Jill Sparrow

In 1974, I was still at Manning and would have walked past those houses every day. Staff were aware of the burgeoning problem of Waverley Street and Mount Hooten Road with their red light areas. Not that it was ever mentioned to us girls. We were just instructed to avoid those areas if we left the Manning site at lunchtime and those below the fourth form were not permitted to do so anyway. There were reports that some girls had been approached in the areas near the Forest and Arboretum and there were always a few dodgy males to be found outside the railings fronting the school fiel

That would have been when I used to wander through there with my friend, Kim Machin who, I believe, knew someone who had just moved in. I vaguely recall going to visit this person in her new flat. To be honest, the whole thing reminded me of the lunar landscape. After walking through what was, basically, still a building site...would never be permitted today due to Elf and Safety.... we emerged onto Gregory Boulevard via a cutting at the side of the library.

Lots of memories for me, too. Happy memories though...there aren't any photos of Manning! I know they were initially popular with some who were housed there but, in my view, those awful concrete flats should never have been built. An eyesore from the outset, using material that would not weather but simply grow dirtier, tattier and stick out like a sore thumb. Sometimes, before they were finished, I walked through them with one of my school friends from Berridge. The children's play area struck me as an alien landscape: arid, barren and hostile. I certainly couldn't imagine anyone

Yes, if you take it out of its complete grammatical context.

My paternal grandmother, Kate, was a patient at the same place for some time. I believe this was during the war as my father was away in the navy at the time. My aunt, who is almost 90, recalls going to visit her mother and struggling at home to look after the youngest child, Claude, born in 1939 and died 4 weeks ago, with the help of her elder sister, Mary, who was a nurse. Grandma was eventually found not to have TB but suffered a collapsed lung. Her bed and those of other patients was sometimes parked outside in the snow. She didn't suffer any ill effects and lived to be almost

I drink it, Margie, ice cold. Sometimes I make hot chocolate with it in winter. My cats don't like milk but they are very fond of yogurt which they are allowed to have.

Always have my coffee black and I don't drink tea. Red top, green top...you won't find those in my fridge. Blue top and Jersey cows milk. Yes, I know it's frowned on and some supermarkets won't stock it but I don't care. I like it!

You wil need to use one of the image hosting sites. I use Post Image but there are numerous others available.

Doubt it, Katyjay. It would make the Encyclopedia Britannica look like an abridged version!

Did you know the attacker and was there a female involved?

Looked out for you too Ben. 7.45 drop off in day case unit,next door along from endoscopy. Thought of you. Trip round Morrison's. Didn't lift anything! 3PM pick up. Have you tried one of those go backwards wheelchairs? They're a nightmare in the car park! Would have loved a coffee! He's in quite a lot of pain tonight and has just had 2 paracetamol! His first in over 40 years. Not a tablet taker. Glad today's over and thrilled to hear your news, Ben!

I can remember this building. It was demolished and a nondescript flat-roofed structure was built on part of the site which, I believe, was Staddons' bed shop. The police station was a fine building and should have been left standing. The railings were gone by my time, casualties of ww2, no doubt. Next to the police station were public toilets. Occasionally, my mother would use these when caught short whilst out shopping. The cost was 1d and I recall the gleaming brass slots on the doors, along with the aroma of disinfectant dispensed by the lady attendant. Next along w

Wonder what the Gregory family would think of it now?

My sister attended Peveril between 1961 and 1966 so your time would have overlapped with hers to some extent. I remember her talking about a. Miss Salavanska who taught English, I think and a Mr Beresford whom she didn't much like.

When I visited Berridge in March of this year, I planned to have a walk along Gregory Boulevard to look at the Manning site. I was advised not to do so and certainly not on my own in the interests of personal safety. As WW says, the buildings are still there, albeit scruffier, surrounded by rubbish, parked vehicles and beggars, apparently. Such an awful shame for those of us who remember how it once was.

I remember the Mary Potter Health Centre being built. It was quite unusual of its time. As WW says, most GP surgeries were to be found in old Victorian houses and there were a number of them along Gregory Boulevard, including Dr Kelleher whose practice was in a similar house with a blue front door, across the road from Mary Potter. I believe he eventually moved in there. Our surgery was on the ground floor of a Victorian house near the Le Grand pub on Alfreton Road. Drs Kelly, McGrath and Halley. Irish, every one. Drank like fish and smoked like chimneys. They also had a practice i

Is it one of Ben's girlfriends? Even if no one knows her identity, there's still a very high probability that she's one of Ben's forrmer girlfriends. She has all the prerequisites: she's female and resides in the western hemisphere!

As a child, I thought it must be really exciting to find out you were adopted. I remember asking my parents over and over again whether I had been adopted, to the point where my exasperated father retorted "Unfortunately not. You're ours. I tried to swap you for a dog when you were born but the dog owner said the mutt was better looking!" In more recent years, during the course of my work I have come to realise the often traumatic nature of the stories behind adoption and the devastating effect this must have on those who can access it once they reach adulthood. Wisely, there are

Yes, indeed,Beekay. If I close my eyes, I can still mentally walk that route in my head. Many years now since I was last in that area but I couldn't get my bearings at all. Didn't recognise anything.

Looks a bit like Margie?

Didn't know that, FLY2. Were you adopted? Remember Norton Street well. Walked along it en route to Garden Street. There must have been many children born as a result of wartime liaisons. Figures for children fathered by GIs are incredible.

Your dentist doesn't sound like Ronald Acton. He had ginger hair and a temper to go with it. There were several dentists along Gregory Boulevard. Yours may have been Mr Booth, whose surgery was roughly where you describe. Booth was widowed in the 1950s and married his receptionist. Violet Booth was a friend of my mother's. What Booth was like as a dentist, I don't know but doubt anyone was as bad as Acton.

Crikey, Beekay! A real mystery. Your exact place of birth should be on your birth certificate. As I've said, I was a regular customer at Forest Dene. Measles at 5 years old left me with a propensity for bronchitis every winter. I played on it shamelessly because I knew it meant time off school! Nothing was dearer to my heart than time off school and so I did everything humanly possible to exacerbate the situation. I can't bring to mind any clinics on Gregory Boulevard which might have had maternity facilities but I'd certainly be looking into it if I were you. However, I'm a very

So many happy memories there. Beautiful buildings which reflect the original affluence of this area. My beloved library, Forest Dene where I was a regular visitor due to bronchitis in the winter, long gone shops and the bowling green where I remember sitting in my coachbuilt pram whilst mum sat on a bench,knitting and chatting to other mums. Being pushed on the swings on the forest by my grandad. In the autumn, wading through piles of fallen leaves whilst walking to the shops, on reins, with my mother. Later, I walked to and from Manning along this thoroughfare. It was, by then,det

No relation to Chulla I hope!