Scriv

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Everything posted by Scriv

  1. No. You turned left at the Midland Bank having gone over the crossing, and Imperial was straight in front of you.
  2. I recall that area around Carlton station very well; Dawson's cycle/motorcycle shop (later Crosslands, run with the minimum of tact and diplomacy by my old mate Bill Smith, the scruffiest greaser in Notts) and also Imperial Garage, owned by Trevor Day who also owned Collis Van Hire. Another biker mate, whom I only knew as Trell, worked for Trevor. In the early 1980's I'd sometimes go in the Fox and Hounds for a pint or two with Trev and another mutual friend, Mo Oukil, an Algerian chap who ran a small garage specialising in Renaults just off Conway Road. Yet another biker who was a mate for m
  3. Bugger. Just read that again.... and here's me prides meself on me good grammar.
  4. I went to Nottingham about March of this year, to pick up a gearbox from a friend in Keyworth. Decided to have a couple of drinks in town and a look round; suffice it to say I finally parked in Trinity Square where I nearly had a cardiac event after seeing the prices, had a pint in the Sal, served by a miserable-faced spotty tramp in a plastic glass and not particularly well kept, managed to drink about half of it, left the rest and headed out of town. I used to work in the Sal when Baz Bloom kept the place and whilst it was never immaculate it certainly was never dirty either. Only high poin
  5. I was only saying on another forum recently, that I'm probably of the last generation of lorry drivers who can truthfully say that they've enjoyed the job. It still has its good points, I wouldn't want to go back to working in a factory or office; but over the last few years it seems to be increasingly micro-managed by technology. I don't mind the automatic transmissions, but when I get people telling me that i can drive the lorry better by piddling about pushing buttons on the steering wheel rather than using the two pedals on the floor which have served us perfectly well for over a century,
  6. My godfather, Derek Foster worked for Harris for many years; he ended up driving a road sweeper for Gedling council, said it was the best job you could wish for. He always told me to avoid road haulage as i'd never be owt more than a glorified barrow boy; must admit there have been days like that but I've now been in what's nowadays known as "logistics" for over 30 years and there are far worse ways to earn your living.
  7. Thanks Katy. I'm getting to that age when remembering where things are (or why I was looking for them in the first place) becomes more difficult!
  8. Sorry if this sounds picky, but shouldn't this thread (and perhaps the "Trainspotting" one) be in the "Nottingham Transport" page?
  9. I was the lucky one in some ways; me dad worked all his life for Hoveringham (fitter on the quarry) and we lived in Thurgarton, opposite the Red Lion. I grew up hearing that fleet of Fodens screaming through the village, getting some steam up to climb the hill to Southwell; I can still pick out a Foden 2-stroke miles away. Here's one to make you all nostalgic;
  10. That wasn't always the case with pubs named after members of the aristocracy. I think I'm right in saying that the Marquis of Granby actually set some of his old soldiers up in the trade when they retired from the army, and many are still named in his memory.
  11. With regard to water... if I wanted a drink and there was only water to be had,me dad used to refer to it as "frog wine" whereas when I lived in Derby it was "council pop".
  12. I did hear of an off-licence in Yorkshire who got fed up with tourists coming in and asking for string. It was called T'Wine shop. I'll get me coat.
  13. All before my time I'm afraid, I must have seen steam trains on BR and travelled on them many times when I was a baby, but by the time I was old enough to retain memory of the journeys, usually to my grandparents in Loughborough, it was all diesel; I was born in 1960. I do however vaguely recall one day when we missed the train from Loughborough Midland, had to travel from Loughborough Central presumably to Arkwright Street then rush over to Nottingham Midland to catch the train to Thurgarton. I can also recall a steam-hauled goods train heading over Stanford viaduct, I'm sure it was carrying
  14. Mention of the Tamworth Mail; the only regular locomotive-hauled passenger service on the Nottingham-Lincoln line in my younger days. It passed between Bleasby and Thurgarton at 20.40 every weeknight,in the summer months it was the signal for my dad to finish his work in the garden, and go inside to watch the nine o'clock news. I could watch its progress from my bedroom window, at a distance; as Bilbraborn says usually a 31 but I'm sure I saw the occasional 37 or 45, perhaps he could confirm? I say passenger train because, from memory, there were a couple of passenger coaches attached. Again
  15. Another one on the same lines, heard from my old boss in Southwell; "(His) mother was a Mansfield man".
  16. Friend of mine down here in West Wales has just restored a Raleigh; apologies for poor quality of the shot but it was taken on me newly-acquired phone.
  17. I'd think that might refer to somebody wanting to know something in excessive detail, or perhaps just overly inquisitive. If somebody was being discussed in a conversation but their name was difficult to recall, Dad used to say, "Aye, I know who you mean; walks about on his feet a lot".
  18. Thanks Ann. My aunt has already made them aware that I exist, and she herself would appreciate any information that might be forthcoming as she has not had any contact with her sister for about 50 years; I did have contact with a second cousin in the Nottingham area but regrettably due to a computer crash I lost her details. I do appreciate your comments about sensitivity, have been through it myself as my own children ended up in care after my first marriage went wrong, though thankfully we are now re-united.
  19. That's the one David, thank you very much. Mr. Segal was, as I say, quite a bit older than my mother so he may no longer be with us.
  20. Regarding Bilborough; this is a very long shot. I was adopted at eight weeks; I do have the basic facts of my birth mother and searches on Friends Reunited yielded an aunt Sylvia (my mother's sister) in California. My mother was born Valerie Ann Smitham in 1940, and she came from Bilborough. Her parents had divorced, her mother re-married in 1953 and her step-father's surname was Marriott. She attended a secondary school and was top of the "B" form, leaving at the age of 15. She had moved to Leeds prior to my birth, where she worked as a waitress at the Mecca Ballroom, where she met my father
  21. I remember when i lived in Eastwood around 1985, Notts pubs closed at half ten on a Friday and Saturday but Derbyshire was open till eleven; there was always a mad dash from the Midland Hotel and the Lord Nelson at last orders, so your could get a couple in down in Langley Mill.
  22. Hello Dave. I remember that, didn't they take on a hotel in Brighton or somewhere nearby? If Jack and Margaret (?) are still around, could you please tell them that Helen Scrivener's lad says hello. Sadly my mum died in 1999 and dad in 2002. IIRC your great-uncle was Mr. Pearson (always known as Pedro) who taught at Edward Cludd school in Southwell.
  23. This article shows some interesting shots of pigeon specials "in action" ; http://www.steve-banks.org/prototype-and-traffic/128-pigeon-traffic-historical I believe the dedicated trains lasted until the mid-1960's; I can certainly remember baskets of pigeons on Nottingham Midland platforms well into the 1970's, they often went on the Nottingham-Lincoln trains.
  24. That, as i'm sure you're aware, was the basis of the late Les Dawson's "Cissy and Ada" routine with Roy Barraclough; inspired originally by Norman Evans' "Over the Garden Wall" routine. Briiliant observational comedy of a type no longer seen today.