Hempshill Lane Bulwell, 'Sankey's Tip' and Fun in the 1960s


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It's all about where to start really!

I think that first off it's necessary to point out that Hempshill Lane as it is now, bears scant resemblance to Hempshill Lane back then.

Back in the 1960s, Hempshill Lane ran from Boowul Main St., to the Northern Cemetery.

(Maybe Kev can find a map for us.. I'm hopeless at that stuff.)

These days.. I'm not sure where Hempshill Lane goes anymore...

 

So.. back then... In the 1950s.. my Maternal Grandmother's Brother. (My Great Uncle. I think.) .Had a small Grocer's shop on the corner of Hempshill Lane and Coventry Road, Bulwell..which stretched out to fill the space between Hempshill Lane and Buckingham Street. The name was Chamber's.

Directly opposite their shop and house, was  the Black Horse pub.. which was permanently closed..even back then. 

Further up Hempshill Lane towards the Cemetery, on the right.. was the old Lord Nelson pub. That's almost the first pub where I drank regularly...though I think it was slightly preceded by the Horse Shoe Inn, next to Boowull Bogs.

We accessed the same pub from its back entrance in Buckingham Street.

 

It's worth a diversion here..  We were ALL under age, but we were friends with the Landlord's son..  We were allowed into one back room only.. and whilst the lads could buy pints within reason.. the girls were only allowed Cider. by the 1/2 pint bottle.  I never quite understood that.  Cider, even then, was generally as strong as, or more than.. Beer.  And TBH.. most of it was barely drinkable...

But.. we had a lot of fun.. Youngsters barely beyond adolescence started to find their feet.. (and other places... :rolleyes:) and our behaviour by current standards was pretty innocent.

There were also a few more serious incidents in that pub which showed up old outdated attitudes and which I really wouldn't want to dredge up now.

 

Next along from Buckingham Street, was Greasley Street.  Attractively named... As I recall it was a mixture of elderly terraced housing, and industry. I myself worked there briefly at 'R&GPoyser, Mining Engineers'.  Bit of a hoot really. I may come back to that. and my time there.. but.. moving on..

 

At the top of Greasley Street was an abandoned railway embankment, which ran from somewhere (?) towards the old Sankey's Plant Pot Factory.  There was a stone built archway/tunnel which ran under the railway embankment and emerged onto the famed 'Sankey's Pad',

 

Right.. that's enough excitment for one night..  off to bed. the lot of you.. and if you behave I'll tell you more tomorrow.. :laugh:

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DJ it appears you misspent your early years in the same places as me. I had several friends who lived on Hempshill Lane and Buckingham Road, one of them on the right hand side of the lane next to the railway Bridge. We often drank in the Lord Nelson we had to be careful in there as my mates dad was a regular in there. Further up the Lane was the coffin makers factory where another friend worked, did you ever walk all the way up the lane and onto the Three Ponds at Nuthall on summer evenings and also spend time at the Bulwell youth Club. Such great memories of our youth.

I have attached a map of the area, it hasnt as much on I would like but my laptop skills are not that good.

 

 

hempshill-lane.gif

 

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My sister in law lives on Greasley street DJ. If you two are familiar with that area, you must remember Whittles garage, which was on Coventry road. My Uncle Ken was foreman there. In the mid sixties, both my dad and I used to drive for them. Mentioned it before but Whittles was bought out by my Uncle and Frank Fisher, who had a scrap yard/garage up the industrial bit of that area.;(can't recall if it was Hempshill vale or Greasley street.

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3 hours ago, trogg said:

I have attached a map of the area, it hasnt as much on I would like but my laptop skills are not that good.

 

Trogg, it doesn't appear to have anything on it at all. Have you been fiddling with your Postimage account after you posted the map ?

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10 hours ago, DJ360 said:

I think that first off it's necessary to point out that Hempshill Lane as it is now, bears scant resemblance to Hempshill Lane back then. Back in the 1960s, Hempshill Lane ran from Boowul Main St., to the Northern Cemetery.

 

So.. back then... In the 1950s.. my Maternal Grandmother's Brother. (My Great Uncle. I think.) .Had a small Grocer's shop on the corner of Hempshill Lane and Coventry Road, Bulwell..which stretched out to fill the space between Hempshill Lane and Buckingham Street. The name was Chamber's. Directly opposite their shop and house, was  the Black Horse pub.. which was permanently closed..even back then.  Further up Hempshill Lane towards the Cemetery, on the right.. was the old Lord Nelson pub. 

 

All of those streets are marked on here, in the early 60s.

 

BN5V53x.jpg

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Thanks for that CT a much clearer map , I can see my map on Nottstalgia and I havent done anything onPostimage, as I said my skills are limited. I can browse the internet and visit Amazon regularly which is as much as I need. When my laptop goes its own way my grandson sorts it out for me.

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Can I correct an error on my last post. My S-i-L lives on Gilead at.not Greasley st. There used to be a little grocers shop opposite Whittles garage and the lady who ran it used to make some lovely faggots. She sometimes brought a couple in a little basin over to us, while they were still hot. I can only remember her as Hazel.  Not that anyone's interested.

PS. Didn't Henry Mellors used to have winter quarters on Greasley street, for some of his fairground rides?

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Beekay just jarred another piece of my memory,Mellors fairground he used to park some of his equipment behind my fathers garage at Watnall,he bought his fuel from us and we did some repairs for him i remember working on an austin loadstar lorry all painted in fairground colours. Dad always said CASH ONLY.       I remember when i was a child i would walk down Hempshill Lane from Nuthall it was a nice walk through the country side, i think that has all changed now.

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In 1955 my dad took me on one of his mystery cycle rides. Nuthall rd to Cinderhill Island, under the rail bridge and up the old 610 Nottingham Road which runs to the west of the now Nuthall pub. About 60 yards past the now Houghton close there was a footpath (still there) which went east across the open fields (before the dual carriageway was built) about the same alignment as the (new) Armstrong Rd and then ran through the south of the cemetery. Apart from the cemetery it was all empty fields then as i remember, no Crabtree etc. I guess it was the path shown on the map above which ended at Greasley st.

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Wow!!.  I've 'ardli sed owt yet and yer all chippin' in wi yer memris. :)

Thanks to Kev for the map and to Mick (Trogg) for trying.

I'm a bit intrigued by that map because there are no pubs marked on it. It looks to me as if all the buildings 'blocked out' in black are public buildings/amenities or churches. 

A correction from me.  My (Great)uncle's shop and house, including an old bake house used mostly for storage and my cousin's  1st floor 'Den' actually occupied that portion of Coventry Rd between Hempshill Lane and Lambley St.  The abandoned Black Horse pub was directly opposite.

Also, if you look on the map, there is no detail between the various streets off Coventry Road, and the railway line leading to Sankey's Plant Pot factory. Also no sign of 'Sankey's Pad'.That area was mostly occupied by industry of one sort or another, including, I was recently reminded, the old McCarthy's Brick Factory.  They used local sand and lime to make those white bricks used for internal walls. I wonder if they were rendered obsolete by Breeze Block? Somebody on here will know. I recall a visit to that factory from Henry Whipple Primary School some time in the 50s.

 

In the 1950s, I used to get dragged to my Great Uncle's shop by my Mum..and we'd pick up some groceries.   I'd occasionally get sweets and I remember getting a couple of oz. of 'Ducks Peas and Potatoes.' Basically pure sugar and colouring, but I enjoyed them. One Saturday morning we'd wandered along the Leen, by the old footbridge.. and I'd managed to put a foot in the water.  My wet woollen sock was draped over a cold radiator in the shop for the few minutes we were there... Not much help.  Later.. I used to get sent to the phone box in Eardley Rd. Bestwood Est.. to relay our grocery order to my Uncle by the 'wonder of modern telecommunications'. (Press Button A..etc..) He would turn up on a Friday night to deliver the stuff. He had a CAR!!!

It was several years later when I found that a good friend at High Pavement also came from Boowul.. and his parents also had a Grocery Shop.. further down Coventry Road towards Cinderhill.  It just happened that he and his elder brother were friendly with my cousin from 'our' Grocery shop.. and I soon found myself in the company of a whole gang of 'Boowull folk'... One other had a Dad who had a Fishing Tackle shop and another had a Dad who had a pub... Things were looking up!  But in all honesty I have no idea how those little grocery shops survived as long as they did.  They were literally a couple of hundred yards away from Boowull Main Street and the Market.  They didn't last much longer.

Eventually.. I may get around to discussing what I started this thread for...

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11 hours ago, Beekay said:

Can I correct an error on my last post. My S-i-L lives on Gilead at.not Greasley st. There used to be a little grocers shop opposite Whittles garage and the lady who ran it used to make some lovely faggots. She sometimes brought a couple in a little basin over to us, while they were still hot. I can only remember her as Hazel.  Not that anyone's interested.

 

 

I'm interested BK!!

I called my long time friend Tony yesterday. I explained that I was starting this thread but my memory is fading. He was raised on Kett Street and it was his Dad who had the Fishing Tackle shop.  He knew Boowull better than me because although my Mum and much of my family came from there..and I visited a lot.. I was mostly brought up on Bestwood Est.  I'm quite schizophenic now.. But I digress.. I'm sure Tony mentioned something about Faggots.  I must call him again.

 

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Nice map Mick! The pubs are named :rolleyes:

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10 hours ago, DJ360 said:

I'm a bit intrigued by that map because there are no pubs marked on it. It looks to me as if all the buildings 'blocked out' in black are public buildings/amenities or churches. 

Also, if you look on the map, there is no detail between the various streets off Coventry Road, and the railway line leading to Sankey's Plant Pot factory.

 

I grabbed a map to show the wider area in general; the alternative is to show more detail but over a smaller area.

 

Trogg has now solved the problem by providing the missing detail.

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I'm grateful for both maps.  I'm hopeless at finding them.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hempshill Lane. 

Adventure No.1.

We were all up on Sankey's Pad..as usual.  We generally hung around where the little tunnel under the abandoned railway, which ran from the top of Greasley Street, met Sankey's Pad. My cousin Pete whose Dad had the shop opposite the Black Horse,  was not allowed to have a 'Road Bike', but he did have a very early BSA 350cc 'Gold Star', motorbike, with a 'ZB' series engine. I think it dated from the late 1940s. The bike had no lights, or anything else much.. just engine, frame and two wheels.  (I think the last ones in the late 60s were the 'DBD' series', but I may be talking rubbish.  It's been known.)

 

Anyway.. Pete would wheel this un-taxed, uninsured bike from his house, up Greasley Street..and onto Sankey's Pad.  Once up there he would normally 'fire it up' and ride up and down the path, occasionally straying onto 'Sankey's Tip', or up onto the cinder topped abandoned railway embankment.

 

On this occasion, someone had found an old tin bath, and it occured to us that this could be towed behind Pete's bike , carrying a passenger...

The first trip was a huge success except that the passenger.. (I don't recall quite who that was..) reported severe heating of his posterior..which would explain the showers of sparks emanating from the back end of the Tin Bath...

The problem was soon solved, because the bottom fell out of the tin bath, and subsequent passengers had to adopt a different approach.

 

A large flat rock was placed inside the bath, which by now was just a bottomless rim. The unfortunate passenger would perch his bum on the rim of the back of the bath. while keeping his feet on the rock.

It was only a matter of time before  the inherent instability of this approach became apparent, and the whole assembly fell apart, with bath, rock and passenger each taking their own route to disaster.

Fortunately nobody died.  :)

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  • 2 months later...

Hempshill Lane.

Adventure No. 2.

 

In which my intrepid cousin Pete.... further explored the limits of both the performance of his illegal BSA 350 Gold Star, his own motorcycling skills, and his Dad's Wellies. :).

 

We had all, as per custom... been hanging around that part of 'Sankey's Pad' which connected with Greasley St via the tunnel under the abandoned railway.  Pete turned up with his '350 Goldie'.  Even though it wasn't a 'road bike'.. I admired it enormously.. It had two wheels, a frame, a seat and most of all..an engine! As a 14/15 year old schoolie...I had no chance of acquiring such a thing.. I was very jealous.

 

Pete rode up onto the railway embankment. By now it was denuded of rails or sleepers and just had its cinder base. 

 

After zooming up and down the length of the embankment a few times.. Pete then decided to start running in circles atop the bank.. I don't recall what the Clarksons of this world call that... but it created a deep circular furrow and ridge in the top of the banking.

 

 Pete then decided to ride off along the embankment for a few hundred yards before attempting to use the furrow and ridge to launch himself and his bike into a graceful and mighty leap.

 

Sadly, Pete got the lift.... but not the direction....

 

He and his motorcycle plummeted off the edge of the embankment into a veritable morass of brambles and nettles on the side of the bank next to some factory. We managed to recover him... alive but somewhat chastened... and abraded...

 

However.. his Dad's Wellies.. which he had borrowed for the occasion without permission.. were punctured... right through...:ohmy:

 

His fear of reprisals was palpable... yet by some miracle he survived..

 

Youth?  Wasted on the young..:laugh:

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Is "Sankey's pad" on Sellars wood road, where the kids have a track for BMXing. When we lived up there it was just a contoured wasteground the kids had turned into a track. I believe it's a more established area now, with starting gates etc.

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Good spot Beekay.  I think you are right.  Although Hempshill Lane has been split into two and sort of partly replaced by Crabtree.. the area you have identified isn't far off..and Sellar's Wood does appear t follow the old Sankey's Pad from Hempshill along to Nottm Outlaws BMX Club. There even seems to still be a narrow path from the top of Greasley Street following the line of the old path through the tunnel under the railway bank... though it now looks like a urfaced crossing. There's a 'Sankey's Drive' close by which is no doubt a nod to the old Sankey's Plant Pot factory.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Northern+Cemetery/@52.9988232,-1.2053303,671m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4879ea8707bc7d5d:0x28c3819c55ccf15a!8m2!3d52.9986018!4d-1.2086999

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Just had a look at your link Col. That BMX track looks rather fancy, with the concrete banks and curves etc. And I  also noticed the Lord Nelson pub has disappeared. We used to hold our CB club meetings in there on Wednesday nights. 

I remember there used to be an alleyway from the stonemasons, opposite Bulwell cemetery, that ran right down to Greasley St. It was interesting seeing the house we lived in, before moving to Sussex. It all looks totally different now, with trees growing everywhere. To be honest though, I'm not sure I would want to live up there now.

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Great post COL.............Just spent nearly an hour in Bulwell on the google you posted.......even saw me old mates in Wetherspoons...been months now since being in my lovely Bulwell...and all the ''EY-UP Ben's me ode mate''' and all the Ladies i had many ''Titters'' with............aah  ''When will i see you again''  CARNIE.............

 

EDIT......Nearly forgot,,,i walked from Bulwell Market up the Footpath with me ''Dear old Dad'' to Bulwell Cemetery to see me Mam and many others.............

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Reading all these post makes me feel very much a 'newbie' but the calendar tells me that in two weeks time we will have live just off Hempshill Lane for 35 years so Thanks for the history lesson. I had never heard of the Black Horse before DJ360's post but just this evening whilst catching up on some FB notifications this pic. came up!                                                          Pub-Hemp-lane.jpg

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