Category: Not So Grumpy Old Men

Visit Mansfield Fire Brigade Museum

Nineteen members of the NSGOM group recently attached blues and twos to their cars and went up to Mansfield to learn about the history of the Nottinghamshire Fire Service. Located at the front of the former Notts Fire Service training school in Mansfield, the site also houses the present Mansfield Fire Station.  The Museum is run by a Trust and relies heavily on volunteers.

The aim of the Trust is to collect and preserve fire service items from as far back as the Great Fire of London but also showing many local items, for example from Thoresby and Welbeck Estates.

Assembling together inside the museum we were given a very informative history of the fire service, which included being shown, a leather bucket and “squirter” used in the 17th century. We then went on a comprehensive tour of the museum seeing fire fighting equipment, uniforms, helmets and various fire engines themselves,

We are lucky to have one of the few such museums in the country on the doorstep and we enjoyed a couple of hours learning so much about the history of the fire service. Huge thanks go to group member Dave Robbins for planning the day and also to volunteers, Richard and Paul, who led the visit and were a fountain of knowledge.

The visit was completed with a meal and drink at the Rushley restaurant in Mansfield, before returning back to Hucknall.

Barrie Saunders

Not So Grumpy Old Men don the Hi-vis jackets

Many local residents will have watched with interest the steel construction that grew and grew in the Britons Fabricators yard at the junction of Nabbs Lane and Watnall Road. It was eventually revealed to be a new foot/cycle bridge to span the River Trent between Lady Bay and the Colwick Waterside area and by the time you read this, the bridge should be open for use.

The NSGOM were invited to visit Britons site on Watnall Road and spent considerable time with the company MD, Dean Morcom, who explained how the company was formed, how it operates and the many steel fabrications they have produced and installed in the past fifty years. These include many footbridges over motorways, railway lines, rivers, canals and the like. A huge number of motorway gantries, that provide signage and up to date information, have been fabricated in their Hucknall yard alongside more “exotic” projects such as the staging for a Beyonce performance! All the materials they use are sourced in the UK.

We were very impressed by the scale of activities on site, on how forward looking the company is, with apprenticeships etc., and by how much time they were prepared to give to us!

A most worthwhile experience.

April saw 12 Not So Grumpy Old Men return to channel their inner Botham in an indoor cricket contest.

The rules of engagement were explained (more than once!) to the players, led by Team Captains Ian Murray and Dave Kay. Dave’s team batted first, each player facing the onslaught of 2 overs of exceptional bowling where accuracy, both of length and width, seemed to be unimportant. As wickets started to fall, one player scored 4’s and 6’s and another fell into his own wicket! Ian’s team took to the crease, and one player needed a runner which led to confusion and hilarity when 2 batsmen ended up in the same place.

With the rules now at least partially understood, the teams squared up for a second game. Amongst cries of “‘ow is ‘e” and “leg before wicket” the honours ended even with both captains claiming a game.

Fortunately for the standing of international cricket there were no scouts from the England selectors to identify the raw talent on display. Thanks to John Beharall for organising.

Treize vieux grincheux jouent à la pétanque.

So we assembled with not a beret or Gauloise between us, (well Tony had a Woodbine!) in the early morning mist at Ravenshead Petanque Club ready to learn the finer points of the game we’ve probably all played on the beach.

On the specially prepared gravel terrain were marked out several pistes or lanes. We played in pairs, each player having three boules. The starting player stands in a small cercle, laid on the ground, feet close together. Indeed this is where the game gets its name from pieds tanqués, “feet planted” (on the ground), a name that eventually evolved into the game’s current name, pétanque. The jack or cochonnet is thrown between four and six metres and the thrower then throws their boule attempting to nestle close by. The opposition then have a turn and if they fail to get closer continue to throw their boules until they are nearest. Then the turn changes. When all twelve boules have been thrown the score is agreed and added to the team score. Mènes, or ends continue until one team has scored thirteen points. Time allowed for all of us to play several completed games. Indeed, the success of the visit could be judged by the fact that the last four had to be dragged from the piste, before they went into overtime.

Thanks need to be accorded to the good folks at Ravenshead Petanque Club for making us so welcome and to our organiser and coach Monsieur Christophe le Garnier.

Bob McEwen