Jill Sparrow

#117 Thanks TBI. Got it now. Its heartbreaking to see the area so run down. I, and I'm sure many others, remember it so differently.

#113 that's how I read it. What's the date of this image? I don't recognise it. Is it next to the cemetery?

#111 Could have been Brighter Homes, Catfan. I can't remember but it was there for many years!

There was Farmer's on Exchange Walk. Wonderful fabric shop. Another Aladdin's cave. My sister bought fabric from there for a Peveril School needlework project in the 1960s. It was the end of a roll and she cut the pattern out at home. Sis thought she had a lot of scrap fabric left and she realised why when she looked again at the cutting out instructions. She was supposed to fold the material before pinning the templates on. Result, two of each piece. Sis had pinned the pieces on a single thickness only. Result, one of everything and a lot of scrap fabric which wasn't enough to repeat the exe

If you're anything like me, Catfan, I'm sure you've found that moggies are absolutely useless at wallpaper hanging or painting! Putting their paws in the paint/paste, well that's a different matter entirely, as is ripping the the paper off with their claws when they're bored with it!

Welcome to Nottstalgia Mikeho. It is indeed a great site and perfect for trips down memory lane. Have fun!

As I am still involved in my mammoth gloss painting enterprise, it has brought to mind memories of the decorating shop which was right at the end of the row of shops on Gregory Boulevard, where the post office was in the middle and Crooks the bakers a little further down. Both my maternal uncles ran painting and decorating businesses but they always seemed to be too busy to do anything for us (or themselves) and so my father did the decorating although he freely admitted that he hated it. When required I remember going with my mother to this decorating shop whose name I can't remember, to ch

Oddly enough, Catfan, that lift is still there and is notorious for getting stuck although, thankfully, it's never happened to me! It does feel a bit rickety at times though. The worst thing about that place is the sensors they've installed everywhere (even in the lift and loos!). The stairs have been enclosed with safety glass panelling and because some of the sensors don't respond to the smartcards we all have to wear, I've been trapped on the stairs between floors several times. Better than being trapped in the lift, I suppose!

I remember Towlson's sweet shop on the corner of Alfreton Road and Newquay Avenue. Run by Eric Towlson and his wife. His elderly mother, who had some form of dementia, sometimes wandered into the shop. My sister often nipped in there as Mr and Mrs Towlson had a daughter the same age. I once asked sis to bring me a Funny Face (ice cream). Mr Towlson said he thought she'd already got one! She was so upset she didn't speak to me for ages! Towlson's, according to my mother, had originally occupied the shop on the corner of Alfreton Road and Bobbers Mill Road. She and her little friends spent many

I visit the former Home Brewery building every so often in the course of my work. Interesting place which is costing a lot to maintain and repair. I prefer to go there in winter as it's always like a furnace inside. Old cast iron radiators belting out heat and too risky to open most of the windows which have decaying metal frames (possibly Crittalls) and secondary glazing which has seized up! In summer, it's worse than a bake oven! I recall in 1960 attending my uncle's wedding at the church nearby. Sis was a bridesmaid. Ended in divorce 10 years later!

Another shop I visited regularly was Jeanette's in King Street. What happened to that? It was there for years. Then there was the Silver Bird Boutique on Alfreton Road. I bought some beautiful things from both these shops but unlike Brentford's bedding, no longer have them. Put on too much weight! Was a size 6 to 8 in those days. 18 inch waist which went the same way as all these vanished shops!

Didn't Green Shield Stamps used to be on Maid Marion Way? Dad used to bring them home in reams from the petrol station and it was always my job to stick them in the book! They tasted awful and the tiny dots from the perforations stuck to your tongue! It was quite exciting going to choose your gift. Long before the days of places like Argos!

I still have 2 lemon cellular blankets which came from Brentfords. The blankets themselves will never wear out but the binding (nylon, of course) became rather tatty so I removed it and replaced it with new lemon satin ribbon. Good as new again! Listen, I'm a child of the make do and mend generation! They are on one of the spare beds. I don't use the rest of the Brentford's stuff. A bit too vivid...purple, orange and turquoise. Very 1970s! I'll hang onto it though, because it may be needed one day! Those Alan Freeman ads drove me up the wall! If it wasn't Brentford's, it was Daz!

Too true, Benjamin! Too true!

Looking at those photos of Maid Marion Way brought back memories of Brentford Nylons. Whilst searching through some drawers recently I came across some of their products. Several sheets, pillow cases and a bedspread. All of them well over 40 years old! They look like new! Hardly been used. Impossible to sleep on due to the static! I once bought a set of satin sheets and pillow cases. They ended up in the drawer as well. Kept sliding out of bed all night! Now I'm an old biddy and have acquired more sense, I've taken to pure cotton sheets and pure wool blankets. Blissful sleep is more importa

Welcome deebird. Nottstalgia is addictive but the good thing is, it's calorie free!

James and Hannah were married in 1883 but not in Lambley. Their descendants are scattered all around the Mansfield area. Prior to moving there, they had lived in Cremorne Street in The Meadows.

James Kirk from Lambley married my great great aunt, Hannah Thompson who was born at Crimea Farm on Spring Lane. I don't think this James was a trouble maker but I do know there was a large family of Kirks in Lambley. James and Hannah ended their days in Gedling Street, Mansfield. I drive past it regularly. Hannah was a very devout High Church-goer and died in 1943.

My father used to talk about buying locust pods from a sweet shop in Beeston when he was a child in the 1920s, early 30s. He spoke about it so often that I began to wonder what they were. Then, lo and behold, on a visit to The Shepherd's Purse in Whitby, I found some! This was some years prior to dad's passing. I purchased a bag and they were a tad more than the penny for a bagful of his childhood but I'd never seen anyone look so pleased when I presented them to him. To me, they looked revolting but he chomped his way through them. Apparently, they are the seed pods of the carob tree. Must

Mercury dancer I recall Major having a fearsome reputation but I never saw him in work mode. It saddens me to hear that his paws were burned. I hate to hear of any animal being injured. Often wondered what happened to Kim and her family as I don't remember them being there in the 70s. Did they move away?

#120 mercury dancer Small world indeed! Kim and I were at Berridge together and good friends. However we went to different schools, she to Bluecoat and me to Manning, in 1969 and lost touch. I vaguely remember there being some sort of trouble around her father's job at that time. There was also a boy at Berridge named Jeffrey Wyley..although I may have misspelled both names as he wasn't in my class at Berridge. He must also have lived somewhere close to you. Major was a real softie who would wait til I sat down on the sofa, pin me there by placing both paws at the sides and then lick my fa

Mercury dancer I well remember Smith's Foundry. Also knew a few people who must have lived near to you. I took piano lessons for some years as a child with Edith Birch (Mrs Wells), went to school with Kim Machin, whose father was in the police force and a dog-handler. The dog was called Major and had a pen in the garden but was as soft as grease when off duty! The Cheetham family also lived in that area and their daughter was at school with my sister. Small world!

The Engineer, you must have known the Davys family. They lived at the top of Grundy Street.

I first went to Whitby in 1976. It was the autumn equinox and the gale that raged all night was scary in the extreme. Next day, the sea was as calm as a mill pond and brilliant sunshine. My family had friends there and it became my second home. I spent my post graduate year at North Riding College, as it then was, in Scarborough and did most of my teaching practice around Whitby before qualifying as a teacher. I haven't been there since 2003 but have many, many happy memories of that wonderful place.

I was talking to my childhood friend, Jane, the other day. She lived in Hazelwood Road when we were young. Jane told me that the bakery cum sweet shop on Gregory Boulevard was called Crooks and I do believe that's correct. She has an unfortunate reason for remembering the place. Apparently, there was a broken grating outside the front of the shop and Jane fell down it as a small child, cutting her leg quite badly. She says she still has the scar. These days there would be a huge compensation claim! In the early 60s, she would probably have received a smack from her mother to go with it! How t