Jill Sparrow

Goole was one of the most desolate looking places I think I've ever seen in my life!

Welcome to Nottstalgia, Kerry. Hope you will enjoy this wonderful site as much as I do!

#175 Enjoyed your post, Stan. It's a terrible shame when a school destroys a pupil's confidence instead of building it. You've largely recovered from it, as you say, but the resentment is still, to some extent, there inside. During my time at The Manning, we were frequently told that we would emerge from that establishment able to converse with anyone on any subject and on equal terms. This was good as it boosted the self esteem of more reticent girls but the ethos of anti-male philosophy backfired to some extent. Certainly, after I left, I was guilty of what can only

My garden has had several blackbirds nesting this year. Also had wrens nesting in the trachycarpus and robins right at the bottom of the garden. Seem to be having less visits from the Sparrowhawk which often resulted in piles of feathers under the trees.

#70 You're not wrong there, RR!

I spent some time working in a "glass" building. Hated it. Only a few years old, leaks like hell when it rains, perishing cold in winter, stifling in summer (no air con). Couple of years ago, a large section of glass fell into the communal area of the building. It was pure chance that no one was killed or seriously injured but, of course, it meant the whole structure was suspect. Waste of money. Let's go back to wattle and daub. It's warmer, environmentally friendly, tons cheaper and, most important of all, I like it!

#697 Nobody's that thick, surely. It just wouldn't be fair!

#693 I've only seen David Beckham once, on Parkinson years ago. Initially, I thought he was putting on an act and pretending to be a post frontal lobotomy patient, gifted with an IQ preceded by a minus symbol and in urgent need of a personality transplant. After 5 minutes, I realised he wasn't faking. Who, with all their marbles at home, would want to emulate that?

#7 No doubt about it, Loppy, Kate meant business. She was 63 when I was born but, even as an old lady, she still had an aura of menace about her. Had to be careful what we said. Turned out that number one candidate for the eunuchry was my paternal grandfather, Ted. Ted ran a grocery shop in Middle Street in the mid to late 20s and often delivered orders to customers with his horse and dray. As a four year old boy, my dad frequently accompanied him. Dad was unwise enough to complain to his mother about deliveries made to the unfortunately named Mrs Adcock wh

#30 I remember that place. It was more or less next door to Landers, the bakery shop and place to purchase lunchtime eats. Whatever happened to them?

Turning to my father's side of the family, he was born at 21 Church Street, Beeston and a few years later moved to 12 Chapel Street, a house his maternal grandfather owned. My paternal grandmother, Kate Sparrow, was a lady not to be messed with. Blessed with her own father's hair trigger temper and an uncanny knack for hitting a moving target with any object thrown from her left hand, many people in Beeston were scared to death of her. Domestic violence, as we term it today, was rife in Beeston in the early 30s. My father was a regular witness to battered females knocki

Our neighbour on the other side when I was a child was Mrs B. By the time I came along, she was a white haired widow, a truly lovely lady of whom my mother was extremely fond. Things had been different in earlier years though. Mr B, also a Player's employee, was a White Ribboner...he'd signed the pledge and no alcohol was permitted in their home. My mother was a close friend of both Mr and Mrs B's daughters. Both were Manning pupils, one a year older and one a year younger than my mum. Since all homes had pianos in those days and both my mum and the elder B daughter played pretty w

I grew up in the same house where my mother had been born and lived all her life. The neighbours had also been there since her childhood and she grew up and was good friends with their children. On one side of us lived Mr and Mrs S who were in their 60s when I was born. They had one daughter who was a year older than my mother. Virtually everyone worked at Player's in those days and Mr S and his daughter were no exception. The daughter had attended Miller's business college in Nottingham and worked as a secretary. It was said that her mother's ambition was to marry her off to one o

#128 Thanks Tom. The original slides were marked Dunmaglass. The colour slides gave no indication of which way round they should be viewed, as they were in plain cardboard mounts. The box was marked 'Lamb Close and Hilda' if that means anything to you?

#100 Hey, I haven't got Alzheimer's after all! My memory is pretty good for useless details and I always associated that shop with Jane. I remember Shirley Wilkinson, she's on the photo, along with Stephen Eccles, Michael Chomyn, Zena Marshall and others. In fact, on the photo, I'm sitting on one side of Jane and Jill Maddern is on the other side. My mum went to Berridge with Percy Maddern, Jill's father. Apparently all the girls were after Percy! I would love to see your school photos, David, as I was friends with Margaret Beardsall for ages. Li

#89 Letsavagoo, I remember there being a sweet shop/tobacconist on the right hand side of Alfreton Road, travelling towards town, just after the Bentinck school crossroads. It had a green fascia and the name FLINT'S across it. I always thought this was in some way connected with Jane FLINT'S family...or have I imagined that?

Enjoyed reading that post, Stan. Keep it coming!

I remember my mother telling me that her next door neighbour came round and scrubbed the steps for her when mum suffered a miscarriage and had to rest. It was a ritual that everyone scrubbed their steps once a week unless indisposed. We had friends who lived on Lynmouth Crescent and they moved in the early 80s, afraid of what was happening to the area. Sadly, their fears turned out to be true.

This area was lovely when I was a child and also during my mother's childhood was full of high class shops and people who scrubbed and polished the outside of their properties. To them, in that day and age, it was a reflection of the person who lived there. Once it started to go down hill, the decline was rapid. I've not visited the area for years but I prefer to remember it as it once was. Even in the so called slum areas of Nottingham which were cleared in the 60s and 70s, most people took more pride in their environment. Very sad.

#75 You mention a window cleaner who lived locally. Ours lived on Fretwell Street. Little chap with lots of children. Always cheerful. Cleaned our windows for years. Don't remember his name. Could it be the same person?

#89 Jane possibly wouldn't remember my name because we were only in the same class for one year but my forum name is my real name! She'll remember people such as Jennifer Dench, Jill Maddern, Susan Wilkie, Elaine Johnson. They are all on the photo which I've emailed to Catfan who has kindly offered to post when he gets time. There is also one of my final year at Berridge with Susan Freestone on it. The Dench family lived on Newquay Avenue.

#53 Wise words, ger! We may not like change at times but we surely can't avoid it and there's nothing worse than boredom!

Welcome to Nottstalgia, weeze60. I'm sure you'll enjoy this site as much as the rest of us. Please keep posting your memories!

#215 I was looking forward to seeing some photos of that building's interior. It's where my grand daddy worked. Oh, well. Onwards and sidewards, eh?

#42 Pathetic is the word for BT. I won't be hanging around at the end of my contract either!