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One of my earliest Clifton memories was an "earthquake" in the playground at Swansdowne Infant School about 1955?

This might sound dramatic, but to a 5 year old this was the only explanantion! The ground shook and rumbled for what seemed ages and everyone in the playground stopped, frozen to the spot as if the teacher's whistle had blown. A few seconds later the spell was broken and the rumbling sound was replaced with the usual excited chatter that school children everywhere make. Never did find out what it was??

Other brief recollections of this school are safety glass on the dark wooden fire doors, you know, the type with a very fine wire insert. Large red fire reels and conical fire extinguishers in the corridors. The feel of warm tarmac on a hot summers day. A selection of full size cardboard red indian tepees and canoes in an outside play area. A variety of galvanised climbing frames and a sand pit in the playground. A weekly "nature walk" to collect all sorts of plants and bugs. Dust floating in the shafts of sunlight streaming through classroom windows. Spelling tests !

Later, not sure when, we all moved to Brinkhill Primary School somewhere near Varney Road shops. I remember this being quite a large place and next to it was another school, (up a kind of grassy bank) but we were banned from going into that area of the site. for some reason?

Brinkhill had larger classrooms and an assembly hall easily converted into a gym / sports area. You know, coconuts mats, ropes to swing on and netting to fall out of etc. School milk / orange was supplied to everyone. A teacher I remember was Miss Wright, she had one blue eye and one brown eye...

Next came Fairham, circa 1961 - 1966 I think, Fleming House (Blue & Grey) Mr Hind, House Master. Mr Thom, Head Master.

I could write for ever about my time at Fairham, perhaps the subject of a another post in the future?

More to follow when times allows.......

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Later, not sure when, we all moved to Brinkhill Primary School somewhere near Varney Road shops. I remember this being quite a large place and next to it was another school, (up a kind of grassy bank) but we were banned from going into that area of the site. for some reason?

The other school was Greencroft Infants and Juniors. I know because I was there. First half of the 1960s.

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Smiffy49 am i right in thinking that in 1955 clifton was or had just been constructed ,i was born in 1954 and am sure my dad said he was or had delivered gravel to constuction at clifton around the time i was born..

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I believe construction of the Estate started in 1950 with the first houses tenanted in 1951/52. The Estate construction went on for some years and was at the time the largest in Europe.

(PS; Pooh, like all the new images)

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Hello again, thanks for your posts on this.

Earthquake is confirmed as 1957, thanks for that too. I would have been 7 so fits with Swansdowne School period.

I think we moved into Clifton when it was first being built (early 50's?) not sure I will ask my Father he is 90 but still sharp as a pin.

I might try and get him to join, he does have a laptop and is conversant with email etc etc.

Our first house was on Colleymore Leys Lane, a vivid memory was nearly being knocked down by the ice cream van on my bike.

I was 6 at the time and we used to follow the van all over the place until he "gave in" and distributed free ice creams to all who had kept up.

We said our thanks and got ready to set off, unfortunately he had not observed my little form move ahead in front but a collision was avoided.

He never let us follow again.............

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Some memories jolted by these posts. My family moved to Clifton in the very early days. I have photos (1952) of our house there on Rivergreen (No.8) and there are no privet hedges to be seen! We moved from my grandma's house in Ridding Terrace (Wellington Street - house still standing!). One of the biggest complaints from new residents was the lack of facilities, and my mum used to talk about buying groceries from a mobile shop. Others here have mentioned the long roundabout bus trip to get into the city before Clifton Bridge opened. Also, the rent was higher than in St Anns. All this led to us moving back to St Anns (Vicarage St) and giving up a bathroom & hot water on tap for an outside loo and a gasmiser over the kitchen sink, so things in Clifton must have been pretty desperate for my parents. I have no memories of that though, being only 2 years old!

I also remember the earthquake, one of my strongest memories of my childhood. I was with my sister and mum in a greengrocers on Woodborough Rd, near the bottom of Harlaxton St. I can clearly remember oranges falling off the display and onto the floor of the shop. Later that year (1957) we moved back to Clifton (Letcombe Rd) and I went to Greencroft Juniors and (Smiffy49 #1) we were banned from Brinkhill over the grassy bank! I later went to Fairham ('61-66) in Britten House - Thommy was Headmaster at that time, but it's Fred Riddell (Elliot) who always springs to mind when I think back - what a nasty B...... he was. Like Smiffy49 I could write loads more about Fairham Comp days!

Clifton estate continued to expand southwards for years and years, and even parts of old Clifton Village (orchards, fields, cows) eventually went under the concrete of a Teacher Training College (now part of Nott'm Trent Uni) and Footballers luxury (for the time) pads. Luckily there are still some of the original village houses left (thatched roofs) and St Marys church is always worth a look.

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Thanks Cliff Ton. Are you directing us there to see that it's all been covered before, or to find even more to write about? There's loads to get involved with if it's the latter!

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Probably both! Pointing you in the direction of things which might jog your memory, which in turn might make you think of something which hasn't been mentioned previously.

And being an ex-Clifton person (Woodbridge Avenue) I'm more than slightly interested in anything connected to the area.

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If you're ex Woodbridge, you were round the corner from me on Letcombe. But more importantly, you were closer to the lovely Georgina Taylor!!

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Sorry, you're right. So you missed out on Georgina, but did you know Rob Underwood who lived near the junction of Woodbridge and Rivergreen, or the Warburtons & Johnsons at the Brinkhill Crescent end? How about the Ginns just round the corner on Brinkhill? Rob got me started on collecting those car stickers that advertised a "Tiger in your tank" for one of the petrol companies (Shell?) and the Groudhogs that promoted a certain car tyre (can't remember which). We used to go onto Silverdale at night, find a suitable car and rip the stickers off! Don't see the point now, but at the time it was a bit of a craze for us.

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'Tiger in your tank' was the Esso advertising campaign in the 60s - Put a Tiger in your Tank - and even extended to plush imitation tiger tails about 9-10 inches long that you could fasten to your fuel cap, bumper or aerial.

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  • 2 months later...

If you're ex Woodbridge, you were round the corner from me on Letcombe. But more importantly, you were closer to the lovely Georgina Taylor!!

I remember Georgina Taylor - she was in my sister's year at Greencroft schoo. Blonde and pretty. I wonder what she is doing now.

I seem to have been the only person on Clifton who didn't know Georgina Taylor.

I've just looked at Friends Reunited on the Greencroft Primary School page, and on the home page there's a thread titled "where are you all?" Georgina gets a mention, and a reply says that she lives in North Ollerton (at least in 2010).

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#19 & #20.

VWG - I was in Georgina's class all through my junior years at Greencroft. She once held my hand across the desk in Mr Bailey's class! A few years later she used to come round to our house to perm my mum's hair - cue huge embarrassment & blushes on my part. I think she then opened (or at least worked in) a hairdressers on Varney Rd. Yonks & yonks later ('90s), I bumped into her in the Greyhound pub in Arnold, where she was the landlady. Next I heard she was "mine host" at The World's End in Lowdham, but not seen or heard of her since then.

Cliff Ton - don't worry yourself, her boyfriend Grenville was a boxer - so no-one else got close (or cared to). We just used to dream we might.

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  • 1 month later...

Could be I do - there were two Dianas if I remember right, one was Carsley but I can't remember the other, although I think she lived on Woodbridge Ave?

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Could be I do - there were two Dianas if I remember right, one was Carsley but I can't remember the other, although I think she lived on Woodbridge Ave?

We were on Woodbridge Avenue, but that name doesn't ring a bell with me.

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No one got close..... Would that be Grenville Norris by chance?

Smiffy

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