philmayfield

I can understand why you didn’t like the place if the head was that authoritarian. Geoff Houston his predecessor wasn’t a bad old stick really but then I never fell foul of him. I’m told that when he did a caning he took it on the run from the other side of his study. I do remember Jim Dainty’s barber shop and the sweet shop that sold cigarettes in ones (not to me I hasten to add - never smoked).

Yes, I agree. I’m squeezing the last bit of pleasure out of driving whilst I still can but it’s getting more and more difficult to find uncongested roads and you just can’t go hurtling past people without drawing attention to yourself. Scotland and Wales come to mind for good, deserted driving roads but the police do seem to lurk around to discourage the tourists. I have never collected any points on my licence so I don’t want to start now. If I was told I only had a week to live I might just hurtle down the Fosse at 170 but I can’t really imagine that scenario!

I think there are more worthwhile projects for the government to pursue. I don’t think this ranks highly in there being much cost benefit. It’s all blown up because of the Duke’s carelessness. Now he’s surrendered his licence I don’t think the DPP will take it any further. Even if the other driver was speeding, which can probably be proven from her car’s electronics, I doubt she will be prosecuted. It’s all been swept under the carpet now. There is the possibility of all cars being compulsorily fitted with ‘black boxes’ as some insurance companies insist on for younger drivers. That should rem

They’re not the most dangerous drivers. I don’t think the costs could be justified. Who’s going to fund it? There are more urgent calls on taxpayers’ money. I think it’s a non starter. Maybe if it was introduced gradually as drivers became 70 it could be phased in but it would be virtually impossible, financially, to set up the infrastructure to test five million drivers.

I’ve just driven home 10 miles from Morrison’s and my wife didn’t say a single word so I guess I’ve passed my self assessment driving exam. Just another 4,999,999 of you to do it now!

Well there are over five million drivers aged over 70 in the UK. A couple of years! You've got to be joking.

So just like medics are queuing up to be GP's then. It would take years to set up a system of checking.

Just checked. ROSPA want £55 for an assessment. Just about to do a self assessment for free. Will I pass?

Good idea but where are all the extra qualified testers coming from? Many people can drive but few are competent to judge the driving of others.

I know a psychiatrist, now retired. To be honest he’s one of the oddest people I’ve ever met. Highly intelligent. Just odd!

It’s alright to say that over 70’s should be tested. I agree, but where are the qualified medics and examiners going to come from? The NHS is already struggling and it would take ages to build up a body of competent road testers. When my own mother filled in her self cert, aged 90, one of the questions was ‘do you suffer from memory loss?’. The form came back because she forgot to sign it. She sent it back signed and she was back on the road again. I sold her car not long after that!

No medical required for a car licence for over 70’s. Just self certification. It’s just a box ticking exercise every three years. It would be difficult to build up a testing infrastructure to test all the over 70’s. Can you get an immediate appointment at the doctor’s? Who will do the testing?

Viyella is a blend of wool/cotton developed by William Hollins.

It was an old Victorian building when I visited so may not have originally been knitwear. There were lots of mill type buildings in that area. Cooper and Roe moved there in 1950. Small and Tidmus before that.

It was the same at Mellish. There were A, B and C forms and in the first year this was based on 11+ results. I was in 1A obviously. It was possible to move up or down through the years dependant on annual exam results. In the fourth year it was split into Arts, Science and 4c. Likewise in the 5th year. 5C generally left after GCE results if they were not up to 6th form entry requirements The sixth form was divided into arts or science for two years depending on your A level preferences. Really brainy ones could stay on for a third year to take Scholarship Level. So even at grammar school pupi

Cooper and Roe, knitwear, had a factory on Alfred St. as well as the one on Carlton Hill. Not been in since the 60’s though.

Too late. It's gone. Probably the mains drain is blocked now! I think I might have created a backstop.

Well with all my qualifications and industrial expertise I’ve just spent the morning unblocking 120 yards of drain, having to lift up five drain covers and shove the rods down. What a satisfying gurgle it makes as you get to the outlet nearest the lane and it all lets go! I’ve always prided myself in being hands on but at 76, with an arthritic hip, it’s not what you want on a wet day. I am insured for such eventualities but when it’s backed right up to the house and you can get a whiff of it indoors there’s no time to wait around for the workmen to arrive. I did have some specialists round so

My parents bought me a very large ‘Children’s Encyclopaedia’. I read it from cover to cover many times. My final report from primary school said ‘Philip has an enormous fund of general knowledge’. Not needed now - I just look it up on the internet. We can all be experts now.

I bought a CJ6 Jeep many years ago which had originally come from California. It was absolutely loaded with anti emission gear. It ran much better after I had removed it!

I saw him in Billy Liar, with Wilfred Pickles as the father, at the Theatre Royal many years ago. His father criticised his long hair and he replied that he was a trend setter. “You look more like a bloody Irish Setter” his father said!

My father, who was living in the Meadows before the war, could have gone to Mundella but his parents couldn’t afford the uniform so he went to Trent Bridge School. He still made it in the end though!

Yes, but as I said most of us were from working class backgrounds at Mellish back in the 50’s. The only difference was that we passed our eleven plus. It has to be accepted that people are born with (have inherited) different levels of intelligence.

I absolutely agree with you. In my career I've come into contact with a lot of people in top management who were only there because of their family backgrounds and their public school education. I don't think it happens so much nowadays. Opportunities are far more equal and there's no room at the top solely through family connections. I have schoolfriends from Mellish who came from working class homes but went on to be university professors, medics, lawyers, accountants and top managers. What they did have was a glimmer of intelligence and a work ethic. Most of all they had parental encouragem

I remember my father coming home in his demob suit and trilby hat when he came back from the RAF. Around 1945 maybe. I also remember playing in the snow in the winter of 1947 and I also standing outside the Midland Station looking down the hill at the floods on Arkwright St..