Nostalgia - What are your memories of Stafford?

MISS T

Forum user & abuser
retrojoe said:
Wow, this forum is like my mind on the Internet - I love my Stafford nostalgia, and have never met anyone else that does!



Things I miss about Stafford from when I was a kid:


-Getting confused with the turnstiles in Riverside
-The tennis courts in the park (remember them?)

-Freeman Hardy Willis in August


-Wolverhampton Rd dentists with the big mouth slide!


Etc etc etc.....makes me want to be a kid again!
Welcome retrojoe. You've brought back memories that I never thought I'd see again, thank you
One skill point now being awarded
 

victoriab

victoriaboyle.co.uk
Came back for Christmas yesterday. Noticed today in town that the Society Cafe (oh yes) has gone all fancy and has sofas! Also, nice new sports shop with a name I can't pronounce opposite Jessops with sallopettes and everything! AND a fancy dress shop near the old wimpy opposite the back of Woolworths AAAAAAAND a really random drum shop in Parkside. What's that about?
 

Andreas Rex

Banned for smiling
noir2985 said:
full of old people
There's nothing i like more than sitting in a room full of people smelling of piss and biscuits, with tea dribbling down their chins. Is it particularly cheap or something, and if not, why do you go there instead of one of the other 150 tea/coffee shops in the Ford??
 

TENSHON

4000th post? Whatever, I'm nonchalant..
Andreas Rex said:
There's nothing i like more than sitting in a room full of people smelling of piss and biscuits, with tea dribbling down their chins.
fancy coming round my gaff for a cuppa then?
 

victoriab

victoriaboyle.co.uk
I'm not sure...it always seems to be convenient. And my dad likes going to places he knows, and the fact that they do egg and chips. There are a few younger people there...but mainly old ones. In the queue today my dad started talking to me about how undignified incontinence was. We got a few funny looks for that.
 

onekord

A few posts under my belt
Arthur & May's chippy.being dragged round Woodalls by my mum (not literally).lumps of soil & grass falling out of the sky onto Holmcroft Middle School playground.The Holmcroft pub's "outdoor".the storm that brought down the trees around the Tillington Hotel.John Peel at the Gatehouse.There's probably more memories but i'm on my 4th can of Guinness
 

gon2seed

(and me! - Ed)
A couple of things

I used to go to the Society a couple of years ago with my youngest. He used to like it, I found it quaint and friendly, like Cafes used to be. I have asked my friends and a few enemies for their opinions, and they confirm that while I could be described as elderly, I only occaisionally stink of p*ss, and never when I am going out. There was a preponderance of over 60's in the Society, but a sprinkling of younger riff raff like myself, I hope they haven't ruined it. Give me a proper cafe over an overhyped, overpriced, poncy, USA/London inspired, Latte/Mocha/Skinny, mood coloured, Little Italy, £5 for a sandwich cr*p hole, any day of the week!

One of my early memories was the Jenks (Jenkinsons) Cafe up the highstreet. It had a huge print of Picassos Guernica on the wall. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernica_(painting) I loved it but it was a daring thing to have on a Cafe wall in those days.

Now the Tillington Hurricane, what a stir that caused amongst the North Enders! Can't remember exactly what year it was but it was probably in the late 70's. It was a very localised tornado/hurricane (similar but not as strong as the recent London one) that hit the Eccleshall Road. It caused damage to buildings and trees, with the most spectacular havoc being wreaked in the car park of the Tillington Hotel.

A number of huge old trees were brought to ground, squashing some reet posh cars in the process. Weirdly enough I was actually discussing this event with a wrinkly old fireman just t'other day. Having been part of the attending crew, he confirmed my memories of the events, and pointed out that the posh Jag that we all crowded round, beneath the largest fallen bough, was owned by non other than Jimmy Edwards of 'Wacko' fame. For those of you under 40, you'll probably need the following link.

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.comedy-zone.net/images/people/comedians/edwards-jimmy.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.comedy-zone.net/standup/comedian/e/edwards-jimmy.htm&h=177&w=150&sz=6&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=L4_2R7uO6WmILM:&tbnh=101&tbnw=86&prev=/images%3Fq%3DJimmy%2BEdwards%2B%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG

A large crowd gathered to survey the mayhem, and I was rendered helpless with laughter when one old biddy toddled off shaking her head, and exclaiming sagely to her nodding mate "They never should have put trees there in the first place" :rolleyes:

As mentioned on another thread, the Tillington Hotel used to attract all sorts of famous people, which was strange because it never really struck me as particularly exclusive, more a case of nowhere better in the area I suppose.
As well as various rock stars over the years, once saw the England Football team. And which one spent ages signing autographs and entertaining the adoring kids with his gurning? Yes, Paul Gascoigne, whatever else he was/is he was a crowd pleaser.
 

MISS T

Forum user & abuser
This, I found whilst looking for info on Stafford's ghost stories, remember William Palmer visited The Surgery before he began his murders.


Palmer the Rugeley Poisener
My great grandfather, Daniel Coates, was the rope maker. He had a rope yard behind his house at 12 Friars Terrace Stafford.
I remember as a child the steps down to the cellar had a thin rope (hangmans?) as a bannister. According to family legend he sold poeces of rope at half a crown a time - not a guinea.
B C Lloyd
Stafford
 

MISS T

Forum user & abuser
Moley said:
Does anyone remember the bogs at PROPS and how they used to flood at around 11:11pm every evening?

If you don't, then I am old
Moley, this is the thread you need. Those toilets were magical,no? How the hell that amount of water could appear is something I wondered about every Friday night for years.
Was the same story with the ladies around midnight. Ah, the nights spent with knees in God knows what, hugging the toilet seat like it was my new best friend.
 

MISS T

Forum user & abuser
A long shot I'm sure but as a young girl I danced in the Stafford Diamondette Dance Troupe. These were big in the eighties, seen in Pagents up and down the country, and weekly competitions. Sadly, my folks have only one photograph out of the five years I competed, I'm looking to find some dancers from my troupe or newspaper cuttings to remind me of ye old days. Ask the olds!
 

steveb

Steve
The Lynton Tavern was The Crossbow
The Radford Bank was The Trumpet

The Wildwood was [and will always probably be] ... The Wildwood!!

Any others?
 

gon2seed

(and me! - Ed)
What about pubs that have had their name changed then changed back? I'll start it off with The Crispin - The Dovecote - The Crispin (allright Crispins Tavern, but nearly the same)
Nags Head - The Vision Bar - Nags Head Tavern.

I'm sure there are many more, but been on nights, and I am knackered, and my brain's not functioning.
 

Biggin

Honourary Staffordian
The Nags has changed and I saw in the Paper that Scoff from the Tavern was taking over it. It didn't say that he used to manage the nags about 7 years ago, but he did and I remember they had a Tattooist working upstairs.

The Spittal Brook nr Areva was called The Crown for quite a few years and reverted back to the Spittal Brook when the landlady at the time (an Irish Republican - Anti British) decided to get rid of the link to the British Crown.

Joxers was an irish theme bar for about five years from 1995, and was the Chains before that for a fair few years. It was The Market Tavern before that and Morgans purveyors of wines and spirits before that.

The firkin was the the forrester and firkin and the sheridan but not sure if it had any other names in between. Sheridan was of course known as one of stafford's famous playwrights, however, he was born in Dublin and did represent stafford as an MP. but I'm sure if he was alive today, he would want to be an honourary staffordian, like meself.
 
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