Five Days in Notts

 

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Wednesday, 29th May - Sunday, 3rd June (5 Nights) in Nottinghamshire.

Summary: .

Tedious (but very cheap) bus journey from Oxford to Nottingham (Wednesday, 29th May)

Day 82 ~ Oxford to Nottingham. Eventful bus journey. It arrived half an hour late then we had to wait at Birmingham for another half hour before we were told to get off and get on another already half full bus. Four passengers bound for Leicester had to be whisked off (presumably driven directly by cab) to make room. Eventually arrived in Not Not Not Not Nottingham in time for Fish and chips, settling into my next basic abode and then off for a few pints watching Evangalos Marinakis' Olympiakos winning the Europa Conference Final against Fiorentina.

Nice brekkie in the indoor market

Echoes of Mazatlan

First stop in Nottingham - Carrington's Fish & Chips

My Home for four nights - The Igloo Hybrid Ho[s]tel

Very Basic - But Cheap

Mini Pub Crawl

Horrible Pint

Blind Rabbit to watch the Football 

Olimpiacos - First European trophy for Evangalos Marinakis

A Journey I want to forget

Caves of Nottingham then bus back to Kirkby (Thursday, 30th May)

Day 83 ~ All those years I lived in Nottingham and I never even knew about the city's amazing caves. So I'd booked a tour the day before for an early stroll below the city before heading north to Kirkby.

The first challenge was finding the entrance. It's not the most obvious place but with the help of Google Maps I found it eventually.

The tour guide was a bit of a laugh and I must say it was money well spent. Afterwards, I walked across town via the good old Victoria Center seeking nostalgia. I used to do the journey from Nottingham back to Kirkby-in-Ashefield very regularly (maybe twive a month) and the routine of finding and then catching the 84 or the 61 to Mansfield seemed etched into me, even all these years later. Things change though...

No 84 or 61 any more. Now it's "the Threes". It reminded my of Ben Elton's hillarious standup comedy sketch about that back in the late 1990s which included "more names for buses".

"A Wank Tank!"

The journey was a bit intimidating. Sat in front of me was a God Squad guy listening to his bible class. Thanks for letting us all listening in to all that bollocks.

I had to stop on the way to Kirkby and get off to visit my favourite fish & chip shop in Hucknall - the Annesley Road Fish Bar.

Once I arrived back in good old Kirkby I was in the unusual situation with a few hours to kill before popping in to see Jeff & Margaret. So I set off for long walk, taking in old haunts.

The first port of call was Kingsway and Greenacres estate, where I lived until leaving for university.

I popped down to an old haunt, Kingsway Estate, where a few of my first friends lived... Cobby, Hobbsy and lots of other who I admired, such as Andy Shaw and Mark Simpson who I must thank for securing my first ever date, with the very pretty Jane Severn. Needless to say the "date" was a disaster and Jane packed me in a week later!

Then it was time to pay my respects to my dear old mum, who is buried alone in the Kingsway Cemetry. (Dad wanted to have his ashes buried in Alizava, Lithuania). The cemetry backs onto Half-Moon Wood, where I got bit in the eye by a nasty little dog when I was about nine years old, and is next to Kingsway Junior school where, under the expert coaching of Mr Cooper, I made my first (and only ever) appearance as full back for a school team. Mr Cooper, who refereed, substituted me after about 15 minutes, I was so bad. I say, "substituted" - but I'm not actually sure anyone came on to replace me.

Christine Schonherr (1924 - 2002)

After the school, I passed by another nostalgic site - the gate to the path down to Kingsway park, where I spend endless hours trying to improve my football and cricket skills with Cobby, Hilly and a few other lads.

Still further on, down the hill, I passed my first place of work: E. A. Birds, the Butchers - where I worked for five weeks during the summer holiday before going to university. Jobs were so scarce I had to lie to them and tell them I wanted actually learn the trade and become a bucther. Consequently I went in at the bottom of the pile and my first day was spent in the gut room with a "colleague" who more or less threatened me with his very sharp knife. Ninety pigs were slaughtered per hour and after having their hair scraped off them the first part of prok processing was to slit the pig, hung from its hind libs, down the middle, cut out all the digestive tract from thoat to anus and chuck it into our welcoming arms in the appropriately named room.

My job was to literally squeeze the shit out of the small (i.e. long) intestines and then hang them up, presumaby to be collected to make sausages out of. At the end of the batch of pigs, the worst task of all was to take three huge bins full of large intestines down to the "bone hole". There was no lift. Each barrel had to be rocked side-to-side to take it to the smelliest, most fly-infested place I've ever experienced (this was in the summer, remember) and somehow slide the bin down into the stink hole before the next batch of pigs was due to come through.

Past the famous Nag's Head, right in the town centre, I headed for more nostalgia at Kirkby library where I first got my academic leanings.

By the library is a wonderful monument to Harold Larwood, the famous bowler from Nuncargate, bowling to Don Bradman. Bill Voce, another Notts legend, is ready to take the catch.

Then I headed off towards "Old Kirkby" where I was born. But first a quick look at some historical photos of Kirkby-in-Ashfield in the old days by the Nag's Head.

Then...

... and now.

On Station Road, I was pleased to see the site of the first bookshop I ever visited to buy my first ever book, aged five - The Observer's Book of Butterflies. Of course, I bet a book hasn't been sold there for decades.

The first book I ever bought, aged five.

Then, there was a bit of a wierd experience. I walked past Kirkby Railway Station, something that had not functioned in all the years I'd lived in Kirkby but was now gloriously restored.

Past what used to be Kirkby Police Station, I then headed to what used to be called Jeffries, my first Junior School.

It was a very short walk to and from school from my first home, 46 Cookson Street. Every day, I'd walk past Butler's Brothers Bus Company. Amazingly, it's still there today. I once got caught playing truant (or "wagging it" as we used to say) there.

Then, I walked down Greenwood Drive, past the old shop I went into to buy a knife after I decided to run away from home and live on rabbits. I had nearly set the house on fire playing with candles up in the attick and it the only logical response to was to raid my sister's piggy bank, steal her money and then go off and buy a knife. It gradually dawned on me that perhaps this wasn't a good idea though, and as it got darker I went closer and closer to the house until I was found hiding in the shed.

I received a pretty good beating with a rope from dad the next day.

I puffed my first fag here, thanks to being bullied by one of the Appleby borthers.

Then, after passing by my first ever school, I headed to Kirkby Cross and the old Waggon & Horses pub, which we used to frequent when in the sixth form.

Next was Kirkby Cross itself, an old relic from before the industrial revolution, long before Kirkby became a mining town. Then I passed yet another old school I remember going to before sitting down for a well deserved pint in The Duke (of Wellington).

From there I did the quite scary walk down Mill Lane (very narrow lanes and fast moving cars) across to Nucargate, past my Dad's old mine - Bentinck Pit.

I still had a while before Jeff was due to come home from work, so (it's a hard life, I know) I popped into the good old Cricketer's Arms, right by Kirkby Portland Cricket Club, the ground where Harold Larwood himself used to play on. It had long stopped being used and had been used a a farmer's field until a very honourable bunch of gentlemen, I'm proud to say including several good friends, brought it back to life.

Ay up. If it int ar 'Arold!

KPCC - Kirkby Portland Cricket Club

They day finished at the lovely Jeff & Margaret's where I had the honour of having a fine dinner with the ever amazing Phyllis Newcombe. Margaret then very kindly drove me back to Nottingham to end a perfect day.

Nottingham Pub Crawl (Friday, 1st June)

Day 84 ~ Pottering around Nottingham. Nice brekkie and tea with Steffie Richards then a nostalgic walk down to Meadow Lane and the City Ground. 2 pints of 'Snake Eye' in the Trent Navigation where I had a great chat with the Landlord about Forest. Then more Fish & Chips at the Bridgeford Fish Bar. I fancied watching some cricket at Trent Bridge but it was just too cold. So I trundled back to the city. Had another pint in The Barley Twist then back for a snooze before going out again. Popped into Ye Olde Salutation Inn (2nd oldest pub in Nottingham @1240) but didn't stay. Then onto to the good old Trip to Jerusalem (the oldest @1180) for a lovely couple of pints of Old Trip and a surprisingly quiet night reading my Kindle, the latest about convicted felon Trump and doing the Guardian Quick Crossword.

Friday night in Nottingham was always lively and it brought back fond memories to see the girls still going out wearing next to nothing no matter how cold it is!!

Nottingham Pub Crawl (Saturday, 2nd June)

Bell with Jeff (Sunday, 3st June)

Day 86 ~ Boozy lazy day supping wine at The Bell Inn (3rd oldest pub in Nottingham) with my brother (the nearest I can get anyway) Jeff Newcombe. Sunday roast. Pleasure and privilege.

Back to Stroud and back to mi Darlin (Monday, 1st June)

Day 87 ~ Train from Nottingham to the picture postcard Cotswold town of Stroud via Gloucester. Reunited with my sweetheart and then off to Tina and Jan's for a delicious stew and dumplings. Tina then gave me a lovely surprise... a couple of books rescued from the late Phil Smith's house which I must have lent to him twenty years ago. One in particular was very special, a signed copy from Elaine herself.

Finished the day watching England beat Bosnia Herzegovina 3-0.