Ayupmeducks

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Everything posted by Ayupmeducks

  1. I did my basic training up at the old no1 pit, surface, underground and basic workshop stuff for the first year and went to the college near the Linby turnoff. Sister lives in Huchnall, she used to live down the road from where the Linby pit once stood. After the first years basic stuff I went to Arnold and Carlton near Gedling Colliery. Closest I came to Hucknall no2 was the Miners Welfare, used to be a great place in the 60's! John
  2. Alan "Archie" Andrews owns a three year old site called "The Miners Reunited" He's an ex pit fitter with his own IT business in New York State. Mines for information, history etc.... Mick, give me a run down on what your offering please, not interested in smilies and half of what is on the proboards site.. Email me mate.. John
  3. Weren't you wearing your helmet??? Boulby Mine in North Yorks, the upcast shaft was pretty windy when we were descending. It had two 1350 horspower fans situated not far from pit bottom. In the main returns, one would get sandblasted with the force of the air! John
  4. Thanks for the offer Mick, might take you up on it later. I served my electrical apprenticeship at Clifton and Cotgrave pits in the 1960's. John
  5. No CB when I left the UK in 79 Mick, but I am a licensed ham, call is KM6MB, been licensed now about 13 years. Last time I was over in the UK I did look up a ham mate in Kirkby in Ashfield. John
  6. I started a mining forum, if there are any old pit workers as members here its called Coalmine and the URL is http://coalmine.proboards23.com/ If you use an AOL email addy, I would suggest you get a Yahoo of MSN Hotmail account as for some reason AOL email subscribers have been having difficulty obtaining their passwords. John
  7. Parts were filmed at the Castle, Old Radford and of course Raliegh Industries when my cousin worked there. Love to see the movie again, been years since I saw it. Didn't they have scenes at the Goose Fair on the Forest too?? John
  8. My late Mother was, she worked on the "trackless's" as she used to call the trolley buses during the last years of the war. She used to say when a pole came off the overhead lines that she would refuse to put it back.She had a bad experience being elevated several feet off the ground and had to have the driver help her back down :D John
  9. I'm not that old as to be the only one who recalls the corner shop, am I???? :o
  10. Won't hold it agin yers Caz :D :D I'm 1947vintage BTW John
  11. I've just set the map as my "wallpaper" on my desk top. Caz where was Ryehill Street, rings a bell but can't even find it on the map... I did live in Ryehill Cottages shortly after getting married the first time around..That was off Kirke White Street East, there was a bookies at the top of the Cottages and a pub around the corner towards London Road where a lot of lorry drivers used to go to from out of town. Before that I lived with Mum and Dad just round the corner on Kirked White Street, next door on the corner of the Cottages, lived an elderly bloke and his wife, she was a bit nutty!!!
  12. When I first got licensed as a ham radio operator in 1991 I got involved in Packet Radio and set up a digipeater with mailbox for use by other hams, 28kbs if I recall All sent and received on the two metre band.(144mhz) Seems the internet has just about killed off packet radio on VHF now. John
  13. Dint 'ave to go far to do shopping in the "old days" lol, nearly every corner had it's own grocery shop and just about every third corner was a beer off or green grocers! And worrabout the local butchers shops! I think every butcher must have been called Reg!! When me Mam managed the Lady Bay Cleaners on Alfred Street South near the corner of Blue Bell Hill Road, we live opposite Agars green grocers. Little did I know I'd be working with old Harold at Cotgrave pit where he was an electrician. I used to have a crush on his daughter Jennifer, often wondered how she went on.......Many years ha
  14. "Err" can you remember in the early 50's after sugar rationing had ceased, me Mam would tek me all over looking for Fry's Crunchies. As soon as shops stocked up on 'em they'd sell out!! Then there were some confectionary that Lyons brought out, they were in about three different flavours, in the late 50's I don't recall the name of them, but they melted in your mouth, soft and in mint, strawberry and another flavour, something like large Bon Bons. For some reason they weren't on the market very long. John
  15. There used to be a small bakery on Woodborough Road just around the corner from Huntingdon Street in the late 50's early 60's that had hot fresh bread. The owner was an Irishman and his missus. We used to spend out daily spending money on a laof of crust bread, or hot buttered mini Hovis's on the way to school!!! Hmmmmm I think it was called O'Shea's bakery, "bin" many years now! John
  16. Yep and it were'nt nowt to do with uneconomic pits either! I was reading an article a short time back by the UK governments advisor on energy, and he was advising the government to rethink opening up many of the close pits. It appears the government is neglecting to plan ahead and North Sea oil and gas are running out!!! Pray tell me as an ex pitman how one can reopen pits that have been close twenty years or more and flooded with water? The simple answer is, you can't! The coal reserves are sterilized for ever! I spent over 25 years of my life underground and know the problems associated w
  17. It sure was, stayed just a few months at Cotgrave just to finish me apprenticeship then left the industry. Don't recall your Dad, what was his job, might help me to shake the cobwebs from the loft! I was an electrical apprentice there, started in 1964 and was in the second lot to be "moved out", Did a bit of drawing off and on to Cotgrave in May 1968. Was a a real shame after the NCB had spent so much money on the drift develepments from 51's main gate area, ready for the driving of the two drifts down to the next seam, which they told us would last 50 years!!!! I do have some JPEG photo
  18. Here's one for you! Who were the most recorded group in recording history, surpassing the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Abba, Elvis and The BeachBoys all rolled into one!!!!! Bet no one gets it!!! Clue .... Motown.... John
  19. Yer fergot yoof, Clifton Estate and the "new" St Anns estate....I hear you need a bullet proof vest to live up there anymore Me and the ex missus went to Clifton, closer for work for me at the time as I worked at East Leake.
  20. Ahhhh my old local, Sir Richard Arkwright, many a good pint was sunk in that pub! Mansfield Brewery, still from the wood when I started drinking in there in 1965 just before my 18th, whoops!!! oh well, nowt wrong wi truth! Chris and Anne ??? were mine hosts then and when they retired Barrie Price took over. I worked for him as a barman at weekends and the odd night during the week when I wasn't on shifts at Clifton pit. Met my ex missus there when I was behind the bar, probably should have changed locals at that point....LOL Might be a couple of members remember me from there! There use
  21. Yer mekkin me mouf water...Pork dripping on toast "wiv" the jelly..Hmmmmmm Yep, thats the answer, houses were expensive on that side of the river and loads of folk wanted to look better than them on the "tother" side of the river, hence bread and lard island! John
  22. Any of the older members work "dahn pit".??? I worked for Lord Robens during the 60's at Clifton, then when it closed on to Cotgrave. Remember all those headstocks around Nottingham? Babbington, Gedling, Wollaton, Radford, Linby, Hucknall no1 and 2, Clifton, Cotgrave,Bestwood, then all those around the north of the city to the borders with Yorkshire, all gone now. There are kids now who won't know what a headstocks looks like, or the chugging of the steam engine as it raised coal, men and materials. Nottingham had a proud mining heritage going back hundreds of years, gone with the lace indus
  23. No wouldn't catch me dead in LA mate, 'cept to catch a plane out We did live in Sacramento for a few years, we are in south central Missouri, the missus's home state, ten miles due east of the county seat of Alton way out in the sticks, where we don't need planning permission or planning permits to do what we want on our own land. $54 a year land taxes on 80 acres too :o Gas is lots cheaper than California too Life is safer and hardly any crime, 'cept some kids doing 75mph down the main highway Bloody Claifornia we paid a couple of grand for a years land taxes there on ten acres of mou
  24. Ayupmeducks, ayaavin one later on, or is yuz gotta stopin toneet. Geeuz anuver pint mate! I'll bloody batcha tab if yer don't be'ave yer sen... Gerron the corsey afore I bats yer tab yer little bugga! There's a few and warrabaht....yer daft meducks, yer foller ballons! John :D
  25. Some of my old mates used to go to the Santa Fa during the 60's lost contact with them years ago, Johnnie Booth, Stuart "Sten" Stenson, Barry "Clem" Clements, Glen ??? Anyone remember them or what has happened to them? Been trying to find Boothy, Sten and Glen for ages, no one seems to know what happened to them. Boothy went to Mundella, Sten went to Deering School. Found Clem a couple of years back through his son. Let me introduce myself being as I'm a newbie here. I lived in the "medders" in the 60's at Osman Terrace on Briers Street opposite Hosene factory, and on Kirke White Street Eas