philmayfield

.... but only if you want to slip up on it and land on your a***e!

I’ve just discovered a very interesting website for those who want more info. about the carriage of goods along the Trent. trentbasin.co.uk It’s quite comprehensive and I’ve not studied it yet but it will be of interest to the many historians who inhabit this site!

I’ve flown into Hucknall airfield many times some years ago. It was just a few minutes trip from Tollerton into Hucknall, directly over the city. I would certainly support the campaign as it would be appropriate to have an aviation museum to record the airfield’s interesting history. I still meet up with some of my old flying friends from the Sherwood Flying Club at Tollerton so I will pass the message on. When I lived in Woodthorpe in the 60’s I well remember the Vulcan turning onto finals over the house. Some of my school friends from Hucknall actually saw the Flying Bedstead in operation. I

Just one point about SUV’s. They are somewhat higher off the ground than conventional cars - you must appreciate that because you’ve had a Disco. Are Mum and Auntie nimble enough to get it in? You can always have sidesteps fitted of course.

Yes I wondered why as well but I just tagged on to the previous thread!

Obviously not a ‘true’ Scot. Probably English!

Get your prescription (probably free), find an old pair that are a comfortable fit. Take the appropriate measurements and go online to someone like Specs for Less. Choose a frame of the correct measurements, submit your details and pay. You’ll be amazed how cheap they are, even for designer frames, and you’ll realise what a ripoff the high street opticians are plus the fact that the spec fitters are usually incompetent. It’s always worked for me.

I know a chap in Edinburgh called Matthew Haggis but he has no involvement in their manufacture!

I’ve never had a Nottingham accent Mary. Neither did my parents or grandparents who both came from the Meadows. At Arno Vale school in Woodthorpe a Nottingham accent would certainly have been corrected and I recall some more affluent parents sending their children to elocution lessons. When I was at Mellish there were some stranger accents from the Eastwood, Jacksdale and Hucknall areas but these gradually mellowed over the years! I always think that ‘Nottinghamese’ is more of a lazy way of speaking rather than a true accent. Here, in the Trent Valley, in the east of the county, the indigenous

When we moved to the Trent Valley in the early 60’s there was still a lot of barge traffic on the Trent with towboats pulling dumb barges. Some used to overnight at the Bromley at Fiskerton. The traffic gradually dwindled over the years and I think the last barges took gravel from Gunthorpe quarry to Hull. There is still barge traffic on the tidal stretch beyond Cromwell lock carrying mainly gravel. Below Keadby bridge, which no longer lifts, there are seagoing boats delivering to the riverside wharves. These usually come from Northern Europe. Where the Trent runs into the Humber at Trent Fall

From Google Earth I can’t see how trains can deliver fuel to Colwick so I think that one’s out.

The trains deliver to Colwick, Kingsbury and Jarrow terminals I discover from Googling. There is also a vast underground pipeline network covering the country.

They may be going to Kingsbury in Warwickshire, Britain’s largest inland oil terminal.

Yes, I don’t think the fuel from Humberside is destined for Colwick. Someone told me that most of it is aviation fuel for Heathrow but I would have thought that their fuel farm was fed by pipeline. I can see the Lincoln Nottingham line from the upstairs windows at home and there’s lots of fuel trains day and night going somewhere. I must investigate further.

It's all moved by rail from the Humber refineries now I believe. I've just been sitting at Newark crossing gates whilst an engine pulling 30 empty fuel tankers came through on a return journey.

Ever since I dropped the lawn tractor in the pond I’ve not been allowed out. Maybe in time there will be remission for good behaviour!

My early potatoes would be in by now but the soil has just been too clarty to rotovate the veg patch. I don’t think I’ll bother planting now and just concentrate on greenhouse stuff.

There was a regular barge service from the Humberside refineries to Colwick some years ago. Until relatively recently, Whitaker’s of Hull used to deliver petrol by barge to Colwick. An old friend of mine who lived on the riverside at Fiskerton once scrounged a ride on one from Hull to his mooring on Fiskerton wharf. He and the crew spent the evening drinking in the nearby Bromley Arms before their morning departure. He said he slept uneasily that night knowing that a barge loaded with thousands of gallons of petrol was moored at the bottom of his garden!

I never think of people on this site as ‘real’ people. They exist just in my imagination. If we were to meet I’m sure I would be just as disappointed in them as they would be with me.

The Subaru Outback or Forrester come out very well in the road tests and if you look on YouTube you will find them to be more than competent off road. They also have a five year warranty. Jeeps don’t have a good reputation for reliability. Honda and Toyota are also noted to be reliable. We currently have an F Pace on the family fleet and that is wonderful. No problems so far after 6000 miles. We’ve had a couple of Discos in between a succession of Shoguns. The Discos were not reliable, the Shoguns were bulletproof but are now falling into the ‘dirty diesel category’ until a new model comes alo

Steady on Margie, I may not be a snob - but there are limits!

I was told I was a snob at grammar school because I came from Woodthorpe! I don’t think I am - I don’t mind mixing with common people.

I’m sorry I was unable to attend Chulla’s funeral but my lawn tractor had fallen into a deep muddy pond caused by the wet weather and its extraction was a matter of some urgency. I’m pleased to hear all went well and that he had a fitting send off with a good turnout.

You'd probably terrorise the terrorists Ben !

I always ignore Government advice on travelling to Scotland each year and so far I’ve only been involved in one argument over independence - but being pursued along the High Street in Oban was not something I would want to repeat!