alan (Wack) Walker

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Posts posted by alan (Wack) Walker

  1. Skinner and Rook disappeared in - I think - the 1950s

    Don't think Redgate still exist - in fact I can't think of any "Pop men" who are still operating

    Midland Red don't exist any more. Buses and Coaches have been regulated, deregulated, nationalised, privatised and I think they are now part of "National" like verything else

    Lymn's probably haven't got that old Roller, but they still have stretched Rollers

    I worked for Coca Cola and in about 1965 I remember having to pick up empties from Skinner and Rook at their Eastwood depot!

  2. At junction of the Ring Road and Radford Road.

    Renamed to the 'Windmill Bar' 1981

    Then to 'Thingymajigs and Wotsits', from 1985

    Q1: What was the original name until 1981?

    Q2: What was it's name from 1989 until 1992?

    I'm told it is now a McDonald's!!!!!!

    Fond memories for me, as it was the first Nottingham pub from which I was banned. :crazy:

    Cheers

    Robt P.

    Photo by Reg Baker, 1985

    Was named "The Shoulder of Mutton" was eventually flattened and MacDonalds built on the site.

  3. Did you know! just found out to my surprise that a race horse track used to be on the Forest with an impressive club house for the gentry smack in the middle, lords and royalty have visited.one of the best courses in England. then moved to Colwick.

    also did you know that Gregory Boulevard was named after Mrs Gregory who owned the land known as Forest fields, Also did you know Forest football club got there name from the forest as it was their ground until they moved over the Trent, and the Forest got its name from being the southern part of Sherwood Forest. and there used to be 13 or 14 Windmills at the top end.

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  4. Used to hate the stuff and I'd tend to go out of my way to avoid Shippo's pubs (though I did use the Horse & Groom occasionally). Whether you drank that stuff or Home Ales was very much a territorial thing around the suburbs and people tended to go with what they were brought up with.. There were only two Shipstones pubs in my locality, The Ram at Redhill and The Cross Keys in Arnold, the vast majority being Home Ales in line with the proximity of the brewery.

    In my humble opinion, Home Bitter was vastly superior to that stinking stuff emanating from the bowels of Basford! :)

    Sorry to come in to an old post but some of the comments about the disgusting taste of Shipo,s beer can be explained, I was a pub manager with Shipo,s just before Greenalls took over, I was at the New Inn, Carringhton and The WhiteMoor, Bobbersmill, I hold a Master cellar-man cert, for cask conditioned beer. The three main reasons the beer tasted a little vinegary or shyte if you was a customer was 1,The life of real ale (cask Conditioned) had a certain life and if sales was slow or too much was ordered it would start to go off, thus a sour taste. 2, If the pipes was not cleaned at least once a week yeasts would build in the pipes and the same problem would occur.3, Sometimes in could be held at the Brewery too long before delivery same problem again. I must say when Greenalls took over it greatly improved through tighter checks and Training managers about cellar hygiene and keeping the beer better. All to no avail cause they are nearly all gone ie' The local, who would have thought it could happen twenty years ago?????

  5. I've been looking at a railway book in the library with some pictures of the locations mentioned.

    On one of them, the caption reads: This was Arnold Road, Highfields.

    I took this to mean somewhere near the Arnold Rd / Hucnall Rd Junction, top side of the City Hospital.

    But I've never seen the name Highfields on a map or heard it referred to.

    Was this area known as Highfields?

    As far as I know the area of Highfields is next to Dunkirk Flyover i,e A52 Ring Road and university Boulevard, There used to be Highfields Lido, and Highfields boating lake still remains. From the Flyover head up university boulevard towards Beeston its about 400 yards on the right from the flyover. Don't know of any old railway lines in that immediate area though?

  6. Did you know in the old days the poor people used to sell urine to the Tanning industry, and was known as" piss poor", but if you were very poor and didnt have a pot to put it in, You was said to not " have a pot to piss in"!

    And did you know That in a large house hold in thier yearly bath time the head of the family would have the first bath followed by all the other adult and children so when you got to the baby the water was really dirty and dark and you couldnt see the baby in it, hence the saying " dont throw the baby out with the bath water".

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  7. Remembered a couple more lads from trent bridge school, Phil Greteorex, Mick Denning, Kieth Clarke, Mick Thorpe my best mate where are you now? saw you in Sherwood 30 years ago couldn't talk much as you was working on a roof on Winchester Street, Sherwood. We went everywhere together mainly bike rides, fishing and getting into trouble, like we would go to the Watmoughs sweet factory near the Sherwood rooms, we would climb over the gate where they had all the empty sweet jars stacked ready to clean and reuse, but in some of them there was the odd sweet stuck to the bottom, another bit of mischief was getting empty beer bottles from the Sherwood rooms, they stored them down the side , so we would get as many as we could carry and take them to shops and get the deposit back on them, O yes and another thing the coupons that was delivered through doors giving discount of various products, we would fish them out the letter box or get them from home and there was one shop down the Meadows who would cash them in for sweets, well that's all my criminal activities Ive been straight ever since me lud

    Any other scams for my next life?

  8. I have noticed from reading on this excellent site a vast amount of members do not now live in Notts, As I don't , I know why I left but why so many others? who apparently love Nottingham.

    Maybe our memories are more flowery than the reality of living in Nottingham?

    I will share my reason for being a part time Nottingham resident, I now live in the sun(that's a clue) but from when I was younger I do find people have changed their values, I find funny the phonetic speak of Nottingham born and bred funny, such as ayup me duck It is very rarely used anymore especially by the younger generation its more likely to be a suck through the teeth and a west Indian pigeon English, The local accent has changed, they think its so cool, but to me they are aliens 40 years ago it was so different( imtoo old), Then there is the drug culture, The gun and knife culture, what happened to the old fashioned fist fight and then shake hands and have a pint. Well most have the pubs have shut.

    I find people today scared and afraid to go out, especially at night, who wants mugging. people keep themselves to them selves, afraid to get involved,

    THIS IS NOT RESTRICTED TO NOTTINGHAM, it is how the world and society has changed, I live on a idyllic Island in the tropics but there is drugs and occasional robberies, but nothing in comparison to the UK.

    I hope I have not depressed anyone but would like everybody's views positive and negative.

    Cheers, ex Pub Landord, Meadows lad,Sherwood man. Alan

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  9. Did you know the very first Home use Video Recorder was invented in Nottingham, I only know because I managed the Whitemoor Hotel Pub (Snooty Fox) and one of the Inventors Norman used to drink in there almost every day with his wife, to corroborate this I went to the Industrial museum at Wollaton Hall and his photo along with the prototype is in a case, It was so sad he made hardly any mony from it they sold the idea in the states and they made the cash with some more development. Typical no UK backing.

    Thought you might like to know so we dont forget them.

    Have you got any (DID YOU KNOWS). Cheers Alan.

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  10. Hello Alan,

    Thank you. Interesting read. I left Tb in July 1964.

    Mr Williams was certainly a odd chappy. Sucked tunes and sometimes took us for music over in the Meadows Boys Club.

    I can recall all the old teachers. Were you in Malc Theakstones class?

    Kind regards

    Tony ( Paine )

    No wasnt in Malc Theakstons class he was in the A stream I was a duffer in the B stream, but I remember him well and your name rings a bell! Cheers Alan.

  11. Used to go to colemans at the weekend, upstairs i think, we would just walk round and round and round, crazy. met my girlfriend of the time Sue Elliott daughter of Gerry Elliott ex sheriff of Nottingham and overman down Gedling pit, nearly crapped myself when I started working there and saw him. anyway back to Colemans, we would meet at the pub round the corner, turned into a amusment arcade. had some great nights in the pub, very small, tables to the left, bar to the right just enough room to walk through. my memory is going what was the pubs name? not the Lion.

  12. When I was in Yates Wine Lodge ie The Talbot was in my twenties am 64 now and remember that famous character who used to frequent there he wouldn't be that unusual today with our different standards, but everyone new Albert Brown the flamboyant gay chap, I didn't know much about him just to say ayup Albert, remember the buckles on his shoes and his cravat(bit like Quentin Crisp), He died a long while ago now, anyone now about him? ie What year he was buried and where, what he died from, his family, where he lived, what was his job?

  13. Thanks for reply,s No wasnt in the Theakstons class they were in the A stream I was in the B stream then there was the C,s.

    Yes heard Part of the school has been redeveloped for housing,

    A few of us used to go down the rock gardens at dinner time with fishing line and catch the little carp, til the groundsmen run us off! sometimes we would play truent and fish on the steps of the trent with a few maggots in a tin, we only caught gudgeon my record was 90, usually only about 10.

    I could never understand why we was walked all the way past Forest football ground to play cricket on that field with the poplars right it next to the railway bridge, when we played football right next to the school? I played for my house Laws but not for the school, I had ankle length brown boots rock hard from drying out after getting wet!

    My brother Rob Walker was at same school but 2 years below me his best mate was Robert Davy (sadly he has died), He now lives in Thailand.

    Can also remember Brian Metcalf, Alan Hall, John Downs,

  14. I cant remember all the teachers, My form teacher was Mr Simon with a slight comb-over taught art in the new block also in the new block Piggy Roberts taught woodwork, Mr Marciniak taught metal work, mr chaulkley taught science ,Over the road I remember Pop Williams Music teacher, had a leather strap and sucked cough lozenges all the time years later he lived in the same place as me in Sherwood on Cavendish Vale, was a nice bloke.Mr Medley, Mr stevens, mr Cauntley with a hump back now know it to be scoliosis as my daughter has the condition, Head Teacher Mr Bains(peg leg).

    My best mate was Mick Thorpe of Mabel Grove off Crocus street, There was a cobbler's on the corner Foxy, We went everywhere on our old bikes, Also remember Winnie Raymond,Kieth Clark, John and Robert Smith with ginger hair, The Tunnelys,keith Daniels, I lived on Lammas st, Just at the bottom on Kirkwright there was Hilda the chipie.

    Was sent to St Saviours Sunday school but hardly went we spent the sub money on sweets and went down the trent, we were only sent out the way so my parents could bonk in peace, Strangely I was never brain washed and remain an atheist.

    I had several jobs for my pocket money, was a paper lad at Smiths in Midland station, also on Arkwright st, Delivered groceries for Marsdens, and a butchers lad in the shop on Saturdays and delivering meat with my striped apron and black bike with the basket on the front.(well got that of my chest). Alan.

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