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In the mist of time before the PC and the web, Nomads
wandered the hills and moors and had adventures which I hope, will be
recorded on these pages.
Adventures like;
The day Jake was kidnapped
Cider and conkers
Lenny and the sheep (but will we know the truth)
So if any members or past members wish to write a confession of past
deeds please contact me. |
Sing along on the way
home circ 1950’s.
Harry had a banjo, three or four others had mouth organs, and one played
the bones. We had a sing along coming home on the buses and all the other
passengers joined in. We sang the Manchester Rambler and the Nomad
Rambler, we rambled around from pub to pub. (Mavis Burton)
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Jam jars for
tea. circ 1946
Florence had a very posh voice – quite natural – she
was the boss in the labour Exchange. She would invite a party of us for
tea. Sometimes when there were quite a few of us she would say “Oh I’ve
run out of teacups you’ll have to have jam jars. (Mavis Burton) |
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Bits of sheep
circ
1946.
Joyce and I were walking in Wales at the end of the
war. Climbed a mountain and saw bits of sheep. When we got to the top, a
notice said, “Danger unexploded bombs” (Mavis Burton)
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Horse and bath
circ 1947.
During one of the worst winters, 1947, we were
walking through Ashover. Everywhere was covered in snow and ice, the road
packed solid. We were more than a little surprised to see a farmer driving
a horse down the road pulling a bath in which the farmer was standing. He
sailed past a quite a rate. (Mavis Burton)
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The
ungrateful farmer. circ 1940’s
When you joined the YHA there was a form to fill in
about the type of work you did. Builder, Decorator, Electrician, etc were
roped in to do all these odd jobs for the Hostel.
The Nomads helped to dam a stream, which supplied
electricity to the Hostel and a nearby farm. The next week Ted Bland took
his mate to see the dam and the farmer saw them off with a shotgun! (Mavis
Burton)
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No Lights circ 1945
I must admit it was a little difficult finding one’s
way over the fields in the dark. We had no lights therefore nothing at all
to give us a bit of a clue as to where we were. One night I was trying to
find my way from Thorp up Sandy Lane and onto the main road, suddenly I
saw red lights going across the lane. I turned to the boy with me and
said, “I don’t know how we have done it but we’re on the main road
somewhere already, you can see the rear lights of cars”. Therefore, we
retraced our steps and in no time at all we were back in Thorp. This
mystified us even more and we went back to the tea place and asked to be
put on the right lane. We followed the instructions and found we were back
at the red lights again. Then it dawned – the red lights, which looked so
much like car rear lights, were sparks from the soldier’s camp partway up
the lane. (Mavis Burton) |
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Bikes, Turkeys,
lights and cold legs circ 1947.
Once, as a change four of us went cycling. This for
me was always a hazard if I went solo. We were going nicely on our way
when a young Turkey flew up and sailed over Fred’s head this was not too
bad as it was then still daylight, it was later on when it got dark the
trouble started.
We went to Asbourne and going down the very steep
hill, I just reached the bottom when the lights changed I couldn’t stop
and zoomed through the lights with my eyes shut, at least I would not see
what hit me but fortunately for me it was clear.
We started back from Thorpe and rode up the lane but
I could not see a thing and if it had not been for George’s rear light I
would have gone straight through the hedge at the top of the lane, as it
was I just put my foot down in time. I was scared of falling into the
ditch that half the time I found myself riding on the wrong side of the
road. It was very misty and freezing and as usual, I wore my shorts. When
I finally got home, I had little crystals of freezing fog up both sleeves
and all over my hair. The only part of me that did not look like a badly
decorated Christmas free was my legs. (Mavis Burton)
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Mountain
Rescues circ 1950’s
We went with Police and the RAF on Kinder to practice
a rescue, a young man was sitting in one of the grough’s waiting for us to
find him. The Airman in charge gave us a talk – he said, “I’ve done
mountain rescues in Scotland and in Wales, do you call this (Kinder) a
mountain”. I asked one of the wardens what chance we had of find the young
man, he said “none”, I agreed.
We went up Ringing Roger and when we got to the top
the Airman had to ask Jo Palin where we were because none of the rocks
have names on the map. We all spread out and started to search. The Airman
used his portable radio and said, "Hiker One calling Hiker Two, are you
receiving me", his mate said “of cause I can you daft b!**er. I’m stood
next to you”. We never did find the man; he got fed up waiting to be found
and was down in Edale having a cup of tea. (Mavis Burton)
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