ChrisB

And did you have a Banana Longboat for afters?

Some very interesting pictures but there's nothing very appealing in Broadmarsh. No one seems to want the big unit which used to be Alders (and the Co-op) Broadmarsh serves more purpose as a thoroughfare than a shopping cenrtre - even though the main avenue isn't terribly wide and it's stuffed with sales stalls.

I'm afraid I can't agree about pigeons. Dirty, stinking, disease ridden nuisance birds which make messes that cost many thousands of pounds to clean up. Someone should go into slab square early one Sunday morning when there's no one around and set some basket traps, catch as many as possible then take them away and neck them! (Not homing pigeons of course!)

I think that's absolutely true. There's no doubt whatsoever that without Churchill we would have lost the war but his own words after VE day said it all: "I have nothing to offer them now!"

I had a look in the 'new' Vic centre on Saturday. All that empty space where the clock and toilets were seems really strange, same at the other end, towards Tesco. The lack of seating seems very ominous, if Intu are anything like Westfield, every inch of that space will be filled with barrows, stalls, stands, sales pitches, in other words, anything to make money for Intu!

Didn't it used to make wonderful patterns on the glass!

There was a film which I saw once on TV many years ago and I don't think it's ever been shown since. It was called 'Terror on a Train' and apart from a lot of well known British actors, the main star was Glenn Ford to make it sellable in the US. The story was that a saboteur had placed a bomb on a munitions train and Ford played a bomb disposal expert who was called to defuse it. It was filmed entirely on BR and I think the loco was a Stanier engine. Don't suppose it will ever be shown again now!

My mum and dad used to take me on shopping trips to Nottingham on Wednesdays because in Derbyshire, Wednesday was half day closing but in Nottingham all the shops were open. We used to get the Midland General A4 service to Ripley which is the one shown in this picture. It was a sort of limited stop express service which used the Nuthall by-pass instead of going through the village. I don't think anyone was allowed to get on or off before/after Eastwood or Hill Top. It was very busy on Wednesdays too, it was only every hour and if you left it till the last minute, you risked not getting a sea

Yes, one in particular, Derby! One thing I spotted here today was the return of the people who appear about now every year and take a short term lease on an empty shop for the sale of cheap perfume for the ladies and cheap aftershave for the men. Most of the selling is done outside, just the stock is kept inside and all the usual sales spiel, 'Not only do you get this, but this and this and that and that as well' Now I've never bought any but I wouldn't be surprised if it's the most vile smelling muck imaginable. It always makes me smile how, come Christmas Eve, the stock has gone, the sho

By the way, if you get an e-mail telling you that you can catch Ebola from tinned meat, please ignore it. It's just spam.

This reminds me, when the remaining Co-op Department Stores closed in Ilkeston, Long Eaton, Derby etc. I though that was the end of them everywhere. Apparently not. On my recent travels, I've found that the Co-op still has them in Nuneaton, Coventry and Scunthorpe. It appears it was just this area where they couldn't make a go of them.

Not specifically this issue but it's almost a daily thing about drinking, how many units, how many calories, how bad it is for you. I wouldn't disagree with that but most city centres would require a police presence the size of an army every weekend to enforce it and police numbers are being cut to the bone right now. But weren't 'On the Spot Fines' introduced a few years ago, whatever happened to them? The politicians constantly go on about the problem but the will isn't there to deal with it - nor the resources.

But like I said earlier, why should bars be penalised for the actions of their customers. My solution would be to reduce the hours of bars, cut back the closing time to 1am. This wouldn't affect traditional pubs because they wouldn't want to stay open later than that anyway. People would begin to drift away after midnight or decide whether to go on to a club without being pissed before they get there. But it's a problem which is insoluble really, it's the British way and people have to accept it. And the thing I resent most of all is the government telling me how to run my life!

In the beginning (well as far back as I can remember) pubs closed at 10.30pm except on Fridays and Saturdays when it was 11.00pm. At weekends, you decided at 11pm whether you were going home or going on to a club, even clubs only went on till 2am. Progressively though, club hours were extended till 3am, then 4am and later even 6am. but they were always full and busy before midnight. Then along came Tony Blair and it was his government which allowed "24 hour" drinking (which never was) This largely killed the regular club trade because people were staying in bars till 2 and 3am for free rath

What I can't understand is how Halloween, just one night of the year, appears to have been turned into a three week event. It now seems to have been combined with bonfire night, there are copious amounts of fireworks going off outside. It wouldn't be anything to do with profiteering would it?

Derby - murdered by Westfield!

I don't remember the Wesleyan Chapel either but I've seen pictures of trolleybuses passing by it and often wondered where it was. I only ever thought 'somewhere on Mansfield Road', now I know! Presumably the road to the left is Woodborough Road? When the first Victoria Bus Station opened, any buses heading westwards had to do quite a long circuit of Cairns Street, left, Huntingdon Street, left, Woodborough Road, left again Mansfield Road before they were pointing in the right direction!

I wonder if they'll take the opportunity to improve the exit road from the bus station?

Can yer still get them penny bangers?

Yes, I remember the one in Byard Lane. I went in once and I remember thinking it wasn't my cup of tea at all - nor were the prices! I'm guessing that would have been about twenty years ago.

Travelling into Nottingham by train today, I noticed that the wires are now up on the new bridge over Lenton South Junction and in one or two other places although the line appears to be at ground level as it passes the Speedo offices and I still can't quite work out how it crosses Queens Drive. On arrival at Nottingham Station I noticed that the steps from the middle footbridge to the tram stop are open again so I went up to have a look. I saw that new tram platforms have been installed on the tram bridge directly above the station platforms so I presume that the Station Street tram stop wil

How sad indeed. I think he did have some connection with Mansfield but I'm not sure what it was. I have a single of his (as Shane Fenton) 'It's Gonna Take Magic' on the A side, 'Cindy's Birthday' on the other.

I take it there won't be an Arkwright Street stop on the new tram extension?

I know it's serious but to be honest, I'm sick of hearing about it. Then one of my mates made a joke about it and I just had to laugh. What does a West African man wear on his head? Ebola hat!

I noticed recently that an old office block on Spaniel Row off Friar Lane has been converted into apartments for students. There's certainly going to be plenty of inner-city living!