Category: Not So Grumpy Old Men

Not So Grumpies Go Racing

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!

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!

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 6^th 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.

The group has had a busy time in April and May. In late April the group ventured up the A614 to visit the Adrenaline Jungle where we split up in to two groups to sample the delights of Archery and driving a Land rover through the woodland track in Sherwood Forest while blindfolded!!!

After some coaching from the staff the archery was soon mastered but the driving proved more of a challenge. As the words left and right were not allowed there were some interesting alternatives put forward by some members!!! One member managed to go up a steep slope and missed some trees by the narrowest of margins, I cannot name the member for obvious reasons, but the area is now forever known as Robbin’s hill!!!!!

Anyway we all survived the drive round the track before returning to more conventional driving methods to go to the White Post at Farnsfield for a well-deserved lunch..

In May the group settled for the much more sedate pastime of croquet at Nottingham University. In ideal weather the group split into two groups with those with no previous history of playing croquet forming one group with the experienced hands forming another group. The two teams with experience of playing enjoying a very close contest which ended seven six.

The session finished with a game of skittles and then it was back on the tram and into Nottingham for a late lunch at the Roebuck.

Next month the group travel to Lincoln to visit Bomber Command.

For their second activity of the month the NSGOM, boosted by a small number of real Grumpy Old Men, paid a visit to the Rock cemetery and catacombs at the junction of  Mansfield Road and Forest Road in Nottingham. We all agreed that the site was one we had passed thousands of times before on our travels in to Nottingham over the years. Now it was time to stop and find out about the site and its wonderful history.

Meeting up at the entrance to the site we were met by our guide for the morning. A leisurely tour of the site led to many stories about the famous and indeed the less famous people buried there. Edwin Patchitt, clerk to the local magistrates founded the site in 1848. Other famous names spotted on headstones included Watson Fothergill and James Shipstone.

Later going underground we visited the catacombs where many a worker lost his life while working in the sandstone caves. Here many a visitor, when standing quietly, has claimed to hear the sound of footsteps of former workers, pounding the caves. Perhaps not surprising as above ground, stood Gallows Hill where Nottingham’s public executions were held.

Anyway escaping the catacombs safely we walked back into the daylight and returned to our starting point.  After thanking our guide we then walked down to the nearby Grosvenor Inn for a pleasant lunch before returning to Hucknall on the tram or bus.

 An unusual but very interesting morning completed.

April sees the group taking part in a driving experience while blindfolded!!!!!!!!!