philmayfield

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Posts posted by philmayfield

  1. 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

  2. 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 Egerton after Truman Mitchell.

    Phil

  3. 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 Apples from him. Coincidently he also worked (but had left long before I joined - he's 20 years older than me) for the accountants Hubbart Durose and Pain on Park Row. He was also a big mover in freemasonry circles but could not persuade me to join!

    Phil

    • Upvote 1
  4. 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

    • Upvote 1
  5. 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

  6. "Spud" Morrell is the wrong name. He was Mr.R.S Morrow. Irishman - English teacher. Used to drive an old Bentley during my time at Mellish (50s/60s). Not very good at keeping control of a class. Ran the "Radio Club" and was an expert on things electrical. He claimed he invented radar during the war before Robert Watson-Watt. Left to teach at Carlton Le Willows.

    Phil

    • Upvote 2