Embarrassing Moments

[carni 10,094]

More often than i care to remember,In shops or car boots or any where among people i have sidled up to my husband and grabbed his hand,and nattered on about

some thing only to look round and it has been a total stranger, it is embarrassing but usually causes a giggle thankfully. Who cares really,Ya gotta larf

[DAVIDW 1,684]

Carni , that story reminded me of when I was a nipper not more than about 5 or so and brings back something you don't see now .

My mum and I went into town on a number 65 and got off where the railway bridge was on Parliament Street on the opposite side of the road to where the Vic Centre is now .

Just as we got off the bus , a train was going under the bridge towards the station and the path was completely enveloped in steam . Being surrounded by this thick "fog" , I panicking a bit and grabbed my mums hand and we walked on .

When the steam had cleared I looked up and to my horror I was holding the hand of a smiling complete stranger . Turning round saw my mum laughing her head off behind me . Must have worried me though as I have never forgotten that momentary "lost" feeling .

[carni 10,094]

She had her eye on you all the time,What a shock you must have had and sudden panic until you spotted your mam, Talking about the thick fog,did you ever go on the railway bridge down the cricket field and run through smoke when the trains went by,we spent lots of our childhood down there and i will never forget that smell,not unpleasant,just a treasured memory.

[DAVIDW 1,684]

Which cricket field ? The only cricket field I used to go on was the one on Burton Road , Gedling , facing the bottom of Shearing Hill but that was when I was a teenager and we used to have quite intense, knock about games of cricket for hours in the summer . We never chased through smoke though !

[Rob.L 1,090]

Talking of fog, we used to have some real pea-soupers when I was at Carlton le Willows, possibly due to it being in the Trent valley, and more than once, lads were marched into the middle of the playing fields and left there. As you couldn't see more than a few feet, you could be wondering around for ages trying to get your bearings.

But at least the fog didn't have quite the same aroma as the sewage farm and maggot factory just down the road.

[LizzieM 9,511]

Who marched you onto the field Rob? Dai Roberts?

[Rob.L 1,090]

Who marched you onto the field Rob? Dai Roberts?

As if a rugby teacher would be so cruel.

Actually, Dai probably would have done, if he'd have thought of it. He did have a bit of an evil streak towards those who weren't quite trying hard enough when the snow was lying thick on the pitch.

[carni 10,094]

Hi David re #29

Yes, That was the cricket field,The small park was in the bottom left hand side,straight down from the building that i presume is were the players changed and the bridge was on the right hand side,leading to some where towards Netherfield, we played there nearly every day,i can only guess but i think it would have been sometime around 1958ish,we lived in Hardys Drive then and Dad would have been on night shift at the pit,so mam would take us all and any friends down there,probably to give dad some sleep,there was hardly any traffic then so us kids soon were able to go on our own,i imagine that's when we played on the bridge,If only she had known.Ooh Dear.

[DAVIDW 1,684]

I remember those pea-soupers .

Once was walking up Westdale Lane in bright sunshine and just about where the hill starts to rise steeply , past Perlthorpe Ave. there was a vertical wall of stationary , thick fog.

Really weird , you could step in and out , warm in the sunshine one side and cold and damp in the fog on the other , which carried on the whole way up the Lane .

[carni 10,094]

Hi David, I just had a look on Google Earth and the railway line i spoke about is definitely there but i can't see the bridge, i can only see the A6211,would the bridge have been removed and the road built over the line,we played there such a lot it has to have been there somewhere.

[DAVIDW 1,684]

If you mean the bridge over the road to Burton Joyce ? it seems to still be there .

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=shearing+hill+,+Nottingham&hl=en&ll=52.97172,-1.071859&spn=0.000492,0.001206&sll=52.966554,-1.155989&sspn=0.00787,0.01929&hnear=Shearing+Hill,+Gedling,+Nottingham,+United+Kingdom&t=h&z=20

[Rob.L 1,090]

If you mean the bridge over the road to Burton Joyce ? it seems to still be there .

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=shearing+hill+,+Nottingham&hl=en&ll=52.97172,-1.071859&spn=0.000492,0.001206&sll=52.966554,-1.155989&sspn=0.00787,0.01929&hnear=Shearing+Hill,+Gedling,+Nottingham,+United+Kingdom&t=h&z=20

I think the whole rail line between Gedling pit site and Midland Station is still intact apart from the level crossing on Victoria Road.

I wonder why they don't turn the pit site into a park and ride and re-open the line to take people into the city.

[DAVIDW 1,684]

Doubt they will do that....makes too much sense !

On the other hand , (as I remember it) maybe Arnold Lane isn't wide enough to take the extra traffic .

[carni 10,094]

Hi David, I have had a look at your map and if you follow the Burton rd to where it changes into the loop road,follow round a little and where it crosses over the railway line,That is the area where the bridge was,coming down the steps on the opposite side of the bridge you see Chandos St and Midland Grove in the vicinity,We are going back a long time but it had to be there some where,though i can't explain exactly where,we played there so many times,i hope we find where it was,i will ask my relations tomorrow and see if they can pinpoint its location.

[DAVIDW 1,684]

I'm not sure but there is (was ?) this one , see the map also on the right of the page

http://www.geolocation.ws/v/W/File%3ARailway%20bridge%2C%20Emerys%20Road%20-%20geograph.org.uk%20-%201760373.jpg/-/en

[carni 10,094]

Hi David,

The image of the bridge is not the one i mean,on the little map, the area i mean is where the loop road passes by the side of the cricket field,and in that corner of the field there was a typical bridge,steps up both sides and i am not sure but i have a feeling there was some kind of wooden floor across the top and i know you could get to Netherfield.The bridge you have shown me is not the metal one that is in my memory,i will get onto my family tomorrow and see if they can give me any clues,I am sorry i can't give you a better description,but i will get some info tomorrow,I know it was there somewhere.

[carni 10,094]

Me again,

I just had a thought,There must have been lots of people from Netherfield who used this bridge to get to the field,so hopefully some one will read this and remember where it was and help locate it!.

[LizzieM 9,511]

I think I remember it Carni, was it at the far end of the playing fields, opposite end to Burton Road?

[DAVIDW 1,684]

Carni , I vaguely remember it , didn't realise you meant a footbridge . Can't see any old photos of it though .

[DAVIDW 1,684]

There was this long post from Doggieb about Netherfield where he says he and his pals used to stand on one of those types of footbridges and pee on the trains as they went underneath but the drivers got wise to that and let off a burst of steam from the train whistle if they saw them on the footbridge .

http://nottstalgia.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7224

[carni 10,094]

Thankyou David,

and those of you who can remember the bridge,I was beginning to doubt myself but my memories were so strong it was just baffling me,I suddenly thought i may have described the bridge to you a bit unclear it dawned on me it was a foot bridge and when i got back on site,you had sussed it out,I read doggieb's post and when he wrote about the train drivers letting off the steam as they approached the bridge,that was what i remembered and it was our cue to run across the bridge through the steam,Great Fun Who Needs Toys.

[carni 10,094]

I just want to share this embarrassing moment with you all

Quite a few years ago,before cheap pub grub,if you wanted an evening meal you had to go to pubs with restaurants, this particular time was a family wedding anniversary, so we all splashed out for something a bit posh,We all sat down for our meals,and when i looked at mine after eating for a few minutes,i saw what was either a small daddy long legs or a gnat mixed in with my veg,i went to the server and in my nicest but firm voice,pointed the insect out, and showed i wasn't happy, i was adamant it was an insect,she called the big boss over,and they pointed out that it was in fact the baby carrot served with the top left on and not an insect. OH DEAR sorreeeeeeeeeee

[piggy and babs 544]

carnie i hated that bridge it ran from near top end of chandos st netherfield over to a path at the side of the cricket field spent lots of happy hours on there we had to walk right up through netherfield to ge to the bridge and then on to cricket field used to take half an hour now you can be there in about ten mins i would never go on the bridge if there was a train comming and i hated the big gaps between the woooden steps and often someone would have removed a plank from the top walk across sometimes you had to go all the way to conway rd and down to the cricket field specialy if you had a pram or a pushchair unless there was someone to help you carry it up and down the steps.

emreys rd bridge is just about wide enough to get one car through it . there used to bea path that ran up the other side of the cricket field that came out at this bridge on the left hand side of the rd this was often very overgrown and difficult to take a pram or a bike across it lots of blackberries though. on the right hand side were five allottments two of them were my dads

[Stan 386]

Many years ago,my wife and I stopped at a Hotel in South Australia and for convenience decided to eat in the restaurant. I was looking at working in the town. We had (supposed) top quality steak. It was so awful and tough I asked if it could be wrapped so I could take it home for my Dobi`s.

The owners wife came out to apologise. The following day I went to meet the Chairman of the Board and the other Board members. You guessed it it was the Hotel owner ,wife and mates.

[carni 10,094]

Piggy and Babs,#48

I thought if anyone would remember the bridge it would be you, as you know such a lot about the area,and you reminded me how rickety it was,i can hear those steps rattle in my thoughts,yes and now i remember the other path you mentioned with the blackberries,we always went home with purple hands,luverly,on the way home when we had crossed Burton Rd,we went past some allotments near a dyke and through an alley then turned left up to main road Gedling,sorry i can't remember street names,but we did do some scrumping along the way ,goosegogs, rhubarb,peas,any thing eatable,never even realized it was classed as stealing,good job we could run fast.

Stan,

What could you say....Sorreeeeeeeeeeeeee