Retji: New member

[retji 5]

Born at Nottingham Maternity Hospital in 1951, son of a soldier turned fireman and a policewoman turned office worker. My parents met when Shakepeare Street fire station also housed Nottingham Police, so it was uniformed affair (ee:

)

In the days when married fire officers were housed on or near fire stations, I am told I spent my first 3 years at Carlton Fire Station but my memories really start when my father was posted to Stoney Street Fire Station in Beeston (we lived at #49). In those days, the top end of Stoney Street was given over to the Fire Station Watch house and four service houses on one side of a huge yard (see: http://tinyurl.com/c5b7jyx), the appliance room and hose tower on the other side, which backed onto Woods Carpentry works (see: the building in the background here: http://tinyurl.com/dy3lamh) and the other two sides of the yard were given over to the Beeston depot of the Beeston and Stapleford Urban District Council. I recall the other houses on either side of the watch room were occupied by the families of Shakespeares, Heinz and Chadneys.

As a fire service brat, my visits to the pointy end of the fire service were always well supervised, but I well remember the old Braidwood (open) appliance and the much more modern Dennis F15 with the engine by Jaguar. Fire Service drills occurred in the large yard and I remember being pressed into service as a rescue mannequin to enable the men on that watch to practice strapping children to a short ladder and being bribed with a whiff of pure oxygen from a BA set. It was in the watch room of Stoney Street fire station that I first saw TV, the show was High Noon in full black and white. I was also a frequent visitor to the fire station kitchen on “The Burma Road” where Fireman Bert Thumbs could always be relied upon to fill me with a cup of tea so strong, you could paint a fence with it. Just behind the kitchen stood the Tarren Hut, the fire station social club made within an igloo type structure waterproofed with tar paper. At the far end of the Tarren Hut was The Blue Marlin Bar. Not that I was into beer at that age: the Tarren Hut was better known to me as the venue for the annual Fire Service Christmas party.

At the far end of Stoney Street was the sand pit from where the Beeston Boiler Company used to obtain the sand needed to make those cast iron products for which the company was renowned. The sand pit was deep and was looked after by an old caretaker called Sand-Hole Jack. Once it was used in the casting process, the sand (now distinctively black) was piled up the left of the sand hole, an area that was overlooked by the back windows of the Old Lace Mill factory that stood on Wollaton Road. The inkling track that led down into the sand hole grew the best blackberries for miles around. I understand that this whole area is now a giant Tesco supermarket and that Stoney Street is no more. Gone too (I imagine) is Bailey’s the butchers (cnr Stoney Street and High Street, Palings Green grocer (ditto) and Tommy Cox’s sweet shop (on the High Street).

At around age 8 (1957-8), the fire station was moved from Stoney Street to Station Street and my father was transferred to fire service headquarters in the County Council Building near Trent Bridge (later Fire Service HQ moved to Rolleston Drive, Arnold) and we moved away from Stoney Street to 73, Farm Road Chilwell. I got to attend the school on Cator Lane and later, the Alderman White County Secondary School. I joined the 2^nd Chilwell Cubs (but later transferred to 1^st Chilwell and Attenborough Scouts (the mighty Chilliats) and got to roam around what were still wheat fields where Blenheim Drive and Longleat Crescent now stand. Field Lane in Chilwell was just that, bordered by fields and remnants of WW2 barracks while Ghost House Lane still plummeted down the hill past the alleged haunted house. A taste for speed came from zooming down School Lane (past the derelict school) on my Raleigh 3 speed and with other kids from Farm Road, we used to head off to the old flooded gravel pits that bordered the Trent and accessed down Meadow Lane or via Attenborough Lane. There we collected bulrushes which we would sell to the well to do ladies in the houses of Hallams Lane.

At age 12, it all changed. Father had decided to emigrate to Australia and we left Chilwell and Beeston behind but took with me a vast collection of vivid memories.

After a life in Auburn and Ferntree Gully (both Melbourne suburbs) and later Olinda (then a small hills town), I moved to the wilds of the Northern Territory where I have lived for the last 41 years.

Retji

[catfan 14,793]

Welcome retji, I look forward to reading more of your posts !

[Cliff Ton 10,467]

Welcome to Nottstalgia Retji.

Your specialist subject makes an interesting alternative to railways and/or buses.

[Fynger 841]

Grew up in Chilwell also...played in those same fields.....the whole place has changed so much now. -- Do you remember the Gypsies that turned up every year ??

Welcome aboard.

[Paulus 541]

Welcome to Nottstalgia Retji.

Your specialist subject makes an interesting alternative to railways and/or buses.

I'll echo that one, welcome Retji, looking forward to hearing about your childhood memories...............

[Michael Booth 7,364]

Welcome to Nottstalgia, Retji. I look forward to reading your posts and sharing your memories. I enjoyed reading your first post.

[littlebro 234]

Hi Retji,

Good to hear from you.

Here is a photo showing Beeston and the Stoney Street fire station before demolition. I recall visiting the old station in 1960/61 from Roundhill School, there were old fire shields on the wall. I do not know where all the old memorabilia went, does anyone know if the Nottinghamshire Fire Service keeps a collection?

The lower section of Stoney Street survives but has been pedestrianised and there are no residences on it now. Palings have closed quite recently, the shop is now an O2 phone outlet. The shopping centre is a Sainsburys built in the mid 1980's. The Beeston and Stapleford Works Dept became the Broxtowe District (later Borough) Council Works Dept and has now closed and relocated to Kimberley.

I too was in the 2nd Chilwell cubs where Mrs Fulwood and Sylvia Osborne were leaders. I was also an Asst Scout Leader at 1st C&A in the 70's.

[retji 5]

Goood shot and shows that #49 was still standing then, but the sand hole was gone (filled in). The buildings that used to house the fire station kitchen, boiler room, and hose repair shops (on what the fireman used to call "Burma Road") and all the dwellings around Villa Street have gone (what was the name of that small street that used to run between villa Street and Wollaton Road that used to be filled with small colourful worker's cottages?). I too went to both the Church Street school and then to Roundhill Junior School (timber building on the edge of the school grounds. I found this web site while idley looking for info on the Chilwell Brick works that was very much a going concern when I last saw it. I assumed that the brickworks had been established to assist the construction of the Chilwell Ordinance depot in the WW1 period. Is that right?. The photo I found on Nottstalgia seemed to show the brickworks buildings had been demolished (dominated by the chimney) and that most of the older style houses on the lower reaches of School Lane had also been demolished and a later photo shows the whole area is dominated by er . . clay brick houses (ironic).

My Grandmother lived at 1 Dennet Street in an area of 3 story terraced houses on cobbled streets not far from St Anne's Well Road that I see is now long gone. I remember staying with my Gran and how everyone in that street used to be out scrubbing the front step, having coal delivered into the cellar (horsedrawn cart), the rag and bone man (ditto). The stairs to the upper floors were amazingly narrow, even for a little kid.

[retji 5]

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=6fdf8a051d&view=att&th=13dce473f2885dce&attid=0.1&disp=thd&zw

Found this map from the 1960's and I am looking at Albion Street and Cross Street that both run between Wollaton Road and Villa Street. I realise this is all gone now, but this used to be hive of colourful workers houses that I used to walk past on my way to school (Roundhill)

The block between Cross and Albion was all terraced workers houses as was much of Villa Street. Although not shown on this map, Cross Street used to continue on to intersect with Stoney Street. However, there was a gate between Villa and Stoney Street and the street on the Stoney Street side was referred to by the firemen as "Burma Road". On the north side of Burma Road was long a single storey brick wartime building divided up into: dry hose storage; hose repair shop; storeroom, kitchen/dining; boiler room; coke store (the type ya burn ta keep warm)

[Fynger 841]

Link doesnt work...

[Stan 386]

"After a life in Auburn and Ferntree Gully (both Melbourne suburbs) and later Olinda (then a small hills town), I moved to the wilds of the Northern Territory where I have lived for the last 41 years"

I suppose Shane Warne would have just been around Ferntree Gully at the time you were there!

Also the Wikileaks man would have been in Olinda at that time as part of the notorious `Family' sect! Did you run across them?

Finally ,hope you bought property in Darwin-it was on the news about the 76% increase in value over the last 3 years!

[Cliff Ton 10,467]

Link doesnt work...

Here's a map I've conjured up which I think shows the area retji was talking about. Apologies for a few remnants of watermark.

[mudgie49 401]

Hi retji, a warm welcome to Nottstalgia, being an old Beestonian spent time around the old fire station and the sand pit, under the supervision of Mr Moody,who was a part time fireman and a neighbor back in the late 50s.

I also went to Roundhill juniors 1956-60,I think Crompton was the headmaster,but could be wrong.

Look forward to your postings.

[littlebro 234]

I went to Roundhill Junior 1960 - 64, the headteacher was Mr Ellis, other teachers that come to mind are Mr Elkin, Mrs Watson, Mr McDermott, The school secretary was Mrs Orrick.

[mudgie49 401]

I recall Fred Ellis taking over the headmasters job, during my last year at Roundhill.

[Tandy 1]

I was born (1968) at and continued to live at 51 Stoney Street until the redevelopment in the 1980's when it tunrned into Sainsburys. In fact I have vivid memories of playing in the tiny garden which I think is now the entrance foyer.

My father was a retained fireman for Beeston for 30 years which is why we lived in that house. When the old fire station was still there and the land opposite left empty, this was our stomping ground.

So great to see old photos!!

[mick2me 3,033]

Welcome Tandy

There is a discussion here somwhere about the Former 'Pet Mart' building being the original beeston fire station, you might be able to confirm this?

[Michael Booth 7,364]

Welcome to Nottstalgia, Tandy. I look forward to reading your posts and sharing your memories.

[piggy and babs 544]

welcome tandy do you remember jacks cafe on villiers st local bikers cafe in the 60/70 ties forsome reason i think chadney from earlier posts was one of our friends from that time barbara and her sister jackiethey certainly lived on stony st and barbara lived on there until they were pulled down our friends jan and pete lived next to her till they were moved out

[piggy and babs 544]

i was wright just checked with a mutual friend barbara and jackie maiden name was chadney missed the orriginal post about this

[piggy and babs 544]

mudgie can yyou remember barbara and jackie we always called barbara fred

[piggy and babs 544]

piggy worked as a dustman at beeston depot mid to late 60s 1969 when he went in the air force

[piggy and babs 544]

spoke to barbara on thursday she was very interested in this thread and said she would have a look to see if she could find it wich clifton has kindly done for me thanks again clifton know she was interested in the orriginal names of these members so if your reading this and whould like to pm me i will pass it on to herwill see her down the heart again in a couple of weeks

[piggy and babs 544]

blimy did not realize it was nearly a year ago since this thread started how time flies when you are having fun