Willow wilson

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Posts posted by Willow wilson

  6. Co op Arts Theatre and its volunteers

    in St Anns, Sneinton & Colwick

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Jill Sparrow said:

     

    There never seemed to be any shortage of productions in those days.

    During my last year at school one of our teachers, Jock Bowley, who was involved in the theatre took a small group of pupils to the theatre to do the scene shifting between acts. Big vertical boards on wheels and painted with skyscrapers and interior scenes used as the background and in the wings. The play, a musical, was "A Place Called Paradise" and the story seemed loosely based on the 1957 "Westside Story". The costumes were authentic Teddy boys suits, much coveted by some of us schoolboys. A small but excellent band (including electric guitar yay!) in the pit covered the incidentals and, unique to this production, the singing. 

    A year later I was involved in a proto rock roll band and we entered a 'talent'  competition in the theatre. We came 2nd to a country western band. The judges' analysis of our performance was that we didn't smile enough!

    Lol, rock'n'roll band smiling eh? I soon gave up playing in a band anyway.

  8. Coronavirus

    in Owt' Abaaht Nowt !

    Posted

    28 minutes ago, philmayfield said:

     Will they have a 2 metre long syringe?

     

    No, it's normal at my doc's but the nurse will be dressed like something out of Quatermas, with disposable gloves and disposable tourniquet .

    And I was masked up too, gelled hands etc.

  15. Package holidays abroad

    in 60's Nottingham

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Beekay said:

    That area, between Skegness and Mablethorpe must have the largest concentration of holiday caravans on the planet.

    In about 1951 we went on holiday to that region but I don't know exactly where.  It was sea of caravans then. We arrived at Skeg on the train, in the rain, got a taxi to take us to the gate of a field full of caravans. We were left standing in the rain while dad went to find our rental van, which was not in that field, so we repeated the exercise at the next field. Dad came back having found our van. 'Array!' Yelled me and lickle brother. Dad's face was deadpan, and when we arrived soaked at the van it was obvious why he wornt chuffed. 'Journeys End' it was called. It had ended its own journey half a century or more before. It was an old railway carriage from the late 19th century I would now guess. It was painted black, it stood on brick pillars and the roof was graced with a row of clerestory windows end to end. The living "room" to the right included a coal fired old stove for cooking which our mam was disgusted with. A table, 4 chairs and entertainment was a box of dominoes and a ludo. The sleep arrangements were a kind of double bed sized bunk with sheets stained with iron mould (rust). Smelly Elsan in a rickety shed round the back on the edge of stinky drainage dyke. The rest of the week was good weather so me and our kid had a great time on those lovely sands, dawn till dusk. 

    We were surrounded by proper road caravans from the 30s and 40s I would guess but the pair of us didn't really bother, i told our kid we had a special big caravan. 

    • Like 2

  17. 1960s Coffee Bars

    in 70's Nottingham

    Posted

    3 hours ago, fogrider said:

    Bamboo was right up Mansfield Road, on the left ,maybe a hundred yards or so before the lights at Forest Road. 

    That's what I remember of it, fogrider. I frequented it regularly with mrs WW-to-be in '70/'71 after evenings out and on our way home (via a secret lay-by).:Friends:

  18. Mablethorpe

    in General Chat about Nottingham

    Posted

    23 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

     Remember the train crawling past a place called "Clover Dairy" . Where was that?.

    Sorry Mr Meeseeks, the name sounds familiar but I can't place it. 

    I'll always have other vivid images of the journey though, all the stations, halts, crossings and junctions.

    The summer after the Feb 1953 floods we saw a boat in a field miles inland. Also the sea defence wall on the south shore by Trusthorpe was totally destroyed. McAlpine, I think, was busy rebuilding it all when we visited that year. 

  20. Drury Hill

    in General Chat about Nottingham

    Posted

    The best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft a-gley.

    (Burns)

    The recently demolished was a modern shiny glittering futuristic palace of straight lines and more straight lines and did its job while it lasted. But we never were keen on straight lines and grids in our towns. We let the continental grand planners do that. We built our towns piecemeal with curvy bits, twisty streets and quirky little parks and public gardens and human scaled streets.