Joanl   12 #121 Posted April 26, 2013 Well the last time I posted on this thread was just after my 66th Birthday. Had another 5 since then and am still here.........Hope everyone is still fighting fit and remember...... We are not old, we are retro. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
soft ayperth   11 #122 Posted April 26, 2013 I like that approach, Joan. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
hillsbro   27 #123 Posted April 26, 2013 Yes, you're absolutely right Joan - retro it is! And as for being fighting fit, Marion and I are off to Devon next week and we'll be hiking over Dartmoor, cycling around Okehampton, enjoying cream teas and maybe something a bit stronger!. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
echo beach   488 #124 Posted April 26, 2013 That's the spirit, Banksia, keep active - it's the key to staying young. I've never been busier, doing all kinds of things from hiking to decorating to gardening to charity work etc. Here in North Lincs. we don't have "twerlies", flyer - our bus passes are valid round the clock. The bad news is that when in Sheffield we can't use them on Supertram (in theory.). Hi euclid - glad you enjoyed your day out in Lincolnshire; it's lovely in Willingham Woods at this time of year. It's almost as nice a morning here today so we'll go walking in Twigmore Woods. Oh, Dunham bridge.... In the 1950s we used to go that way to Skeggy with dad driving the Triumph Thunderbird combination. We would sometimes go very early in the morning and dad would speed past the toll box when the man wasn't looking. He'd turn to mum on the pillion and say "I've done 'em"..  Ah, Dunham toll bridge! That was a regular sight on the journey from Sheffield to Skegness in the '50s. It was rickety in those days. Don't know what it's like now. I also passed that way a lot in my Morris Minor around '67/68 when I was courting (now that's an old fashioned word!) a student nurse in Sheffield who hailed from Lincoln. She ended up in the Antipodes whilst I remained closer to my roots. Travelling to the coast in those far gone, pre-motorways days was a lengthy adventure. If heading north of the Humber to the coastal resorts we would always stop at Boothferry Bridge where an Italian sold the most delicious ice cream from a small kiosk. It was second only to Taggys in my eyes. On the return trip my parents would inevitably stop at a pub for refreshment and, with no children allowed inside, I was appeased with a glass of pop and a packet of crisps, complete with blue paper salt bag. You could have any flavour you wanted, providing it was plain! In one village, whose name and exact whereabouts elude me, a massive stuffed bear stood in a doorway across the road from a pub. It was an obvious attraction for we called there more than once. Perhaps someone else can recall where it was? When visiting the west coast, usually Blackpool because I had a great aunt who lived there, the journey was even more arduous and hair raising going over the Snake Pass. The highlight of that trip was passing Belle Vue zoo and funfair with its amazing scary roller coaster called the 'Bobs' in Manchester. Legend has it that the fare was sixpence, of which half was for the ride and the other 'thrupence' for personal insurance. Unfortunately I never got chance to try it and now like so many other sights it's history. They were however, magical days indeed.  Echo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
hillsbro   27 #125 Posted April 26, 2013 Hi echo beach - you've awoken a faint memory with that stuffed bear! I think it was somewhere in the Lincolnshire Wolds, maybe Horncastle but I'm blowed if I can remember where. Dunham bridge had its steel superstructure replaced in the 1970s - it was indeed getting a bit rickety. There was a pub at Caenby Corner that had a big "barn" affair at the back where kids could go for bottles of pop and crisps - yes, with the blue twist of salt - at 3d. per bag. Apart from Skegness and Cleethorpes we also used to go to the other coast by motorbike & sidecar. My dad said that based on the machine's milometer, New Brighton (via the Snake Pass and the Mersey Tunnel) was a mile nearer our Woodland View home than Cleethorpes. We used to go to Belle Vue by train from Victoria Station (to the nearby Ashburys station). The was only for the brave! Magical days indeed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
euclid   10 #126 Posted April 27, 2013 If you go towards the east coast via Market Rasen there is a Pub/Hotel?? at Caenby Corner with a restaurant/transport cafe at the back where quite a lot call for a bite to eat...but i seem to think the one you may remember...if you went to east coast via Lincoln/Dunham Bridge...could be the George at Langworth just before Wragby,there was indeed a large "big barn affair" at the side of the pub with a huge car park where the "charabanc's" taking holidaymakers to Skeggy/Mablethorpe etc would stop to let everyone take a break for a drink.snack,call of nature,it was also the stopping point for the return trip....probably the half way mark of the journey,this is now gone but the pub remains with a large "no coaches" banner on the side.I too remember the stuffed bear at the side of the road/pub,and this is the place it may have been... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
hillsbro   27 #127 Posted April 27, 2013 Hi euclid - yes, the George rings a bell. I wish I could remember where the bear was; it can't have been far from there. On the annual Dial House children's outing we always used to watch for it as the coach went past. Another place I remember on the way to Cleethorpes or Skegness was "Gringley on the Hill" - just because it had a nice name. Memories! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
echo beach   488 #128 Posted April 28, 2013 Hi echo beach - you've awoken a faint memory with that stuffed bear! I think it was somewhere in the Lincolnshire Wolds, maybe Horncastle but I'm blowed if I can remember where. Dunham bridge had its steel superstructure replaced in the 1970s - it was indeed getting a bit rickety. There was a pub at Caenby Corner that had a big "barn" affair at the back where kids could go for bottles of pop and crisps - yes, with the blue twist of salt - at 3d. per bag. Apart from Skegness and Cleethorpes we also used to go to the other coast by motorbike & sidecar. My dad said that based on the machine's milometer, New Brighton (via the Snake Pass and the Mersey Tunnel) was a mile nearer our Woodland View home than Cleethorpes. We used to go to Belle Vue by train from Victoria Station (to the nearby Ashburys station). The was only for the brave! Magical days indeed.  Thank you Hillsbro for that up to date image of Dunham Bridge and the amazing black and white footage of riding the 'Bobs' at Belle Vue. I hadn't realized that they kept going right up to 1970. Funnily enough some of the first photos of me taken by my parents were near Chester and on the front at New Brighton. It must have been a popular post war day trip destination from Sheffield It's a pity none of us can place that stuffed bear. I have a definite image in my mind of its situation and unfortunately it doesn't match Euclid's George at Langworth. I recall it was probably in a small town or large village; certainly a built up area; and was stood in either a doorway with an open porch or the entrance to a passageway. It was definitely across the road from the pub in question. To be fair, I wasn't sure whether the location was en route from the North Yorkshire or Lincolnshire coasts but with you and Euclid recalling it on the road through the latter county then that fact is clarified. I've had a quick scan on Google but nowhere matches the image in my mind's eye. The trouble is in 60 years pubs close, townscapes change with redevelopment and roads are altered. Also, at my age my recollection may be flawed! Again, I would have thought that somewhere on the Web there must be a photo of that erstwhile magnificent creature.....but I've yet to find it. Still it's a good detective quest and I'll keep looking.  Echo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Allen   35 #129 Posted April 29, 2013 We'll be in Laughterton near Torksey for bank holiday weekend Hillsboro - can usually be found in the Friendship of an evening:D  Can you confirm the Friendship still has a campsite for casual tourer caravan visitors please? google doesn't show the website anymore. Does Les still run it? Prices would be helpful....looking for a weekend break to visit family in Sheffield.  Good to read you are enjoying retirement hillsbro. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Janner   10 #130 Posted May 14, 2013 I am over 80 now & left Sheffield in the early 50's, joining the Royal Navy in 1949. I lived in Shiregreen & on Parson Cross. I remember my childhood days were a wonderful time in spite of the Germans trying to spoil it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Bypassblade   10 #131 Posted May 14, 2013 I am over 80 now & left Sheffield in the early 50's, joining the Royal Navy in 1949. I lived in Shiregreen & on Parson Cross. I remember my childhood days were a wonderful time in spite of the Germans trying to spoil it.  Good on you Janner, I hope I reach 60 let alone your age; but also feel that when you do you should be allowed to retire, most people by then will have done 45 years in work. I know some don't want to but sorry but only in this country, are the elderly looked on & treat with such disdain.  It is disgusting to treat them in this way, I've not read other posts so sorry if said before. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
hillsbro   27 #132 Posted May 14, 2013 Hi Janner - it's great to hear that you are enjoying life in your 80s - gives me something to aim for! Mrs hillsbro and I just returned from a week in Devon (staying with an old friend at his rambling country pile near Okehampton) and on Friday we weren't far from you at Saltash (excellent carvery in a pub there, by the way).  I know just what you mean, Bypassblade - now they are even talking about taking our bus passes off us. After working full-time for 40 years, never claiming a penny in benefits and paying a fortune in taxes, I reckon I've paid for my bus pass! I actually use mine quite a lot as a non-driver (well, nothing bigger than a motorbike or - with my B1 licence - a Reliant...) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...