firbeck
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Posts posted by firbeck
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There's nothing wrong with social housing, just the useless idiots who plan these places, consider who is going to live in them, and the lack of interest in running them afterwards.
I used to live in an attractive but expensive village in Essex called Finchingfield. When I got divorced, we had to sell the family house and the place was too expensive to buy an affordable property in afterwards, I was forced to rent a scummy, rip off farm cottage outside the village.
Eventually the great and good local authority saw the light and constructed some very attractive, joint ownership and council properties, allegedly for members of the local community, hmmmm, really?
I applied for a joint ownership property and was turned down.
Fortunately for me, the list of people offered properties by the housing association had to be approved by the parish council, they looked at the list and asked why not a single name on there was known to them. They demanded to see the list of applicants and saw my name on it.
'Oh, so despite the fact that Pete has lived in the village for 10 years, has a son at the village school, is deputy chairman of the PTA, is school cricket, football and swimming coach, school trip organiser, play director, member of the fete commitee, member of the village cricket team, village scout leader, he doesn't deserve a house here then, yet these outsiders do'.
I was invited to select the house of my choice the next day by the chairman of the housing association, with full apologies.
When I eventually moved in, I couldn't believe it, all the other occupants had no connections with the village, there was even a homeless family from Brazil put in there, nice people, but it wasn't the point was it.
I dare say that these stupid decisions continue to be made, even when I tried to move on from the property, you can't believe how difficult it was and what a rip off the housing association made of the whole thing. Good luck to anyone attempting to go along that path, try and avoid it at all costs, I'd sooner live in the gutter than be manipulated by these people.
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Balloon Woods flats were a disaster, they were designed by some morons to be the national way to go, I believe that identical developments were carried out in Sheffield and Glasgow, possibly other cities, including Newcastle, too.
The existing local residents hated them from the start, which was understandable, chucking up such concrete monstrosities on what we would now call brown field sites, yet in such a prominent position on the edge of the green belt was unforgiveable.
Unfortunately, this local hatred of 'Legoland' as it was referred to, was passed on to the poor sods who had to live in these leaky, badly built pieces of rubbish, everyone was tarred with the same brush, they were all considered thieves and scroungers by the great and good of Firbeck Estate and Trowell Road, sad, but thats the way it was, rightly or wrongly.
I recall walking round them just prior to demolition, it was sad to see the remains of peoples lives scattered and vandalised, doors kicked in, windows smashed, whatever idiots of architects designed these buildings no doubt made a lot of money out of it, the planners who approved them were obviously taken in by this piece of triumphant social housing, they should have all been sacked, I presume that the poor sods installed in there, hoping for a better life, were just unceremoniously chucked out.
Having blighted the area, remember the attempts to shove the M42 motorway along Trowell Road, my God, what a disaster that would have been.
I recall it being announced and walking up to Firbeck School to view the plans, triumphantly revealed by some grinning little pillock from the Motorways Agency.
We had no warning as to the consequences of all this, I remember noting our family house being one of the unlucky one's and being stuck on the edge of a giant concrete cutting. Everything was to be wiped off the face of the earth as far as Middleton Boulevard.
At the time I was part time at Trent Poly and working as an assistant architect for a sensible firm in the city, I was no novice as being conned by plans and was able to question all sorts of technical aspects that Mr Grinning Pillock had no answer to.
The great and good on Trowell Road succombed to the offers of monetary reward and sold their houses to the council, who could blame them, problem families were subsequently chucked in there, well it wasn't very long before the bulldozers were due to move in, so who cared.
I eventually teamed up with a bloke who lived on the corner of Birchwood Road and Trowell Road, he wasn't about to cave in, we went for the jugular of these scumbags.
I recall a highly charged meeting at Wollaton Village Hall, we were well prepared, Structural Engineers reports, the lot, the powers that be sat there with their filthy mouths wide open.
I used to spend all my evenings canvasing for funds, I recall a local family on Hillbeck Crescent, I knew them well and that they were very poor, the father, very ill and incapacitated came down stairs from his sickbed and emptied the contents of his old coffee jar savings into my hands, I refused to take it, but, he was adamant, he said he would be insulted if I didn't, what do you say to heroes like that, helping the lives of everyone, but having nothing themselves, I still get tearful thinking about it today.
Only one person refused to co-operate, he was a rep who worked from Birmingham and the motorway would have made his job easier, nothing wrong with that, I agreed with his situation.
In the end, the influential people came from the Erewash Valley Golf Course, having had it savaged by the construction of the M1, their heavy metal members, concerned at the prospects of having a motorway interchange built on what was left of their course, went into overdrive and totally took the scheme apart, had it been left to us working class types, no way, you have to swallow your pride and get help from whatever cause.
I recall that at the time, the local Labour councilor was a complete tosser, he was trying to use the situation as a stepping stone to his own political ambitions, we weren't fooled by that, he was a truly obnoxious git, wherever you are , sir, thanks for manipulating the situation to suit your own career, I hope it went nowhere, and you are in a situation where you have to rely on appalling people such as yourself to survive.
Thats my bit, any comments?
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Billy Fury, the English Elvis, are you out of your minds.
The bloke was manipulated right from the start, it was obvious he was ill when he started, you just had to look at his performances and see from his face that something was wrong, he was always death warmed up.
I'm sure he was a lovely bloke and tried his best, but it was no comparison to what was happening at the time with regard to the emergence of the Beatles and truly original music that his manipulted, old fashioned crowd couldn't aspire to.
Lovely guy but a no hoper in the scheme of things at the time, whether he had been born 10 years earlier would have made a difference, who knows, I personally doubt whether it would have been possible for him to have made such an impact as Cliff Richard and the Shadows, as they did in the 50's.
Poor old lad, some of us remember him, lets leave it as that.
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Wow! Fantastic childhood! :-) Yeah, I do remember going down to Nottingham Canal, and catching sticklebacks, news and frogspawn. And building dens. And climbing trees. We had proper childhoods then!
He he, I remember being stuck in an old oak tree which I had climbed but couldn't get back down from. My bruv n sis teased me, saying things like, " we need to get pillows we'll be back soon" When I asked them why, they said it was because I would be sleeping up there all night if I didn't climb down! hahah the rotters! Eventually a man mowing the grass came and just picked me out of the tree and put me back down on the ground.
When you say the back field, do you mean the one down Moor Lane?
Caz, Nottingham Libran Lady
There was a bridle way running from Trowell Road, opposite Copsons, along the back of Firbeck school and next to Balloon Woods, over the old railway bridge, which is still there, had a branch off right to 'Jacksons Farm' and it's little coal mine, another branch off left to 'The Kennels' then on to and over a stone hump backed canal bridge and ending up at a farm, which despite my research on old maps, it's name still defeats me.
We used to call it the 'Black Path', for obvious reasons, it was surfaced from the detritus of the various coal pits down there, if you sniff around the back of Firbeck school, even today, you can find evidence of it.
The 'Back Field' was situated between Firbeck Estate and 'The Black Path', travel along the road from Balloon Woods traffic lights down towards Derby Road and you can still see it's remnants between the road and Firbeck Estate, near where the old train bridge still exists.
Over 50 years ago, the farm over the canal obviously had been still trying to eke out a living, I recall fields of barley around Jacksons Hollow and Jacksons farm and also over the canal.
The back field was always a mysterious survivor, it was always a somewhat overgrown grassy area that we used to play in. When the grass got very high, we used to put some unfortunate on the parapet of the railway bridge and play at '10 eyes open, 10 eyes closed' , remember that.
However, in the early days before things got out of hand, my older brother and his friends the Bishop kids, being keen on cricket, went up the back field with a lawn mower and made a cricket pitch, they cut the grass, levelled a wicket and got on with it, imagine anybody having the nicety to do that now, I think not, too many syringes in the grass.
The old railway bridge was always our meeting place when we were kids, why not, we could survey the world from there, see what changes were going on and react accordingly.
We knew the times of every train, we got familiar with their crews, remember the half niners, the Waverley, the old pick up freight that came past at half ten every day, the 12:30 diesel railcar to Sheffield, perhaps I should write a book about my experiences, my memories of those days and the adventures that we had are so clearly etched on my mind. No doubt about it, I had a fantastic childhood, it's memories will always live with me.
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It's interesting what you hear. Yes the Lanc had an engine problem earlier in the week, but I recieved information from one of the ground crew that it had been sorted and only the crosswinds grounded it, after all it was at DX when it had it's bad moments though it once slewed round sidewise while trying to land at North Weald back in the 90's.
Have you ever been to Hendon, a great museum but understaffed. If you are going next year, make sure you get there early as some, important parts, are closed after 12:00.
Personally, I'd spend the day at DX, there's so much to see and do, I can guarantee that something will be air tested, it's great to see the work being carried out on the aircraft being restored and maintained with the cheery mechanics willing to offer their words of wisdom and knowledge. In comparison, Hendon is a mothballed collection of aircraft with their souls drained out of them, even the lighting is bad for taking photographs, it's like a morgue.
If you save up your pennies, Duxford is the only place where you can take a flight in a 1930's Dragon Rapide around Cambridge, or enjoy experiencing aerobatics in a Tiger Moth or Harvard, not for the faint hearted though.
Following that, it's a quick drive up the road to Cambridge, my favourite city in the entire country. It's a wonderful place, and you have to try out punting, don't go to Scudamores, park near the Granta Inn and hire one of theirs, parking information available on request ( they are real gits for parking tickets).
Go to Kings College Chapel, but insist on seeing Rupert Brookes original draft of 'The Soldier' you know that poem, 'If I should die, think this of me, that there is some corner of a foreign field that is for ever England..................., it's in a side chapel written on OHMS note paper and kept in a glass case.
You can then follow it up with one of lifes treasured experiences, the American Cemetery at Maddingly, a mile up the road.
Sounds a bit morbid, but it is an awinspiring place, nothing quite like it, you can look on the wall of names and find Glenn Miller and Joe Kennedy, visit the amazing chapel with it's incredible wall map, visit the centre that looks to have been lifted from New England and take in the history of the place.
London is vast and full of surprises, but Cambridge is small and perfectly formed, I'll be your guide if you want, and I'm pretty cool at punting as well, it's a pretty hard task to master without embarrasing yourself, but good fun if you've never tried it.
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Wow, just found this thread, it brings back many memories.
First of all, looking at the picture of the shops on Cockington Road, the shop with the blinds down used to be Cocko Chippie, it was a great fish and chip shop, our family ritual in the 50's and 60's was to visit the city on a saturday morning, buy cod from the fish market and while mother was cooking it, coated in flour, the old man and I would go to Cocko chip shop and buy a load of chips, they were so good that they couldn't be reproduced at home, it was impossible. Can you remember those amazing crusty pies that they sold, I can still taste them now, Pukka Pies eat your heart out, you haven't got a clue.
Pre Balloon Wood flats, the woods were magnificent, there was an old sand quarry with a steep slope that you could sledge down. the famous swamps with their fallen trees you could walk along, the old mining bell pit up the top end, opposite the old Rolls Royce, Merlin testing station.
Every so often, the lads from the TA used to train in there firing blanks from old Lee Enfield rifles, we used to go along afterwards and pick up the brass 303 cartridge cases.
Then there was Jackos Hollow, a clay pit related to the old brickworks across the old railway line, a perfect place to play 'Tin Can Lurkie', remember that. I recall when the area was surrounded in stuble from cropping, the amazing sunken dens built between there and Balloon Woods, the remains of the brickworks, the Jacksons house, orchard and coal mine with miniature railway opposite, the half sunken barges in the canal, the amazing pit with its dumped old cars, the Kennels, the farmhouse that got vandalised within a few days of it's owner being carted off in a coffin, my brother and his mates constructing a cricket pich on 'The Back Field'.
Oh dear, I could go on, happy days, does anyone want to know more, were any of you involved in these adventures.
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C'mon, c'mon, where was your secret place then.
I have another, we used to walk along the canal from Wollaton, on arriving at Trowell we used to walk along the road to Cossall, cut across a field into a magic wood on the left hand side. I think we spotted it from the opposite bank of the canal.
We think it was used for possibly open cast mining on a small scale, it was full of cuttings and strange crumbly rock faces, full of the most amazing wild flowers and ferns, in the spring the bluebells were awsome, I reckon it's still there.
Kids were kids, we had our gang, we used to appreciate all sorts of stuff, was that unusual, that we were sensitive to nature and appreciative of things in the landscape, whatever it was. I think we were lucky, we lived in an area of former industrialism yet the untouched countryside was all about us, it was an exciting place to grow up in, looking back we were so lucky, fishing for sticklebacks, wandering through bluebell woods, yet dropping bricks down old mineshafts and sliding down slag heaps on bits of corrugated iron. I try and explain all that to people 'daan saaf', and they haven't got a clue what it was like to be a kid in such circumstances, it's a wierd other planet to them.
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Beefsteak
Congratulations on some good photographs, I'm pleased that one airshow went down fairly well.
Down in darkest Essex the weather was pretty poor, strong crosswinds with heavy showers, which made me decide not to go to Duxford, with good reason too, many aircraft cancelled for safety reasons over both days which made the planned attractions, like the Lancaster flying with the Vulcan, the first time 2 Gladiators were to be in the air together since 1952, a ten spitfire tailchase, all no chance, though the Spits managed it on the sunday.
You critisize the BBMF for not turning up, but lets not forget we are dealing with rare historic aircraft here, they may have flown Lancasters in dodgey conditions during the war, but the last one we have flying outside of Canada, has to be treated with kid gloves, there is a limit on the strength of crosswinds at Conningsby, and I can assure you, it was bad.
I've seen the Lanc make a couple of heartstopping landings, it's not a pretty sight, we have to protect this icon at all costs, yes I know that another is waiting in the wings that could fly with a large amount of money put into it, but that isn't the point.
Don't forget also that one of the BBMF Spitfires, along with Peter Tiechmans Hurricane is the last flying example to have actually fought in the Battle of Britain, such a treasure has to be protected at all costs, it's irreplaceable.
Just out of interest, most sea front airshows are free, Lowestoft, Southend, Clacton etc etc, how did they manage to charge admission to Southport, I must admit, I've never been there, is the seafront more remote from the town than these other places, I would be interested to know how they did it.
Actually, it created a bit of bad feeling down here, the Duxford September Airshow always features the heavy metal boys from the RAF, it's become traditional to feature the Reds for a start, no chance, they were all prebooked at Southport, hand bags at 10 paces gentlemen, the thing is, DX has more home based rare flying warbirds than anywhere else in the world, I'm lucky to live down the road, sometimes I have to visit clients up that neck of the woods, it's only half an hour away from where I live, I can guarantee, that if I pull off the road for my lunchtime butties on the lane running down the side of the airfield, something will be happening.
The last time I did this, a couple of months ago, I had visited a nearby client, I pulled up next to the airfield to eat my butties prior to a nearby site visit and was treated to a scintillating display of aerobatics from Caroline Grace in her 2 seat MkIX Spitfire, followed by more stuff in a MkXIV Spit then was treated to the amazing sight of B-17 Liberty Belle arriving from her epic flight over the pond from California, what a place, I love it, it's surely the greatest aviation museum in the world, but stuffed by the weather like anywhere else at the moment.
If you have nothing to do, go to the Autumn Airshow next month, it's always a gem of a show, I've been going to it since it started so many years ago and the weather has always been perfect, it was the same last year, wonderful place, the worlds crown jewels of aviation history, though not a static museum, something is always happening in the air.
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I agree...I'd forgotten about that stupid tree idea....for Gods sake.
There's a large wood not far from me that was out of bounds for years because it was Government land with warning notices everywhere.
I used to sneak in and it was like going back 50 years..totally left to nature.Foxes,badgers,woodpeckers galore.Bluebells and wild lilies in spring,and not a walkers crisp wrapper or coke tin in sight.They have now deregulated the wood and opened it to the public...car park...seats...gravel paths etc. It's now full of dog muck and rubbish....Pity.
Paul.
I think I know which place you are talking about, would it be Bramcote Hills.
In the 60's the mansion was still there, the top floor was converted to flats for the park workers, the northern wing was abandoned and derelict.
We used to walk up the lane from Balloon Woods to Moor Farm, go along the footpath towards the Hemlock Stone and run through the field into the wood.
As you say, it was a wonderful undisturbed place, we loved it, we could sit for hours and just take it all in, no one was about. I gather that a large fire in the 50's destroyed many of the ancient trees and the folly tower at the top of the hill. At the right time of the year we would build huge dens out of bracken, happy in the knowledge that they would remain undisturbed, and they never were.
Remember the ghostly cast iron gate posts on the Rhodedendron track up from the house, is it still there.
One night, when the house had been finally abandoned, we slipped down the bank, got into the derelict section and into the relatively intact part via the old wine cellars. What a place, the grand staircase by torchlight was something to behold, we did no damage, it was a place of wonderment, I recall going into the grand first floor dining room and witnessing the original curtains still flapping in the breeze. Quite frankly, we suspected that the place would be unceremoniously bulldozed and considered sending it to publisised glory with a match, but we couldn't do that sort of thing, the demise of that lovely house was just another event in the glorious history of Nottingham Council, starting with the disgraceful destruction of Nuthall Temple, one of the greatest Italianate mansions ever built in this country. It's interior remains were supposed to have been stored in the vaults of Nottingham Castle, but I reckon it was a typical council tall story, anyone know any more.
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I for one found it very ineresting in there, and I suppose most of the tourists who visit it find the same. Lets leave it at that.
You have to remember that we grew up with the legend of Robin Hood drilled into us from an early age, tourists only have some of Notts history in them and therefore are really only interested in the bits they know of . Thats how the tourist industry works , unfortunately,
And yes I do agree with you that more should be done to promote and exploit the "Civil War " / Mortimer/ Wars of the Roses, etc, connections ; but, as you have stated yourself, Notty is all about Robin Hood ,so why would any tourist from outside the city be interested in any of that??
The powers that be did start some excavation work at the Castle some years ago (I have no idea how far on it went and even if it got finished , because unfortunately I haven't had chance to get up there for a good few years.) We did decide if we were to get over for Goose fair this year that we would visit the Castle this time . We did Sherwood forest last proper visit , and even that could do with more work on the tourist side, they tried for a big lottery grant but it fell through
The National Lottery grant proposal suggested a massive artificial tree towering over the remnants of the forest, what a joke, imagine what that would have looked like, thank God someone had a bit of sense not to throw money at such a ridiculous scheme.
I used to play in there when I was a kid in the 50's, it was a magical place, can it not be left as that and not be tweaked to suit the bloody tourists, I'm sure anyway, that they would prefer to wander down those lovely shady glades without having Disney rubbish thrown in their faces, why can't things be left as they are. Ok a bit more information, we have lovely woodlands down here administered by the RSPB, apart from a non eventful wooden hut and a bit of relevant info, everyone is left with their own devices to take it all in, it works a treat, thats how it should be, Sherwood Forest or otherwise.
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Sorry Firbeck but if you aint been in there , then surely you aint qualified to slag it off !! (Sorry if I'm misunderstanding your statement)
I took SWMBO in there a couple of years ago and even she (Who is not the biggest participator in the world ) joined in , it took a bit of persuasion mind , but we managed to get her dressed in period armour having a mock battle with Sir whatever in charge of the armourments section. It turned out to be very informative.
Yes the volume in the cars could have done with being louder and clearer, and one or two staff could loose that chip on their shoulders, but on the whole it passed an exceedingly wet boring afternoon in Nott'm
There was a (Pi** poor) attempt to open a Robin Hood themed restaurant ,near the Castle, in the late 80's . I tried it once, and now that was Naff !!!
What a wierd reply, I've read some of your comments before, I fail to see what you are talking about, again.
OK, I haven't been there, so what, how encouraging is it to want to enter some modern fronted monstrosity, it's a bloody joke.
Like it or not, Notty is all about Robin Hood, a legend, but true in peoples eyes and the city has more real history than that, I happen to know that if the powers that be pulled their so called strapped fingers out of their backsides, they could excavate key areas of Nottingham Castle and turn it into a medieaval paradise, it has REAL history in the form of the history of this country, lets talk about Mortimer and the Wars of the Roses, Cromwell and Fairfax and their destruction of the castle, what an opportunity, but they won't put any money into it, it's pathetic, a completely wasted money making opportunity, but they know best, I don't live up there anymore, I have enough to cope with what the local authorities make a joke of situations in good old Essex, it's the same old story, wherever you live, our historic past is sacrificied on the table of funding one legged lesbian pregnant Sudanese illegal immigrants who want to kill us, it's very sad for old gits like us to have to cope with this at the expense of funding our unique history that somehow, the powers that be don't think that those people claiming benefits are interested in.
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Actually, the tracks are parallel from Wilkinson Street to Hucknall - which is even more of a condemnation.
Cheers
Robt P.
Sorry, that shows my lack of recent Notty knowledge.
I have to admit that despite my admiration for it, I've never travelled on the tram system, well, my mum lives in Wollaton, my son, in Lenton while at Uni, and it doesn't have anything to do with those places, on the other hand, I've been on the Robin Hood Line for the hell of it, I dragged my son up to Annesley to try and find evidence of the former sheds and walked down to Newstead Abbey.
My personal opinion is that the routes should have been from the north down Mansfield Road, to the East from Sneinton and beyond, Clifton, Wollaton and Beeston, it would have made more sense, but what do I know, I'm merely a private sector planning consultant. On the other hand, I don't feel too guilty as I travelled on the last but one ever trolleybus, they should have been kept on and modernised.
Ever been to Budapest, I have relatives there. What a place, they know what it's all about, trams, trolleybuses, underground, day tickets to everywhere for naff all, thats called planning, the dickheads here should take note and consider how profitable things could be, but on the other hand, the morons here destroyed everything in the first place, they have shot themselves in the foot and haven't the infrastucture to rebuild anyway. Progressive British Planning, you can't believe what it's like, I've been struggling against the system for 40 years and they still haven't a clue, I actually have now given up and want to work in a different sector, these people make me puke with their lack of knowledge about anything but totall subjucation to those great fonts of wisdom called the manipulated planning regulations, which they consider to suit themselves when they need to go for a lunchtime drink at the pub.
Wouldn't a nice tower block look nice on the site of the castle, could move all the County Architects there as well, Oh, no, sorry, don't they already have a great time watching the cricket at Trent Bridge, don't want to upset their creative chain of thoughts, must be difficult to work under such circumstances, I bet they need counselling.
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I am assuming you refer to the Nottingham Suburban Railway (tunnels in Woodthorpe Park) this did not go into Victoria directly being a "short cut" off The Great Northern at Woodthorpe to other GNR lines that ran originally to London Road Station, but know what you mean. There was a plan put forward when the GCR was shut to use that and the GNR as a local railway but rejected on cost, as was one I actually saw a council feasibilty study on, this was in 1970's and was using all the great central line to victoria via the tunnels, in the "big hole" that was north of VC, the planned route went through a new tunnel in the east "side wall" of cutting to come out in the market square, the whole lot cost around £1,000.000, but rejected as too expensive!
When the Vic Centre was being originally designed, it was proposed to put in a linking tunnel within it so that future use could be made of the old GCR. No chance, it took up too much car parking space. The Weekday Cross Viaduct was retained for a while as a nature reserve, but that got in the way of the trams, so that went.
The tram route is a bit strange anyway. A lot of money was put into re-opening the Robin Hood line, so when that's up and running, they run the trams in parallel from Bulwell, what was the point of that.
Funny how even during the massive redevelopment of Birmingham, Snow Hill was closed, but enough space was retained for it eventually be re-opened and form the hub of a revatilised railway system, they had a bit of foresight, most local authorities have non, it still goes on, I assure you.
Where I live, like it or not, the obsession is with Stansted Airport. They built a new rail link into it a few years ago.
For a while now, the plan has been to reinstate the closed but relatively intact rail connection from Braintree where I live. So what do they do, build a bypass along it's route and destroy it, while still harping on about rebuilding the old link, it defeats me. It's a bit like the cunning plan to rebuild the old GCR, or construct a new parallel high speed route along the side of the WCML, these planning experts are highly paid morons, I know, I deal with the idiots every day, they live on another planet.
My attitude with Nottingham has always been the same, a famous old city whose ancient past was destroyed in the Industrial Revolution, but the surving bits were always open to destruction by 'Modernists'.
In the 70's I worked opposite the castle gates, in an historical building that is thankfully still there.
Tourists used to turn up at Castle Gate Post Office to buy Robin Hood post cards, it was the only place that sold such ephemora, the powers that be running the castle didn't want to know, it was a complete disgrace. I used to talk to tourists from Japan, the States, all over the world and they couldn't believe the lack of interest within the city of it's great Robin Hood tourist potential and how the city was full of such uninspiringly crap modern buildings.
So what do they do, open up the totally naff plastic 'World of Robin Hood' under some crap modern tower block, nice one, I bet that got everyone going, I've never wanted to insult my kids by taking them there.
Sorry, thats scuppered the Drury Hill thread, however, I haven't been to that spot for a while, it upsets me, lets get back to reality, remember the post office on the corner, probably a wine bar now or was it demolished too, it wouldn't surprise me, I doubt whether even now that anything of historic interest in Notty is safe, it depends on whose greasing your palms.
As for the Wilford bridge that was demolished, sums it up really, we have a lovely Victorian bridge, built over the Trent at great expense, could be used for anything, could form a great tram route, cycle way, footpath, anything, it's there, lets take advantage of it.
Naaah, waste of space, lets get rid of it, if needs be we'll find the multi million pounds to build a new one if neccesary at a later date. W#####s, haven't got a clue, if the tramway is extended to Clifton and the new Brian Clough Stadium, we'll spend mega bucks on a new one, it could look nicer, we don't want to adapt old rubbish for a gleaming new project that we may get a design award for after all.
Sad.
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Drury Hill was one of those great delights of Nottingham, it was a gross act of sheer vandalism to destroy it in the 70's in order to build that vile concrete monstrosity called Broad Marsh.
How the local authority scum bags called planners got away with it, is beyond me. Imagine destroying such a place in London, York, or, closer to home, Lincoln, is unbelievable, whoever was responsible should be contemplating their plans in Sherwood Prison.
Nottingham is a very ancient and historic city with little to show for it, unless you know where to look.
I can remember that lovely road called Maid Marion Way being built and seeing all those beautiful old buildings being destroyed as a consequence, I was only a kid at the time, but couldn't work it out even then what it was all about.
Drury Hill was a magic place, walk down it and the most noticeable thing was the chocolately smell of the leather tannery, remember at the end where it came across Weekday Cross Tunnel, there used to be an old boy sitting outside his Victorian terrace, watching the trains go by.
If the council planning morons had any brains, retaining and restoring Drury Hill could have formed a perfect entance into Broad Marsh, but did these pillocks contemplate this, no, it was far beyond their basic, simple imaginations, it was all about backhanders, money and greed.
I've heard that the piece of rubbish called Broad Marsh is to be re-designed, nice one, study the old pictures and rebuild Drury Hill as a main entrance, I'm sure you won't, it will be admitting gross, unforgiveable errors, well not on your part, you're probably living happily in retirement on your pay offs.
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Don't remember the band but the pub was probably the Imperial
It was indeed, I remember now, surely someone on here can recall this epic band.
When I left school I went to work at Butlins in Minehead as a kitchen skivvie, prior to bogging off to Uni.
Had a great time there and made many friends.
Once in the 70's, I went into the Imperial with my girlfriend and came across one of my old mates, one of the Minehead chefs, unbeleivable, he'd taken up a job working on the Vic centre, and had called in there for a pint. It's very strange bumping into someone you never thought you would ever see again, what were the chances of that happening, quite remote I suspect.
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Can anyone remember a local band called 'Almost Grown'.
They used to play regular weekend nights in a pub on St James Street, who's name escapes me, in the late 60's.
They were pretty sensational, their music being sort of Cream/Hendrix orientated, the lead guitarist was something else.
One night, for some reason, they announced their retirement. We went to their farewell concert the week after, which was pretty sensational, it terminated with lots of Pete Townsend guitar and amp smashing, an unforgettable evening, never to be forgotten, does anyone else recall this.
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Can anyone remember the sound of the famous 'Tin Can' in Thurland Street tunnel.
We used to go regularly trainspotting at Grantham, catching the train from Vic. Initially the trains were hauled by ex LNER V3 2-6-2 tanks, they had a hell of an accelaration and speed, I recall hanging on for grim life in that tatty old non corridor stock that they used to use. Later on the trains came through from Derby Friargate and were hauled by grimy LMS Moguls, then towards the end it was diesel railcars, though you had a good view at least.
Sorry, I digress. In the middle of Thurland Street Tunnel was a 'thingy', we never worked out what it was. As you went through the tunnel, from whatever direction, a clanging noise would start up, getting louder and louder until it went by your window and the sound dissapated. We used to hang out the window to see what it was, but in the smoke filled blackness you could see nowt. It was obviously a warning system for track workers and I was told it was simply an old tin can on a stick that banged against the carriage bogies, an unlikely explanation, but does anyone know any different.
I recall a record that they used to play over and over again on Saturday Morning Childrens Favourites with Uncle Mac. In this record, and I would love to know who it was by, the chap made all sorts of verbal train sounds including the famous tin can noise in Thurland Street tunnel, it wasn't directly referring to that one, it was obviously a national tunnel warning system, he made the suggestion that it was a tin can on a stick, a joke on a record that I heard from other sources too.
Why wasn't the system adopted for the nasty and sulphorous Carrington Street tunnel, or any other tunnel for that matter, considering all my railway trips in that period, I only recall ever hearing this in Thurland Street tunnel.
Just a little aside. We used to go to Derby Open Day every year, trying to catch the train back to Notty was always a nightmare. My late, great, resourceful dad came up with the cunning plan of catching the train from Friargate instead, via a trolleybus trip too. What a fantastic idea, instead of cramming into a packed 3 car diesel from Derby Midland we used to board a steam hauled empty returning excursion from Llandudno instead, always hauled by a Class 5 steam loco.
One year, we entered the infamous Sherwood/Carrington Street tunnels and the lights had failed, for some reason too, all the windows were open, remember those things with the leather straps that were a nightmare to pull closed. It was horrendous, the train was travelling very slowly and we were subjected to totall blackness and choking fumes, I was probably about 12 at the time and terrified, you can't imagine what it was like. I do remember arriving in the platform at Vic though and seeing a GCR Director class parked up in one of the platforms, it made me feel better.
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Does anyone remember big Maurice who used to patrol the Dive Bar under the Hearty Good Fellow.
He reminded us of Jaws from the Bond films, his head used to almost touch the ceiling.
When we went out on the town at the weekends in the late 60's early 70's we used to get off the bus at Maid Marion Way and the Dive Bar was always our first port of call. Maurice never said much to anyone, but we always said hello and he greeted us with his customary 'evenin' gents'.
It could be a bit rough in there, one night we were sitting down having a pint, minding our own business, when some bloke, for no reason whatsoever decided to pick a fight. My 2 mates who were well over 6 ft stood up and he backed off, too late, eagle eyed Maurice appeared, grabbed him by the throat, lifted him off the ground, dragged him up the stairs and threw him out on the street.
He then came back and said, 'Sorry gents, I hope it hasn't ruined your evening and I hope I shall be seeing you again'. Lovely man, I wonder what happened to him.
Another one was Stu 'Morris'?
I knew him via a friend, he was a black belt karate expert. He used to patrol Highfields Lido. One day we were sunbathing at an almost empty lido and I climbed up the fence and knicked a couple of apples from an over hanging tree, that was it for Stu, I was promptly thrown out, protestations were useless, knowing his short fuse, I wasn't prepared to argue.
I gathered that he was invited to a karate competition in Japan but was terrified of flying, he subsequently caught the Trans Siberian express and caught a ferry from outside Vladivostok, that was in the days when the Cold War was at it's height, it must have been a hell of a journey.
The bouncers at the Penny Farthing Club were complete scumbags, personally, I hated the place, I only ever went a couple of times. A mate of mine went one evening and made the mistake of wearing a leather jacket, it wasn't a zip up biker type of thing but a very expensive jacket based on a traditional style. He paid to go in then was surrounded by bouncers demanding that he handed it in to the desk, he refused and went inside, they followed him in and asked again, whereby he explained it was no different to anything anyone else was wearing and he wasn't prepared to have it knicked from the cloakroom.
They promptly dragged him out a side door, gave him a kicking and shoved him in a dustbin, me I would have called the police, but the daft sod didn't, on the other hand we put the word about and they must have lost a lot of customers, serve them right.
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Thanx for all your info on air stuff! Not sure which museum we are stopping at on the way home,it will be in the itinery! My friend booked it for us all so she has got the paperwork and tickets from skills. I will enjoy it anyway. I love watching the old planes and hearing the noise of the jets,but i wouldnt like to be up in one! x
I warn you, lets hope Skills are setting off early as I reckon it will be a massive attendance if the Vulcan is going to be there.
Being small, DX gets very crowded, you will find it a bit of a pain trying to get round the restoration hangars in particular.
My advice is for you to watch the flying from what us regulars call the Tank Bank, thats an elevated area of ground next to the Land Warfare Hall, you not only get good views of landings and take offs, but overflights as well, and tanks doing their stuff.
Good luck, you'll need it.
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The director and producers must be mistaken then
Because the information I recieved was from them !! (In their comentary on the DVD of the film)
And here is the "Star of the show"
And at the time of filming ,the Spanish airforce were still actually flying the German aircraft!!
My information is from someone I'm in contact with, Peter Arnold, the worlds foremost authority on Spitfires, he actually has a list of the registration numbers of every aircraft that took part in the film.
While the Spanish 'Heinkels' were still in use as bomber trainers, well some of them, the '109's' were found in a big heap at an airbase in Spain, all 17 used in the film were put together from parts found on the heap.
After filming, a large number were shipped off to the States, including the unique 2 seater Buchon, and there they remain, still in their film colours but rotting away in a hangar.
If you purchase a copy of this months Flypast Magazine, there is an aerial photograph showing 13 Spitfires, 16 Buchons and 2 'Heinkels', formed up on the ramp at DX during the making of the film.
The only Spitfires used for distant shots tended to be the low back MkXIV's, a few were 2 seater Mk IX's which were invaluable for use as camera ships during the action, 2 of these are still based at DX including the one owned and flown by Caroline Grace, the worlds only woman Spitfire pilot.
Comparitively few '109's' remain flying, they are notoriously difficult to land, the fitting of Merlin engines didn't help either, some have been re-engined with original DB engines, but you might be interested to know that more Bf 109's were lost in landing accidents during the war than were shot down in combat.
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Bloody hell . it's Biggles
Your trip will possibly include a visit to the American Museum or the American war graves, all nearby . There is also the Shuttleworth collection (Aircraft again) at Old Warden , (Not a million miles away either.) They have flying days there too.
Also did you know that in "The Battle Of Britain" they actually blew up an old Aircraft hanger as part of the film!! Also they only had 9 Spitfires in total ranging from the Mark 2 (Too early) to the Mark 19 (Too late)!!! The Mark 19s were kept in the back ground!
Not so, I'm afraid.
26 real spitfires were used in the film, 12 flying, 7 taxying, 7 static plus full scale models that were blown up.
Most of the spitfires in the actual Battle were Mk1's. One Mk1a was used in the film, though in real life it never flew in the actual battle. The Mk2 now flown by the BBMF flight took part in film and battle, it still has it's battle damage to prove it.
3 Hurricanes flew in the film, I'm not sure how many were used for statics/taxying, not many, I think they were mainly models.
The German aircraft were all licenced built Spanish versions of the original German types, made by a company called CASA and featuring Rolls Royce engines.
Ju 52 x 3, He111 x 32, Bf109 x 17.
DX was used for filming due to not only it's relatively untouched wartime appearance, but it was closing down, it was also not far from London and the film studios.
The problem they had was the fact that the A505, Royston Road runs through the middle of it, how they avoided white van man during filming is beyond me, though you can see him at the end of 'A Piece of Cake'.
DX Museum today has more flying spitfires than any other place in the world, most of which took part in the film. There are also 2 Spanish Bf109's used in the film, one flies, the other has just arrived from the USA and is being reassembled to fly shortly. There is also a Spanish He111 that was used in the film.
There is also an original Bf109 that was shot down over Kent and has survived in it's more or less original state.
If you want to know more let me know.
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Unnecessary quote made by mistake.
Bip.
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I doubt those alms houses were bombed, there has to my knowledge never been any mention of them getting hit, they were on the fringe of the main bombers route in what became known as The Nottingham Blitz May 8/9th 1941 but most of the bombs that fell in that area were to the east, only hundreds of yards but enough to be "safe" On a map you can see that route, starting in west bridgford, missing forest's ground but hitting notts and of course the co-op bakery at the other fringe to the north east the former Suburban Railway embankment that crossed Colwick Rd near the crossings was hit and of course many houses factories etc between those 2 points notably Boots, Lace Market Factories, Snienton Houses and factories and as the raid crossed the city to the north west The Nottingham Castle pub side of the Ice Stadium, The Old Moot Hall Corner of Market Sq, The old university buildings on Shakespere Street and the registry office, The building I think to be hit with the last of the 424 bombs that dropped that night was The Masonic Hall on Goldsmith Street. Whilst not being derisory of this raid and certainly would not have wanted to be under such it did not compare to what other uk cities suffered and as for likes of Dresden etc when first the RAF bombed the city in 2 raids to be followed next day by the USAAF attack with 747 aircraft, The RAF alone dropped 200,000 incendry bombs, each lancaster carrying those could have had over 2,000 4lb bombs whilst others carried HE ones, each plane carrying around 8,000 lbs, ie 100 x 1cwt or 8 x 1,000lb blockbusters
The Alms Houses referred to were not the Collins Almshouses.
There was a small square of houses situated somewhere between the old Ice Stadium and the old Boots factory, I remember now, they were called the Plumptre Almshouses and situated in Plumptre Square. In the early 1970's when I worked for the local Diocesian architects, the Church Comissioners instigated a repair scheme for the properties. I actually went down there myself, surveyed them and drew up the plans and elevations. As I recall, they were quite ornate. Victorian buildings, lived in by old people and owned and run by the Southwell Diocese.
They must have been right at the end of the line of bombs that fell on Meadow Lane, High Level Station forecourt and covered the Boots factory wall in bomb splinters.
I've just looked the place up on Google and see it's been renovated, as the former Plumptre Hospital. While it lookes to be the same building, I am absolutely certain that it formed a square with a courtyard in the middle, mind you, it was 35 years ago when I worked on it, similarly, it looks as if the place was run by a trust and not the Church Diocese.
It would be interesting to see if there are any bomb splinter marks in the walls.
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I'll try and find out about it from my Aviation Forum, bare with me. but would you really see the results of a collision over Newark from Bentinck Road, HMMMMM
St Mary's Bell Tower
in Owt' Abaaht Nowt !
Posted
Thats brought back memories.
When I was a youth, my first job was as a trainee at a local architects practice.
Day one, get to know everyone, go round and visit the various sites.
Day two, well you've had some surveying experience, St Mary's is having a new organ built in Scandinavia, go and survey the tower and transepts, full elevations, sections and plans.
Gulp, did it, even turned the gargoyles into caricatures of the senior partners, much to their amusement.
Plans duly sent off to Scandinavia, the organ, which I recall is cantilevered over the choir, fitted perfectly, though I crapped myself for months until it was installed succesfully.
The inside of the tower is wonderful, I'm jealous I can't be there tomorrow and visit it again.
If you ever get the chance, also go up Lincoln Cathedral Tower, it's amazing, also take the opportunity to jump up and down on the famous springing stone, way above the nave and the painted ceiling, though I doubt whether H & S will allow you to do it anymore.
I once happened to be wandering around Ely Cathedral and came across a party of stuctural engineers on a guided tour of the newly completed restoration works. When I explained that I worked for the Southwell Diocesian Architects, I was taken on board as well, what an experience, predating the late great Fred Dibnahs tour of the famous Lantern Tower.
Climbing on to main tower up the leadwork and hanging on to the flagpost at the top and surveying the Fens below was a lifetime experience, if pretty scary, you did feel to be floating in space, with nothing to stop your fall.
Try Cromer as well, oh shut up, I could go on forever, please take advantage of this Nottingham folk, a worthwhile occasion.