philmayfield

Yes, we're regular visitors to Hemswell Antiques but never on a Sunday as it can get extremely busy with car-booters! Phil

Referring to MargieH's post re the 11+. Yes, I did sit the "scholarship" exam at the same time and place. There was no forewarning - we were just marched off to the hall which was set out with desks so there was no time for pre exam nerves. I must have passed as I got a place at Mellish. Thoroughly enjoyed my time there. All of my year seemed to do extremely well in their subsequent careers - doctors, pharmacists, accountants (like me), lawyers and senior academics. Few of us came from privileged backgrounds. Our own fathers were still making their own way up the career ladder after war servic

The old brewery can be seen. The new building, which remains, was built fronting Mansfield Rd. In 1936.

Chemistry master was JR Atkins - known as Pablo. The woodwork master could have been Arthur Boddy but that was in 1962. CCF was run by EA Hutchinson assisted by Frank Clarke, Bill Evans, Harry Hadwen, Bill Bow and the chap who was the Lab technician. Phil

The ford at Calverton is still there on the sharp bend as you leave Calverton towards Epperstone. It has, however, been bypassed by the road. Phil

Gordon Taylor, sadly no longer with us, shoved a filter paper of nitrogen tri iodide, which had been drying on a radiator overnight, into his pocket when Pablo came into the room. Disasterous consequences for the pocket! I could go on with reminiscences - must write a book someday. Phil

Yes, Dick - Harry Hadwen did teach biology along with Jim Key who was senior biology master. Bob McCandles was overall in charge as "senior science master". Pablo Atkins was my favourite science teacher. I well remember the explosion that destroyed the advanced chemistry lab. I fell to the ground just after the bang and felt the shockwaves pass over me. Quite a lot of broken glass that day! He asked me to submit a written report on the explosion to be on his desk the next morning. The report was pure conjecture as it was nothing to do with me! I also remember Fred Sutherland's Messerschmitt.

Hello Dick. Well we're both still living! I remember the window/door incident. Wasn't me. We did give old Spud a bit of a rough ride. I believe he was our form master in 3a and it was not long afterwards when he moved on. l did go to the closing ceremony and it was sad to see how run down the place had become. I've also been to look at the ruins. I really enjoyed my time there, apart from rugger on that icy windswept field in winter. Phil

The cylindrical slide rule was a powerful piece of kit. It could be equivalent to a conventional slide rule over 40 feet long. I loved slide rules - so fast to use. You just had to guess where to put the decimal point! Phil

I remember that! Mrs Borton was the dancing teacher. She worked hard on me without success. I had two left feet and still can't dance to this day. No point in trying now!

GAY stood for "Gedling Area Youth" club Phil

I thought they all played banjo down in the backwoods of Norfolk. A bit like "Deliverance"! Phil

I agree. The new website is inferior. The BBC seems to be losing the plot by being too simplistic and PC. Phil

The school was Hazel Grove. Phil

I remember back in the 1950's when I was in the rowing club at Henry Mellish we took a small rowing boat for a few hundred yards up that culvert. Probably a foolish thing to do! Phil

These are Ordnance Survey bench marks to calculate heights from a known reference point. Probably obsolete now with GPS. Phil

Skinner and Rook. Corner of Clumber St. and Long Row. Phil

Yes, Atkeys. I think they moved to Huntingdon St. next to Hopewells and opened a "Mini Clinic" on the site subsequently occupied by Sytner. I certainly remember driving my Mini up the ramps. Also, at the bottom of Arkwright St. near the station, there was "The Chequered Flag", on both sides of the road, who sold second hand sports cars especially Triumph TR"s. There was also Mitchells on Tollhouse road, next to the big Co-Op who were the Triumph dealers. They amalgamated with Trumans to form Truman Mitchell and moved down Derby Road to where Jaguar and Lexus are now. I think it was Mann Egert

Robinsons also had florist shops under the name of Thos. Robinson Florists. I think one was on the WB side of Trent Bridge. I believe Tom Robinson jnr. lived in Thurgarton. Phil

I think this is the aircraft you flew in. Phil

As John boy says, weekend parking will be chaotic. The Crown Estate have been excessively greedy in putting too many retail units on the site commensurate with the parking spaces available. I'm surprised that M & S and TK Max have not properly researched the situation. Phil

The "Yellow Peril" to which you refer was most likely the yellow Grumman AA5 Traveller, reg G-AZVE which was operated by the Sherwood Flying Club up to about 1977. I have about 50 hours to my credit on that one and George Hemsley would certainly have flown it. The only light aircraft with a V tail, as far as I am aware, was the Beechcraft Bonanza and the club never operated one of those. I knew George through the flying club and was also a customer of his when he was a director of Parr Computer Services. They became the first Apple agents in Nottinghamshire and I bought one of the original Ap

George Hemsley is the man. Still alive, in his nineties and living in Cropwell Butler. He was a flight engineer on Lancasters during the war. He was a member of a flying group to which four of us belonged. We bought a Piper Cherokee in 1980 which we kept at Tollerton airfield. I crashed it and wrote it off in 1981 and survived to tell the tale! Phil

Barton Hart retired to Bleasby and is buried in the churchyard. He taught my late father at Trent Bridge school. He was the organist at our wedding in Bleasby Church 35 years ago. His playing was starting to sound a bit like Les Dawson's. Some of the congregation could see him swigging from a hip flask and eating a bar of chocolate during the ceremony! Used to see him regularly in the Waggon and Horses sitting on his stool in the corner of the bar passing round his snuff. He had a wife, Eva, whom he used to refer to as "the dragon". Phil

I believe he used to live in the Mapperley Park area. Phil