Vernon Park Area

A Memory of Old Basford.

I was born at Cheltenham Street at home, my mum and dad were George and Margaret Fisher. Across the road lived my grandad Reg Jenkins. My great grandad lived in Bell Terrace, bless him, he served in the First World War, I can remember him quite clearly even though he died when I was 3. The Turner family lived in Bell Terrace too, there were seven of them in one tiny house, they were a lovely family and we still see eachother. My best friend was Tina who also lived on Cheltenham Street. We had some great times, going to Vernon Park and the fair on Basford Waites, also exploring some caves that were near the botton of Park Lane. We used to mess about in the high rise flats across the crossing, and also go paddling in the River Leen. My aunt used to take me to a shop on Lincoln Street that sold everything, she used to buy my cousins and me a toy each every Saturday. Then in the afternoon we used to queue at the Futurist cinema to see the latest film. Vernon Park holds the special memories to me though. Making swings in the trees, skating on the frozen pond, messing around on bikes. I can remember the summer of 1976 being red hot and spending nearly the whole 6 weeks on the park. Poor Eddy the park keeper, we used to keep him really busy!!! They were really happy times for me.