alisoncc

Penny for the guy. Penny for the guy. Remember, remember. The fifth of November Gunpowder, treason and plot. We used to dress up an old bolster, stick it in a pram and chant the above whilst collecting money for fireworks at the front of the Midland Station. We used to do okay too. Then our Guy Fawkes would go on top of the bonfire. And we would all cheer as he burnt. It's funny to think that as kids we were enacting an historical event going back hundreds of years, which had been passed down from generation to generation. The younger kids took over when the older ones had moved on. Hu

I think everything took people unaware those days. You just learned to cope. There was very much a "community spirit", we were all in it together, and everyone helped each other out. We had a coal cellar under the house that was always wet. Probably from the river Leen which flowed under the houses. I vaguely recollect it being a common occurrence for there to be a few feet of water down there late winter early spring most years. In '47 it just got deeper. Very!! Hugs Alison

How about the whole of the Medders ? Flattened - not that it didn't need it. Alison

One of the big advantages of cobbled streets was that the cobbles didn't melt when you lit a bloody big fire on top of them. We always used to have our fire in the middle of the street. There was a shop "Parry's" half way down the street, and the heat of the fire used to crack their windows. We used to drop spuds into the hot coals, no aluminium foil or anything. When the outside turned black, we would peel away the burnt bits and eat the centres. Mind you anybody could buy fireworks then, even kids. I well remember one November, myself and friends bought some penny bangers and took

Hi Zacsmum welcome, I was three at the time, and whilst having no precise memory I have seen photographs of myself and older sister in a tin bath floating along. I have tended to think of Summers Street as being at the top end of the Meadows, being so close to the Midland Station on Arkwright Street, and have always thought of Queens Drive as being inclined upwards from the Trent. If the flood was a couple of feet above street level where we lived then it must have been all of ten to fifteen feet deep closer to the river. Hugs Alison

It's funny how things have gone full circle. Nowadays having "cable" is very much the in thing, fifty years ago we had cable. Redifusion wired many of the houses in the Meadows, with a cable running from house to house. Inside the houses was a brown bakelite switch box mounted on the window frame which enabled the occupant to switch channels. Can't remember how many channels, probably two or three. We used to run home from school at lunch time to watch Emergency Ward 10 - magic days. Hugs Alison

Hi Rob, I read somewhere that Ewan McColl wrote "The first time ever I saw your face" for Peggy Seeger. Roberta Flack took it to #1 in the charts in the early seventies. I am often reminded of his song "Dirty old town" when I think about Nottingham of the fifties. I met my love by the gas works wall Dreamed a dream by the old canal Kissed a girl by the factory wall Dirty old town Dirty old town It may have been written about Salford, but it just as much applied to Nottingham as anywhere else. The Gas Works on London Road near the junction with Station Street - the old canal between C

You don't hear "daft" very often nowadays. When I was young it was very common. For instance, if I were to call someone a "Daft bu99er" elsewhere they would probably sue for defamation. Here they are words of endearment - our Mams used to use them, more often than not with a smile on their faces and a shake of the head. And a favourite expression of my Gran was "Daft as a brush". I never did find out how daft a brush was to be able to make a comparison. Hugs Alison

You didn't wave when you passed. And you would have had to, to get from out west to kiwiland. Hugs Alison

No it don't. bu99er orff. You need to read more of Katyjay's funnies, that will knock the years off. I fell off my seat reading about the 2 carat memorial stone. You are only old when you use your age as an excuse for not doing something. Hugs Alison

Ayupmeducks, <QUOTE>I have to build stereo preamp, or use a graphic equilizer as my turntable doesn't have enough output to drive the soundcard in my computer. </QUOTE> I bought a stereo pre-amp over the 'Net a year back. It was only a few quid, and delivered within days. Alison

I remember me Mam giving me sister seven rounds of the kitchen table after she went to a cafe for a cup of tea. "isn't our tea good enough for youse". In the late fifties, in the Medders, you did not frequent tea and coffee places. They were dens of iniquity. The cafe was next door to the chippie, which was on the corner of Arkwright Street and Summers Street. Hugs Alison

I got some freebie software that came with the pre-amp. Seems to work fine. Bought a new stylus for the turntable too. Most of my LP's haven't been played in thirty odd years, so still in pretty good nick. Hugs Alison

Hi, first record bought was the Weavers - dated 1960 (just looked), second was Peter, Paul and Mary - dated 1962. All time favourites the Watersons - mid sixties. The Watersons were a folk group from 'ull. Memorable songs - the north country maid, Holmfirth anthem, I am a rover and the white cockade. Coal Dust Ballads by the Ian Campbell Folk (same era) has lots of pre-war pit songs and music. Whilst an EFDSS (English folk dance and song society) record includes a Jack Armstrong who started performing in pubs in 1926. Once heard Ewan McColl singing in the backroom of a pub in Nottingham,

Katyjay that's cheating. Here I was thinking you had done it all from memory. <giggle> Hugs Alison

Hi, I am in the process of transferring my old Vinyl LP's to CD's. I was very much into folk music in the '60's with a collection ranging from EFDSS records, to the Watersons, Bob Davenport, Ian Campbell Folk, High Level Ranters, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, the Weavers, "Peter Paul and Mary", etc., etc. I don't know if there are any copyright issues with re-recording old music to CD's and offering swaps, but I would love to get hold of any of Ewan McColl stuff that might still be around. Does copyright run out at some point ? Most of what I have is close to forty five years old. Hugs Alison

Katyjay wrote: I can't remember the first record I bought, but I thought about what was being played as I started work for the first time on Jan 1st 1962. This is the top 20 in the UK for January. 1 Stranger on the Shore - Mr. Acker Bilk 2 Id' Never Find Another You - Billy Fury ... ... 19 Toy Balloons - Russ Conway 20 Cryin' in the Rain - Everly Brothers Aaaaagh, I can hear them all now. I went through the list and could remember every tune, and more than a few words. If you gave anyone a list of the top twenty from any other era since, I doubt that they could recall much at all. S

When DVD players come off the production lines in Taiwan, China, Korea or wherever they are all the same. Techies in the different countries where they are shipped to then customise them for their region. The codes to change them are freely available on the Web. Over the last year I have tweaked quite a few to make them all regions. It's something that can easily be done using the remote control, and a particular sequence of buttons. The sequence tends to vary by manufacturer and model. A few websites enable you to select the player you have and then provides the codes. Hugs Alison

Yes, I was there 1955 to 1960. But not under my present name. As Michelle in 'Allo 'Allo would say "'Leesen verrry carefully, I weel zay zis only once...'", Alison was a beneficiary of the UK's Gender Recognition Act of 2004. <grin> You need a good sense of humour to go where I have been. My personal website is at http://www.alisoncc.com Hugs Alison

One of my favourites - going back to floppy disk times, was a call to the help desk by a client trying to install some new software. The instructions say insert the second disk, but it won't go in. Were you able to insert the first disk ? Yes. It's still in there. (Well it didn't say to remove it)

Can I's be a Prefect. Pleeze, pretty pleeze. I know the words of the skool song: Mundella School for ever, may it successful be With earnest students blended in cordial sympathy. In playground and in study let all put forth their might. In healthy emulation their fullest powers unite. Chorus Go forward then Mundella Go forward one and all In honour's path press forward Advance at duty's call. And Barton Hart thinks I have improved: And I have a picture of the Skool: Hugs Alison

With reference to the African connection. Few people know that Mugabe was originally from Yorkshire. Mugabe is ee bah gum backwards. <giggle> Hugs Alison

Mundella cross country runs - bin there, done that, got the scars to prove it. From school changing rooms, down passed Memo's gardens - collecting almonds from tree enroute. Then across Spenii, right along the narrow pathway - with boats moored just below and big houses to the left. Along the top of the bank towards Wilford, then it gets hazy. Then the return run. I vaguely remember passing a school on the left was that Becket? Hugs Alison

My favourite walk was from Spenii to A'peny Bridge. About half way along the narrow bit was the Railway Club. After dinner of a Sunday, the whole family would walk down Queens Drive, along the Embankment, passed the memo' gardens, over Spenii to the Club. These are some of my fondest memories. Hugs Alison

Definitely a squeeze of lemon and brown sugar for me. My daughter had a go once, and hers ended up more like a Crepe Suzette, right down to the Grand Marnier. Very nice, but they weren't the real traditional pancakes for pancake day. My Dad used to spinkle ground nutmeg and cinnamon on his. They were quite yummy. Hugs Alison