JFK - fifty years ago in a few days time.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

Bilboro-lad, I must have bumped into you at some point in my life. You are right about Katrina Long. She was loadsa fun and generous. David Booker was a scream. His brother used to give me 6d to help him on his paper round. Phil Day was tall and wore glasses. Had a dry sense of humour.

[Bubblewrap 3,815]

I was watching T.V. with mum and dad was in the garage & it was a Friday night.

The car we had at the time was an Austin A35 XAL 178 in pale green

Oh! BTW the tele was a Feranti made in England

[Bilboro-lad 294]

Yes Bilbraborn. If you were ever at Catchpoles messing with bikes outside his back door I would definitely have seen you. I used to pass by on the way to David Bookers. Booker was a brilliant bike rider, his dad even taught him to ride it backwards. I remember he got a job at Weller down the road, but have found nothing on him since. Katrina Long was very dark with black curly hair like a gypsy. She was an adopted child, very athletic. Dunno where she went either. Arthur Booker was best mate to one of my brothers. There was an older brother named John but he was a right poe faced character. Never saw him smile. Me and Booker used to go to Wollaton Hall a lot and ride in the shallow part of the lake (the sandy bit).

[OLDACE 196]

I was in the Turf Tavern, our usual hangout on Fridays, can't remember which of my mates it was, but one of them came in and told us JFK had been shot. I think we thought it would be the Russians that did it, and that war was likely. I should imagine we would have drunk a few more than normal that night.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

Bilboro-lad, That must have been me you saw. We were always fixing punctures. If you were always cycling you must have used the 'Death Track' in the woods. Along the path by the dyke to the Old Coach Road bridge. Very undulating and you had to do it fast.

How did I survive my childhood.

[Bilboro-lad 294]

Yes I remember that track. It occurred to me the other day that there were all sorts of hills and stuff like a BMX track because when they built the estate they bulldozed everything to the side in big piles - then left it for a few years and it all became overgrown again. It was only removed when they started building the factories in the early sixties. There was another similar sort of place the other side of the allotments up near Burnside Rd.

It was a great place to grow up. Can you remember when you went over the old canal bridge towards Wollaton Hall that the road had big ruts in from the rain? If you got your wheel stuck in one you were sure to end up in a heap. David Booker used to ride down them on purpose and never fell off.

[Rob.L 1,090]

Seeing the time it was announced, I now realise I was wrong about where I was when I heard about it - strange how memory works.

Was at home watching the box when the news flash came on.

I now recall that it was the Aberfan disaster that I heard about at school.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

-bilboro-lad Old Coach Road was also full of puddles. People used to drive down there to splash pedestrians. When I was 17 I used to stagger back from the Admiral Rodney in Wollaton in the pitch dark. It was handy to stop off for a p er to relieve myself.

The canal towpath was good for cycling. Can you remember all the sandy holes in the woods. Some were linked underground and we used to crawl through them. God if my mum had found out.

[Bilboro-lad 294]

There was one lad who was a mate of my older brother. I think his name might have been Cook (Cookie). He had an obsession with tunneling and one day the tunnel he was digging collapsed and he suffocated. The police came along and collapsed them all and they looked like trenches afterwards. Yes I do remember the puddle on OCR. I once saw a little kid step in one right up to his knees. We didn't arf laugh (me and Booker).

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

David Booker had a highly infectious laugh. He certainly cheered everybody up.