Sunday Dinner Memories


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Correct, Phil.  Onen day when we were about 9yrs old, a few of us went up Park Road to gain access to the old Nottingham Suburban Railway.  A woman came out of one of the houses and demanded to know what we were up to.  Thinking on my feet,  I said we are looking for Mrs Smith who we think lives at number (made up on the spot).  Unfortunately for us she said yes, I'm Mrs Smith - it was the same number too..... ARGH! How unlucky can you get? We were forced to say that we had got it wrong and legged it sharpish.  I don't even know why we went that way when we could have scrambled down the bank by the school and walked there along the treeline.  It was at the junction where we used to put halfpennies (Couldn't afford pennies) on the line to be flattened by trains.  There were always plenty of goods trains to and from the mines so we never had to wait long for a flattened coin :)

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I lived in Woodthorpe from 1943 and our first house was quite close to the suburban railway. It was just through a builders yard on Grafton Avenue and up the high railway bank. This was when the tracks were still there. I knew that line like the back of my hand from Daybrook to Sherwood Station and I’ve even walked through the tunnel under Woodborough Rd. I can only ever remember one goods train on the line carrying what appeared to be bombs! I remember the magnificent blue brick bridge over Thackeray’s Lane and a lattice steel bridge over Marlborough Rd. To put pennies on the line we used to go just off Somersby Rd. to where the stream ran at the bottom of the fields near to the cinder track that ran up to Sandfield Rd. You could see the train approaching through the tunnel under Mapperley Plains. I do recollect the rails being taken up but can’t remember when. We left the area in 1962 but I go back for an occasional reminiscent look every now and again.

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We put our money on the line where the Suburban met the GN, above the sports field.  The station was a bit of a problem thougjh, if you weren't quick you might be seen from teh staiton of signal box.

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18 minutes ago, philmayfield said:

It was just through a builders yard on Grafton Avenue

Ian: I can't find Grafton venue on my old map.  Where exactly was it?

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4 minutes ago, Compo said:

We put our money on the line where the Suburban met the GN, above the sports field.  The station was a bit of a problem thougjh, if you weren't quick you might be seen from teh staiton of signal box.

The sports field was the Girls’ High School games field . From the bottom of our garden on Park Rd. You could watch the girls playing hockey. Not that I did of course!

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8 minutes ago, philmayfield said:

It was off Buckingham Rd.

 

Got it now, Thanks Phil - and apologies for calling you Ian in my previous post! :)

 

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On 19/02/2018 at 11:35 AM, philmayfield said:

. to where the stream ran at the bottom of the fields near to the cinder track that ran up to Sandfield Rd.

 

When I was very young my mother used to take us to a farmhouse between Sandfield Road and the train line, to visit someone, I think an aunt.  There was a stream running across the cinder track as I recall.  She used to call the area "Jonah's", presumably after the landowner or similar.  Is this the same track to which you referred, Phil?

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I used to go ‘down Jonah’s’ Compo as I lived not far from there.  Used to go with a little bucket and fishing net to catch toe-biters in that stream, I remember a wooden plank to cross over it.  The railway line and tunnel were still there but disused and we’d dare each other to see how far we could go inside the tunnel.  In the Springtime we’d go home with arms full of catkins from the Railway embankment.  At the top corner of that track, where it joined Sandfield Road, there was a lady who sold plums picked from her garden and we’d often buy some for pudding.  

When I was at Kingswell Juniors I remember going with my class on a nature walk down there.

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3 hours ago, Compo said:

 

When I was very young my mother used to take us to a farmhouse between Sandfield Road and the train line, to visit someone, I think an aunt.  There was a stream running across the cinder track as I recall.  She used to call the area "Jonah's", presumably after the landowner or similar.  Is this the same track to which you referred, Phil?

Yes, that’s the one. We used to try and dam that stream! I believe there was a hedge on both sides and there were allotment gardens behind. I think it was called Greendale Rd. but I’ll have to Google that as I believe it’s a proper road now through a housing estate. We used to go up Sandfield Rd. on a Sunday to a house on the right that sold ice creams. It was just past the monkey puzzle tree that I think is still there. I should remember, I drove down there today!

 

Just checked and it is Greendale. Now to look for the monkey puzzle!

 

Yes, monkey puzzle still there at no.94. That’s a very old tree!

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I, too, used to play near that stream - I remember  we used to climb on a thick branch of a tree which  leaned over it.  I think it was minnows and sticklebacks we used to try and catch (at least that was what I was told - I'm no expert on fish!).   I'd have been there at the same time as Phil, but by the time Lizzie and Compo frequented that area I'd have been a teenager with other interests!  (Could say I had different fish to catch...)

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On ‎19‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 8:45 PM, Compo said:

Warwick's ales, Newark, anyone?

What about Holes Castle Brewery Newark

Image result for holes brewery newark

Image from barclayperkins.blogspot.com.au together with lots of information about Newark's Breweries

 

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I think I am right in saying that stream would be the Day Brook traveling from where it rises near Howbeck before travelling down into Daybrook itself.

 

The allotments could have been the ones accessed from the top of Gedling Grove that then ran uphill to what is now the junction of Rolleston Drive and Gedling Road.

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Yes, it was the Day Brook. It ran by the side of Arno Vale Road which was unsurfaced in those days beyond the Arno Vale school field. It went underground at the Arno Vale school grounds and reappeared at the recreation ground at Valley Rd. It went under the road by the Five Ways pub and I’m not sure where its course was after that but I suppose it fed into the Leen. It would not be difficult to trace. Out of curiosity I’ll research that tomorrow.

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Phil I think you will find a comprehensive thread on here somewhere.

 

It goes under Edwards Lane near the 5 Ways then along side Valley Road, under Hucknall Road and along the bottom of the High school playing fields and then disappears under the council houses to join the Lean near the footbridge on Vernon road,

 

 

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Yes NBL, I'm certain there's a Day Brook topic somewhere in the annals of here.

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22 minutes ago, NewBasfordlad said:

Phil I think you will find a comprehensive thread on here somewhere.

 

It goes under Edwards Lane near the 5 Ways then along side Valley Road, under Hucknall Road and along the bottom of the High school playing fields and then disappears under the council houses to join the Lean near the footbridge on Vernon road,

 

 

Thanks, it’s clear now. Saves me researching!

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