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Posts posted by Scriv
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Really like your classic Harley there are certainly a lot of them in the U.K.
I worked in the truck plant here in Oshawa as well as the car plant and l love them pick-up's.I used to drive GMC Suburbans for many years now driving a Chevy Equinox that's built here in Oshawa.
Holland's the big place for classic American bikes; as you can imagine a lot of the 45's went over there during the last war and were sold off on the civilian market afterwards. I took mine over there last year, and did a side trip to Antwerp; mine's a WLC (Canadian Army model) and Antwerp was liberated by your boys, so in a way it was kind of a pilgrimage.
My wife and I were over in Canada in 2007 (my sister lives in Kanata) and we came down near you, found a brilliant place in Courtice which specialises in old American trucks;
http://www.billstruckshop.com/cu.html
Really nice guy who helped me get a load of parts to take back with me; we went on to the Barrie swapmeet where i was highly amused to find a couple of Raleigh Runabouts for sale, no getting away from Nottingham!
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Since the old man worked for Hoveringham Gravels I had the luxury of being able to fish their ponds; mostly going for pike with spinners and plugs. Dad wasn't interested at all and the only other member of my family who was serious about it was my uncle, who'd be one of those match fishermen at Gunthorpe. I only accompanied him once and it bored me senseless.
Never really got into fishing, once motorbikes came along my fishing tackle was consigned to the back of the shed; pity because round here there are some superb trout rivers like the Teifi and Cothi.
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Andy Bones motor cycle shop spent many years on Arkwright street near the GCR railway bridge before moving to Huntingdon street
Rog
Thanks Rog, wasn't aware of that but it would be before my time i suppose; I turned 16 in 1976.
There was yet another major player in the two-wheeler market on Huntingdon Street of course; Steyr-Daimler-Puch, importers of the ubiquitous Maxi along with assorted mopeds including the lovely Grand Prix Special and the Haflinger 4x4's.
Note that the front vehicle has a Nottinghamshire registration. The owner actually lives near me in Wales.
One of SDP's senior managers, a Mr. Bolton, lived in my home village of Thurgarton; I was at junior school with his daughter and it was not ununsual to see Mr. Bolton driving around the village in one of these. Apparently they're highly collectable today.
For those that aren't sure what the Puch Grand Prix was, here's a pic; old Brit bike owners may sneer but when I was 16 this was the ultimate bike, far superior to the Fizzy!
Not that I ever owned one, even then they were very expensive though a restored one today would probably set you back two grand! I had to make do with the humble Puch 3-speed with its twist-grip gearchange (which broke once in the Peak District!) and suicide back brake, activated by pedalling backwards which was guaranteeed to lock the back wheel and send you skittering down the road on your backside!
Nowhere near as posh but it was mine (for all of thirty quid!) and I didn't care, thought I was Barry Sheene and eventually ran it into one of Cantrell and Cochrane's drays on a bend near Fulbeck. Wrote it off and to add insult to injury got done for driving without due care; fined twenty quid!
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I can remember "little Woolworths" as the Hockley shop was known. Well-worn wooden floorboards, Elf and Safety would have a dickey-fit if they were like that today!
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The pre war Brough Superior was the best motor cycle in the world, the pre war Harley was a bag of nails.
That'd be why the Brough's Castle forks were made to a Harley pattern then!
Oldace, have to disagree; I've owned a VL, currently run a 45 (second one I've had and shouldn't have sold the first) and they're bullet-proof. Admittedly not as fast as Brit stuff, and they don't handle as well, but then again they don't need to. Harleys are made to go long distances and stand up to the hammer, otherwise they'd never have lasted over 100 years. Rode my 45 to Holland and Belgium last year, over 1,000 miles on a 70 year old bike and it never missed a beat.
Different market anyway; Brough may well hold claim to be the best motorcycle of its time, but it has to be said that it was top of the range, an exclusive handbuilt "gentleman's" motorcycle with a price tag to match whereas Harleys were for everyone, in America at least.
Here's my "Americana" collection BTW, specially for RGR;
45 and truck in use, Sportster in middle of cosmetic rebuild, going back to factory stock.
Sorry to say you won't see them at Americana though; fantastic show it may be but it's ridiculously overpriced even for exhibitors. Not all of us enthusiasts are millionares!
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Wasnt Andy Bones shop to the right of Bunny's
No, Andy Bone's was at the top of Huntingdon Street, near the junction with Mansfield Road. Had many dealings with them over the years; they were the local agents for Garelli and did Hondas as well. Nigel was the parts/sales guy, after Bones shut he went to Daybrook Square.
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And don't forget Labour governments closed down more coal mines than anyone
Rog
But it'd still be Mrs. Thatcher's fault Rog!
No mention from the cloth caps of the inescapable fact that even if we did produce diesel fuel and petrol from coal, it would not only be prohibitively expensive but the country would also be subject to the whims of the union barons, much the same as we are today with the tanker drivers.
That, and the fact that unlike Germany we do have oil reserves, is the reason it didn't happen.
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Think it's a sluice gate for a water mill, but no idea where it is.
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Same design as many of the other stations on the Nottingham-Lincoln; my home village of Thurgarton has a particularly fine example which is Grade II listed. Lowdham also survives virtually unspoilt.
I travelled that line many a time from 1960 onwards, and I have to say I don't ever remember seeing the old station buildings; the Paytrain system came in around 1970 making the station buildings redundant IIRC. I can still remember the crossing having gates rather than the barriers; the original signal box in the left-hand picture had by then been replaced by a modern unit, which like Lowdham had the huge cast-iron wheel which worked the gates.
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Not too bad here in Carmarthen. Pick-up trucks aren't supposed to be allowed but I get away with it by using my old GMC because one of the lads who works there is mad on old American stuff.
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Forgot to mention the plastic cups ! My dad used to collect them from work and use them as 'planters' in his green house !
Still got some cardboard cups printed with the Hoveringham Gravels logo; my old man bagged stacks of them when Tarmac took the company over, used them for planting kidney beans in!
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There is another local author who tends to base his stuff in and around Nottingham, William (Billy to his mates) Ivory. He wrote that series about dustbin men back in the 90s "Common as Muck" not sure if it was filmed round Nott'm though but it was based on his exploits as a binman round the Southwell area.
I didn't know Bill Ivory personally, but I did know quite a few of the men he worked on the bins with. There was a fair measure of truth in the stories, and many of the characters were easily recognisable to the locals!
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In the news this week old Charlie suffers with bad back got me thinking "backache what the f*ck has he ever done to get f*cking backache?"
Ones suggestions on a postcard please
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afraid Bill died over 10 years ago, think wife Lucy, (the "L" in Lek) took over the business for a bit afterwards.
I'm sorry to hear that, but not surprised. Bill was a typical hard-living Scotsman; when I started working for him (about 1985) he'd just given up a 60-a-day habit, which he had been washing down with a fair bit of his native country's best brew. I once asked him if he missed his fags (since all of us drivers smoked like chimneys) and I'll never forget his reply; "Aye, every time you ****ers light up; but when the man in the white coat tells you you'll be deid in six months, ye listen tae him".
A real character was Bill. If anyone remembers the TV series "Truckers", well that was what working for Bill was like, in fact some of the situations on there were so close to what i saw that I'm convinced that one of the writers must've been there!
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My best mate was the engineer who installed those travelling ovens. Me and him used to go out paintballing with the Pork Farms management up near East Leake. He reckoned with me being ex-army we'd have a better chance of winning!
Incidentally, I bought a Pork Farms pie a few months ago as Morrisons had sold out of their own-brand ones which I'm quite partial to.
Shan't buy another; it was bloody 'orrible, not at all how I remember them.
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And even further off topic was the Fruit & Veg.seller with a horse and cart in Colwick many years ago who used to shout..."Won't be round tomorrow..Donkey's pi**ed on the strawberries!"
Never thought I'd hear that again! When I was younger, my old dad used to take the mick out of anyone who was "bawling out their wares" with a similar version of that....."Apples tuppence a pahnd, pears the same, the donkey's pi**ed on the strawberries"... me mam used to go mad at him!
So was it an urban legend, poohbear, or did that actually go on? If the prices were appropriate to the time I'd guess it was before the last war.
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Know, what was that in line four I saw at the Woodpecker?
Limey beat me to it!. That'd be a Nimbus mate, made till 1960 by Nilfisk, better known for their industrial vacuum cleaners today.
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I wonder if they had their attics lagged?...
Bet they didn't have the cavity wall insulation reps knocking very often!
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Reading this topic brings to mind a chance conversation I had with a former Carlton resident at the Millenium Stadium, where I'd been to watch Wales play Argentina; freebie from work BTW, didn't pay!
After reminiscing about what was still there vs. what had gone, we agreed that were were likely to be the only two people in Cardiff who knew where Doctor Parks' Corner was.
Just out of curiosity, is that still the common name? Used to catch the 74A Trent bus from Thurgarton to visit friends and family in Netherfield, get off there and walk down Conway Road; every Trent driver knew where it was.
I would presume that Doctor Parks either had a surgery there or owned a house nearby; can someone confirm this?
Me mam was a native of Netherfield BTW, born on Chandos Street though she moved to Burton Joyce at the age of three.
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At the Gedling Miners Welfare back in around 1978/9 do you remember a fight (One of the many) and a lad getting killed after being knocked down by a lad on something like a Garelli or a Gillera
I know the lad responsible very well as I went to junior and senior school with him (Not going to mention his name as he did his penance and that should be that)
I was in the Army then; I vaguely recall something about that time. Scraps were indeed regular between the bikers and the "gonks" as we called the soul boys, most were minor but the odd knuckle-duster got used.
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They did mention it was the "Rolls Royce" of motorcycles, and in todays money would sell for over $35,000 - or over £20,000 in real money!
I'd say that would be an extremely conservative estimate. Top of the range Harley, which unlike the Brough is a mass-produced bike, sells for more than that.
Chap in Florida started making a Brough tribute bike a few years ago; not a replica but IMO a passable facsimile using modern kit.
These sold for $36,000 back in 2007; couple of years alter one came up for auction, and to the great amusement of Brough owners, fetched only $19,000.
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I used to go regularly on a Monday night, as you say Scriv "Happy Memories" (Although I used to park my Honda 50 in the carpark of the super market over the road ..LOL)
Ha! Going a bit further back, to 1976 in fact, the bikers used to go to Gedling Miners' Welfare, IIRC on a Sunday night. I used to ride from Thurgarton on my old Garelli Rekord,OK going there up the main A612 but on the way back used to go through Woodborough/Epperstone/Goverton 'cos the lights were so bad I was scared of getting pulled by the plod!
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Summat like that. It used to be common practice 'mongst us "locals" to treat the 30 limit in the area with a bit of respect cos the "power rangers" used to get up to so much stuff (wheelies, burn-outs etc) that you couldn't fart for traffic cops. Like most things a few plonkers manage to spoil it for the rest, it got so that many of us more "sedate" types gave up.
No different to the 60's if you think about it but I suspect the plod are a darn sight less tolerant these days.
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The GG is nothing morethan a waste land.
Only the low boundary wall remains
Monday night used to be bike night.... happy memories.
Is this site for real?
in General Chat about Nottingham
Posted
Must admit that the bit about the Evening Post isn't far wide of the mark!