Back in the days of tanners and bobs,
When Mothers had patience and Fathers had jobs.
When football team families wore hand me down shoes,
And T.V. gave only two channels to choose.
Back in the days of three penny bits,
when schools employed nurses to search for your nits.
When snowballs were harmless, ice slides were permitted
and all of your jumpers were warm and hand knitted.
Back in the days of hot ginger beers,
when children remained so for more than six years.
When children respected what older folks said,
and pot was a thing you kept under your bed.
Back in the days of Listen with Mother,
when neighbours were friendly and talked to each other.
When cars were so rare you could play in the street.
When Doctors made house calls and Police walked the beat.
Back in the days of Milligan's Goons,
when butter was butter and songs all had tunes.
It was dumplings for dinner and trifle for tea,
and your annual break was a day by the sea.
Back in the days of Dixon's Dock Green,
Crackerjack pens and Lyons ice cream.
When children could freely wear National Health glasses,
and teachers all stood at the FRONT of their classes.
Back in the days of rocking and reeling,
when mobiles were things that you hung from the ceiling. When woodwork and pottery got taught in schools,
and everyone dreamed of a win on the pools.
Back in the days when I was a lad,
I can't help but smile for the fun that I had.
Hopscotch and roller skates; snowballs to lob.
Back in the days of tanners and bobs.
That's great Mick. All your own work?
no doubt posted many times.but so true.
According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 50's, 60's, and 70's probably shouldn't have survived...
Our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans. When we rode our bikes, we
wore no helmets, just flip flops and fluorescent 'clackers' on our wheels.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the passenger seat was a treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle - tasted the same.
We ate dripping sandwiches, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.
We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no one actually died from this.
We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.
After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us all day and no-one
minded.
We did not have Playstations or X-Boxes, no video games at all.
No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet chat rooms. We had
friends, we went outside and found them.
We played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt.
We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits. They were accidents. We learnt not to do the same
thing again.
We had fights, punched each other hard and got black and blue - we learned to get over it.
We walked to friend's homes.
We made up games with sticks and tennis
balls and ate live stuff, and although we were told it would happen, we did not have very many eyes out, nor did the live stuff live inside us
forever.
We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood. Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion
of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. And you're
one of them.
Congratulations!
Oh for rose tinted spectacles;
do not forget
the children who did not come back to school after the measles epidemic
the children lost in Aberfan before Health and Safety
the frost on the window inside
no glucose fructose syrup to fatten
mentally ill mothers
the killer smoke that turned fog in to smog
the rest I will let rest
I'm getting of an age where looking back seems more appealing. But I think you're all correct. There is much that we have lost, but also much we have gained, The trick is knowing which is which, Rose coloured glasses can be dangerous, but so called progress often doesn't improve things and often makes things much worse
So you all make good points, my lungs are shot after growing up in a South Wales mining village with all the pollution, but on the flipside I wander around town here and see only the tops of people's heads as smartphones irrevocably turn them into Zombies.
On the positive side, I have great drugs that help me breathe! and I can get some interaction with people here on this awesome site!
That's a post very well put. :thumbsup:
And thanks for the kind words about the forum! :beers:
We had no computers, or telephones.
We didn't even have Playmobil, but we had :
comics
Meccano
Lego (or Bettabuilder)
Philips electronic engineer kits
Mamod steam engines (must be banned today)
Britains toy soldiers
A vast range of Airfix models
Corgi and Dinky cars
Scalextric
Subuteo
and..............
TRAIN SETS §
Quote from: joe cassidy on December 12, 2019, 07:19:48 AM
We had no computers, or telephones.
We didn't even have Playmobil, but we had :
comics
Meccano
Lego (or Bettabuilder)
Philips electronic engineer kits
Mamod steam engines (must be banned today)
Britains toy soldiers
A vast range of Airfix models
Corgi and Dinky cars
Scalextric
Subuteo
and..............
TRAIN SETS §
I can remember Not having a TV, and the family gathered round the radio on Sunday mornings to listen to Forces favourites.
1 Comic allowed, mostly second hand dinky and corgi, plus occasional airfix kits, I don't remember Lego being around as a child. The rest was way too expensive.
I had a far sighted aunty who bought me a tiny Lego set for Christmas, just after it kicked off, must have been around 1959 when I got that.
I remember building large skyscrapers and hotels with my Lego pieces, Dad made me a box with lots of compartments to keep all the different bits in. I also remember getting our first stereo record player and a stereo sampler record, (You know, one of those vinyl black disc things), it was just amazing listening to the sound of an airplane moving from one side of the room to the other!
Sampler records.
They were the best! Strapped for cash students like me would buy em, 14/6.
I still have and still play,
The Rock Machine turns you on, CBS
You can all join in, Island
Nice enough to eat, Island
"Bettabuilder"
was that the one where you had a base plate with holes, fitted steel rods into it and then slotted blocks of bricks / windows / doors in to build houses ?
Yes, it's where Roger of Wrenton fame, cut his teeth!
QuoteI still have and still play,
The Rock Machine turns you on, CBS
Ive the follow up,the rock machine i love you,it was amongst half a dozen second hand lps i was given when i got my first record player , ,im certain that and the stardust lp had a major influence on my later musical tastes
Bettabuilder was like Lego but the bricks were smaller and moulded in harder polystyrene.
Roof tiles were green.
I forgot to mention Spirograph in my earlier post :)
Quote from: class37025 on December 12, 2019, 09:54:54 AM
"Bettabuilder"
was that the one where you had a base plate with holes, fitted steel rods into it and then slotted blocks of bricks / windows / doors in to build houses ?
No, I know the one you mean, I saw it at a Train Collector's Society show years back, it wasn't Betta builder.
I had Bettabuilder at my Grandmother's as a child, it had lots of features like clip together roof tiles and windows, but no steel rods.
Roy
You can replicate that with Arduino, a couple of potentiometers and a plug in screen, but it ain't the same! ;)
Bettabuilder was made by Airfix, and the 'bricks' were only one unit wide, as opposed to two bricks wide for Lego. It was mainly available in Woolworth's, as was Playcraft model railways. There were clear bricks; windows and doors were red, glazed, mouldings.
The rod building system was Bayko, or something similar. Saw it, but didn't have any.
There was also a Lego type building system with rubber bricks and roofs; can't now remember its name, but I was given a small amount as a child.
Martyn
When I was a nipper Sunday started with "Junior Choice" on the radio :)
In the afternoon it was Jimmy Clitheroe and "the Navy Lark" :)
After Sunday dinner my dad listened to "Sing Something Simple" with the Adams Singers :(
The worst thing about Sunday was the religious programs on TV in the early evening :( :(
Quote from: Bealman on December 12, 2019, 09:59:44 AM
Yes, it's where Roger of Wrenton fame, cut his teeth!
Mine was Bayko, George.
Quote from: The Q on December 12, 2019, 08:56:17 AM
I can remember Not having a TV, and the family gathered round the radio on Sunday mornings to listen to Forces favourites.
I remember having to visit friends to see the Coronation as we didn't have a TV. And that Sunday programme on the radio, 'Family Favourites', presented by Jean Metcalfe at the London end. I little realised that some years later I would actually work on the programme - Jean was a delight to work with. Maybe some old programme signature tunes will bring back memories. Try my page at http://www.orbem.co.uk/grams/grams_6.htm. (http://www.orbem.co.uk/grams/grams_6.htm.)
I liked the music for "Zoo Time" on the telly :)
Quote from: rogerdB on December 12, 2019, 11:46:45 AM
Quote from: Bealman on December 12, 2019, 09:59:44 AM
Yes, it's where Roger of Wrenton fame, cut his teeth!
Mine was Bayko, George.
Quote from: The Q on December 12, 2019, 08:56:17 AM
I can remember Not having a TV, and the family gathered round the radio on Sunday mornings to listen to Forces favourites.
I remember having to visit friends to see the Coronation as we didn't have a TV. And that Sunday programme on the radio, 'Family Favourites', presented by Jean Metcalfe at the London end. I little realised that some years later I would actually work on the programme - Jean was a delight to work with. Maybe some old programme signature tunes will bring back memories. Try my page at http://www.orbem.co.uk/grams/grams_6.htm. (http://www.orbem.co.uk/grams/grams_6.htm.)
Family favourites was a renaming of forces favourites as the empire reduced and most of our servicemen came home.
And as for the Navy Lark.... Left hand down a bit!!
I caught pneumonia just before Christmas in 1963 and was taken to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.
I enjoyed the Christmas atmosphere in the childrens' ward so much that I didn't want to go home when my parents came to collect me a few days later.
The staff really made an effort for the kids in hospital over Christmas.
Me as a kid in the garden making mud pies and my Mum always wondering where I got the water from :-X
Hhhhancock's Half Hour and the Goons (on the radio, of course). Flowerpot Men, Andy Pandy, Tales of the Riverbank on the telly.
Travelling round the country on cheap rail tickets (my Dad worked in Wolverton Railway Works) to do my trainspotting at an age where you just would not allow kids to nowadays
Later in life, Tiswas (Sally James :heart2:), Do not adjust your set, Magpie.
Top of the Pops where the audience were quite obviously dancing to something the act wasn't playing - Pans People :heart2:. Kenny Everett Show (Hot Gossip :heart2:)
Being able to listen to entire albums in booths at the local Co-op
@Bealman (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=255)
I have these sampler vinyls:-
Nice enough to eat - Island
Bumpers - Island
El Pea - Island
Picnic - Harvest
Bombers - Polydor
The Age of Atlantic - Atlantic
Another Bayko kid here and I had a lot of fun with Meccano not to mention Hornby Dublo 3 rail :thumbsup:. Like RogerB we had to travel to watch the Coronation to my Dad's rich sister I wore my Cub Scout uniform and surprised the family by leaping to attention and saluting when the anthem was played. We grew up taking responsibility for our actions and accepting what the world threw at us, for me happy days. A lot of things have improved since those days but I can't help feeling we've lost a lot as well.
Cheers David
ahhh proper meccano ...
metal strips with rough edges, nuts and bolts you could swallow....
elf-n-safety would have a fit today :bounce:
and Meccano Magazine ;D
You can re-live the Meccano Magazine experience here:
http://meccano.magazines.free.fr/index.htm (http://meccano.magazines.free.fr/index.htm)
Whilst I had (and actually still have....) Betta-Builder, Lego and Meccano, I also had the construction toy which Philips used to manufacture for a short while - Philiform..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philiform
Did anyone else on here have that?
A battery operated pseudo BR80 tank engine + flat wagon was part of the series, which ran on plastic track formed using individual sleepers and rails. Think it must have been about 35mm(ish) track gauge. (can check next time I venture up into the loft...)
Mamod steam engines (must be banned today)
Still available simple Google -other search engines are available, you can't blame Health and Efficiency-- oops Safety for everything.
Tony
Mamod steam engines...
yep, had one of them, and didn't blow it up :angel:
Hornby 3-rail.... first loco I had was Duchess of Montrose, if only I'd kept it, would have been worth a bomb now, but so much got binned / given away when I 'grew up' and enlisted.
anyone remember Jouef model trains, super detailed compared to Horby and Triang of the time ?
up at sparrow fart, breakfast, then make packed lunch and grab a bottle of pop,...
meet up with mates and off to explore ......
back when it got dark, and no drama about 'where the hell have you been?'
and the smell of tar when roads were repaired [properly >:D] or resurfaced, steam rollers, finally replaced by diesels [now where else did that happen :hmmm:]
Airfix kits @2/-
poly bag full of parts, header ...
glue part 15 carburettor to part 16 engine block...
not just unexplained pictures
I'm getting old :'(
Lego kits at 33+1/2p each.
Blackjacks and Fruit Salads, four for a penny (a proper penny, not one of them enormous things you old gits used to have to move with a wheelbarrow >:D)
Sherbet Fountains with a liquorice straw, not a plastic imitation.
Reply ~29;
Still got my Mamod road roller; an early version with no reversing to the cylinder. Its about 55years old now, and hasn't steamed for about five years.
I had a collection of Playcraft railway, which was made by Joueff; an electric and a clockwork 060 similar to the USA tanks on the SR; a bobo type 1 NBL; a four wheel shunter (not very good electrically) and about five coaches and ten wagons. Still got a few remnants, though not as supplied.........
There was another building system, quite large scale; I think it was called Arcitex or similar, possibly made by Frog. It consisted of large plastic baseboards, with H-shaped rods which plugged into 6-way plastic plugs. Facades were of various design, including plain, windows (with red or blue inserts), shop fronts, and doorways. Flooring was card squares; and there were also stairways and lighting kits, Again, still got quite a bit in the loft........
Martyn
Quote from: emjaybee on December 12, 2019, 06:42:38 PM
Blackjacks and Fruit Salads, four for a penny (a proper penny, not one of them enormous things you old gits used to have to move with a wheelbarrow >:D)
My parents used to own a corner shop in Wolverton and had a 'Penny Tray' for kids who came in. As well as the aforementioned Blackjacks and Fruit Salads there were Shrimps, Flying Saucers, Aniseed Balls, Gobstoppers and others (by penny I mean the proper ones - 12 to a shilling :P)
Threepenny bits was not rhyming slang. Tanners, farthings, halfpennies, florins, half crowns and guineas were the order of the day.
Batchelors Dried Peas for use in pea shooters >:D
Frys Five Boys chocolate and lots of Spangles wayyyy before Glamrock :D
Quote from: Newportnobby on December 12, 2019, 08:58:45 PM
Quote from: emjaybee on December 12, 2019, 06:42:38 PM
Blackjacks and Fruit Salads, four for a penny (a proper penny, not one of them enormous things you old gits used to have to move with a wheelbarrow >:D)
My parents used to own a corner shop in Wolverton and had a 'Penny Tray' for kids who came in. As well as the aforementioned Blackjacks and Fruit Salads there were Shrimps, Flying Saucers, Aniseed Balls, Gobstoppers and others (by penny I mean the proper ones - 12 to a shilling :P)
Threepenny bits was not rhyming slang. Tanners, farthings, halfpennies, florins, half crowns and guineas were the order of the day.
Batchelors Dried Peas for use in pea shooters >:D
Frys Five Boys chocolate and lots of Spangles wayyyy before Glamrock :D
Interesting, my Nan used to work in Musket and Tompkins, the newspaper shop bang opposite the main entrance to the works. In the school holidays Mum would drive us over to meet Dad at lunchtime and we'd pop in to see my Nan in the shop, needless to say we always got some sweets off Nan.
Happy days!
Where was your parents shop? There was another shop a lot further down the front, which in the 80's/90's was run by Joe, a very nice Asian chap.
Quote from: emjaybee on December 12, 2019, 09:10:43 PM
Quote from: Newportnobby on December 12, 2019, 08:58:45 PM
Quote from: emjaybee on December 12, 2019, 06:42:38 PM
Blackjacks and Fruit Salads, four for a penny (a proper penny, not one of them enormous things you old gits used to have to move with a wheelbarrow >:D)
My parents used to own a corner shop in Wolverton and had a 'Penny Tray' for kids who came in. As well as the aforementioned Blackjacks and Fruit Salads there were Shrimps, Flying Saucers, Aniseed Balls, Gobstoppers and others (by penny I mean the proper ones - 12 to a shilling :P)
Threepenny bits was not rhyming slang. Tanners, farthings, halfpennies, florins, half crowns and guineas were the order of the day.
Batchelors Dried Peas for use in pea shooters >:D
Frys Five Boys chocolate and lots of Spangles wayyyy before Glamrock :D
Interesting, my Nan used to work in Musket and Tompkins, the newspaper shop bang opposite the main entrance to the works.
Where was your parents shop?
I often used to frequent that newsagents and also the barbers in that row of shops (Pedleys or something like that). My parents shop was on the corner of Church Street and Windsor Street. I also recall doing Harry Worth impressions in the plate glass window of the Co-op in Church Street ;D
Quote from: Newportnobby on December 12, 2019, 09:18:16 PM
Quote from: emjaybee on December 12, 2019, 09:10:43 PM
Quote from: Newportnobby on December 12, 2019, 08:58:45 PM
Quote from: emjaybee on December 12, 2019, 06:42:38 PM
Blackjacks and Fruit Salads, four for a penny (a proper penny, not one of them enormous things you old gits used to have to move with a wheelbarrow >:D)
My parents used to own a corner shop in Wolverton and had a 'Penny Tray' for kids who came in. As well as the aforementioned Blackjacks and Fruit Salads there were Shrimps, Flying Saucers, Aniseed Balls, Gobstoppers and others (by penny I mean the proper ones - 12 to a shilling :P)
Threepenny bits was not rhyming slang. Tanners, farthings, halfpennies, florins, half crowns and guineas were the order of the day.
Batchelors Dried Peas for use in pea shooters >:D
Frys Five Boys chocolate and lots of Spangles wayyyy before Glamrock :D
Interesting, my Nan used to work in Musket and Tompkins, the newspaper shop bang opposite the main entrance to the works.
Where was your parents shop?
I often used to frequent that newsagents and also the barbers in that row of shops (Pedleys or something like that). My parents shop was on the corner of Church Street and Windsor Street. I also recall doing Harry Worth impressions in the plate glass window of the Co-op in Church Street ;D
You mean this shop?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/KNGXKAikbbWBTw7Q7
My Nan worked here...
https://maps.app.goo.gl/DVArvw3wDdyAoZpC6
I may be a door out, Muscutt and Tompkins had a normal size doorway, but it had double doors in that doorway. My Nan was Mrs Bowler, if you frequented that shop, knowing your era, then you were probably served by my Nan!
Quote from: emjaybee on December 12, 2019, 09:38:02 PM
You mean this shop?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/KNGXKAikbbWBTw7Q7
That's the very one indeed. If the image was 'captured' in 2018 then it has been converted back into a shop as, at one stage, the shop had been converted to a private house. My bedroom was the side one and that's where I used to pepper passers-by from with my pea shooter >:D
@emjaybee (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=5604) @Newportnobby (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=264)
Did your school uniform come from maisies ,your electronics bits from caverns,your motor bike spares from stratford road garage and your fighting in the crawford arms?
And was this the best chippy in the whole of 70's MK? https://goo.gl/maps/drVvSC5STNbppLD8A (https://goo.gl/maps/drVvSC5STNbppLD8A) along wiih its other shop opposite the works?
Quote from: themadhippy on December 12, 2019, 11:15:48 PM
@emjaybee (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=5604) @Newportnobby (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=264)
Did your school uniform come from maisies ,your electronics bits from caverns,your motor bike spares from stratford road garage and your fighting in the crawford arms?
And was this the best chippy in the whole of 70's MK? https://goo.gl/maps/drVvSC5STNbppLD8A (https://goo.gl/maps/drVvSC5STNbppLD8A) along wiih its other shop opposite the works?
I lived and went to school in Bletchley, my grandfather, father, godfather, three uncles and an aunt were in the works so I spent a lot of time over there. I had cousins who went to the Radcliffe, I know all about Maisies and the Chippy. I spent a lot of time in the model shop further along the front, althought the name escapes me for some reason. ???
I went into the works in 1985 and did 14.5 years. I can remember in the early days when I was an apprentice, if it was someones birthday it'd be over the road to the Queen Vic at lunchtime, six pints in an hour and back to work! :worried:
In many ways I was very glad when, after the drink/drugs rulings in the rail industry, they got rid of the lunch hour (a pointless thing in Wolverton in those days) and we finished 45mins earlier in the day. :D I've never been able to be a big drinker.
I never really went in the Crawford. I had mates in Newport Pagnell, we sometimes went in the Coachmakers, but never in a group less than 3 or 4, and you stayed within sprinting distance of an exit as flowing blood was a regular occurence. Unless of course Andy Harris was with you, he was about 6'6" and built like the side of a house. He reputedly threw someones motorbike over the side of one of those high side hook-lift skips as he was harassing some girls!
@themadhippy (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=4863) what's your connection with Wolverton?
Quote from: Newportnobby on December 12, 2019, 09:18:16 PM
I also recall doing Harry Worth impressions in the plate glass window of the Co-op in Church Street ;D
I often still do this in places where it's absolutely impossible for it to work. The wife seems to break into a sprint to get away from me usually.
Quote from: themadhippy on December 12, 2019, 11:15:48 PM
@emjaybee (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=5604) @Newportnobby (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=264)
Did your school uniform come from maisies ,your electronics bits from caverns,your motor bike spares from stratford road garage and your fighting in the crawford arms?
And was this the best chippy in the whole of 70's MK? https://goo.gl/maps/drVvSC5STNbppLD8A (https://goo.gl/maps/drVvSC5STNbppLD8A) along wiih its other shop opposite the works?
Caverns I remember them, I was living in Bletchley park 1975-76 (being taught electronics ) but went to Wolverton college on block release. Trying to drive down the road when the railworks closed for lunch was highly dangerous as they all came running out without looking at traffic.
Quote from: The Q on December 13, 2019, 08:40:19 AM
Quote from: themadhippy on December 12, 2019, 11:15:48 PM
@emjaybee (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=5604) @Newportnobby (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=264)
Did your school uniform come from maisies ,your electronics bits from caverns,your motor bike spares from stratford road garage and your fighting in the crawford arms?
And was this the best chippy in the whole of 70's MK? https://goo.gl/maps/drVvSC5STNbppLD8A (https://goo.gl/maps/drVvSC5STNbppLD8A) along wiih its other shop opposite the works?
Caverns I remember them, I was living in Bletchley park 1975-76 (being taught electronics ) but went to Wolverton college on block release. Trying to drive down the road when the railworks closed for lunch was highly dangerous as they all came running out without looking at traffic.
As a child standing opposite the main gate waiting for Dad at lunchtime it was a bewildering sight to see about 1,000+ blokes flood out across the road towards the front. In those days I think there was about 3,500 people in the works. Do you remember the works 'hooter'?
Born in a nursing home in Newport Pagnell I was raised in Wolverton but, when I was 11, we moved to Northampton. Dad still worked in the Works and commuted. When I was 13 we moved back to Wolverton and just 2 years later back to Northampton. I'm damned sure my parents were just trying to avoid shelling out on school trips abroad ::)
The corner shop was originally owned by my grandparents but when Grandfather died it was too much for Grandmother so my parents bought her out and she retired.
Wherever possible I was on the annual open day at the Works, and much of my spotting was done by going down to the canal opposite the station and walking along to either the turning triangle or the Blue Bridge, where we could see into the Works and watch the Jinties using the entrance/exit line running under the Up/Down fast lines.
(https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/85/264-131219094330-85078279.jpeg)
You might recognise these although nothing like what was there in my time......
(https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/85/264-131219094158-85068862.jpeg)
(https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/85/264-131219094246-85077223.jpeg)
If we still have anyone else reading and they have suitable pics I'd be really pleased to see them.
Sadly no photos. Just remember the cants and the curves at wolverton with the works on the site nes thel down fast line
Those are some nice shots. The station was a lovely building, a listed building, pulled down in the dead of night by British Rail, obviously no prosecution ensued.
:veryangry:
It's curious that you say you saw Jintys. I don't know that they used Jintys, I think they used a pair of these...
(https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/85/5604-131219103652.jpeg) (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=85083)
I'm not doubting your knowledge, just curious if they were Jintys.
That section of the Works was referred to as 'The Gravel'.
Did you ever go to the kids Christmas party's? We always used to come home laden down with sweets and chocolates, the chocolate toolkit was always one of my favourites.
I used to drop off and pick up my first wife at Wolverton Station, the old building adjacent to the road bridge, as she caught the train for her job in Northampton. If I recall correctly - not always the case these days :worried: - it was during that period that the station platforms were remodelled by some minimalist idiot who thought modernist bus shelters were cool, and the roadside building got demolished, and winter warmth while waiting for a train became impossible.
And I was a mean roller skater at the Agora Centre.
Back in the sixties I was a frequent presence in the yard of the market Hall opposite the works, helping John Covington sell fruit and veg to the townsfolk. Come lunchtime we were rushed off our feet as the men from the works came to the stall in great numbers. Not certain but I think this was a Friday market, the day after I had been with John down to the old Covent Garden market for stock.
And I well remember my wife-to-be's reaction on my meeting her at Wolverton Station on a dark wet evening, never the best conditions to see a town for the first time.. All I can remember was a long brick wall just outside the station.
Ian
Quotewhat's your connection with Wolverton?
I was dragged up in deanshanger, went to wolverton collage, from 83-87 and spent many a lunch time playing video games in the agro center or drinking in either the crawford or the top club.
Quote from: themadhippy on December 13, 2019, 11:19:02 AM
Quotewhat's your connection with Wolverton?
I was dragged up in deanshanger, went to wolverton collage, from 83-87 and spent many a lunch time playing video games in the agro center or drinking in either the crawford or the top club.
You came from 'shanger, that explains it. I was at Wolverton College from '85 to '89. I used to play the driving games in the agro. One of the blokes I later worked with in facilities management STILL drinks in the top club! I meet up with that old office lot once a year for a Christmas beer up in Stoke Goldington.
Quote from: emjaybee on December 13, 2019, 10:40:15 AM
It's curious that you say you saw Jintys. I don't know that they used Jintys, I think they used a pair of these...
(https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/85/5604-131219103652.jpeg) (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=85083)
I'm not doubting your knowledge, just curious if they were Jintys.
This excellent site shows, amongst masses of other info, locos allocated to the Works...........
http://www.brdatabase.info/sites.php?page=depots&subpage=locos&id=9923 (http://www.brdatabase.info/sites.php?page=depots&subpage=locos&id=9923)
Quote from: anselm on December 13, 2019, 11:11:50 AM
And I well remember my wife-to-be's reaction on my meeting her at Wolverton Station on a dark wet evening, never the best conditions to see a town for the first time.. All I can remember was a long brick wall just outside the station.
Ian
It's a very long brick wall. If you look carefully at it you can still see the camo that was painted on it in the war. If you look closely at the Lifting Shop through the main entrance you can still just about see the 'windows' painted on the side of it to try to make it look more like a terrace of houses.
Quote from: Newportnobby on December 13, 2019, 02:40:01 PM
Quote from: emjaybee on December 13, 2019, 10:40:15 AM
It's curious that you say you saw Jintys. I don't know that they used Jintys, I think they used a pair of these...
(https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/85/5604-131219103652.jpeg) (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=85083)
I'm not doubting your knowledge, just curious if they were Jintys.
This excellent site shows, amongst masses of other info, locos allocated to the Works...........
http://www.brdatabase.info/sites.php?page=depots&subpage=locos&id=9923 (http://www.brdatabase.info/sites.php?page=depots&subpage=locos&id=9923)
I'm not sure about that database of locos, it seems a bit odd. I think that shows locos that went into the Works for some maintenance or possibly relief duties. If you look at some of the entries they went in one month, and came out the next. From the knowledge I have there was generally a couple of locos permanently on site. My father as an apprentice used to get the job of climbing in through the firebox door for repair work as he was the only one that'd fit through, that pair of locos didn't leave the works for years, so I'm not sure what this database is showing, but it's not the Wolverton shunters.
Even aged 10 I knew my Jinties. On my pocket money I couldn't afford 'proper' spotting books let alone any sort of camera.
Trust me, they were there. For sure some may have been moved there after withdrawal but certainly 47478 and 47479 were allocated there from Sept 1959 until withdrawal
Ian Allen books, a platform ticket, a packed lunch, a bottle of pop....
what more could a lad ask for :laugh:
The loco in the photo looks like a Ramsbottom ex LNWR special tank baSed on a saddle tank version of an LNWR DX goods. THE other two were LMS 16561 / 2 renumbered 47478 and 9
Quote from: class37025 on December 13, 2019, 09:37:39 PM
Ian Allen books, a platform ticket, a packed lunch, a bottle of pop....
what more could a lad ask for :laugh:
Couldn't afford Ian Allan books until I got a Saturday job but parents always made sure there was a Lyons individual fruit pie in my lunch :D
Meanwhile back in Wolverton, I recall parking my soapbox outside the Post Office further along Church Street. I emerged to find some sod had reversed over it and driven off without a word! :censored:
Quote from: Newportnobby on December 13, 2019, 09:35:31 PM
Even aged 10 I knew my Jinties. On my pocket money I couldn't afford 'proper' spotting books let alone any sort of camera.
Trust me, they were there. For sure some may have been moved there after withdrawal but certainly 47478 and 47479 were allocated there from Sept 1959 until withdrawal
As I say, I didn't doubt your knowledge. :D
Quote from: Newportnobby on December 13, 2019, 09:52:05 PM
Quote from: class37025 on December 13, 2019, 09:37:39 PM
Ian Allen books, a platform ticket, a packed lunch, a bottle of pop....
what more could a lad ask for :laugh:
Couldn't afford Ian Allan books until I got a Saturday job but parents always made sure there was a Lyons individual fruit pie in my lunch :D
Meanwhile back in Wolverton, I recall parking my soapbox outside the Post Office further along Church Street. I emerged to find some sod had reversed over it and driven off without a word! :censored:
Probably the same person that you were annoying out of your bedroom window with the pea-shooter. ;D
As they say, 'pay backs a female dog (changed by forum)'.
That probably taught you a valuable lesson, but you didn't realise it at the time. Happy days tho'.
Quote from: crewearpley40 on December 13, 2019, 09:48:29 PM
The loco in the photo looks like a Ramsbottom ex LNWR special tank baSed on a saddle tank version of an LNWR DX goods. THE other two were LMS 16561 / 2 renumbered 47478 and 9
That's exactly what I was going to say :doh:
Didn't they then convert 47478 and 47479 into blue diesels with yellow ends?