MargieH 7,594 Posted April 11, 2021 Report Share Posted April 11, 2021 @philmayfield I agree with Lizzie about getting a bus. I appreciate you couldn’t get a bus into the city from where you live, but you could drive to the outskirts and park on a little road near a bus route (Sherwood area?) then catch one of the frequent buses into the centre. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,089 Posted April 11, 2021 Report Share Posted April 11, 2021 We never go into Nottingham these days. There’s nothing there to attract us. It’s easier to drive to Downtown near Grantham where we can get just about anything we need under two roofs. It’s a bit further than Nottingham but it’s a quick drive down the A1 from Newark and free parking all day. We probably only go twice a year and everything else, apart from the local farm shop, we buy online. We only shop for what we need, we don’t regard going round the shops as an adventure! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,089 Posted April 11, 2021 Report Share Posted April 11, 2021 51 minutes ago, LizzieM said: Catch a bus then Phil No buses run through our village and it’s a long walk to the railway station where, for some reason, not all the trains stop. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LizzieM 9,497 Posted April 11, 2021 Report Share Posted April 11, 2021 1 hour ago, MargieH said: @philmayfield I agree with Lizzie about getting a bus. I appreciate you couldn’t get a bus into the city from where you live, but you could drive to the outskirts and park on a little road near a bus route (Sherwood area?) then catch one of the frequent buses into the centre. Exactly Margie. We have a bus every 3 or 4 minutes into and out of town right from the end of our road. Mind you, in the past year I’ve rarely got on a bus, if I need to go into town I walk. But don’t park on our road Phil, cluttering it up! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beekay 5,094 Posted April 11, 2021 Report Share Posted April 11, 2021 Does'nt the Park and Ride still operate? Or is that only at weekends? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,089 Posted April 11, 2021 Report Share Posted April 11, 2021 I think our nearest park and ride is still operating from the race course but it seems a bit pointless having to get out of the car, do your shopping and then carry it back to the ‘bus. As I’ve said, there’s absolutely nothing we would go into central Nottingham for these days. Most purchases can be bought from the surrounding ‘sheds’ so the farthest we need to go is Victoria Park at Netherfield or to the retail park in Newark. Morrison’s deliver weekly and a really good farm shop is 10 minutes away, Fiskerton village shop and post office is 5 minutes away. If we’re buying larger items like cars, or getting them serviced we always go to Lincoln as the dealerships are easily accessible on our side of the town and only 35 mins away. M and S have a food shop/filling station in Southwell 5 miles away and there is also a largish CoOp plus two garden centres. Pre lock down we would occasionally go to Lidl or Aldi in Bingham, primarily to see what gadgets there were on the middle isles! We enjoy being out here in the middle of the valley, uninterrupted views of hills, woods and farmland all around. We will have lived for 60 years in the area this year and I’m still not the oldest inhabitant! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,435 Posted April 11, 2021 Report Share Posted April 11, 2021 25 minutes ago, philmayfield said: As I’ve said, there’s absolutely nothing we would go into central Nottingham for these days. There are very few places to go and buy anyway. As mentioned in another thread, the area south of the Market Square - down Albert Street, Lister Gate, Broad Marsh - is a total ghost town. There are virtually no shops still trading in that part of the city centre. The only area with any life is Vic Centre and the streets near there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,089 Posted April 11, 2021 Report Share Posted April 11, 2021 I remember Nottingham as the thriving town it used to be. I would be saddened to see what it has now become. Perhaps people like me not going there has contributed to that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mary1947 2,071 Posted April 11, 2021 Report Share Posted April 11, 2021 6 hours ago, Arnold Mick said: I'll be popping into the Dog & Bear for a couple of Worthingtons, then across the road into The Fountain for a Home Brewery bitter and that'll do me! Doubt there'll be any queuing. Arnold Mick not sure if the Fountain is still there If they are still there then you will have to fetch your own Home Brewery bitter. Don't know from where. and Why!! WHY have they called "YATES" Slug and Lettuce what an insult Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BilboroughShirley 1,120 Posted April 12, 2021 Report Share Posted April 12, 2021 In the last 20 years I have been into Nottingham city centre once. I went to visit the archives for research. That was very interesting and pleasant. I came off the motorway and parked at Phoenix park then caught the tram. I did stop off in the market square but it was not like the place I knew and loved as a child and teenager. Farmers shop had been demolished (yes it was very old and in need of repair), and no Toby's or Pearson's. I stick with the memories of how it was. This is just one of the many reasons why I enjoy this forum. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mary1947 2,071 Posted May 5, 2021 Report Share Posted May 5, 2021 Market St was created in 1865 by the widening of Sheep Lane allowing R and E Dickinson and Fazackerley to extend their Long Row shop. The store was later known, as Fazackerley. Griffin and Spalding, and is now the Nottingham branch of Debenhams. 1936 Griffin and Spalding The Long Row store took out one of the first full-page advertisements of the Evening post. It promoted Ladies Fashions, fashion labels including Braemar, Dorville, Linlaw and Rodex. A Rodex camel topcoat with horn buttons was available for six guineas (£6. 30). 1961 Debenhams owners of Griffin and Spaldin in Long Row acquired the neighbouring Mikado Cafe for £200,000 later the building was demolished. 1978 Debenhams launched a £200,000 facelift to silence rumours that the city store was closing. Memories of Griffin and Spaldin / Debenhams. In 1937 my mum was taught by Debenhams Factory how to make and sow Wedding dresses and headresses. the factorys address was Castle Boulevard Nottingham and 91 Wimpole st London W1 in 1965 I brought my White Satin Material from Griffin's for mum to make my wedding dress also the rose headress. My Dress cost about £4 00 no cost to the dress maker as it was made with love. (unless mum wanted to get me out of the house) My Headress cost £3 10/- which at the time my wages were £5 00 a week. Any one else got memories of the great store? RIP Griffin and Spaldin and Debenhams. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
radfordred 6,284 Posted May 5, 2021 Report Share Posted May 5, 2021 Wonder how many will be still in there trying to find the exit in a week’s time 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LizzieM 9,497 Posted May 5, 2021 Report Share Posted May 5, 2021 Looks like a few would find it difficult to get through the door anyway Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,089 Posted May 5, 2021 Report Share Posted May 5, 2021 Maybe Evan’s Outsizes have a franchise in there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
catfan 14,793 Posted May 6, 2021 Report Share Posted May 6, 2021 Bought a T shirt from there last week. £22.50 (£75). Baseball cap £3.50 (£14) Who pays £75 for a T shirt ? My thoughts are Debenhams priced themselves out of business. Internet did not finish them off. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
letsavagoo 957 Posted May 6, 2021 Report Share Posted May 6, 2021 We stopped shopping at Debenhams a few years ago. If you ever had to return something, didn’t fit or not suitable etc whereas most high street shops were happy to refund, Debenhams were a complete pain. So we just gave up going there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Newarker 22 Posted May 15, 2021 Report Share Posted May 15, 2021 l thought somebody might mention the ghosts in the store. For example there used to be a laundry at the very top of the building. For some reason there was a platform with no guard rails around it. Inevitably one day the washerwoman fell to her death. To this day if you stand where the laundry used to be you can feel a chill pass through you. That is the ghost of the washerwoman. Of course it might just be very cold on the roof of the store. There used to be a very swanky restaurant where dances were held. If you are in the store very late at night when all is quiet, you can see a lady and gentlemen in evening clothes dancing across the floor. Perhaps somebody who worked in he store knows more details. Incidentally the pediment over the central window on the first floor has some sort of ornamentation over it. Is it a coat of arms or just a decorative feature by the architect? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,435 Posted May 15, 2021 Report Share Posted May 15, 2021 7 minutes ago, Newarker said: Incidentally the pediment over the central window on the first floor has some sort of ornamentation over it. Is it a coat of arms or just a decorative feature by the architect? It could perhaps be connected with Griffin & Spalding ? https://goo.gl/maps/w4eNUstpLDi49B7S9 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DAVIDW 1,674 Posted May 15, 2021 Report Share Posted May 15, 2021 Talking about grisly endings , this copied from a previous post on Griffin and Spalding about the discovery of 4 skeletons ( plus an extra skull !) during renovations in 1910 : ...."A lady asked about a story of a skeleton being found under some foundations of Griffin and Spalding in Edwardian times . Very little info available and the only reference I could find in the news archives was one from a Sheffield newspaper . Turns out there were four complete skeletons plus an extra skull ! At first it was thought the skeletons were the result of a crime but then it was decided they were probably killed by some sort of plague or contagion . One strange thing is that one skull was "negroid" , on a skeleton some 6'2" long . Apparently whatever was demolished for the extension , had been built in the 1850s , so the burials must have predated that . "FOUR SKELETONS AND FIVE SKULLS UNEARTHED by Workmen engaged in excavation for purposes of extensions to the large business premises of Messrs Griffin and Spalding, at the rear of Long Row Nottingham, have unearthed no fewer than four complete skeletons and one skull " 28 May 1910 - Sheffield Daily 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Willow wilson 891 Posted May 21, 2021 Report Share Posted May 21, 2021 On 5/5/2021 at 5:54 AM, mary1947 said: Any one else got memories of the great store? RIP Griffin and Spaldin and Debenhams. Sometime in the early-to-mid 50s my mother regularly took me into Griffins in the afternoons to visit a small theatre they had tucked away in the warren of stairs and passageways. They put on a puppet show with string marionettes and there was always a good audience as I recall. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MRS B 490 Posted April 11, 2022 Report Share Posted April 11, 2022 I see that the old Debenhams(Griffin and Spalding) building has been granted Grade 2 listing. At least one they won’t knock down. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,435 Posted April 11, 2022 Report Share Posted April 11, 2022 Something needs doing with that building pretty soon. The whole Market Square area is now a bit of a ghost town with so many empty shop units; even in the middle of the day there aren't many people around because there's nowhere to go and no reason to be there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
radfordred 6,284 Posted April 11, 2022 Report Share Posted April 11, 2022 What's going on here then? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,089 Posted April 11, 2022 Report Share Posted April 11, 2022 I’ve been lost in there as well! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MRS B 490 Posted April 11, 2022 Report Share Posted April 11, 2022 Those mannequins are quite scary. I’ve been lost in there too on a number of occasions. I’ve never known a place with so many disjointed floors. Can remember going to the wig dept with my Aunty who was a bit of a glamour girl and used to understudy for the actress Valerie Hobson. I always used to think that if I trod on the glass covered grates on the pavement outside I would fall into some sort of a pit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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