jonab

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    1,953

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    11

 Content Type 

Posts posted by jonab

  2. How's your day?

    in Owt' Abaaht Nowt !

    Posted

    My smoking days were outlined the other day in the Random Photos 6 thread:

    Quote

    I may have been smoking, yes. I smoked for a few years - supporting local industry, you understand. Gold Leaf usually.

    I gave up following a visit to Tunisia and, running out of my duty-free allowance from the flight after a very short time, I had to resort to local brands. these gave me the most dreadful coughs and wheezing that I was unable to continue. That was the end of my smoking days.

     

    I didn't smoke for very long and my bronchial reaction was so severe, it ensured I would never smoke again.

     

    I really don't know how people can smoke nowadays.

    • Like 3

  3. How's your day?

    in Owt' Abaaht Nowt !

    Posted

     

    Catfan, this reminds me of my visit to the UK last Christmas when I visited a friend in hospital in Guildford. I had to battle my way though in-patients, several on drips, crowded outside by the entrance (bearing in mind it was December) chuffing away not only at tobacco but there was a distinct odour of cannabis mingled with it. Worst of all was that there were about six extremely heavily pregnant girls wearing little more than hospital gowns and slippers dragging away at rollups. Immediately behind all of them was a large notice saying that smoking was strictly prohibited on all hospital property. The notice had several marks on it where people had stubbed their cigarettes out before returning to the wards to continue their treatment.

     

    Edit: I should have mentioned the rudeness and disregard shown to me when I was trying to get through this rabble. Remember I am normally in a wheelchair.

    • Like 3

  7. Chapel Bar

    in Nottingham City Centre

    Posted

    Been doing some deep memory digging about exactly when I left Nottingham.

     

    I gave up my keys to Second Avenue on the 2nd of January 1978 (a Monday) and moved to Ashford, Kent. Then, wouldn't you just know it, the following Monday I received a message that my father had died so I had to lug myself back to Nottingham for his funeral. I was pretty much estranged from him and there was little, if any, wailing and gnashing of teeth.

    The next time I was in Nottingham was about eight years later for my aunt Dorothy's funeral. I had moved from Ashford then and was living in Sussex and effectively commuting to France on a two-week/two-week basis. This was April 1986 and while I was in the UK, the Chernobyl disaster occurred. This was of great concern as the radioactive cloud from this was directed towards the French Riviera - where I was working.

    • Like 1

  8. Chapel Bar

    in Nottingham City Centre

    Posted

    Nonna, very interesting! The timeline you give sort of fits in with my preparations to leave Nottingham so I am not entirely surprised that I missed La Buca although I do remember the Old Dutch (but never patronised it).

     

    I remember an Italian restaurant near Canning Circus early '70s. I used to frequent the Portland Arms and went to the restaurant after the pub closed. The pub was (is) on Portland Road. The restaurant was on Alfreton Road opposite Cromwell Street.

  9. Chapel Bar

    in Nottingham City Centre

    Posted

    Hooray!!!!!! Thanks for that, Ian.

    The place is exactly the opposite side of the road to where I remember it being.

     

    This thread is stirring so many memories for me. I afraid that I have no memory of La Buca though. When was it operating?

    • Like 1

  10. Chapel Bar

    in Nottingham City Centre

    Posted

    I remember being in Midland Carpets with my mother (early/ mid-'60s) and being approached by a middle-aged couple who were insistent that I attend to them rather than turn carpet samples over for someone who was obviously not going to buy anything (referring to my mother). Being polite and obliging (as I was in those days) I went over to a real carpet salesman and brought them to his attention. Their response was something to the effect of "Don't know why you couldn't serve us rather than attending to that timewaster" - I omitted expletives for politeness. Not been lost for words very often but that was one occasion.

     

     

    Thurland Street - Corn Exchange where they used to hold mock auctions (that right?). Some of the stuff they sold was real tat but I did get a real 9ct hallmarked gold watch from them which I eventually sold for scrap at a price quite a bit higher than I paid for it. I also got a few real Chinese porcelain coffee sets which kept me stocked up in wedding presents for several years.

     

    I note that GSV shows the Corn Exchange is still there but anonymised and up for sale/rent.

    • Like 1

  13. Things you don't see anymore

    in Owt' Abaaht Nowt !

    Posted

    Miss Muffet toilet rolls - sold in a posh box with a drawing of Miss Muffet sitting on her tuffet and a damned great spider dangling down. Despite all this, the paper resembled coarse sandpaper - as did Izal toilet paper but that only had a paper wrapper and the 'luxury' of smelling of tar disinfectant.

  14. A few random photos - 6

    in Images of Nottingham

    Posted

    2 hours ago, philmayfield said:

    So you didn’t like it then! Years ago, when I was in the accountancy profession, Shipstones were clients of ours. It was normal then for the staff to drink on the job. At 11 every morning a crate of ale was delivered to our audit room. The office corridors had highly polished wooden parquet floors and after a couple of bottles they became highly dangerous to walk on. It certainly cured me of drinking Shipstones. Our other brewery client was Home Brewery. They were miserable buggers and we got nothing!

    1

    I wasn't a fan, no but it was OK if there was nothing else available.

    I recall when I was working at Gerard's I went over to Shippo's in a sales capacity* to try and get them interested in having their pub and brewery cleaning materials made by Gerard's. I well remember the wooden floors and the linenfold panelling it the visitors' reception room and also the "special" guests only-bottled beer which was served. Now, that was good and quite unlike any other Shippo's brew I've had.

     

    *Note, I wasn't a salesman, I was a development chemist.

  15. A few random photos - 6

    in Images of Nottingham

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, philmayfield said:

    Shippos had a very characteristic, distinctive flavour. It was immediately  recognisable. You either loved it or hated it. There was no middle ground. ;)

    Possibly due to the proximity of the brewery to Gerards Soap Works and Basford Gas Works.

    • Like 2

  17. Old Streets of Nottingham

    in Web Sites about old Nottingham

    Posted

    6 hours ago, IAN123. said:

    Got a feeling jonab might have dined here?52468.1.640.640.UNPAD.jpgThe Canton on Wollaton St.

    Stockwoods " Two Up" next door...and the Penny Farthing Nightclub( opened xmas day.) Which later became Scamps.Paulines Florist became Ace Records...he's in West End Arcade now.

    Yep! I certainly did. Not my favourite Chinese, it seemed too 'English' but, I suppose, like everywhere, they have to tailor the menus according to their major clientele. I used to go to the Canton before my evening lectures at the Technical College although the Guildhall Tavern was favourite (a couple of pints, a cheese sandwich and two cold sausages left over from the lunchtime session).

    • Like 1

  18. Things you don't see anymore

    in Owt' Abaaht Nowt !

    Posted

    We had meat safes that looked much like mesh fencing masks (domed oval things) and I remember prancing around holding one of these things to my face fighting an imaginary dragon with a poker.

    My granny had a 'luxury' version which was like a free-standing wooden cupboard with all the sides comprising a perforated zinc mesh.

    We also had a 'slab' in the pantry - a large stone shelf which was supposed to keep things cool by absorbing heat. I don't think it did much really.

    Our first 'fridge was an enormous Morphy Richard thing in cream with a green edging. It took up about a third of the space in the kitchen. I remember it was guaranteed for five years and, as expected it failed a few weeks after the guarantee ran out. Our next 'fridge was rented from Wigfalls. It took up only a tiny fraction of the space of the previous 'fridge but seemingly had the same capacity.

  19. Old Streets of Nottingham

    in Web Sites about old Nottingham

    Posted

    I remember Jessops as large premises extending way down King Street from Parliament Street. Yes, they did sell the things you describe but also had an extensive furniture department, fashions (mainly women's but also menswear), a large cosmetics area, electrical goods (white goods and electronics). On the top floor was an excellent restaurant. In fact, a comprehensive department store.

    Easily as good a place as Griffin & Spalding.

    • Like 1

  21. Second-hand Clothes Shops

    in 80's Nottingham

    Posted

    2 hours ago, shirleypickering@hotmail.c said:

    I worked in Pennyfeathers and Gladrags too

    It is very unwise to post email addresses (or abbreviations thereof) on a public website such as this. There are all sorts of unscrupulous spies around searching and waiting for such opportunities to carry out their nefarious deeds.

    Can I suggest that you contact the forum management to change your details?

  22. GPO/Telecom buildings & old phone numbers

    in General Chat about Nottingham

    Posted

    Just before the mobile phone system came into being, in the early 1980's there was Rabbit.

    Rabbit was a system of hotspots located at strategic places (rail stations, bus stations, other busy places) where subscribers to the Rabbit system could connect wirelessly to the landline phone network.

    I lived in the south of England when this was brought out. Did it extend as far as Nottingham?

     

    Rabbit didn't last very long as it was superseded by the mobile system more or less as it is known now but in an earlier version, obviously.

     

    The first mobile phones I remember were not so much house brick size but more the dimensions of a suitcase - with a conventional type receiver handpiece sitting on the top.

     

    Then there was the race to make these "poser phones" (they were quite unusual things then and VERY expensive that only poseurs would have them) as small as possible. I remember one model being about the size of a matchbox. Now it seems they are getting bigger and bigger again to accommodate all the garbage that these things generate.

     

    My mobile phone is a basic €20 Nokia. No bells, no whistles, it's just a phone - and I hardly ever use it.

    • Like 1

  24. You Couldn't Make this Up !

    in Owt' Abaaht Nowt !

    Posted

    I am lucky enough not to need my UK state pension so I don't draw it but, I remember some years ago, well before Brexit, that I was informed by the British Foreign Office that my pension was not guaranteed if I took up French citizenship.

    I have not taken the plunge yet to become an honorary Frenchman as I still have property and business interests in England but, I have to say that the temptation to become a citoyen Français is becoming more and more powerful as the deadline approaches.