Cafes on Mansfield Road


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Yeah.....And MacArthur park by Richard Harris got a lot of play when we were broke...'cos it lasted over seven minutes.

So it was you that used to keep playing that dreadful record, I hated it so much at the time, still do, you must have persued me round every cafe and pub in Nottingham in the 60's. There used to be a reject button on the back of the jukebox in Wollaton Park cafe, if someone put MacArthur Park on, we would sneak over and press the button.

Sorry to digress, I remember the Bamboo well, it was one of those places where when you were about 15 and in our case, couldn't get away with getting served in a pub, seemed a good alternative to being able to sit and observe life, the universe and everything and try to be cool without being thrown out.

Just as an aside, I thought you might like to see this, my grandfathers shop on Mansfield Road, I know it was in the area of the Bamboo, somewhere opposite Huntingdon Street, near the old Trumans Garage, no relation. Off the top of my head, I think it was 117, but I can't remember, though I can find out. Anyway the pic was taken about 1925, thats grandad in the doorway, he died soon after and the business was shut down.

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The billboard with ET on it intrigues me.

Actually, I've never put this picture on the computer before, it's quite fascinating to magnify some of the stuff and look at it in detail, I didn't realise that most of it related to betting and horse racing.

If any of you wish to download it and magnify things, I'm quite happy for you to do that.

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2 things I remember from memories in this posting, Re Mr Gordon, we had one at Claremont 1960, think 1st name Keith but known to one and all as Flash! Only young and bald as a billiard ball, later taught at Ellis where he organised a band M15 with him singing, used to play at Basford Social and we'd go and take the **** out of them, Mention of juke boxes also brings a memory, We'd tried to go to Scotland 1970 on motorbike, got as far as doncaster and crank pin broke! left bike at a cafe on A1 and picked up later in week,believe it or not in back of A35 car (snapped the sill doing it) Anyway whilst at cafe we had a couple of tea's and my mate kept putting House of the rising sun by Frigid Pink on juke box, after about 4 times one after the other, a Scottish lorry driver who bore distinct resemblence to Desperate Dan and sat next to speaker having his dinner sort of had a fit and shook juke box growling something like "Grr that's enough o tha f******* row hoots mon the noo etc" (imagine it from bearded ginger man mountain and in scots gutteral accent!!!) exit gingerly 2 young bikers!

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scan0007-4.jpg

Best photo of the month!

Off course cash betting was not allowed in the 20's but shops like this may have taken credit bets. The bill boards seem to advertise "bookmakers successes". E.T. may have been a bookmaker as did the other billboards.

Fascinating! Any more?

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  • 6 months later...

Very few Newsagents would risk accepting illegal bets from customers but they often sold weekly tips (on commission) in little sealed envelopes supplied by tipsters such as E.T.

E.T. is boasting of large SP wins that he has previously tipped. Another tipster, Harry Hall has his own wins on another placard

"E.T." is probably an abbreviation for something like "Early Tissue" - (a tissue was the printed list of runners that the bookmaker puts on his board with the odds in chalk against each runner).

P.S. It's a wonderful photograph capturing a lost moment in time.

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And loads of sewing patterns !! I love the one with a 'flapper' on it saying "Homemade Hats"

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Coffee Bars! Brilliant, especially if they had a Jukebox. Went to the 49 and the Toreador when I went to the Tech in the early sixties (very early 60s!).

Oh the joys of frothy coffee! In those days it seemed to me that pubs were for grownups who played darts and/or drank Cherry Bs. Oh, except for the Sal!

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  • 1 month later...

The billboard with ET on it intrigues me.

Actually, I've never put this picture on the computer before, it's quite fascinating to magnify some of the stuff and look at it in detail, I didn't realise that most of it related to betting and horse racing.

If any of you wish to download it and magnify things, I'm quite happy for you to do that.

I was reading a book of old Nottingham tales and came across the name of a local horse racing tipster known as 'Tommy Tittlemouse'. Now I remember my mum using this name when I was a kid and I wonder if anyone else has heard of it?

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Yes heard of him from dad in 1950's, another thing I recall at Mablethorpe same era was "Billy's Weekly Liar" like 2 paper newspaper full of spoofs, I remember the headline of the one I saw was "Skeleton Found Dead On Beach"

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