philmayfield

There was but its long gone.

Ah Feng Shui

That's what I read online. Didn't have you down as a Daily Mail reader!

I do remember seeing the brickworks and it’s tall chimney before it was demolished. Nottingham Patent Brick Company? A disused car showroom and a supermarket now occupy the site. There was an enormous quarry at the top of Woodthorpe Drive from where the clay had been excavated and which is now a housing estate.

Typical Daily Mail Headline : Former hospital consultant arrested for stabbing top boob job doctor!

You’ve obviously read the background information and can see the possible motif for the alleged crime. The guy must have been distraught to have lost jobs in both the public and private sectors. I’ve never been happy about surgeons having the sinecure of the NHS and doing lucrative private work on the side. I don’t know how widely the NHS service contracts are drafted. The forthcoming trial my throw some light on the subject. Obviously it will be some months ahead but the suspect will, no doubt, remain in custody as there seems very little to investigate other than motif.

Inverness is a bit chill this time of year!

That’s very interesting. I wasn’t aware of the railway spur leading up to the brickworks but I do remember what is called the ‘tramway’ which was wooden carts pulled on an endless cable bringing clay from the clay pit area.

It’s in The Times today and I saw it online in the Sun yesterday. The Newark Advertiser site appears to have pulled the story. There are rules about what can be published pre trial by newspapers so as not to influence juries but I think we can speculate without fear of conviction. Tongues will certainly be wagging in Halam and Southwell!

To get some background on this story google ‘Jonathan Brooks surgeon’. You can read about his NHS whistleblowing and his suspension. There’s a lot behind this story. He was obviously a very bitter man who may or may not have received fair treatment. There’s no excuse for his actions but it does show what might have lead to it. He also has a website where he talks about his suspension from the private sector. The whole saga would make the basis for a film script. The trial will be very interesting and I can see a lot of mud being thrown. This matter may be sub judice so perhaps detailed comment

@LizzieMThe railway you refer to was the main line from Daybrook via Gedling to Victoria. The suburban railway spured off from behind where Comet used to be in Daybrook to Victoria via Sherwood Station.

The infant school further up Arno Vale Rd. was built after our time there BK. When we were there the main building, built pre war, was both infant and junior.

I don't think is was a bungalow BK. It was a house on Saville Rd. Our man was Mr Varley. Margie will correct me?

Yes it was a substantial and impressive blue brick bridge. I was sorry to see it demolished. It used to be the terminus for the No. 10 bus but that subsequently moved up to nearer Arno Vale School. Mine and Margie's alma mater.

From Daybrook the line ran to Basford North Station on Highbury Rd. and on towards Kimberley.

We're talking two railway lines here. One ran past Daybook Station under the Plains to Gedling Station and ultimately in to Victoria Station. The suburban railway left the main line just after Daybook Station, went through Woodthorpe, over Thackeray's Lane, Marlborough Rd., through Woodthorpe Park, Sherwood Station, under Woodborough Rd, Thorneywood Station and on to Victoria Station.

Breckhill Rd.runs from Mapperley top down to Thackeray’s Lane roundabout. It used to be open fields on the rhs as you descended the steep hill. Woodthorpe Drive runs parallel past Woodthorpe Park and finishes at Mansfield Rd. Sherwood. Breckhill had the No. 25 bus service. There was no NCT service on Woodthorpe Drive. Does that help?

Oh yes, the trucks! They were pulled by cable and had a turning point on Breckhill fields where they went back up to the brickworks. That was another good sledging run in the winter. There was a path that went down the side from Breckhill to Melbury Rd. You probably went to school that way.

The Dell. That's right! I remember the tunnels. We also used to go looking for newts in the brickyard pond further up the road.

When I lived in Woodthorpe in the ‘50’s one way into the park was to climb the bridge wall on Marlborough Rd. and go along the old suburban railway. The rails hadn’t been taken up at that time and I do remember once seeing a goods train on the line. The other way in, out of hours, was through one of the bent railings on Woodthorpe Drive. Just wide enough for a child to squeeze through! There used to be an interesting rock garden on the road side. I presume that’s still there. There were quite a few greenhouses and a garden at the top end. I think they grew the plants for the parks and traffic

Is that the view from Woodthorpe Drive?

I must admit it was a bit eerie! I don't know if its blocked off for safety now. Two of my friends went through it about 20 years ago.

I remember playing around the old Sherwood station back in the ‘50s and walking through the tunnel under Woodborough Rd. The slope down the hill towards the woods was great for sledging down in the winter. There was a very good pitch and putt course on the opposite slope of the park which I haven’t played on for about 25 years. Woe betide you if you were caught sledging down there!

I take no shame on agreeing with Catfan.

There does seem to be more potholes around than usual at the moment. It’s murder round here on the country roads. Not long back Notts CC were showing off a new pothole repair machine which did the complete job and I did see it twice round here. The repairs were excellent and have lasted. Whether they bought it or if it was on trial I don’t know. The traditional idea of putting a bit of tarmac in and thumping it down doesn’t last. Surely modern epoxy materials and proper hole preparation should do the job.