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Dave 48,

Player school eh.

You always beat us (Beechdale) at football although Randolph was a pretty good CB for us

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Don't recognise any of the names, Mess. I worked in the computer dept of Gradual Payments, we processed the 'never-never' payments folks made for their bikes from the dealers. I played netball for the Raleigh team when I first started work, but only remember going to the Players [factory] sports ground. In Aspley?

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I remember the Players Sports Ground off Western Boulevard.

Not sure if it's still there or been sold off for housing like the Raleigh one.

I was at Boots Beeston 1968-1972. I think their Sports Ground is still at Lady Bay West Bridgford. Probably not for long now the company has been bought by the Chinese.

Players is in decline now. The Horizon factory is due to close in the next year or two.

I remember when that was opened as a state of the art facility

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Dave 48,

Player school eh.

You always beat us (Beechdale) at football although Randolph was a pretty good CB for us

Yes ....if you were brought up on Broxtowe Estate and went to Player you knew how to look after yourself. Also all those endless games of footie on the park paid dividends in the end .

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I remember the Players Sports Ground off Western Boulevard.

Not sure if it's still there or been sold off for housing like the Raleigh one.

I was at Boots Beeston 1968-1972. I think their Sports Ground is still at Lady Bay West Bridgford. Probably not for long now the company has been bought by the Chinese.

Players is in decline now. The Horizon factory is due to close in the next year or two.

I remember when that was opened as a state of the art facility

Players sports club was knocked down years ago and there is a David Lloyd fitness centre there now.

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Thanks Dave 48 I didn't know Players Sports ground had gone.

As for David Lloyd being fit. He doesn't do it for me. On the other hand Maria Sharapova, now she's fit!

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glaisdalelad. That last picture is Woodyard Lane bridge. That house had a lovely orchard, good for a spot of good old scrumpin'!!!

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Fit with a capital F.

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Bilbraborn,

I thought it was Woodyard Lane bridge too but wasn't going to post until I'd checked in the Bernard Chell book I've got.

I can't remember the bridge or the house but can just about remember when they started filling in the section of canal by Charlbury Rd

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Woodyard Lane memories. Here goes.

The dismal growl of the sawmill at Brown's Woodyard in the 1950s. Sliding down the sandy banks of Woodyard Lane and getting a wallop off my mum for mucking up my best shorts (she got covered in dust as she smacked my backside). Older boys and later, me walking along the V shaped skewed plank ends on the wrong side of the corrugated iron parapet of tin bridge when there was a (steam) train coming underneath. The firework display on the site of that house organised by someone I never knew. There were several tea chests full of fireworks. All went well until they were half way through the second one. Then a Jumping Jack jumped into one of the tea chests and set all the rest of the fireworks off. There were rockets and things flying in all directions. We all just hit the deck and hoped for the best until it all finished. My mates older brother climbing the trees on the Elstree Drive side of Woodyard Lane. Making rope swings on the same trees. Legging it when plain clothes rail cops caught us on the wrong side of the fence. Happy Days.

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Hey Mess I thought you were Johnny Darch's younger brother but I think he lived at # 45

I do remember Rodger Staines bit of a lad .

Did you live in the bottom corner the right hand side of the semi ?

I lived in the house that had Little woods & was at the bottom of Tin bridge road

Then in 69 rented # 39 Elstree for a couple of years.

I did go to Beechdale school do you remember Harries the teacher

Then to Peveril ,No I didn't pass the 11+ didn't even know the test was coming.

Hi again dgbrit,

I've just checked on Google Streetview and I think the Darchs lived at no 43 Elstree Drive. Roger Staines lived next door at 45 and PC Joe Thomson lived at No 47.

Like lots of lads in the 50s Ian Darch used to go birds nesting along the old canal. It wasn't frowned upon in those days.

Mr Darch worked for the Electricity Board and as you've already noted he smoked a pipe. I think Mrs Darch worked at the Theatre Royal because I remember my mum saying she got her some tickets once.

For a short while the Darchs had a billiard table in their front room. I guess it was about quarter size but it still dominated the room. It was the first time I'd ever played and was very taken with it.

One Nov 5th Ian Darch (who wore NHS wire rimmed specs) had a firework go off in his face. He recovered with no permanent injury but it was a lesson to us all.

I was thinking yesterday how a growing family of 5 like the Darchs went on in those modest 3 bedroomed semis on Elstree Drive. I had the small bedroom at the front at No 23. My sister had Bed 2. My room was really only a box room with just enough room for a single bed.

The Carters were a family of 6 so their sleeping arrangements must have been very cramped.

If I recall you were an only child so had a bit more room.

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No I wasn't allowed in the house I lived in the shed that's why it was all decked out with electronics & all the stuff I could get from the surplus store.

When I rented #39 I had to just about remodel the place who ever lived in it before was cooking in the hall near the front door as the kitchen floor was so rotten, The landlord tried to cover it up by laying new lino but as we were eating dinner the table started being dragged across the floor as the washing machine disappeared down a hole, Front room was the same I stepped off a ladder & straight through the floorboards,

It turned out there was permanent standing water that most likely ran down the train bank and settled in the trough if you remember the driveways were sloped down from the street.

Mel Thorpe lived next to me ,There was a lady we called the witch that lived opposite you on the inside corner

Carol Rook lived in the prefab behind the bus stop on Hollington rd

Anne Silkstone lived 2 doors down from #81

Kemps almost at the top back corner of Elstree

Never knew anybody who lived in the inside part of Elstree dr except for a couple that had a Poodle

Ps if you fell in the deep lock you just climbed the lock gates . Easy. Did it a few times once in winter along with my bike. Just had to remember to check yourself for leeches

Do you remember a place called Hot Sands you could poke a stick in the ground & it would come out burning it was behind where Farrands was built. melted both my bike tires.

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Hi

Bilbraborn and Mess, thanks for the comments again. Very interesting about the photo of the new bridge being on the Woodyard Lane. I found this photo on the internet quite a few years ago and it was annotated as being on the Old Coach Road. At the time I remember that I was a bit confused about the house on the right of the photo which I could not remember although as a kid I recall a hedge in that area which I might not have been able to see over. I checked the photo against the previous one of the stone bridge and as the telegraph poles, the trees and the basin all seemed to be the same I assumed that it was the one on the Old Coach Road. This was further reinforced by memory of the changes to that bridge. Perhaps both bridges were altered in the same way which would have been logical. The comments regarding Bernard Chell’s book of Nottingham Canal: A History & Guide are enlightening as I never knew that book existed, it sounds great, I must try and get a copy on Amazon or Ebay.

The bit about the handles on the kitchen doors was something I had not remembered but once it was said it came back to me.

Trevor S regards the path in the second photo. The one on the left led past Wollaton Pit and onwards to the Trowel Road bridge. The path on the top right of the photo is the Old Coach Road, it led over the railway bridge and then a track to the right led through the woods to the fields where if you turned left and walked along the edge of the woods it would take you to Glaisdale Drive opposite No 32.

My next topic is shorter than the others I have posted but it still evokes great memories for me.

THE RAILWAY BRIDGE

Although we used to cross the railway bridge on the Old Coach Road on the way to the canal and notice the lads that were trainspotting it was not until I was about 12 or 13 years old that I took that hobby up.

We became train spotters and duly purchased our book of names and numbers. I used to tick off the trains that I spotted in an Ian Allen ABC train spotters guide for British Rail London Midland Scottish Region. This was bought in 1957 and cost two shillings and six pence.

I remember the distant rumble of the train as it approached. We pressed ourselves against the parapet and strained on our toes to get higher. The thunderous rattle of the wheels on the track hit our ears, the name or number was sighted, the bridge was engulfed in smoke and steam, we rushed to the other side of the bridge and tried to count the carriages, the smell lingered. We checked with each other regarding the number or name of the train and then would cross it off in our book.

There was signal box not far away from the bridge and we soon learnt to listen for the ringing of the bell that would signal a train was on its way. Just after the bell rang the semaphore type train signal would drop from horizontal to inclined to allow the train to pass. A lot of traffic was passenger but there was a fair amount of goods trains. Some of these would be empty for filling with coal at the nearby Wollaton Colliery sidings. Train spotting was short lived although we were very dedicated at the time and collected many numbers and names. You could really impress your friends at school by spotting various names and numbers but as far as I am aware nobody ever dreamt of cheating.

As Katyjay said it is great to see so many postings on this thread and all are read with interest even though I do not so far recognise any names. But having said that we did move to Portsmouth in 1959 when I was 14 years old.

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Glaisdalelad, I can just see you little lads on the bridge, running from one side to the other making sure you get the train numbers and details correct. Good post!

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That's the way I remember Old Coach Road Bridge. I remember the shouts of the train spotters. First it was BELLS!!!!! as the signalman at Radford or Trowell sent 'Call Attention" (one bell which was duly returned). Then the more knowledgeable lads would recognise the different bells for different trains. 4 for express passenger, 3-1 for suburbab passenger, combinations of 5 bells for different freight trains etc. Then the cry would be PEGGED!!! as we heard the signal wires whistling through the pulley wheels and the clang as the old semaphore signals went up. From which signals were used we knew from which direction the train would come. And as it rounded the corner, someone would shout SIGHTED!!! Then all eyes on the smokebox number plate. The cry would then be the type of engine. JUBE!! for Jubilee class. SCOT!!! for a Royal Scot or PATE!!! for a Patriot class, quite a rarity in the 50s. Then if it was a commonly seen engine the shout was SCRAP IT!!! I wish we hadn't. During the heated assessment after it had gone would come the dull thud of the signal going down.

We would race from school to see the ARF FOORRA. That is the four thirty express passenger. Then nip home for tea and be back for the evenings repertoire, including The Waverley, a named London to Edinburgh on its return journey to London. By the late fiftys the first generation multiple units were starting to do some of the local trains. At the beginning of the sixties, steam rapidly gave way to diesel and we were treated to the new Peak Class which became Class 44.

I remember the engine and brake van which came every morning (we'd see it in the school holidays) to collect the coal trucks from Wollaton pit. They would park up at one of the three sidings and have a mash. Then they would shunt up and down collecting all the loaded coal wagons before right away to Nottingham Yard for sorting.

And in the background was always the sound of the pit headstocks wheel spinning round and other pit-associated noises. And the smells. Happy days.

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Nice post Bilbraborn, me & my mates spent many a happy hour on that bridge too, but we were not dedicated train spotters just passing through so to speak on our way to Wollaton Park or down to the canal.

Nice to see the picture of the pit, my dad worked there.

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Some great posts here, my father also worked at that pit, brings back a few memories now, thanks for the topic

Rog

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Bilbraborn, funny how the spotting vocabularly was exactly the same as it was for us lot further down the line on the 'Black Path' bridge leading to Model Farm. The only thing was, we could see further down the line towards Trowell as the track was straighter, they started to appear around the bend just before the sidings that served the quarries at Hemlock Stone and were working hard attacking the bank up to Wollaton Pit. One type you forgot to mention, more of a rarity and not appearing till the early 60's, was BRITT!!! referring to the Britannia Class Pacifics, the only Pacifics to use the line, though very rarely, and used only on a particular express that came through from Trowell Junction at about 7:30pm, and always a Manchester Longsite loco, great excitment when one of these appeared, though at that range they could be confused with a 9F, it was the carriages that gave it away.

To recall, there weren't that many trains that used the line, probably a passenger train every hour and very few freights, the DMU service to Sheffield was a new thing introduced about 1960, there were never any steam hauled local trains before that. The ARF ELEVENA used to cross with the down Waverely, then the return crossover was about 5:30pm, the TWENNYPASTONER was always a Scot, usually 'The Green Howards' or 'Royal Scots Fusiliers'. At about 12:30 every lunchtime came a mixed freight from the Trowell direction always hauled by a filthy, leaky 4F chugging up the bank, I suspect it picked up wagons from the stations on the Erewash Valley line. The first 'Peak' I ever saw was a gleaming, brand new D11 one Friday night on the up 6:30pm, I thought it was quite exciting at the time until they completely took over from steam, this became a Class 45, the original, named members became Class 44, I don't recall seeing one on the Radford/Trowell line and they were quickly shoved off to Toton for some reason and used entirely on freights.

I remember the cry of 'SCRAP IT' was always reserved for two particular Jubilees, 'Hong Kong' and 'Malta GC' or 'Malta Great Crate' as we called it, I think they were both Nottingham engines and were about all the time.

The coal trains to and from Wollaton Colliery always came from the Radford direction and were always pulled by an 8F. We could see them arrive from our bridge, the train used to enter the colliery sidings right up to Trowell Road bridge, the loco would detach and cross onto the mainline, then reverse up the down line, presumably it either returned back to Nottingham light engine or took back the full wagons running tender first, I don't know where they went to, but never in our direction. I'm sure that occasionally the loco would pull the wagons half way to our bridge then push them backwards into the siding, perhaps when the colliery yards were full.

Wollaton Colliery box controlled the signals to the Hemlock Stone quarry sidings, there was a distant situated just down from 'Black Path' bridge and the home signal was a few hundred yards west from Coventry Lane bridge, a hell of a way, it must have been hard work to pull the levers, not that they ever were, they were set permanently on 'clear', I don't ever remember seeing them at danger. We used to jump up and down on the distant signal cable and make the arm bounce up and down, it took some doing.

You haven't mentioned our little foray into the signal box from the Old Coach Road bridge after it had been closed down as a fully manned box and reduced to a ground frame, someone had left the door unlocked. While we were in there a train heading for Radford passed us, the box was still live so I rang through the correct 'Train leaving section' bell code to Radford. When the phone started to ring frantically, we legged it, taking a few souvenirs with us, naughty boys indeed. A redundant semaphore arm and two dolly signals from the Colliery sidings still live in my shed.

Glaisdalelad, I hope you didn't take your ABC book with you, if you lost that you were in trouble, I lost mine at Doncaster once with all my treasured numbers in it and always took a notebook and pencil after that.

On a different note, while finishing writing this just now at the Notley bike hire centre where I work, a very low level Hercules going very fast has just roared overhead, never seen anything like it in these parts, it must have gone straight under the Stansted flight path, sorry to digress.

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Firbeck, what about the Edge Hill freight which headed north about 8.30pm. Nearly always an Edge Hill Crab, or very occasionally a Black 5. Was there a corresponding working into Notts sidings? If so, it must have been at night, or worked through Toton. Any ideas?

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You guys certainly know your steam locos and have great memories of your spotting days around the Old Coach Rd and Tin bridge.

I used to love the steam trains that passed our house on Elstree Drive. I clearly wasn't as into it as you guys but have really enjoyed reading your posts.

I certainly remember The Waverley and The Master Cutler passing our house hauled by a Jube or a Scot. The 9Fs and Black 5s on freight were also familiar as was the arrival of the dmus and The Peaks. The Jube I remember clearly was 45561 Saskatchewan because to a 9 year old it had such a peculiar name.

I went on the Cumbrian Coast Express earlier this year and we were steam hauled by Scots Guardsman. I'm guessing I may well have seen this locomotive steam past our house in the 50s but I'm sure you guys will put me straight if I'm wrong.

The folks at work called me an anorak when I told them about my day out on this steam excursion. Compared to you guys I'm just a novice anorak

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We knocked around on the Ainsley Estate, on the Robert Shaw Playing Field, so we got the stuff on the Mansfield line, plus the stuff up the "branch" yes, great days.

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