nonnaB 4,893 Posted December 27, 2015 Report Share Posted December 27, 2015 Tug. What a lovely man he was. He took my husband under his wing when he found out he was married to a colleagues daughter. ( me) I think my mum still has a photo of dad with Tug and someone else a bit on the portly side . They all stood taking the micky out of him. I'm going to see my mum Jan 1st so I'll ask her for it if she remembers where it is. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FLY2 10,108 Posted December 27, 2015 Report Share Posted December 27, 2015 He was still a copper when all said and done. He infringed upon my fun and pranks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted January 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Another Icon gone! Geoff Baker Partner to Tug Wilson has now joined his former colleague to patrol on high. Real Policemen of the day. RIP Geoff From a reliable source... Geoff partnered Tug Wilson & carried King George V1 coffin as pall bearers, as Grenadier Guardsmen. Both were on a Grenadier Guards recruiting drive in Nottingham when Captain Popkess the the Chief Constable heard about them, & sent the recruiting Sgt George Scott (father of Mount Everest climber Doug Scott) to collect them both to Captain Popkess's Office at City Police HQ, & told the pair of them that he wanted them to come into the City police as soon as possible. Obviously they both did, & the rest is history. They were both the exact size 6' 8 & 1/2 " tall. Both were on Central Division & much later Geoff went to Southern Division as a beat Cop & a special push bike was made for him by Raleigh bicycles with was very tall with 28" wheels & a double horizontal cross bars were fitted. several years later l bought this bike from the Police Authority, & l still have it. Geoff's Funeral is on Friday 5th February 2016. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted January 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Dan Hyndman (1940s Uniform) and Geoff Baker. 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mercurydancer 1,104 Posted January 30, 2016 Report Share Posted January 30, 2016 Oddly enough I cannot remember Geoff Baker at all. I must have met him at some point. Anyway, End of Watch Officer. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,267 Posted September 17, 2016 Report Share Posted September 17, 2016 Reading this thread has reminded me of many years ago when I was a teenager and worked for a firm of Nottingham solicitors. In charge of the general office was a lovely chap named Walter Riley. who was a retired Nottingham police officer and had a number of tall tales to tell about his experiences prior to the Second World War. By the time I knew him, he was retired and working for the same firm as myself on a part time basis.  Mr Riley, as we all called him, had broken off his police service during the Second World War to serve in the army and had been taken prisoner by the Japanese. He rarely spoke about his experiences but I do know that during his internment in the Japanese prison camp, he had suffered beri beri and, for the rest of his life, was skeletally thin. This, combined with his more than 6 feet in height, gave him quite a gaunt and forbidding appearance but, in fact, he was a very cultured man with a wonderful sense of humour and a great person to know.  I recall him telling me about his very first arrest which was made on Parliament Street before the Second World War. He was patrolling on foot late one evening and noticed a rare passing car which was being driven erratically along the road. PC Riley as he then was, flagged down the vehicle and brought it to a halt. He then asked the driver to get out of the car and noted that he was so drunk, he could hardly stand up. Feeling very proud of himself, P C Riley  arrested the driver for being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle. It was his first arrest but was also almost the end of his police career when he discovered later that evening that the man he had arrested was a very high ranking police officer who was on his way home from a party!  I also recall Mr Riley regaling us with tales of the mortuary which was, at that time, somewhere in The Park in Nottingham. As a new Constable, he was assigned to this particular beat and some of his colleagues draped themselves in sheets, leaping out at him from behind poorly lit buildings, bearing in mind that this was the era of gas lamps and thick fog. Mr Riley said he always hated having to go into the mortuary because on one occasion, he had been speaking to one of the morticians when he noticed a body, covered with a sheet on a table behind him, starting to sit up slowly. PC Riley stood frozen to the spot with fear and it was only when the mortician noticed the young copper's eyes standing out on stalks that he turned around to see what on earth was upsetting him. "Oh, don't worry about that," said the mortician, turning around and pushing the corpse back down again. "They often do that when they've not been dead very long!"  Also working for the same firm was Mr Jack Downes, who was, again, retired from the police after serving his 30 years and used to deal with all our road traffic offences in court. He was also an absolute gentleman and pleasure to work with but sadly died very suddenly before his 60th birthday. I remember attending his funeral at Wilford Hill in 1976 and vividly recall the Guard of Honour from the police who carried his coffin into and out of the chapel. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted September 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2016 I dont remember a mortuary in The Park, perhaps The Ropewalk? NGH? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NewBasfordlad 3,599 Posted September 17, 2016 Report Share Posted September 17, 2016 Back in the early 60s with EMGAS we went to most mortuaries as they had quite a few over sink heaters as back up to their main hot water supply, like you Mick I don't remember one in the Park. I would of thought the police in those days would have been more associated with Leenside. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,435 Posted September 17, 2016 Report Share Posted September 17, 2016 The mortuary on Leenside gets a lot of mentions starting at #13 in this thread. Â https://nottstalgia.com/forums/topic/12893-canal-street-london-road-roundabout/#comment-318618 Â Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TBI 2,351 Posted September 17, 2016 Report Share Posted September 17, 2016 The General Hospital mortuary may have had access from one of the Park roads, Lenton Rd perhaps? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Coaster 1 Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 Just after Tug died there was a move to put some sort of memorial to him in the OMS.  However, nobody thought to ask his widow if she approved.  I lived just round the corner from Tug and his widow appeared at my door in floods of tears because of this.  She thought that any memorial would be desecrated by the local yobs and I think she was right.  Incidentally, not all ex City men were guardsmen.  In fact very few were.  We were all ex servicemen though apart from the few who had been cadets. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sherri Phillips 5 Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 My partner who came from Nottingham and his brother Roger knew Tug and had a chat with him and had always said that he was a great man in many ways. Â Although I come from Portsmouth I am always fond of listening about Tug and can understand why he was respected and feared at the same time. Â Just a shame that we lost such a great man as I would liked to have met him and shake his hand and would be great to stand next to him as im only 5'1 and Tug being at a great height of 6'8 though am used to standing next to my brother-in-law as he is 6'5 and a half 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
radfordred 6,284 Posted June 30, 2017 Report Share Posted June 30, 2017 If Owd Tug had been around today imagine the selfies! Â 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sherri Phillips 5 Posted July 1, 2017 Report Share Posted July 1, 2017 Totally love the pic of Tug radfordred I have a copy of the pic myself and want to get it enlarged. Â 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sherri Phillips 5 Posted August 8, 2017 Report Share Posted August 8, 2017 When Tug Wilson and PC Geoff Baker just joined the force  2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
radfordred 6,284 Posted May 14, 2018 Report Share Posted May 14, 2018 Spotted while sat outside Ned Ludd on Friar Lane ..... he's a big lad? Â Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LizzieM 9,497 Posted May 14, 2018 Report Share Posted May 14, 2018 Wonder how fast he can run to catch a criminal ....... 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sunny Day 1 Posted June 11, 2019 Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 Comments about 6 ft are spot on. Nottingham City Force - proud 6 foot plus. Even at 71 years still 6'3"" - ex Pc547 (Sonny) 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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