edthefolkie

Errrrr… no. Even DSes, IDs etc couldn't lift up the appropriate corner, although they could drive along on 3 wheels and a flat tyre if necessary. The whole car, went up or down depending on the setting of the lever. The highest setting is the one used for wheel changing, but it is up to the driver to (a) ensure that the car has reached the correct height and (b) ensure that the jack is adjusted and in a safe place - like any jack. This is all covered in the manual, but people don't read manuals, do they! At least the top of the jack didn't generally go straight through the sills, as was my

Rob, I love the old slides. I thought "Blimey, they're good!" and then read that they were taken by a pro (your dad) using a Leica/Summicron so that explains it. Great stuff. These slides are a valuable record - because they're colour apart from anything else. How many colour shots of the old Drury Hill have you seen? Especially as they're Kodachrome which doesn't fade or shift, unlike Ektachrome and Agfa. The only problem with Kodachrome-X and 64 is that they tend to give a magenta cast in shadows, unlike KII and K25. Hope you don't mind me giving my experiences of scanning. I've been doi

Certainly was owned by the Stevensons - I used to work with Kathryn S who was married to one of 'em. Where are you Kathryn?? We had a staff do at the Commodore in the 90's I think. Coach up the motorway, LOTS of free or cheap drink. I won a bottle of whisky in the raffle & we finished it on the way home. One of our lot fell over a rock in his front garden and did himself quite a mischief.

The last black & white shot was of a brand new Shippo's Foden which was used by a bunch of Nottingham High School lads (and a few masters) to drive across Europe. Think "Summer Holiday" only with beer and tents. And no girls, or for that matter Cliff and the Shadows. There were 3 or 4 lorry trips in the 60s, the 1965 team have just had a reunion at the High School. Free (Old Dalby) Shippos apparently. As somebody said, beer is the secret of happiness and longevity. I don't think he meant old style Shippo's though, that stuff all too often had the tang of Basford Gasworks! Remember the so

Come to think of it, there are some other candidates for Firbeck at Chilwell. There's a cut down 1950s coach which was converted to transport the 1908 replica charabanc, also a late 1950s AEC Reliance (the "ghost bus", URR 865) which has been rescued from a field in Suffolk. I think they've got an open day on September 13th actually, if anybody fancies negotiating the tram works outside! Just don't utter the word "tram" when Simon Barton's around.

NAS 624, mentioned earlier, was indeed a government surplus AEC Matador. It looked a bit different at Chilwell Garage in 1950 though! My dad is standing left - I think they were pulling tree stumps. The wrecking crew had to go out at all hours in the Matador and the cab was slightly basic! So later on the ever resourceful Barton body builders cobbled together a new cab complete with space for repair kits etc. An excellent chap called Jolyon bought the Matador and restored it some years ago, don't know if he still owns it.

Hi Chris, you are doing some fantastic work here. Anybody who used to frequent "The Vic" will tell you that it was the most haunting place - I don't know quite how, but you've really captured the atmosphere. As an example of Vic weirdness, the hydraulic tower (yes, the building did contain the power source for the luggage lifts) used to emit public lavatory/digeridoo echoing burbly noises, even in the 1960s. I guess therefore that the lifts were still used then. When you get fed up with drawing endless girders and beige glazed brickwork island buildings, maybe there's a sound file somewhere

Ewe Lamb Lane (you have no idea what fun I have had with that street name over the years)

Hi folks, this is all very interesting. I think the waggonway on Moor Lane may be wishful thinking, although I would love there to have been one. The "railway station" near Coventry Lane sounds like one of the Midland Railway's ploys to get coal traffic from nearby collieries. After all the Midland and the Great Northern were in constant punch-ups to get coal, and hence money, on to their own lines. Look at the MR's London Extension to St Pancras, and all the GNR lines in Notts/Derbys which went in the 1960s. I'm sure there were some sidings on the Radford-Trowell line near Coventry Lane -

Tell yer what duck, I were doubled up watching that. And I didn't understand half of it! I think living south of Leicester has atrophied me Dottigub Detector or should it be me Ilson Informator.

Mick2me, who started the thread, mentioned a model railway layout at Pearson's, which I do remember. Think it was narrow gauge (Eggerbahn), may be wrong, it's a long time ago. Everything about Pearson's model department in the 1960s was thanks to a gent called Mike Skidmore. He was a dab hand at railway modelling and particularly painting and lining locos. In fact I bought one off him once - a Hornby Dublo Duchess. It's still around somewhere but God knows where, and it's in bits anyway. Mike's lair was all too tempting as I worked across the road at Barclays and hadn't discovered expensive

The great thing about the Playhouse in that era was that you didn't have to be a culture vulture. I mean. there was a punchup on the opening night. Sitting in the front row watching Arthur Seaton throw up on stage was not exactly Chekov, either. The place was usually packed out, there were other things going on besides the actual plays, and of course there was the Playhouse bar next door to the auditorium. A few of us ne'er do wells used to sit outside in the summer drinking orrible Trophy or summat, probably in order to stare at the gorgeous girl with the St. Bernard! I don't know if the b

Some of this posting was in the Transport thread and I thought it ought to be in the Swingin' 60s too, hope nobody minds! Anybody remember the Playhouse in its early days on East Circus Street - or even on Goldsmith Street? Somebody asked about a show called Owd Yer Tight, written by Emrys Bryson, which was on in 1965. I should have gone to see it but didn't although I was in the Playhouse Club at the time, and had seen the young Ian McKellen in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, also other plays. I was probably short of cash as I was only 18! 'Owd Yer Tight featured John Neville and Ronal

Hi Hawarden, actually I do know something about this. It's just the title of the 1965 show (and later book) and there wasn't much about buses in it! I ought to have gone to see the show but didn't although I was in the Playhouse Club at the time, and had seen the young Ian McKellen in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, also other plays. I was probably short of cash as I was only 18! 'Owd Yer Tight featured John Neville and Ronald Magill (later of Emmerdale) who also directed the show. I don't recognise most of the other players but they were regulars in the 1960s. Emrys Bryson did a little

Iliffe and Baguley did about 20 books - there were two on Edwardian Nottingham as well. They were printed by Derry and Sons and were indeed quite expensive. I've got 10 or 12 of them, a few from a cheapo bookshop in Beeston about 10 years ago for about 2 quid each! They had LOADS of them. I think they are still obtainable secondhand for not a lot, have a look on the web. They did themselves no favours I reckon as they saturated the market by putting out more and more rehashes of the same stuff, printed on nastier paper. I think also that the inflation of the 1970s basically made the whole th

Since the subject of "Alberta" came up, here's a shot taken at Nottingham Midland on 3rd September 1966. Firbeck, yes the shed plate was for Farnley Junction (55C).

Well done everybody - yes sorry the shot was taken across the road from the old Mount Street. Sorry also for the postage stamp size piccy - I ALWAYS get it wrong when I put a photo on a website in spite of Photoshop, Picasa, PixResizer, etc etc etc. And I worked in IT for 35+ years too!

Just had a look at Book Law's site - the book's obtainable online from them - see http://booklaw.co.uk/eshop/product_info.php?products_id=4952&osCsid=cda794c9ed8c1d6a57c31d32e5110033

It's gone - now somebody apparently wants to put a plaque up. I'm a bit torn over it really - sorry to see yet another bit of the GC go (plus a pub) but I can see that it was a complete no-no for preservation. There's no way that it could have been used at Loughborough - wouldn't fit the site apart from anything else. On the other hand just look what Derby University has done with the old works offices and roundhouse - it's fab. Funnily enough my son was going on about how awful the demolition was and how it should have been saved but I said I could just hear the almighty moans from Leiceste

Don't know whether all you guys saw the bit in the Evening Post, but a new book about the Nottingham Suburban Railway has just come out - by David Birch, who unfortunately had to destroy some of the railway in 1983! There will be two volumes. The first one (out now) is about planning, construction and opening of the line, and the second one (due September I think) will deal with everything else. Published by Book Law and presumably available in bookshops in Nottm. I got mine from the Nottm Model Railway Exhibition last Sat, and David kindly signed it. Volume 1 is excellent - with lots of p

A mate and I went to see Chris Barber's band at the Slipper a few times around 1970. In those days it was Chris on trombone, Pat Halcox trumpet, John Crocker clarinet, John Slaughter guitar, Stu Morrison banjo and guitar, Jackie Flavelle bass, Graham Burbidge drums. (Thanks to the Barber website for refreshing some brain cells). Unbelievably Pat Halcox only retired recently after 54 years with the band! I remember the all pervading pong of hamburgers and onions from the Slipper kitchen, which overpowered the fag smoke! I also remember some of the older "traddies" in the audience getting a bi

Here's a shot of a few Barton buses at Mount St around 1970. Taken with a Kodak Colorsnap 35, bought for 15 quid from a shop on Friar Lane.

Hello all - just found out my membership was approved! The replica W963 is still owned by Bartons as far as I know and is I believe at Chilwell Garage along with other heritage vehicles. It was around on the 100th anniversary celebrations but has run a main bearing or similar so couldn't be driven for the re-enactment. It did appear in the Old Market Square though, they used the Sandicliffe transporter. The replica was built around 1953 on a Daimler world war 1 era chassis and Bartons managed to get the original Durham Churchill registration back (probably cost about ten bob then!)