Aylesbury, England

[Sundae]

Ah well, Newcastle is a foreign country

I've yet to reaccquaint myself with the 'babs here, but the ones in Leicester and London... you could taste the garlic sauce for two days. And enjoy the chilli sauce twice, lets put it that way

My evil ex took me to his favourite kebab shop in Nottingham when we were there to visit his family. He'd raved and raved about their kebabs for ages. He even told a story (ad nauseum) about turning his saintly vegetarian ex back onto meat again just from the smell of his kebab from that shop. So we had one. It was okay. Nothing special. I guess it's all down to what you're used to.

My favourite old shop is right opposite St Josephs at the bottom of the High Street. I might get Mum & Dad to pick me one up after mass on Saturday night! But perhaps it was my favourite because the owner used to spoil me. The first of a long line of fast food outlets which would treat me by feeding me up when I quite obviously didn't need it! I think it's because even if I'm drunk I still say please and thank you and treat them with respect.

[DanaC]

hang on....'bab' is northern for poo? Nobody told me...unless your counting Nottingham as 'northern'?

[memories]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

Thanks Memories - it's always good to know that somethign I chose almost at random can mean something to someone else

In my memory it has only ever stood next to the Telephone Exchange - with the carpark right next to the pub. I'll ask Mum & Dad, but as they only moved to Aylesbury in the 60s they might not know about the cemetary either. In fact they only moved into the house we are in now just after I was born (1972) so they wouldn't have had any reason to pass it before then.

I took a couple more pictures for you today.

First is just a close-up of the area behind the building.
As you might know, the door in the picture has the sign Gents on it. I assume they were outside when you lived there too.
I honestly don't remember the Ladies being outside, but I did only drink in there once or twice and just might not have needed to go. Behind is the Telephone Exchange as mentioned above.

Second shows the busy junction it is on. It's completely and utterly different even to when I grew up. The sorting office is on the left of course, but they pulled a lot down to open up Upper Hundreds - you're seeing all the way down to the Vale Park. To your right is Cambridge Street, and there would have been a row of shops and the Nags Head pub.

thanks for more pics "sundae girl" your a gem !.i do remember the outside gents toilets as i was often playing in the yard and locals would say hello. but ill have to ask my mother about the ladies,. was only about 3 ish when we moved on to portsmouth. i dont remember the outside scenery at all, so its realy nice to see what its like now. as you said i bet it has changed an aweful lot .
ill try and get a few more facts of mum about the pub and she willlove your pictures too . cya

[Sundae]

Mem, I've asked my parents about the environs - I'm printing off your post for them to read.

In the meantime - back to kebabs
I was holding out pretty well... then my sister, niece and nephew came over this afternoon. They had all had kebabs for lunch. Well, it's half term.

That was it - it was meant to be. I got Dad to drive me up before dinner - Mum succumbed as well, although she had chicken, while I had that old standby, the donner.

Perry, you were right. The garlic had some pungency (I can taste it now) but the chilli didn't even raise a tingle. The sausage and chicken casserole I made last night had more heat and flavour!

Anyway, documented below.

1) OOOH! The anticipation!
2) 'Babs on plates - mine is closer to the camera.

[Sundae]

And the yumminess transferred to my plate, ready for the second stage of its journey.
Bellybound.

[be-bop]

Chav food ......
I thought people only ate Kebabs at chucking out time when pissed

[Sundae]

I know, I know.

It's received wisdom. People have often said to me, "... like kebabs - you can't eat them sober...!" only to have me reply, "I do. I like them!" Which sorta leaves them nowhere to go

I figure they're good enough for half the Meditteranean countries, they're good enough for me!

Although I woke up with kebab mouth (it's the raw onions) and am now doing very meaty farts. TMI? Sorry.

[Perry Winkle]

Hey, I love kebabs too, and I don't drink.

I've been wracking my brain about this, and I still can't remember. What is the slang term for people from Sunderland?

[Sundae]

Can't help you there chick. They're all Geordies to us soft Southerners

Okat - a couple for Mem.
Photos of photos; sorry, don't have access to a scanner these days.
Thanks to my Mum who trawled through all of her Old Aylesbury books to find them.

Pic 1 - Caption: St John's Church, Cambridge Street, opened in 1883 as a daughter church of St Mary's and demolished in 1970. The site was bought by the Post Office for an extension of the telephone exchange and its car-park.
Pic 2 - Caption: Pictured in 1947 is the Cambridge Street junction with New Street. The pub on the corner is the Oddfellows Arms.

[Sundae]

And one more.
Caption - St John's Church of England School celebrated its 100th anniversary in July 1956 by dressing in the style of clothes which would have been worn when the school first opened and having a procession around the town.

This picure is taken outside the telephone exhange (see the lawn outside) along New Street and the pub in view is the Nags Head. At the end of this street and to the left is the Oddfellows Arms, although the angle of the photo does not show it. What it does show, however, is the church.

Mum & Dad don't remember the church or the school (being Catholic and living on the other side of town at the time) but Mum worked as a cleaner in Tindal Hospital after I was born, and many of her fellow cleaners were Italian, because of the Italian POW camp set up nearby during the war (the men stayed, and sent for their female relatives). She remembers a cleaner called Louisa and both her children went to the school. She was older then Mum, and although staunchly Catholic, the convent I went to was still a private school, and the Catholic school my niece and nephew went to were too far away in a time when poor people couldn't afford cars.

I've reached the end og my Oddfellows observations. Hope you enjoyed them. Stay around for the other topics. This is the best forum on the internet in case you didn't know.

[Sundae]

The sky was blue today - not a given in England - so I went out and played with my camera. All pictures are from the Alfred Rose Park on the Elmhurst Estate in Aylesbury. It's what we call a Council estate, what you might call The Projects. Many homes are now owner occupied (like my parents') but the centre of the estate is still a a poor neighbourhood. Not the poorest in town though, and certainly not dangerous.

Alfred Rose left this piece of land for the benefit of the estate. There isn't an awful lot that can be done with it. But it holds happy memories for me. And it's a good place to go just to hear birdsong - you can't hear any of the main roads from here.

There used to be trees in a strip all the way across the park. And bushes and undergrowth. We used to run wild there, only steps from the real world on either side. Sadly, in later years, so did drug addicts and possibly paedos, or at least the fear of them. Still, the remaining trees at least show some of the climability that we rejoiced in.

[Trilby]

Oooooooooooo! I love that tree! It just needs a big full moon caught up in its branches!!

[Sundae]

More climbing trees.
And I probably did.

And spring is coming.

[Sundae]

Now here I am playing with my panoramic setting.
Bear with me, it's new to me, and exciting.

Pic 1
Looking up the hill to the top of the park. See what I mean about not much can be done with it? It used to have a pitch 'n' putt 9 hole golf course, on which my (late) Uncle Charlie would thrash my Dad twice a year when he came up down London. No more, no more. I have always craved one of the houses at the top of the park though.

Pic 2
The bottom of the park from the bench I was sitting on. It looks washed out because of the direction of the sun. It's the more useful end of the park, with football pitches, a cricket ground and to the left the community centre where I went to playschool (kindergarten).

[Sundae]

Not in the park. Shots from a council estate.
Everyone who lived here originally - and almost everyone up until the '80s - lived in Government sponsored housing. These estates were built to house low income workers. Included in such estates were a doctors' surgery, a pharmacy, a pub, a school and a row of shops, including a launderette. A sports' ground and/ or a park was also a given. Wide open spaces - greens - were part of the plan, even if they all ended up with signs saying "No Ball Games".

The first shot is on Hilton Avenue. It might not look like it, but it's really steep! My sister, our next door neighbour and I used to ride down it endlessly in the summer holidays. I started the dare of putting my feet on the handlebars... Idiocy of course, but until I went to Alton Towers it was the biggest thrill I could fathom.

The second pic is Elmhurst Road, which we live off. We're tucked away down a path, but at night I can hear the lorries shake the house. It's part of the ringroad round the town (the A41). We learned traffic skills very early.