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Hubby watched your video brought back good memories of visiting with his brother and mum.

We met at goose fair, we were both with friends most of mine were not from nottingham.  We were asked if we would like to go for drink we ended up in the Bleachers Arms, talk about shell shock. Out of that meeting three of us married nottingham lads and all still together.

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Hi Stavertongirl  thanks for telling me about the cakewalk being at Goose Fair,  just a quick story Friday night 8th Oct 1965 the following day was my wedding day, any way all the ladies had just had

When I was about 15 my two friends and I decided we wanted to be at Goose Fair when it ended at midnight (?) on the Saturday.  Another friend (Deirdre) and her brother lived up Sherwood Rise and invit

GOSH!!!!  Goose Fair what memories? age 13/15   used to walk down to the Forest from Robin Hood Chase with my  best friend Wendy Husband . each night Monday till Wednesday, What I here you l

Back in the 50s the lorries weren't allowed on the forest until Monday morning. Thus the previous week saw a gradual build up of multi trailered vehicles at various places around the west of the city.  One favourite lay up was behind the Wheatsheaf pub. At 8am they'd all move off joined by others from their lay-ups and clog up Gregory boulevard, Bobbersmill bridge and with the rush hour traffic totally gridlocked Nuthall rd, Aspley lane. That was changed to allow them access over the weekend before opening on the Thursday. I can remember seeing buses driving over the bridge all the way to Gregory Blvd on the wrong side of the road.

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We can try and vote them out come the council elections next month !

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Goose fair I remember when I was a kid my dad being able to sometimes park on site. Nowadays u can t only disabled parking onsite it has been for a long while .only know this cos have worked the event  in the past on overtime. Usually on the Wednesday while everything setting up go round in vans  etc.. covering up cables wi tarmac on the paths . Which in recent years we ve had spray wi yellow paint so public know they are there.cos some are like good ramps. On grassed areas that’s up to stall or ride holders to cover wi carpet or something.

 

Council also have to put down sand or bark chips if real wet and soggy ground if rains a lot.they also empty the bins on there  litter pick whole place before it opens up each day. 

 

As soon as fairs gone on the Monday council have to clear rubbish off site and tarmac off paths etc.. return it to normal so can open for park and ride to operate again  usually park and ride has to open by the Wednesday when fairs left.

 

Also sometimes sand put down if any spillages like diesel spillages off rides etc..

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At least it's not the quagmire of past years. Recently, they've put down massive aluminium plates, or thick hessian type matting, and it's been loads better. Let's hope for a dry fair.

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I remember in the late 50's - to the early 60's sitting up in bed early in the morning when I lived on Truro Crescent, being able to see between the houses on Churchfield Lane, and see all the lorries, caravans and ancient buses queuing up past the bottom on Bobbers Mill Rd. 

Once they began moving, I knew it was time to get up for my daily torturous existence at FFGS.

Luckily one year, I was off school with some common ailment, and sat up in bed watching the whole procedure. The queue didn't tail off until mid afternoon, and there was still some smaller stuff passing until the following day. 

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Now days you can't stand on the waltzer walkway while it's in operation. You could in the past, which for me was the appeal of the thing. In my adolescent youth we dressed for the occasion; baseball boots, tight blue jeans (not stonewashed or ripped) white T shirt, black leather bomber jacket (collar up), brylcreemed quiff with a few (carefully arranged) strands casually brushing an unfurrowed brow. And to complete the image, a park drive hanging out the corner of the mouth. But that nearly choked me so I opted for an extra wad of gum.

The waltzers sounded thunderous when you stood on the gangway. The slats vibrating through your feet, the balustrade rattling as you leant on it. And the gals on the ride screaming and screaming. And above all this cacophony, through the massive sound system Elvis bellowed out Big Hunk Of Love and King Creole or again Lord Rockingham's Hoots Mon. Another time Red River Rock, Patricia, Paul Anka; Diana, Kalin Twins, When. This was a whole body experience for me, we were young and impressionable.

We only did the fair for 2 or 3 years and moved on but certain songs are, for me, anchored in goose fair's waltzers.

 

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Willow Wilson, love your description of the waltzers at Goose Fair.  I particularly remember Paul Anka's Diana and the Kalin Twins..... They will always remind me of Goose Fair and my youth.  I remember the lads who worked the waltzers would always spin us girls faster so they screamed more.   I would really love to go there again but I suspect it would  be different from my memories and I don't want to spoil them!  And I wouldn't go on the walzer now - it would wreak havoc on my neck and back I think...  

 

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Much fairground equipment trundling up Hucknall Rd this afternoon. Can't wait to get my intake of junk food on Friday night ! 

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You wouldn't get me anywhere near GF, rip-off prices & certainly wouldn't dream of consuming any cooked food from there either. Take a look at some of the scruffy herberts serving food, They wouldn't know the first thing about hygiene regulations  if they jumped up & smacked them on the nose.

The rear of their unit outside is a portable loo.

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Would'nt go now,.......even to take Grandkids.....let their Mam and Dads take em..........i took all mine   their turn now...........My Grandma took me when i was about 4,......still got the photo       i was wearing Leggins with buttons down the side, nice double breasted overcoat and a white knitted Bonnet.....sucking a sucker...........took my lads to the Boxing Booths they used to have..........i was in my thirty's and they tried to get me in the ring, last, 3 rounds you got a fiver (they thought i was hard lol).

                       Also loved it in my teens......the Waltzer........cape walk..........even 'Hook a duck'........then there was the 'strippers' naughty dancing,was watching that one night and realised one of em was my 16yr old cousin.........she swore me to secrecy but still whisper in her ear sometimes, she laughs and says ''you kept my secret'.....but to be honest don't care now bugger em.......lol great Gal now pushing 70.............Yes Goose fare is still great but for me its for the young ones.................

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1 hour ago, benjamin1945 said:

i was wearing Leggins with buttons down the side, nice double breasted overcoat and a white knitted Bonnet.....sucking a sucker...........

I reckon you emerged from the womb looking elegant, our Ben! A proper bobbydazzler as my great uncle George would have said!  ;)

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Today's the day for our Goose Fair to begin. I have just checked the weather for the next few day and it looks promising, occasional showers but nothing serious. Wish we could come over but got to keep stillish for a few days, so have to rely on your write ups for this year. Come on RR, we know your a GF fan, get yer mushy peas daahn yer. I can't make it to the real thing, so I have done a bit of serfin instead. I found this snippet, hope you enjoy it. Take a look at the side shows, the mind bogggggles.Enjoy.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/content/articles/2009/09/23/sydney_race_goose_fair_feature.shtml

 

 

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I got a balloon from the fair when I was about 8. It was clear printed with green vegetation 'growing' up the outside and had a cardboard fish dangling inside on a bit of string. A week or so after the fair ended the balloon was getting deflated and looking a bit sorry for itself and only just able to float. So being a smart boy I knew that gasses expand when heated so I had a spark of genius and tied the balloon to a Dinky car and placed it on the hearth rug near the fire. I then went upstairs and was in my sisters room with her and my mum doing something or other. Suddenly there was an almighty boom and the floor literally jumped. We ran downstairs and were met by the room being filled with a mist of soot and smoke. The hearth was piled with high with soot and the fire out and a cardboard fish laying sadly on the hearth rug. My Dinky car was the opposite side of the room and a decorative vase and plate that had been a wedding present were broken having fallen from the pelmet where we had a curtain dividing the 2 rooms. The next door neighbour was out looking up probably thinking the Russians had dropped a bomb. Unfortunately I wasn't the only one to have a spark that day. It took days to clean up as the soot was everywhere when it settled. I still have the repaired vases on my dresser here at home and always recall blowing the house up when I dust them.

We didn't need the chimney sweep that year.

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1 minute ago, carni said:

Ooh dear,  Letsavagoo,  scary for you at the time, but you gave us a laugh imagining the picture.  Glad it wont the Russians though.:biggrin:

One year I had a really big balloon. It was in the shape of a zepelin about 2 feet long with fins and a gondola you stuck on. Good job it wasn't that one or the roof would have gone.

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Apart from taking the kids when they were little, the last time I went to the fair was 1972. A gang of us left work at Woollies on the Saturday evening, had a session in the Sawyers, walked up the the Black Boy and had a load more, near closing time we decided to nip up to the fair for the last hour or so. I've no idea how we got there but I can remember a great time. Well and truly oiled by then I decided to act like the fairground lads so I was on the Waltzers, standing up leaning back against the bar until I got chucked off. On to the Dodgems where I did the standing up hanging off the bar thingy at the back. Must have looked a right nutter in shirt and tie, dark blue three-piece suit and pocket hankie, nearly as good as benjamin.

Then had to get back home to Trent Bridge in the rain, only a Robin Hood hat for cover, the return journey a blur, only remember stopping at the chippy at the top of Arkwright St that used to stay open till the early hours, eating me mushy peas and chips sat on the kerb. Yes, not a bad night.

 

 

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Ha, ha, TBI. That definitely reminds me of a time in my late teens, when a crowd of tanked up teenagers attended the fair. 

I queued for the Cyclone, and rushed forwards before the machine has stopped, and was hit in the chest by one of the groups of cars coming round from the other side. Other than being winded , I suffered no other damage, other than looking foolish in front of dozens of people. Also, I'd never been on the Big Wheel previously, but went on with my mates. Nothing to it I thought, standing up and leaning against the bar. Years later, I took my eldest daughter on in broad daylight when stone cold sober, and I was terrified.

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Know what you mean, FLY. Over the years I've been on all the latest scary rides at Alton Towers, Disneyland etc, love 'em.. but funny I just can't stand a simple thing like the big wheel. That bit going over the top and the seat swinging forward gets me screaming like a big gel. 

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