Bilbraborn

Still plenty of oil to be had around there. In the last few years I have seen working Nodding Donkeys at Beckingham and near Gainsborough. I dare say there are more. Interestingly, over the years, there has been lots stuff in the Nottingham Post concerning Nottingham's war, the best stuff has been letters from people who suffered air raids and being shot at by enemy fighters here in Nottingham. I have copied all this stuff and mounted it for anyone in the family who is interested.

I now attend the Bilborough Local History club on the last Wednesday of teach month. Jackson regularly attends and sends you all her love.

Great Albert. Railway work was often hard and thankless but it was interesting too. I would do it all again. I remember even in the 70s and 80s drivers reporting for merry go round (coal) trains. Bleary eyed crews would report to our cabin in the holding sidings beyond London Road with the words COT-RAT (Cotgrave - Ratcliffe) or HUCK-RAT (Hucknall Ratcliffe) just to name two. At weekends in they came with one word BALLAST meaning engineering train. to which we would reply 'and the same to you!' The big mistake was turning the carriage sidings into storage for engineering trains. Liberally sup

Wollaton Park featured largely in my childhood, from hanging around the hall to playing football on the grass areas. As teens we used to sit supping tea in the café on summer Sunday afternoons or take girls snogging (!?) under the cover of the ferns growing near Derby Road. Happy days.

Sorry Pete. Can't recall going on that one although I've been in a few clapped out Fords (mostly my own). However, I used to take my two boys to the exhibition at the Victoria Leisure Centre in the early 80s and Rev Awdrey was always there exhibiting 009 in the form of quarry railways. Nice bloke.

As regards media coverage, one can expect it. And there are many who would want it. Pity the media can't be as comprehensive covering ALL news.

The old Co-op at Horncastle? It is one of at least three shops owned by Claire Boam. If anyone out there loves rummaging around junk shops then that is your place. There is good clean antiques and collectables in the front shop. But go up the steps towards the back and the fun begins. You start with records and curios then further back are old pianos and anything found in a household modern(ish) or old. Upstairs you can find clothes and tablecloths and other rammel. But the best is out the back on all sorts of tables in the yard. All house clearance stuff and what a diverse load of pieces t

Not a big fan but I did listen to some of his stuff. He had talent but he was not just a musician. Like Lady Gaga he was a very good business man. He knew what to do to make money.

Although I call it a locomotive (as opposed to a train), technically, if it were on the main line as a light engine (what a misnomer) it would be described as a train as is any unit in movement on the main line. However, The Royal Scot? That was the last engine my grandfather ever drove in 1961 before he had the year off work for civic duties with Nottingham City Council. When he returned for his last couple of years before retirement, all steam had gone from 16A. They wanted him to learn to drive diesels. I can't print here what he told them to do. He ended up spending his last railway y

RIP. Some more of my past memories gone.

Nice to get on here more often at least during January when work is a bit scarce. (Probably get manic again by the end of the month). Carni, nice to see someone else is a Horncastle maniac like myself and my wife. I particularly love the old co-op junk shop owned by Claire Boam. Had some nice stuff from there. Back to counting ones footsteps. I must walk thousands of miles around the kitchens I work in each year. Keeps me fit though.

I remember trying to have a conversation on York station when Deltics were around. Almost impossible. HSTs were very noisy, particularly when pulling away. I remember nipping through the engine rooms when I worked in the sidings because I was too lazy to climb out then in again. Silly beggar me!

I last saw it during the early nineties at Derby and then nearly missed it. I decided to avoid traffic and nip through Ilkeston and along to Horsley and got caught up in water pipes being re-laid. What a carry on that was. When I worked at Derby sidings, we used to be involved in preparing heritage steam locos for the main line. If the right driver was involved he would let me have a wee drive across the sidings (strictly supervised of course). I had a go with The Great Marquess, Union of South Africa and various black fives etc but unfortunately never The Flying Scotsman. It was great to h

HA HA! Even when we were helping out with the Trolleybuses at Plumtree we were walking around inside the coaches which were still stored in the sidings there. I think we just about emptied the signal box at Eastwood North on the ex-GN. I had the brass penny-in-the-slot plate from one of the toilets there on my toilet door for years.

Happy days Pete and I'd do it all again. Remember nipping across the fields that night to get into Awsworth Junction signal box after hiding our bikes in the hedge. Then a steam hauled came along the Friargate line while we were trying to open the window to get in. Very difficult to hide on a signal box gallery. My son now lives in Kirk Hallam with his fiancée and her two teenage kids. She regularly walks around Shipley Park but is amazed when I tell her about all the pits and railways that were there. The old mother of his fiancée vaguely remembers the remnants of Town Station at Ilk

Of course the Co-op looks like a church. Isn't shopping a very popular religion?

I'll give it a couple of months. I sewed some late last year for an early show but I didn't expect such mature plants so soon.

Thanks Jim.

I preferred the steam also but I never hated the Deltics. But they were noisy bu--ers. I know! so were steam locos but steam locos made a NICE noise.

Losing parents is always very sad. I am lucky because mine went as elderly people. When they die young and leave a young family it can be so much more devastating. I never looked at what material things my parents acquired in their lives. It was more to me what they stood for in other peoples lives. My mum and dad were loved by all my school friends and later in years, my children used to take their friends to see them. And moving the clock forward further, my grand-children grew to love my mum and dad very much. My eldest grand-daughter still grieves for my mum even though she died 12 years

Sadly it looks out of place.

Any idea what is the ISBN number?

Perhaps he'd prefer to be inside having a pint.

Why worry about the music. The footage was pure gold. As always life is what you make it (to the best of your ability) and for me the 60s were great times, even though I was always in detention at school and in trouble from my mum. But then, I was always a little s..t. My dad had a cine camera from as far back as I can remember but mostly did family holidays. I have reels and reels of film but very little on location in Nottingham. Maybe one day I will be able to afford to get them onto something more modern.

When I was very young in the mid 50s, the father of the family who lived about five doors away was an ex-RAF pilot. Although he was working as a salesman he kept his hand in at flying by going to Tollerton every month and hiring a small plane. He often took me with him to keep his youngest son company. We would all sit on the grass looked after by Mrs watching the planes take off and land. Sometimes we would play in the pill box. I remember the family because they were well-off and always had brand new cars when most people around there were lucky to have a motorcycle combination. Eventually t