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My father always refered to th A60 between Redhill and the edge of Mansfield as the Mansfield "Ramper", was this a common description or was it a Mansfield description (dad came from Mansfield) or was it just my Dad. I assume ramper ment that you could drive fast!

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My understanding is that the name originally derived from that long straight, with a considerable dip and climb outs (ramps?) at either end, around Harlow Wood.

The name then evolved to cover all of the route...

Reckon that Stu, our resident A60 specialist, will be more precise.

Cheers

Robt P.

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As Kids we used to Cycle along the Ramper to Newstead Abbey from Bulwell through Bestwood and Papplewick and stop at the Halfway House for Ice Cream etc. Later in life we would eat at the " Berni Inn " ( Forget the name of the Pub ).

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After my Dad got a car we went to relatives in Mansfield from Bulwell through Bestwood & Papplewick up to the ramper then on to Mansfield, there was a tree at a road junction after Newstead Abbey that my Dad called the Table top tree, it was cut flat at the top.

Sometimes we went to Mansfield via Hucknall and Annesley past the top of "Mutton Hill" and on to the A60 just south of Mansfield Cemetry, many of my relatives in there.

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The tree is still there, its at the junction of Ricket lane. Berni Inn could have been the Hutt at Ravenshead.

You got it " The Hutt "

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I lived in a home situated alongside the A60 at Redhill for many years and still live just off it. Rob's explanation concurs with my understanding of the name and that was the same clarification I was given by my late parents. I used to hear the description 'Ramper' in the 1960's growing up in Redhill and maybe a little later, but I think it largely died away with that generation of adults. I don't remember when I last heard it. I'd often hear the then Trent bus drivers on the Nottingham-Mansfield route use the expression at that time too.

A few points:

The Halfway (or Seven Mile) House is still there but now unused as far as I can see. A building firm took over the property latterly and used it as office premises but that is some time ago now. The Seven Mile carvery next door appears to do a healthy trade.

The Hutt was a Berni Inn I'm sure. It's now part of the Chef and Brewer chain which includes locally The Travellers Rest on Mapperley Plains and The Wheatsheaf at Burton Joyce.

As Den says, the flat topped tree is still there and I walk past it occasionally heading across the A60 from Ricket Lane into Little Ricket Lane and onto the footpath giving free right of way into the Newstead Abbey grounds from the B6020 Kirkby Road. I have seen an advertising board for a local B & B hanging from it and made the assumption that it is tended that way by that business.

The 'Ramper' is still well served by buses, namely Trent Barton's 'Pronto' which travels between Nottingham Victoria Centre and Mansfield/Chesterfield. A stop directly outside Newstead Abbey gates still offers an option of a pleasant walk up to the Abbey of around 1.8 miles.

Finally there was another nice thread on here about Bessie Shepherd's Stone at the side of the A60 near the Portland College. More info HERE which might also offer something about the term 'Ramper' given a peruse.

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The seven mile house was so called because it was supposedly exactly 7 miles from both mansfield and Nottingham. they used to sell amazing ice creams there. its just at the junction with the road that leads to Burntstump (bunnstump)Hill. It was sold a few years ago and was the offices, as mentioned before, for Standen Homes (i think these are in the process of going bust so not sure if its still the same). The large eatery next door is called 'Seven Mile'.

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I didn't know the A60 much from the road to Papplewick from Mansfield to Redhill. I did go to Sherwood Lodge when it was the NCB Divisional HQ. and went up Burntstump Hill a few time en route to Calverton Colliery from Cinderhill.

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on Mansfield, there was a tree at a road junction after Newstead Abbey that my Dad called the Table top tree, it was cut flat at the top.

The tree was still there early 90s, may still be there?

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A Mansfield estate agent, Arthur Holder (used) to live in a house opposite the Table Top Tree. He wasn't short of a bob or two and his gardeners used to trim the tree. I doubt he's still alive and wonder if any relatives survive him there, however someone still trims the tree.

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  • 7 years later...

Ramper’

The main road ( A60) from the outskirts of Nottingham to Mansfield is known locally as the ‘Ramper’.

Originally a straight stretch of that road, just through a section called Harlow Wood with a long dip and a rise out at either end . Over time Ramper came to mean the whole route, Nottingham out to Mansfield.

In Harlow Wood is a spot named Ramper Covert. Covert a much older useage, meaning a thicket with small trees and bushes where animals could hide from huntsmen or other animals.

Ramper has an older lineage . Rampen in middle english( post Norman conquest, 1066) probably coming across with the invaders. Prior to that an older French word is Ramper, meaning to rear or to rise up and the origin of that is Germanic.
 

The Ramper’ was used as a high speed Brough Superior Works test route. The straightest part is some 2.5 miles long. Ron Storey used to take it when testing a works rebuilds , sometime accompanied by Barry Robinson. Test runs on rebuilt machines always included a full bore run, as the customer would expect a ‘proper job’ had been done.

I seem to remember Barry Robinson saying the works also used it for testing factory race jobs pre-war. They would station men at each end to watch for incoming traffic and the police , & when the all clear was given then a flat out test would commence.

Barry Robinson and Ron Storey at the Vernon Road  Brough Superior works in 1954 after a test run on two rebuilt  Matchless engined SS100

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My dad used to talk about the Ramper.

There is some early NS info on the Ramper https://nottstalgia.com/forums/topic/8444-nottingham-to-mansfield-a60/

Also, this which I found ages ago and just re-discovered https://nottinghamhiddenhistoryteam.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/tales-from-the-mansfield-road-the-leeds-mail/

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