Category Archives: Nottingham

A Day with Few Results

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After a day which produced very little in the way of results, I prepared the soup pan, set it going and sat down to read blogs before writing. I had just come to the end of the reading when the alarm went off. Time to do combat now – just me, a pan of mushrooms and a hand blender. I will be back later to write the rest of the post.

Back now. The soup was more watery than usual, which was actually good, as it is usually too thick. I added a sprinkle of dried Italian herbs tonight, which added to the flavour, and all was good. We then finished off the mixed fruit crumble Julia had made at the weekend with the last of the cream (it had lasted for three meals, which is quite good).

Northamptonshire Red Cross fundraising flag. Quite dull, as it has the same thing on both sides.

During the day I gave Julia a lift to the dentist, went to visit a couple of friends in their shop and, I confess, did very little until it was time to make soup. Julia is much the same. We are blaming it on our slow recovery from Covid. Next week we are hoping to be more active. But next Wednesday I have a blood test, a Shingles vaccination and a day at work. It is going to be more active whether I like it or not.

I’m already starting to think about my display for the Numismatic Society next month. The photos are some that I have taken to illustrate the display.

The one below is a better example – no rust on the pin, for one thing, plus it has a date and a location on it. In a collecting area which is bereft of reference material, this is important stuff.

Reverse

Obverse

Twenty Minutes in a Car Park

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While Julia queued to buy her blood pressure machine, I had twenty minutes to amuse myself in a car park. It is on Mansfield Street, in case you couldn’t guess. It is actually known as Hall St car park because that is where the entrance is. If I’d thought, I would have taken a shot of the Hall St sign instead.

Hall St, Sherwood, Nottingham

Hall St, Sherwood, Nottingham

The purple shop on the left of the shot sells New Age stuff. I’m not quite clear on what it actually does as it’s not the sort of place I’d be tempted to enter. I’m not criticising anyone, or their beliefs, but like sky-diving and colonic irrigation I just know it’s not for me.

The flats at the back are built on the site of the old Sherwood Station, part of the Nottingham Suburban Railway. It was not a successful railway, being expensive to build and never really getting into its stride.

Sherwood, Nottingham
Sherwood, Nottingham
Cat at Sherwood

It’s a nicely presented building with a great painting of a cat on it. Several other local buildings are also decorated, I really should make an effort to photograph them.

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Closed Gym

The Gym, now closed for the duration of the virus outbreak, used to be a supermarket. It was redeveloped about ten years ago. Before that it had been a supermarket but it was still housed in a building that had definitely been a cinema. Despite the Kwik-Save signs it was definitely a cinema.

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Sign showing that the space is reserved for 1950’s motor-cycles

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Sign to ban fly-tipping. Modern psychological theory is that the eye makes you think people are looking at you. and this makes you obey the law.

There used to be a lot of fly-tipping next to the recycling bins because people are too lazy to take stuff away if there isn’t a bin for it, or if the bin is full. The signs were not terribly successful, but all tipping has stopped since they removed the recycling bins. Another depressing look at modern life.

There were no interesting flowers to photograph and no insect life. Not even any interesting litter.

Then Julia came back.

More Drama!

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Here’s a trio of pictures of the aftermath of a car accident outside the shop.

Nobody was hurt and the other vehicle, a Land Rover didn’t show any sign of damage, though I’m sure it would have done if I’d been closer.

I’m obviously turning into a photojournalist. Or a magnet for disaster.

I’m not quite so hardened that I get up close, but I’m getting there.

Will write more later.

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An Odd Dunnock

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I’ve never seen a Dunnock on a feeder before, but after several minutes of unsuccessfully trying to catch a picture of this one on the floor and in a willow arch I was lucky to catch it on the feeder. It took several beakfuls of peanut, hiding behind the feeder all the time, before striking this pose and then flying off.

One chance. One shot. Sorry it isn’t more interesting but it’s all I could get.

I’m sure it’s not the only Dunnock to use a feeder, just the only one I’ve seen. Has anyone else seen them on feeders?

Last week, whilst walking to work, Eddie spotted a group of four parakeets near Wollaton Park. They seem to be growing in numbers, having been reported in ones and twos over the years. We saw a single bird on the farm on two occasions a few years back. (If the Hall in the link looks familiar you may know it better as “Wayne Manor” from the latest Batman film.)

These photos are some I took in the Mencap Gardens yesterday. The snowdrops aren’t showing and there don’t seem to be any crocuses, but the daffodils are coming on nicely. This calls for a planting binge at some point in the year.

Moss at Mencap Gardens
Moss at Wilford, Nottinghamshire
Grasses at Wilford, Notts
White pansy – Wilford
Purple Pansies – Mencap, Wilford

Finally, a few skies, with some assistance from a camera that is considerably cleverer than I am.

Sky over The Embankment
Sky over Nottingham
Sky over Wilford

The Snow Arrives

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Finally, it arrived.

It wasn’t impressive.

We have some snow left in the street, where it will be a patchy nuisance until it melts, but all the main roads are clear. Driving into town to pick up Julia at 4.00 pm it was quite clear that the centre of town was warmer than Sherwood as there was nothing on the floor at all, not even the narrow road at the back of the leisure centre.

The bad news is that we’re meant to be down to minus 12 degrees C tomorrow. That’s minus 10.4 degrees F. We will be as cold as northern Scotland, which, the news tells me, is colder than Everest.

Based on the accuracy of previous forecasts that will probably be a few degrees under freezing.

Number Two son has just been out for a walk and says it isn’t too bad. He arrived home by train this afternoon and says Sheffield has even less snow than Nottingham.

All in all, it’s a very unsnowy day round here, though news reports do show that there is plenty of snow locally. Looks like we dodged the bullet.

Though it may be a bit early, as their is time for snow yet, I will permit myself a small smile. 🙂

A New Job and Work/Life Balance

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It’s now official – I have a new job. For the first time in 25 years I’m going to be employed instead of self-employed, so it’s a time of mixed emotions.

It’s true to say that it’s close to being a job in a million. For one thing, you don’t get too many job offers when you’re my age and have no proper qualifications. For another, there aren’t too many jobs going in the antiques trade. And finally, a job that allows you Wednesdays off (that’s Julia’s main day off) and regular time off for blood tests is also hard to find.

I’ve also been offered a job as a consultant with the jerk seasoning project. There’s no money attached to that yet but I’ve always wanted to be a consultant so I accepted.

In one way it’s a failure, as my original self-employment plan was to make a lot of money, become a well-respected figure in the trade and go into semi-retirement around the age of sixty.

The reality is that I scraped a living, enjoyed myself and have just accepted a job as a shop assistant in a collectors’ shop. However, I spent plenty of time with my kids and will be in the fortunate position of making a job out of my hobby, it’s hard to see it as a failure. Let’s call it a flawed success.

Watch this space…

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Past Mayoress’s Jewel – Collectors’ World, Nottingham

 

Nottingham 1911 Veterans’ Dinner

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This is the medal that was given to members of the Boy’s Brigade and Boy Scouts who lined the procession route for the Veterans’ Parade in Nottingham during the Coronation celebrations. The Scouts were, at that time, a new organisation compared to the Boy’s Brigade. The medal features two stags with very flat antlers. They have to be flat to allow room for all the wording.

I presume Mrs J A Morrison was the wife of J A Morrison DSO, who was MP for East Nottingham between 1908 and 1912, and was host of the dinner.

There is a book which lists the names of the war veterans who went to the dinner, which was held at the Empress Rink, King Edward Street, Nottingham. The skating rink is reported as burning down in 1910 and being rebuilt as a cinema, which opened in January 1913 so I’m not sure how it hosted the dinner in June 1911.

There were 1,600 veterans, with 2,475 medals between them. The oldest veteran was 90-year-old E Pratt of the 17th Foot, who lost eight toes to frostbite in the Crimea.

Each veteran was given a copy of the book as a souvenir, with Stewards being given silver jewels (which I have seen, though never been able to photograph), and Captain Morrison, as he was then, being given a gold and enamel jewel.

Edit: This is a link to the catalogue archive of auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb showing a picture of a silver stewards jewel.

George Brough’s Superior Cufflinks

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I just saw this when looking something up before leaving the house with bags of dirty laundry. Interesting piece of Nottingham history and and a reminder of times when people had staff to do their laundry.

Also a chance to slip a pun in, though it will only be noted by people who are familiar with motorcycles.

Of course, move me back to 1926 and I wouldn’t be the one with the notable gold cufflinks, I’d still have been the one doing the laundry.

A Thing of Beauty

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No, it’s not another picture of Julia, though if she’s reading this I would like to point out that the title would fit.

This is an item I saw in a collectors’ shop in Nottingham last week. It’s the badge of an ex-Lady Mayoress of Nottingham from 1951-2. The workmanship, including the enamelling, is top quality, and it really is a thing of beauty. It is also a piece of Nottingham history.

Ruth Wigman, the recipient, would probably to be the wife of Alderman George H. Wigman who was Lord Mayor at that time. I’ve tried various searches but the internet seems to be empty of information on the Wigmans. I had hoped that Wigman Road might be something to do with them, but it just seems to complicate the search.

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It is made from 9 carat gold and manufactured by Vaughtons of Birmingham. It appears that it was assembled after the engraving was done, as one of the fixings has obscured part of the inscription.

One of the more notable Vaughton family members was Oliver Howard Vaughton. He played football for England and Aston Villa, won the All England Skating Championship, cycled, swam, played county cricket for Warwickshire and was a County hockey player. He’s a bit more famous than the Wigmans, though, to be fair, neither of them scored five goals in an international football match or won the FA Cup.

More From the Junk Box

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The top picture is a lapel badge issued on Nottingham Warriors Day in 1921. It took place in March 1921 and was to raise funds for the Earl Haig Fund. There were a number of events, including a matinee performance that raised £400 for the fund and it was supported by the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII. He was popular in those days.

This would later be eclipsed with the launch of poppy sales on Armistice Day 1921 – £106,000 raised in just one day.

Poppy seeds can lie dormant for many years. People used to say 90 years but now we are in the centenary years of the Great War they tend to say one hundred. It’s possible that poppies blooming today were seeds in 1914-18.

Try this for a less sentimental view of poppies.

After many references to sports teams, martial arts and eco-warriors I finally found references in a newspaper archive. I knew most of it, but when you are about to tell people from all over the world you really need to check your facts.

Most of the links just proved that like “hero”, the word “warrior” has been devalued over the years. Playing rugby for Worcester or recycling your newspapers should not qualify you for the title Warrior. On the other hand, the ironic use of keyboard warrior does meet with my approval, and yes, I admit I can be one myself.

Moving on to 1928, we have a medal for the opening of the new University buildings by George V and Queen Mary on 10th July 1928.

Medal George V and Queen Mary
Opening of new University buildings – Nottingham 1928

 

We then move on to 1935, the Silver Jubilee of George V and Queen Mary. This medal, as you can see, was given out by the Nottinghamshire County Council Education Committee. I presume it was given to school children. In a Lancashire my parents were given mugs, which they used to display in a cabinet when I was a kid. They are wrapped up in a box now, When I die I expect my kids will sell them. I don’t blame them. A fascination with the detritus of past times is not for everyone.

George V silver jubilee medal (obverse)
George V silver jubilee medal (reverse)

You may notice that the coat of arms looks a bit like it’s been designed by a child with a handful of crayons. It was replaced in 1937 by a proper one. I quite like the old one but as coats of arms go I have to admit the new one looks more traditional. I can’t find more details at the moment.

One thing that could have done with a medal is the opening of Gunthorpe Bridge on 17th November 1927 by the Prince of Wales. Yes, him again. Nobody seems to have bothered, so we just have to make do with a plaque on the bridge. One day I might stop and take a picture. One day when I am past caring about being squashed by a lorry.

Once you cross the Trent at Gunthorpe, the next crossing is Newark. I’ll leave that for the next post.