mercurydancer

I am a supporter of animal charities. It is known that Santa had Randolph the brown nosed reindeer. He could fly as fast as the other reindeer, but could not stop as quickly.

I asked in my local pub for deep fried sprouts. Surprisingly they were very nice.

Jill Good quality ingredients are the key. I live close to Wensleydale (cracking cheese) and I get it at a specialist cheese shop in Thirsk, which has an artisan bread shop across the square. Fave cheese for me is either Keens or Montgomerys. In a sandwich, has to be with a good pickle. My own piccalilli is legendary, but it takes weeks to mature.

nonna, I envy you. The Italians know how to cook for certain. I love Italy and the food is superb. Due to getting a visa for my wife (she is a Russian national) we have to go to Italy for her to open her Shengen visa. Not a hardship to visit Pisa and Firenza again. I dont care much for Rome. A well done steak can be done correctly, it just takes a little more skill from the chef.

The food was to the expensive end of being acceptable. £15 for a course. Steak about 20 quid. Wine was expensive and very average. We went for a "flight" of wine, and it was three glasses of about 100ml in each glass. I am no expert in wine but I know some. I know of some restaurants in London which are far better, and cheaper.

I am a bit of a foodie, I will admit, but Jill, you raise the issue of cheese on toast - now are you going for a full on welsh rarebit with grated cheese, egg and mustard? Pub style toastie? What cheese? Gotta be a good melting cheese. This could be a new thread - the ultimate cheese on toast.

Was in London recently with my wife and we went to one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants for her birthday treat. I am vegetarian but she is a carnivore. She loves steak so I though that this would be a good choice for her. This was the Maze in Chelsea. First of all it was busy, and cramped. I like a little space to eat. I dont suppose they can help the clientele but loudmouthed Londoners were the rule. She hated her steak. We ordered well done but a competent vet could have got that cow back on its feet. After a disagreement with the waiter, almost getting to an argument, it was taken

Cliff Ton is up to his usual standard of genius. How he does it I dont know, but for sure, this site needs his level of knowledge

Got an invitation to a local TA unit where I served previously. I got there early and had to scrounge a coffee off the RLC cooks. Superb buffet lads and lasses! All credit. Had a fantastic day, some laughs, some tears. One laugh was an RSM who I knew very very well. Not seen him in donkey's years. After a hug, he looked at my hair and said "Mr T, you look like a f%$^ing sheepdog". Kept me giggling for the rest of the day.

My wife is a garden fanatic and she rates the Moorgreen garden centre highly. I find it expensive but the plants are of good quality, rather than pathetic seedlings which arent going to grow.

Oh. I love the Nottingham of my childhood, but there it remains. In my childhood. The fogs, the smells, the buildings, the buses and the neighbourhoods. All a long time ago. I do think that with a little sense, things like the Central market could thrive again. With the emerging trend for organic and fresh food, a city centre market providing excellent quality food, cheeses, wines, meat, then this would be possible. My example would be the Borough Market in Southwark. Nottingham is crying out for this type of market! I do not share the cynicism that Nottingham is not wo

Ah yes, doing stupid things in airports. I did a beaut last year. I use a black pack for all my travels. It has everything I need in it. I took it camping before we booked a flight to Pisa. I usually have a fair sized camping knife which is totally necessary. Necessary for camping, not to go to Italy with. Yep, I still had it in the bottom of my black bag when I went through security and found a surprising number of police around me. It took some explaining, but they accepted by story.

I have often said to my wife "If it is useful you will hide it" I still dont know what she has done with my sandwich grill. Before she went to Russia we were in a hotel and I could not find my reading glasses. I started chuntering, and she tapped her head. I chelped back that I was not mad. She tapped her head again and pointed to my head. My head. That is where the reading glasses were.

Sometimes it is very rewarding to go through posts from some years ago, and to turn up some diamonds. This is one. I clearly remember the van arriving at the gate (the only one where cars could get into Mundella) and they had Pork Farms pies and for me, a special treat would be a sausage roll. I have been vegetarian* for close to 3 decades now so cannot really remember what sausages taste like, but I recall enjoying the sausage rolls. My dad worked for GNCS and got me a Sat'dy job for me whenever he could. One short lived one was on the milk floats from Beechdale Road. Walki

I recall one on Lambert St, just across from Berridge Road. My dad was always a light drinker, but did like a bottle of Nut Brown ale, which despite the plethora of real ales, craft ales and such, I have never tasted anything as good. Two traditions - going to the beer-off for some Indian brandy when my dad had the flu and some cream sherry at Christmas.

There are only two kinds of socks. Clean ones and dirty ones.

I seem to recall a major fire in the middle 70s ish which I watched from my bedroom on Bobbers mill Road. I understand it caused much damage. Another thing I remember about Gerards, they had swimming pool sized areas of water with some kind of chemical stuff going off next to the factory which really ponged. I have no idea about what the function was at all.

Chuggers? I am not even polite to them any longer, having been almost abused by them. One said, after I said I was not interested, said very loudly "Do you not care about children with cancer" with the obvious intent to humiliate. She got both barrels. First question was how much do you earn and how much is your CEO salary? I never fail to buy a poppy, and usually from someone who has a chest full of medals. There is a hope for the city, and I hope Nottingham can improve, although I doubt if the Council or anyone else has the nous to do this. People travel abroad and

Yes it was a Bass house. Bass used to be a decent pint but I never had one at the Grand.

I did not go into the Grand much. I dont know why. Possibly because the beer was awful.

I recall the Hyson Green flats with mixed memories. Used to play there as a kid, so knew most of it. Come the early 80s, when there were riots, disturbances or just general messing about, I was a policeman. I was stationed at that time in Worksop. Bearing in mind that my parents lived in Bobbers Mill Road at the time. The senior officer's idea was that officers from Bassetlaw were not going to be known in Hyson Green were they? My role was "keyholder" ie I carried a sledgehammer. I very clearly recall chasing a group of youths up the ramp shown in one of the previous photos, and

I would often go the other way, from Bobbers Mill Road to the Wheatsheaf, possibly the Nags Head (I swear they have the same carpets to this day) then on to the Whitemoor. Whitemoor is still going. I recall a small but dapper barman called Jack at the Whitemoor who pulled a perfect pint of Black and Tan. I never drank it anywhere else. Timescale? early 1980s.

I loved the Wheatsheaf. On hot summers evenings my and my dad would walk down there and I would have Vimto as we sat on the walls. I also recall it as being a decent pub going into the 1980s. Its last reincarnation as a pub was a pub which had Reggae nights every Saturday. Now, its a Macdonalds.

I recall Plimsoll Street well. At the top on the junction to Bobbers Mill Road (Top left on the photo) was a sweets hop run by my god parents. Across the road on Bobbers Mill Road there would have been two shops, one a newsagents run by the Beardsmores, and opposite, a fish and chip shop called Dogger Bank.

I can totally confirm that the works identified as Berridge Road works are the ones which were part of Smith Dennis. I know both factories well, as my father worked at both. The Berridge Road metalworking factory was certainly still in operation until the early 1970s. The one on Berridge Road was a general purpose metalworking factory, which not only produced sheet metal, but turned metal products too, which supported the heavy casting plant on the other side of Lambert Street and fronted onto Bobbers Mill Road. The big castings were valves for the oil industry but the fine metal