Jill Sparrow

Omnia probate, optima tenete. Loose translation: You're standing under this dome because you were stupid enough to pass your 11+ The motto of The Manning School.

I believe @letsavagoohas the name Nix in his family and that would be the right area.

So do I. My great uncle Thomas William Sparrow was born in a cottage facing Carsington Water. His mother's family were farmers there and the farm still exists. Great uncle didn't survive The Great War, sadly, but he had a very picturesque start in life.

I may have mentioned it before but I can remember when the old house next to The Whitemoor was still standing. As a child, I sometimes went to The Whitemoor on summer Sunday evenings with my parents. We would sit outside, often chatting to one of my best friends from Berridge and her parents who would, likewise, be sitting outside after a few hours on their allotment. The old house was covered in ivy and I remember wondering what it was like inside. I have no idea whether it was inhabited at that time.

Welcome, @Michace29 I, too, grew up in the Bobbers Mill area. Are your Farrands related to the Farrands who ran a chain of grocery shops? If so, @benjamin1945will be very interested. The Whitemoor pub was, I believe, built as a public house and Whitemoor House was something separate. I think this topic has been mentioned elsewhere on the site but possibly under a different thread. Our whizz of a moderator @Cliff Ton will be able to help there. Pleased to hear you've caught the family history bug. Many of us on here are addicts.

My great uncle and his wife had a bungalow on that coast which was destroyed in those floods. It was before I was born, so they can't blame me.

A good place to go on a Diet!!

Not Epoisses, is it? Washed in brandy. Rather whiffy. Epoisses might be your middle name, although it's French so perhaps not . Best baked and used as a dip. Whatever happened to fondue sets?

Oooh!! She'll bless you, CT, for reminding her. Happy birthday, Margie, and many more to come.

I visited the library in Sutton in Ashfield last week. They have transcripts of parish records and I wanted to check the burials in the churchyard of St Wilfrid's at Kirkby as some of my ancestors were interred there around 200 years ago. I noticed that they also had microfiche records of parish registers. I haven't seen those for many, many years as most people now use the library's subscription to sites such as Ancestry and Find My Past but, sometimes, it's quicker to look at local resources as not all parish records are available on Ancestry by any means. I settled down in fron

Fame at last! Well done, Pete!

Why does he always look as though he's about to burst into tears?

Love the big cats. We need to leave them alone and let them live in their own habitat.

Love tigers. We need more tigers and less people.

He's a Scottish Fold. Flat ears. He's also gorgeous.

Prefer the piano concerti. If I had to choose a symphony, it would be number one.

I often used to go with a friend at lunchtime. We'd sit in his car and eat our fish and chips, piping hot. Didn't want my car ponging of fish and chips! You can eat in but the place was so popular there was never a table free and they didn't take bookings.

I was referring to George's Tradition. I always patronised the one on Bridge Street in Belper. Always had to queue. Always excellent.

George's also very good, although I haven't been there for ages.

Then your moggie is very crever and deserves a crap...which is plopably what the end ploduct will be Mon Dieu!

But.... croissants are French, Phil!!

A few days ago, a friend of mine noticed two birds fighting in the gutter near to his house. As he got closer, he realised that one of them was a sparrowhawk, attacking a smaller bird. He watched as the victim managed to evade its attacker and flew up into the air, only for the sparrowhawk to pursue it and drag it down again. My friend approached the two birds and made a loud noise to scare off the sparrowhawk. When it had flown away, he crouched down to look at the 'prey'. At first glance, he thought it was a blackbird. It was lying with its wings outstretched, clearly terrified, a few feathe

And infinitely more interesting

He's changed a bit since his school photo.

The chips or the hens?