Five Days in Notts

 

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

Summary: The pilgrimage back to Notts is always near the top of my agends when I go anywhere near England and so it proved again this year. As Leb wanted to spend some quality time with her friends, so did I. My only regret was that this year I was kind of racked with guilt and felt bad about taking my Kirkby mates for granted like some kind of Lord deciding when I was going to return and expecting to be put up. So, instead I opted for cheap accomodation in Nottignham City Center.

The Igloo Hybrid Ho[s]tel was ok and had some very nice and friendly staff and fellow guests, but the room was pretty basic and the opposite of luxurious.

I did spend a day walking around old haunts in Kirkby and then three days doing the same around Nottingham. I didn't go to the University this time though but paid another visit to to Meadow Lane and the City Ground.

Overall, Nottingham did have a rather gloomy feel to it, I must say, and it wasn't as enjoyable a stay as I'd hoped or expected. 

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 had booked a tour yesterday 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 in the world 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 twice a month) and the routine of finding and then catching the 84 or the 61 to Mansfield seemed etched into my memory, even all these years later. It quickly became apparent that things had changed though...

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

"A Wank Tank!"

The journey was a bit irritating, I have to admit. Sat in front of me was a God Squad guy listening to his bible class. Thanks for letting us all listen to all your religious 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 of having a few hours to kill before arranging to pop 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 used to live... Cobby, Hobbsy and lots of others 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. It's also 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 into Kirkby itself, I passed my first ever 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 wasn't going to university but wanted to actually learn the trade and become a butcher. 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 (5 minutes?) 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 attic 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 such 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 on my first fag somewhere around 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 Tour and Solo Pub Crawl (Friday, 31st May)

Day 84 ~ Was another lazy day pottering around Nottingham. It was another bloody cold day - and this was June.

First, I had a nice brekkie and tea with Steffie Richards an old friend of my sister's who I hadn't seen in years. Thanks to the much-maligned Facebook, we had got in touch with eachother and decided to meet up and have a chat about old times.

Then I had another nostalgic walk, this time down past the canal to Meadow Lane and the City Ground. The canal has been cleaned up beyond recognition of what it was like in the 1970s.

Meadow Lane was in the middle of being returfed and having undersoil heating installed. It really is a very impressive ground - and this, remember is a fourth tier club.

After poping in to see the Notts' gound I had a couple of pints of 'Snake Eye' in the Trent Navigation where I had a great chat with the Landlord about Forest. This is the pub of choice to go to before and after matches at WFCG.

I fancied watching some of the women's cricket going on nearby at Trent Bridge but it was just too cold. Not cricket weather.

I poped in to the Robin Hood Club for the first time ever. I must say it was a bit of a disappointment.

Then, I had yet more Fish & Chips at the Bridgeford Fish Bar. Very bice as always.

So rather than getting frost bite watching cricket I trundled back to the city.

I had another pint in The Barley Twist before heading back to my ho[s]tel for a snooze.

Soon enough it was time to go out again. I popped into Ye Olde Salutation Inn (2nd oldest pub in Nottingham @1240) but didn't stay - too many wierdos.

Then after having a selfie with Robin Hood, I did my annual pilgrimage 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 is always lively and it brought back fond memories seeing the young lasses still going out wearing next to nothing no matter how cold it is!!

All this was enjoyable but there was also some news to cheer me up from the world of curent affairs.

Joe Biden, in response to the latest terrorist strikes by Moscovia, finally allowed Ukraine to respond with long range attacks on it's big bullying neighbour. Not strikes on their big cities, Moscow and St Petersburg of course - that would be escalatory - but on military targets inside the evil empire.

And, in other good news, Trump was found guilty of trying to change the result of the 2016 election.

The world looked like it was in safe hands, then. What could possibly go wrong?

Nottingham Pub Crawl with the Kirkby Gentlemen (Saturday, 1st June)

Bell with Jeff (Sunday, 2nd 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.

I had planned to get a bit more nostaligia in on the last day - a visit to the Ukrainian Club where we spent so many happy evenings. But after a bit of Googling I noticed that the place had been sold and taken over by some school, so thwey were unlikely to let me go in and look around anyway.

Having knocked that idea on the head, Jeff and I planned to meet up in the city center and have a nice Sunday roast.

We decided to meet up at The Bell Inn.

After a single beer we hit the wine and easily polished off three bottles of very nice reds, including two Riojas. It was a pleasure and privilege to spend the afternoon with Jeffrey. We eneded up having the roast there. Woy wuncha!? 

Sadly, Jeff had to leave after a couple of hours and I spent the evening pottering around Nottingham on my own.

While I was boozing it up, more bad news was emerging: Clear evidence of Russian interference in European elections.

So ended a nostaligic visit to my favourite city in the world, Nottingham.

I had a good night's sleep ... thinking of catching the train south to Stroud... and mi darlin!

Back to Stroud and back to mi Darlin (Monday, 3rd June)

Day 87 ~ I got up quite early to catch the train from Nottingham to the picture postcard Cotswold town of Stroud via Gloucester. I love travelling by train and it was a much more pleasant journey than the one from Oxford on the bus. I changed at Gloucester and then straight through to Stroud.

Notts Financial Summary

My five days in Notts was a relatively inexpensive part of the journey, largely because my accomodation, the Igloo Hybrid Ho[s]tel only cost $440 for five nights. Of course, I'm riddled with guilt about not staying with my friends in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, but I wanted to kind of make a statement that I wasn't just taking them for granted as I always stay with them whenever I go to this part of the world. I got told off for doing that and I probably won't do it again.

I should point out that here "luxury" means "ale".

Notts Mood Summary

Of course, I had a happy time in Notts - the second highest good mood avergae so far - but, to be honest, it wasn't as great as I'd hoped. I was sad separating from Leb again so soon for a start and I definitely regretted staying at a dive in Nottingham City Center rather than staying at friends in Kirkby. Nottingham itself seems to have gone downhill since I was last there and I felt a bit sad and lonely on three of my four pub crawls.

The day in Kirkby was great, even though I felt very bad about leaving my jacket at Tom's, requiring Margaret to have to drive me there to pick it up and then give me a lift back to Nottingham. That wasn't the plan at all. The next day, bimbling around Meadow Lane and the World Famous City Ground was a good one though and the final booze ups at the weekend with the Kirkby gentlemen were, of course, wonderful.

Notts Booze Summary

Talking of booze, apart from those two days spent with the Kirkby "lads" (think: old men in their 60s) I was surpised (and quite proud) to calculate that I was actually reasonably modest in my drinking. The two "skinfull and a half"s though meant that I averaged more than 100g of alcohol per day for the time I was there. Only to be expected, I suppose.

So, with now almost 21 days spent in blighty, the UK had become the #1 country visited in terms of time spent. Notts, despite being a boozy place for me, it still only reached 2nd place in the alcohol league and, perhaps not coincidentally, #2 in terms of good moods too. In terms of expenses, Notts was the 2nd cheapest place so far.

Next stop for me... Stroud and back with mi darlin.

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