a different direction.
As far as I know, Balloon Woods were named after an English gentleman who attempted to emulate the Montgolfier brothers efforts in Paris in the 18th century and launched a hot air balloon, why there is odd, you would have thought that to obtain the maximum publicity it would have been in Hyde Park, or closer to home, the Castle ramparts, perhaps he felt safe and happy in the knowledge of anonymity if he failed. What happened, I do not know, perhaps he's still hanging out over Trowell.
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Just wait until we have Charles 111rd.
We will never know which planet he and Queen Camiknickers are on! Roll on the Republic.
Reg Iside.
Actually, I quite like him, a Royal Nutter that we all deserve, I reckon he could be a bit of a laugh.
He has the misfortune of being an inbetweenie, a direct descendant of the old school, an obnoxious arrogant rascist father and poor old HRH herself, who tries to keep the traditions alive.
I reckon he could make a good king, and don't rip off Camiknickers either, what chance has she got, following in the footsteps of Miss Glam, the peoples Princess, yeah right, I reckon old Camilla has got a right twisted sense of humour, along with his Nibs, I feel sorry for her, she's never been given a chance. As for the kids, well, they're trying to be cool but don't stand a hope of relating to real people, they wander about in circles that most people don't understand.
Please don't underestimate my comments, I've personally hung out with members of the Royal Family, seriously, you probably don't believe that a working class youth from Wollaton has done this, but I have, and on their level, not as a lackey either. I know what devious gits they can be in order to get their own way at the expense of the plebs, but that's another story that I'm not prepared to make public, well, maybe some of it.
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I think you mean the famous 'Tamworth Mail', we used to have days out at Lincoln and travel back on it, it was an amazing train, I have a picture of it in my archives double headed by a class 5 and a B1 which was leaking fire from a dodgy firegrate.
Such fun.
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what would you rather have......muslim terrorists or the royal family? I know where my vote would go.
At least they join the forces.
How dare you, joining the armed forces is a Royal requisite, whether they are any good at it is any one's opinion, don't forget they have advantages that any 'normal' person doesn't have.
Poor old Prince Andy found himself in the thick of things in the Falklands War, great, get your nose bloodied for a change. But what does he do now, he's a lap dog licking up to Middle Eastern Arab dictators, and arrogant with it too.
Your comment about Muslim terrorists was ridiculous and of no significance to the argument.
I have a problem, I love British history and the significance that the the Royal Family have played in events.
Unfortunately, we live in a different era, we are going through a recession and will suffer as a consequence of that, how do you think I feel about Prince Whoever landing in his girlfriends garden in a very expensive Chinook and the RAF, that we pay for, suggesting it was an exercise, crap, or do you want these po faced unattached wierdos that live on another planet get away with it at our expense, just think about the realities of it for a change.
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Firbeck, that sounds so familiar now you mention it. I seem to think I've got that on tape, I'll have to sort it out.
I've tried every means possible on the internet to find that bloody record but I can't.
Help me Obi One Kanobe, you're my only hope.
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He'll be doing what the rest of the privelaged members of the Royal Family do, learning how to take corgis for a walk, and which lackeys have to be called to pick up their crap, learn how to waste public money, learn how mere mortals have to bow and scrape, admire the treasures owned by the so called gifted but who don't have a clue what they are all about, generally lurk with the glitterai women who have never done a decent days work in their lives, all the usual everyday stuff that we take for granted. Lets not forget that they may have to suffer the indignity of visiting some black community and pretend that these people are their pals and will endeavour to get involved in their work, as long as we make sure we wash our hands afterwards.
I'm just off up into town in a guilded coach to buy some offal for my tea, plus some top steak for the dogs, well, bu99er the recession, it doesn't affect us, we have paintings in the toilet, not that we use such places, that we could sell and prop up the British economy and help those miserable people who can't be bothered to find a job.
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Chrissy.
What an unfortunate introduction to Duxford, the weather was so bad that despite living just down the road, I couldn't see the point in going, sounds like the usual bus trip too, in that you were ordered about and didn't get the chance to take it all in.
My advice, go to the end of season airshow on October 5th, but go early and by car. My brother travels down from Ripley every year and we meet on site. He sets out early and we always have a good opportunity to walk round together and take it all in. Last year one of my Hungarian relatives came over and we had a hell of a time, a good display too. This year I have it on good authority that apart from the Vulcan, the Patrouilles de France will be appearing, they are the French equivalent of the Red Arrows, and quite a coup to have them appearing in the show, they rarely appear in the UK. The weather at that particular event is always perfect, why, I don't know, but I've never been let down by the display or the weather.
I reccomend it to anyone.
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If it was now, I would have gone up to the school and demanded a new copy on the spot, in those days, I didn't even bother telling my parents, I've no doubt that they would have had another go at me for causing the problem in the first place and messing up an expensive birthday present (10/6d I recall, though we used to collect coupons from Ian Allan publications which knocked the price down a bit).
Sorry to say that I have a similar number of combies but they are all original. The oldest is a first edition dating from 1948, it's a bit battered and used, but it belonged to Graham who lived across the road from me when I was a kid, when he got a bit too old for spotting he passed it on to my brother who in turn passed it on to me when he a got a nice new shiny one in 1958, I still have that an all.
Where was your school. At Firbeck you only see the midland line in the distance by looking down Plantation Road from the front entrance and catching a glimpse before they went under Trowell Road bridge.
In 1957 my father was forced out on strike by the National Union of Printers, the strike originating from the greedy workers on Fleet Street who earned far more than people such as my father in provincial companies, who had no sympathy for them whatsoever. The Unions up north sympathised and a blind eye was turned to those seeking temporary employment elsewhere.
My old man, being a bit of an enthusiast himself, managed to get a job as a porter at Midland station, quite frankly he loved it, but the pay was rubbish, I think he only made a living through tips from wealthy passengers.
The advantage was that he recorded the numbers of anything coming off the Trowell Line. The teachers at Firbeck never twigged why we used to make an excuse to go to the main entrance or the various rooms at the front of the school at 11:30, or in the afternoon so we could see the Waverley in the distance, happy in the knowledge that the old man would have recorded the number, which he always did.
Actually, I think I know why Mr Lomas hated trains. One year he organised a trip from Firbeck to see the Lord Mayors Show in London, followed by a trip to Madam Taussards and the Planetarium.
A number of schools were involved and a special train from Midland was organised.
I recall it being a rather grimy and sad Jubilee class on the front, I can't even remember which one it was, Frobisher? but right from the start it had problems. In those days we went down the direct route through Plumptree and Melton Mowbray. By the time we got to Melton, our engine had expired.
There was an 8F in the sidings on a frieght at Melton and this was eventually put on the front of the train, including towing our dead Jubilee. I recall that the driver, happy to be in charge of a passenger train, really went for it, we managed to sneak out of our compartments and hang out the windows, it was brilliant being pulled by a thrashed 8F, the only time it ever happened to me and we were all trying to work out the speeds by timing the quarter mile posts with our Mickey Mouse watches. We reckoned a max of 90, but crap watches and childhood enthusiasm probably got the better of us. Eventually, we had to stop at Kettering as engines were changed and we ended up with a Class 5. By the time we got to London, an apologetic BR staff whisked us all off to a mysterious restaurant at St Pancras and we had a free feed, they were very good, but we missed the Lord Mayors show, Mr Lomas was furious.
Eventually, we had a quick run round the Tower of London, Taussards and the Planetarium, we returned home in darkness, the staff weren't happy, but I think we preferred being pulled by an 8F than seeing the Lord Mayors show, having seen it in later years, there's no comparison.
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Recently noticed a 1956 combined go for £130 on eBay!
Sir Ronald Matthews, Sir Murrough Wilson, Andrew K. McCosh, William Whitelaw et al...
Cheers
Robt P.
Mr Lomas had a really big lack of enthusiasm for my interest in railways, why, I don't know.
We were encouraged to produce projects, so, what did I do, started writing up a project on railways.
I was using my combined volume as a reference work, what did he do, throw a fit and bang on my desk so hard that the ink well shot out of it's slot and spilled all over it, I still have the combie today, no chance of it aquiring fortunes on E-Bay due to the ink stains though, stupid man, I should have demanded a new copy.
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Wasn't the single decker cafe bus run by Midland General/Notts and Derby Traction.
When you say it was at the bus station, do you mean Mount Street in town.
I've been wracking my brains trying to think of the number of the Midland General or Blue Bus that terminated in Birchwood Road, was it the D9, can't remember, sad isn't it.
The E1 went up Strelley Lane, B2 and C6 to Ripley or Heanor, there was also a fast one called the F9 that went virtually non stop to Langley Mill. To go to Wollaton Vale entailed catching the F5 or later the E8.
Remember the brilliant driver called Rocky, everyone but the establishment loved him, in appearance he looked like Douglas Bader and was just as bolshie. He was great, he knew everyone by name and took liberties to get everyone home on time, if Derby Road had a traffic jam, he went another way, up past the Playhouse. If he felt that the bus was uncomfortably full, he wouldn't stop to pick anyone else up.
If he saw you walking to the bus stop, he would screech to a halt and pick you up on the spot. When you caught the bus and it was Rocky driving, you looked at each other grinned and held on for dear life, well worth it though, what a bloke, I wonder what happened to him, I always reckoned he had been a fighter pilot in his early life, he had attitude man!!!!
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Please do not have nightmares about Mr Lomas, he had his faults but he was sincere in his own way, unlike previous wierdos, stop it, I keep going on about it.
The thing about Mr Lomas was that he loved his art. He encouraged me with my efforts and actually had one of my paintings exhibited at an exhibition of childrens paintings on the embankment in London. I recall visiting the school a few years after I had left and visiting him in the hallowed office where he had my painting of the 'Sinking of the Titanic' framed and hanging behind his desk, I was quite honoured about that, perhaps it's still there!!!!!.
I recall one year, we were due to be paid a visit by the Lord Mayor and all the accompanying multitudes and press.
Mr Lomas decided to produce a book on the history of the school for the mayor and because of my artistic skills and ability to produce 3 dimensional pictures, I was let lose to paint a watercolour of the front of the school to put on the cover. It was great, I sat outside for a couple of days, sketching and producing this drawing in pencil which I eventually colour washed. I was excused from all lessons until it was completed, he was very impressed with the results, but, no favouritism, quite rightly so, I was back to being one of the 'erks' afterwards.
Amusingly, the Lord Mayor was Sir Sydney Hill, and later in life his grandson became my best mate.
I recall going round to 'Sids' house and he found and showed me the presentation book that I had illustrated many years before, it was a very strange experience to look at so many years on, thought it was pretty good actually, what a lovely man Sir Sid was, probably the best Lord Mayor the city ever had, even though he couldn't manage to get me on to the last trolleybus, I never forgave him for that, not really, he was a love.
Do you want to know anymore, the school PE display team, Mr Galloways cunning plan, the gorgous Miss Snapes much revealed amazing chest, my role as the school aircraft identifier, what happened with Mr Lomas and my Ian Allan combined volume, and the not so dreaded school bullies and how I dealt with them.
I loved it, it was good fun, some people hated their school days, I didn't, it carried on when I went on to Bilborough Grammar, what fun we had there. Cest la vie.
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This site is getting more replies than I expected.
I'll tell you about my first day, I have an excellent memory.
I started as a four year old in September 1955.
While being a bit shy and apprehensive, I had a couple of friends on my road, Park Crescent, they were Linda Tagg and Jennifer Horrocks, I also had an older brother, who left the year I started, for Mundella Grammar, but he had friends that I still knew who were up there.
My mother took me up Plantation Road and I took my Dinky Toys Sunderland Flying Boat with me for comfort.
We went into the main entrance and I had to be introduced to the headteacher. Now this is my problem, I mentioned it before, I have bad memories of this person, I am aware of the possibilities of slander by the relatives of people, I know it's dead, but it must have had relatives, or thinking about it , possibly not, who would want to admit to being related to it.
Anyway, I was asked to go to my classroom with a bit of paper, there you go, a terrified 4 year old, introduced into a brave new world, and this evil person dragged me back into the heads office by my throat and demanded that I apologised for not saying Thank You, for what, a peice of bloody paper, who employed these perverted useless gits in those days. My mother did nothing, well such people were legendary then, they were obviously right, quite frankly if same piece of filth had done this to any of my kids they would have been left bleeding on the floor, quite rightly too, evil scumbag.
The nastiness aside, I ended up in Grade One, with the lovely Mrs Madden, I was seated next to the window with John Peck, Fiona Mc Farland and I think Valerie Hawley, it was great, I had a great day, it even wiped out the memory of the 'One that Got Away'.
I recall being introduced to the Withey twins, anyone remember them, they were identical, well not so when you were their mates. They had a mysterious speech impediment, which quite rightly so, Mrs Madden informed us all about, and we all pitched in and helped them out. They ended up being my greatest friends into University days, our adventures together were legendary.
I have so many tales to tell about Firbeck, but I have things to do now, if you want to know more, let me know.
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Well, I did start to reply to Caz last evening, but had to abandon it as my son wanted a lift to a Ska and Reggae gig at Witham, thats Witham in Essex, I was impressed, 14 year old Goths aren't supposed to like that sort of thing, but he thought it was COOL.............
Firbeck School was opened in 1950, prior to that, the local kids were sent to a variety of schools, my brother went to the Russell School in Wollaton village, then was transferred over to Firbeck shortly after it opened.
As was suggested, go on to the Friendsreunited website and look it up, it's free. There are some great photos, and lists of former pupils, you may see yourself in some of the pictures as well as recognising former pals. Personally, I feel that since the site was sold on and changed, it's more difficult to navigate, they've got it all wrong, it don't work for me. Don't expect much response from pals either, I was involved with the site in the early days and it was instant communication, nowadays, I think it's just something to hopefully look at.
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Seems to me we need to have a Firbeck Schools forum,
Could we get some members in to discuss same?
I'll start one if you if you like, but I doubt whether that many people on here actually went to Firbeck.
When I started it only had 5 classrooms, 25 odd to a class I reckon, I bet there's no more than half a dozen people on here that had anything to do with the school.
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I do apologize, I got a bit carried away agreeing with firbeck.
But a little banter added never hurt anybody
Sorry, but as I understand it, politics are tied up with everything, memories or otherwise, the very existance of Balloon Wood Flats was down to misguided politics, I shall leave it at that.
Caz, I was intrigued to see that you had Mr Lomas as headmaster at Firbeck, when did he leave then.
I take your point about him, he was a bit of a funny old wrinkly, I was there when he started which must have been about 1960. The problem with him was that his attitude was inconsistant, he could be very pleasant one minute then a nasty piece of work the next, he never seemed to let his guard down, I never thought that the teachers felt very comfortable with him. I recall being humiliated by him in front of the school and having my legs smacked, all for sorting out one of the school bullies, I should have got a medal for that. On the other hand he introduced some good ideas, we had guest teachers from the USA and even the Soviet Union, and he liked to bring in kids from inner city schools that we took on nature walks, I recall some kids from Radford who had never seen a cow!
You would not have liked a previous head, everyone thought that the sun shone out of it's backside. I won't give a name, nor go into details, but due to certain incidents, I look back now and am convinced it had a problem, it makes me shudder to think of it. The problem is, that when you were a kid in those days, teachers could do no wrong in parents eyes, so you never had a chance of making a complaint, not that you would, the consequences would be terrifying, so you kept it to yourself.
I remember once, the steam hauled Waverley Express set fire to the embankment near the train bridge, it was a bit of a climb there and they were always chucking sparks out of the chimney.
My mate and I managed to isolate the fire and stop it spreading to Jackos Hollow and the Back Field by beating it out with branches. We were quite experienced in this and felt we weren't in any danger, well, all you had to do is run if things got out of control.
The next day we went into school to find that someone had told the teachers what we had done, instead of being congratulated for our bravery, we were once again humiliated and smacked in front of the school.
The next time the bank caught fire, we went to a friends house and called the fire brigade, what happened, the fire brigade and police turned up and threatened to arrest us for causing it, you couldn't win. Fortunately my mates mother was with us and gave the services a complete b#####'ng. The result, whenever it happened again, we ignored it and watched everything burn down, it wasn't worth getting into trouble over.
That wasn't too political was it?
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I know which ones you are talking about and it was none of them, I've been sitting here singing along to their little tunes. I shall have to do a bit of research and find out which one it was, quite frankly it was a narration by some bloke with a typical BBC voice, but who was damn good at making train sounds, he could do anything and make it sound convincing, though, many years on, it might sound appalling to our ears nowadays.
Hoodies target Hood?
in Nottingham City Centre
Posted
Sadly, that statue has always been the target of trophy hunters, I knew someone, who knew someone, who knew someone, who alledgedly knicked the bow 40 years ago, I hasten to add it was nothing to do with me, but rumours were always about as to which 'brave' person would desecrate this famous statue next, mainly students in those years unfortunately. I recall when it actually had strings on the bow originally. When was it actually put in place, was it the early 50's, it must have been before my time, I always remember treating the statue with great reverence, deservedly so, but how do you protect it, permanent guards, electrify the damn thing, what do you do, put it behind a bullet proof glass case. An icon that has always been open to vandalism, sorry, trophyism, it's not a modern 'Hoodie' thing.