philmayfield

A watch battery costs about £2 and the tool for removing the back about £6. I've changed loads without problem. The more expensive watches have mechanical movements but a few have a battery. My Citizen Eco Drive has its battery charged by light and it automatically receives a time signal. Probably the most practical everyday watch I've ever owned. I've had it for over 10 years and I saved over £200 buy buying it from the Phillipines on Ebay. Not as elegant as a Rolex though but then nobody else sees your watch.

That's called a Chavitimer Brew. When I was in business there were many who thought they'd 'arrived' when they had a gold Rolex and drove a Jag. I've had a few Jags but never aspired to a Rolex. Just a shade too flash for my conservative image!

I've always fancied a Navitimer. I suppose I can afford it but I can't justify the expense! Can't take it with you I guess.

I suppose expensive watches are much like expensive cars. All achieve the same function in the end. It appears to me that you live in a 'modest' chateau Jonab with, no doubt, extensive gardens. A chacun son gout!

All of three watches are 'pilot's' watches. I love all the knobs and dials. They're totally useless for flying though. For that I had a larger Breitling mechanical stop watch which fitted to my navigational chart board. I still use it for last minute bids on Ebay! My 'best' watch is an Omega Speedmaster Professional. Certified by NASA to be used on the moon. I've never flown that far though!

Yes Lizzie, a Patek is a 'proper' watch. It's just a pleasure to admire it on your wrist and to know it's probably worth more than you paid for it.

My father did watch repairs as a sideline in the post war years. He was an aircraft instrument engineer in the RAF. There was a constant flow of watch repair customers beating a path to his door where he would also sell them eggs or whole birds from the fowls he kept in the garden!

The keen watch people go for the expensive Swiss timepieces which have a mechanical movement but can never keep precise time. Additionally they require a service every few years at a cost of around £500. My Japanese watches, which are considerably cheaper, keep time to the exact second and require no attention.I have never even changed the battery on my 10 year old Seiko. I do have a posh watch which I don't wear for fear of scratching! I have a collection of oldish wall clocks which I have restored but I've put most of them in store as they were becoming a pain to wind each week. I even put

I always refer to a sundial. It gives me reassurance that my everyday watch which is powered by light and requires no batteries and gets two daily radio time signal updates from an atomic clock in Germany, is keeping good time. You can’t beat old technology!

I think Graham made the greater part of his considerable wealth from investing in property. He had a vast collection of flats throughout Nottingham. Even the upper floors of the cycle shop were converted into flats. I first met him through flying. He never really got the hang of navigation so he was always looking for someone to fly with him to ensure he didn’t get lost! Nice guy!

That would be Graham Read's Cycle Warehouse. The Raleigh Cycle King. I bought a bike from that very shop last week although my friend Graham died last year in Harrogate.

My mother’s parents used to live on Greenwood Rd. Those prewar council houses were nicely designed and had large gardens. Theirs used to back onto allotments and I remember there was an Anderson shelter right at the very top of the garden which was arranged in three levels being on the side of a steep hill. It was only a short walk up the road and you were in open countryside with Colwick Woods stretched out in front of you. I’ve not been up there since the 50’s. It would be interesting to have a drive up there just to see how things have changed.

They are Clapper Gates and not Kissing Gates. Clippers are a double self closing gate. Kissing are a single gate.

I just Googled it!

Well that answers the question. Perhaps the top of Woodborough Hill would be the best viewing point or maybe Dorket Head.

Belvoir Castle you certainly can. Not sure about Lincoln Cathedral. You would need powerful binoculars as it’s about 40 miles away to the northeast. Having said that you can see both Lincoln Cathedral and Southwell Minster from High Cross hill above Bleasby. Apparently it’s the only place in the UK where you can see two Anglican Cathedrals. I can vouch for it as it was a very clear day yesterday and I stopped to look for the first time in many years.

There are quite a few kissing gates around here. Their function is to allow people but not livestock to pass through. There used to be a few on the riverside path between Hazleford an Fiskerton. Difficult to thread a bike through though.

£2.79 apparently in today's money

So called 'bad language' is much more prevalent these days. In real terms they are only words that cause offence solely when directed at a person. I'm sure many of us use expletives as a norm when annoyed. I know I do but my wife never does. Perhaps after being on the factory floor for 25 years it just becomes part of normal conversation. My wife was a teacher so was not subjected to hearing regular swearing and had to put an immediate stop to it when she did.

Blimey comes from ‘God blind me!’ Crikey is a euphemism for ‘Christ!’

I don’t think that’s right. Someone has just invented the phrase to fit the acronym. There is no dictionary evidence to support it. It goes way back in time and no specific origin of the word can be found.

I started at Mellish in 1954 and stayed on to do A levels in the 6th form as did most of my year. I also took 7 a-levels and then 3 A levels in the sciences. Initially I became chartered accountant but subsequently reverted to engineering, amongst many other things, when I ran a manufacturing company for my final 25 years. T

When I was at Mellish in 50’s/60’s I caught the train from Daybrook to Basford North. Some mornings we would walk from the station via what we called the ‘Cutler Way’. We followed a path from the station that came out up some steps onto Park Rd. That joined up with St.Alban’s Rd. where we could see the Master Cutler as it came through the bridge over Kersall Drive. It was a long way round but we just managed to get to school before the bell rang.

The Day Brook would seem to start from the top of Mapperley Plains. It does emerge along the playground beside Arno Vale Rd. but then is ducted underground at Arno Vale School and remains underground under Thackery’s Lane emerging once again onto Valley Rd. Rec. I think ultimately it runs into the River Leen in Basford. I’m sure it can be followed on Google Earth. I remember it well from childhood days when we lived in Woodthorpe. We used to play under the bridge by the Five Ways pub.

It's a WW2 redbrick lookout tower on the old airfield.