The group met up at the Spot On Club in January to enjoy a couple of hours of snooker and to discuss ideas for this years visits.
The group usually enjoy one get together each month and ideas for this year included, skittles at Hucknall British Legion Club, outdoor bowls at Titchfield Park, Laser Quest and visits to places such as Nottingham Rugby, the Lace Market Theatre for a backstage tour, to Linney’s Printers at Mansfield and to the Rolls Royce Heritage Museum.
Members share the planning and organising duties between them so that the workload is not too onerous for any one member.
It was a dark and murky evening as 12 NSGOM travelled by tram into Nottingham for our Ghost Walk. Leaving the tram in the Market Square we walked down to the Trip to Jerusalem where our guide, Simon, was waiting for us.
We walked up to the Statue of Robin Hood and then the castle entrance where we learnt something of the history of the site. It was then on to Friar Lane and Maid Marion Way for further stories.
Eventually crossing over the road to the Salutation where we went down into one of the caves below the pub itself. Here we heard some gruesome tales of ghostly happenings and public executions and of bodies being hung drawn and quartered in times long gone.
A further walk down towards the former Radio Tent building and St Nicholas church followed as we finally found ourselves in the upstairs bar at the Trip hearing about the various curses cast on the pub and some of the consequences which followed.
Finishing for 8.30 we travelled back by tram where some members enjoyed a chip supper and others opted for a more liquid form of refreshment.!!!!
A very enjoyable trip organised by David Robbins. We meet up again later in November for a Christmas lunch at Ramsdale Park golf club.
In late July some fourteen wannabe F1 drivers descended upon the Lockwell Hill Karting circuit near Farnsfield. After a safety briefing, getting dressed in one-piece overalls (the most demanding of physical contortions for some) and fitting of gloves and crash helmets we were ready to start racing.
No Le Mans start for us, as some would probably still be walking to their karts as the leaders came round. No, we lined up in orderly fashion, our carts were started for us and off we went. Well surely the first away would win! Despite some deniers this is the twenty-first century and all our lap times were recorded automatically to the nearest one thousandth of a second. Mind you a calendar would have done the job just as well for some!
Selling cars
The target when racing was who could set the fastest lap-time and who had the fastest average lap-time. They would be the overall race leader/winner. We had two fifteen minute sessions, which is quite enough as the ride is bumpy and the steering is incredibly heavy. As is always the case, when put into unfamiliar situations some people thrive and others just cope. John “Red Mist” Saunders put in the fastest lap, carving through much of the field at will, but he couldn’t maintain his flying lap throughout the course of the race and Mark Jackson recorded the fastest average lap time – it’s all that practice in his BMW round the roads in Linby!
Some went slowly enough to be captured in oils
Afterwards we retired to the Corporate Hospitality Suite, better known as White Farm PH, where we swapped endless tales of how we’d all been cut up by John and Mark whilst pursuing their bitter rivalry.
Thanks to Greg and Barrie for making it all possible.
August saw us visiting the Dropworks Rum Distillery on the Welbeck Estate. Opening only a year ago, it is Europe’s largest rum distillery, yet is an artisan operation by people who completely understand the processes and the product.
We were greeted with a rum cocktail before being showed the production process by Darren, our knowledgeable and entertaining guide. We learned about the molasses and sugar cane honey and the different yeasts together with the pot and column stills and the double retort (thumper), where the magic is created using an intimate understanding of the science to make flavoured rum without the flavouring!
Samples were enjoyed throughout the process and the heroic designated drivers were rewarded with a bumper sample pack to take home with them.
Refreshments at the Greendale Oak completed an interesting day out.
On Thursday 6th June our activity was a visit to The Bomber Command Centre in Lincoln. We started with a guided tour around the grounds followed by a talk which covered the role of the Air Force before, during and after D Day.
The grounds include a ‘Dig for Britain’ garden complete with an Anderson Shelter.
David Wormall was able to reminisce about the ‘comforts’ of sleeping in a 6 x 4 foot shelter during the war. Our guide was so impressed that he asked if he would be willing to record an oral history of his wartime experiences for their records.
At the heart of the International Bomber Command Centre are the Memorial Spire and Walls of Names which records the details of 57,861 Bomber Command deaths during WWII. The Spire is 102 feet high, the wingspan of the Avro Lancaster Bomber. It commands stunning views across Lincoln, with a focus on the City’s ancient Cathedral, which served as a sighting point for crews flying from Lincolnshire. For many of the men named on the accompanying walls, the Cathedral provided their last sight of Britain.
After time spent in the Exhibition Hall we convened for lunch and a drink before our return journey.
Our thanks to Tony Whilde for organising this activity.
