Carltonlad

#21 Hahaha Trevor S, I can see you have as much chance as me returning to the Ferry Inn in the near future. I lived in Australia for 35 years. Now I am here, I do not know when I may get back. If I do come back I will let you know and maybe we can have a beer together there.

I have attached a drawing of the Central Market. It shows the location of my cart. I have also shown inside the market my favourite Mushy peas and cockles stand. I always had my peas and cockles here as everyone was so friendly and their mint sauce tasted great on the peas. In the fruit and veg section of the market there were 4 cafes as marked. My favourite one was number 2 as you could get really good cheese and onion crusty topped cobs with a very tasty cheddar cheese, they also served a beautiful ham cob with the ham sliced straight off the bone and topped with Coleman's mustard. My

Again I don't know how accurate this info is but here goes; I have always had an interest in all types of boats and living in Carlton it was the Trent that interested me most. I read something once a long time ago that a company moved to Nottingham or near Nottingham to build steel barges, I think it was in the 1920s or 30s. I can't remember the company name, I think it started with W maybe Wilkins or Wilkinson or Watson (Honestly not sure). If this was the case then the barge traffic must have started to increase around this period. prior to this period I believe there may have been some

#13 I think the strong smell you were talking about was from a tannery. I remember that smell and you would often see trucks loaded with cow hides covered in blood in that area.

#6 Used to like taking my girlfriends there in the early 60s, because it was free. Sit under the trees on the benches, in the sunshine. What more would a girl want? I was a very romantic person in my early days, but cheap. Glad there were no Mac donalds around in those days. people waste too much time in those places now, they don't really get out and experience the real world as we used to do. I actually miss the castle, would love to go back one day. Things are changing so much now, place want money for everything. Gone are the days of a cheap day out.

#19 Only one time did I get a leach on me and I think it was at the opposite side boat ramp. As for having a beer for you I live in Taiwan now and I don't like the beer. So if you get to the Inn before me, have one for me. Actually this topic has brought back a lot of happy memories for me. Also just remembered the barge that was made into a landing was a blunt ended barge. I feel it is the same one.

#16 Trevor S Thanks for those pics, liked the post. I never saw the big barge. but looking at the pics it would have been about the same size as the barge that was concreted over to make a landing. Wonder if it is the same? I do know that during the time I knew the ferry, it did not carry a lot of passengers. The fishing clubs used to use fairly often to carry out finishing competitions are the opposite bank. It was quiet over the other side. I often used to get a free ride with the ferry man. maybe the Ferry In would have some photos of the ferry man, because he was always in there

#12 Hi Babs. One time when I was swimming there (I think I was with John P. ) There was a group of kids with a dog. Sad to say I cannot remember what type of dog, but I do remember it was swimming around with the kids. I think our paths may have crossed many times.

Also something that came to me in bed last night regarding the ferry. There used to be two thick posts with a steel eye screwed into them, one on each side of the river, in fact I recall the boatman used to tie off the ferry to these. There was something told to me about those posts being used for a pull along ferry in the early 1900s. The cables were washed away by a big flood. How accurate this is I am not sure. maybe someone else may be able to add to this. I believe everyone who is posting in this topic could be correct about the method of power for this ferry.

Most of the barges I remember were hopper style barges carrying sand, gravel and cement. with sand and gravel barges the product was not covered and was often heaped up above the deck. The cement barges had batten down hatches to stop the cement blowing away and contaminating the air. Most of the barges had a name on them and then the word cement. I cannot remember the name of the company that ran the barges. You could tell which barges were carrying product, the decks were nearly down to water level. Empty the sat very high in the water (I think maybe 12 to 15 feet).

Love this topic. brings back lots of memories. Trevethick. I was trying to remember where I know the name from now it has all come back to me. I used to rent sculls or a row boat and row down to the co-op bakery. In the rented time in a row boat I could just make the trip to the bakery and back but in a scull I could go down to the bakery back up to the suspension bridge and then back to trevethicks. the sculls were sleek and fast.

#7 NewBasfordlad remember the area well. I used to fish on the bend, also swam the river across and back a few times the current was always stronger on the other side. Just getting off the original subject for one minute. Fishing there reminded me that I used to use maggots and hemp seed for bait. Just imagine getting pick up with a six penny bag of hemp seed now. It's ok officer, it is only fish bait.

#28 No problems Babs, Thank you very much for your help.

Ramps for the disabled must meet very strict guidelines. This is the one that I had to follow whilst designing. They must be at least 1.2 mtrs (4Feet ) wide, with a gradient of 1:8, the cross fall should be no more than1:40. Ramps longer than 1.5 mtrs. (5Feet) long must have a gradient of less than 1:14 Level rest areas must be inserted at 9 mtr (30feet) intervals. All areas must be slip resistant. Level landings must be place between the end of the ramp and the door also between the end of the ramp and the path. Ramps must be fitted with balustrade must be made as a structure that can

Loppylugs. Maybe an earlier boat was a pull along. But the only one I Knew was operated by oars. Also regarding the ferryman, He was a grumpy old B***%%%$$$. The name Old Nic would have suited him. But he was always nice to me

I think I can refresh some memories about the ferry. My memories may not be totally accurate, but it will be a start. It was operated by an old guy in his sixties. It only operated for about 3 to 4 months each year. The old guy (And I am sorry I cannot remember his name) lived in a caravan during the summer months in the field just behind the inn's carpark. There were about 10 caravans in there used mainly during the summer season. I used to deliver newspapers to them. If you went to the ferry boat you knew it was operating if the oars were stretched across the seats. If you stood by t

#6 Limey. Taipei has changed quite a bit since 1999, and it is much cleaner now that they have very regular rubbish collection. I can also tell you the Grand is still there . In fact it now has a very nice steak house, a little expensive, but fantastic food. The people have not changed much, they always try to make foreigners welcome, especially westerners. This is why I like Taiwan so much. I too hate the betel nuts, but you would be surprised how many people chew on them. You can tell a betel nut chewer by the dark red lips. But something worse than betel nuts is stinky tofu. more ab

#3 So true Bilboro-Lad, but look where John Singleton is today. He has his own advertising agency and is worth millions. The one I hate most was the Palmolive ad. It is good for your dishes and it's so good for your hands. But remember the old saying: No one remembers or talks about the good things you do. They only remember and talk about the bad things. This is also true with advertising. If you asked what are the ads you most like, you will find people may only remember the recent ones..

Thank you again for your kind comments, while you are happy with what I write, I will keep writing. Please do me a favor just tell me when it gets boring. I have just got back in. It is very cold today about 8 degrees, strong cold winds and rain. I don't want to go out again today, so I will continue with this topic. As I said before Taiwan is not paradise. Definition of Paradise: A place where you want for nothing. You have it all. I want some warm weather. Today I had something happen that I did not mention in the last post. Pedestrian crossings. Forget about watching the traffi

I was in London from 1966 to 1967. Sorry I wrote the last post very quickly.

Hi Babs, I am sorry to hear about what happened to your brother. I am sorry, but I did not know your brothers. I was talking about John Price in my last post who you said was a good friend of yours. I really do apologise if my last post was misleading. I should have used John price and not just the name John.. I may have known your brother John through Tony. But when Tony was going to Chandos Street I was working in London. I was in London from 1966 to late 1997. Then I moved back to Nottingham and joined NCT. Roger moved to America. I don't know why? (I think it may have been a woma

Hi Babs Please check the Hello topic, I did reply to your comments in that topic. My biggest problem is names, I am afraid I do not recognise the name Mc Carthy or Annette. Do not worry, My follow up to this will be about our lantern festival which we are celebrating now until the 16th February. I am sorry Mick, I have spent all my crisp new notes and my old ones also. If you had asked me earlier I am sure I could have saved one for you.

Hi everyone. I am glad you liked the post. Thank you for your comments. #2 Micheal Booth Enjoy Hong Kong I am afraid Hong Kong is changing rapidly. More and more mainland Chinese are moving to HK for work. It is now getting hard to find a Taxi driver who speaks English and in the night markets the vendors use their calculators to show you the price of something. #3 cliff ton Thank you very much for the link. I will try it later. #6 Carni The motorized carts sold only boiled products. But the best Hot dogs and hamburgers in my opinion were from the push along cart which offered f

I have been asked to write a little about Taiwan. I don't know what a little is, so if I write a lot please forgive me. We have just finished our Chinese New Year celebrations (6 days of festivities) Happy Chinese New Year. It is now the year of the Horse. CNY is celebrated very much like Christmas, but the difference is there are no presents. Here it is red envelopes. The parents give the children red envelopes with money in them, the parents also give their parents red envelopes. The amount of money in each envelopes can vary from around 30 pounds to thousands of pounds. I like CNY b

Hi Babs. you are right, you do know some of my family. John and I were best friends from when I was about 6 or 7 years old. right up to the time I left England in 1969. I made contact with him again around 1980. He even mailed 3 delicious tea bags to me. At that time I had a broken arm and wrist and my girlfriend at the time used to write the letters to him. Then I lost contact again and lost his address, so we have not had contact in over 30 years. I do not recall Tony Caladine ( I may have known him. My memory of names and places is starting to get rather bad), He may have been in Jo