philmayfield

Ken Kirk, now retired, who founded Page Kirk (formerly Kirk, Cree and Jepson) was my old boss at Hubbart, Durose and Pain, back in the 60’s. He was always ambitious so probably needed large promises for his expanding accountancy practice.

That registration is still on use on a 2010 Range Rover.

Our first ‘phone was when we moved to Park Rd. in Woodthorpe in the early sixties. I remember the number, 262824. It must have been similar to that of the Home Brewery because we regularly got calls asking if we were the Brewery. My stock answer was “I wish we were”! Where we now live, right up until the early 60’s, all calls went through the village post office so the postmistress was very well versed in everybody’s business!

The original formula used to contain alcohol. When they stopped putting that in it stopped working!

I bought a “bag for life” but I’ve already outlived it. Am I on borrowed time?

I live down a narrow twisty country lane where you can’t pass without driving onto the verge and the limit is 60. If I drive down the wide, virtually straight A road from Lowdham to Gunthorpe, the limit is 40. Crazy!

As a petrolhead - cars all the time!

The only thing I enjoy watching on the Winter Olympics are the guys who slide down a hill on a tea tray.

Google NCT gas buses and all will be explained.

There's a further 23 gas buses to come this year. Apparently Nottingham will have the greenest transport fleet in the country. That's green as in "environmentally friendly" and not just in colour!

The "glue factory" was Bitterlings, somewhere around Freeth St. which was where the pungent smell came from. The tanning factory was Turney Brothers.

You can’t see from the picture but they had a rear spoiler to improve the drag coefficient.

That was coal gas taken from the mains in the balloons. I presume they had a metering device to replace the carbs. I bet there were a lot of accidents! Imagine driving around with a big bag of gas on the roof.

It’s a bit cheaper than derv but the new buses are more expensive due the specialist engines. The bio gas is predominately methane and similar to the North Sea stuff. It’s made from rotting vegetable matter. The gas is not delivered by tanker to NCT as it’s pumped into the gas grid but I understand the council pays the biogas producer. I just think it’s misleading to say that the buses are running on biogas when that’s just a minute part of the mixture.

I read that NCT are buying more buses which are to run on “bio gas”. This is obviously a good thing as the emissions are less polluting than diesel. However there is a slight flaw in their environmental credentials. They are saying that the buses run on “bio gas” when in actual fact they are fuelled from the same mains gas supply that everyone else uses. Bio gas, from the producers, is pumped into the mains gas supply and forms a small part of the total useage. They appear to claim they are running wholly on “bio gas” which is misleading.

I thought it was coke that the people used to buy and collect in barrows from gasworks. Coal was the raw material they used to make the gas and coke and coal tar were sold off in small and commercial quantities as by products.

I used to live on Park Road just behind the Catholic Church. I rember well the Roxy cinema, just a short walk away. There was a Masonic Lodge just next to the Roxy. The masons have long gone but I’m not sure if the building still stands - off to Google Earth! They’ve both gone. All houses there now.

That’s a fine looking cat. We’ve got four so I know how you can get attached.

That’s it! Now do you believe me!

You see Margie - no one will take us seriously!

Margie - I thought it was just me!

No Margie. As I said, nobody would have believed us anyway. It was all a bit odd really that we took it as a matter of fact and didn't get excited about it. It might have been a reflection from the disused gravel workings on the cloud base and we just interpreted it as a strange occurrence. The mind can play strange tricks. No-one is more down to earth and sceptical as me so I didn't go wild about it.

I sat waiting in the car for half an hour in Newark this afternoon and saw all forms of life passing by.

I disagree about flying saucers. I, together with my wife and two children, saw one flying low over the Trent Valley some 25 years ago. The strange thing was that we just said “look, there’s a flying saucer” in a matter of fact sort of way. There was no point in getting excited about it as nobody would have believed us anyway as I’m sure you don’t believe me now. It was the “classic” round shape of a flying saucer with portholes around the edge. I’m sure it was an explainable phenomenum. As I say, you’ll think I’m talking rubbish so no more to be said really!

You’d be up against it there!