• All - as you will understand, the forum is exceptionally busy at this time. The admins and moderators simply don't have time to read every post in every thread. Could you PLEASE use the "Report" option below a post to flag any content that you feel we need to be aware of. We'll review everything reported as a priority and deal with it accordingly. Thank you.

Forest Early History - sponsored by I‘m Red Till Dead

I

Ian Moore Gone Little

First Team Squad
sammy the snake said:
So the person in this photo is infact my uncle.. Those shirts above his head washed and cleaned by Grandma, long gone. The pitch prepared for years by Grandad, long gone.

Forest are unrecognisable to that club in the 60s but there’s so many heart warming stories that the club would never publish.. just wanted to say never forget what Forest are, despite the crap going on
Click to expand...
I’m curious as to what the stories might be and why you feel the club wouldn’t publish them. Would they be something suitable for the programme? I’m sure the editor would welcome some historic content, especially now Don Wright (club historian) has stepped back from contributing articles.
 
sammy the snake

sammy the snake

Jack Armstrong
Ian Moore Gone Little said:
I’m curious as to what the stories might be and why you feel the club wouldn’t publish them. Would they be something suitable for the programme? I’m sure the editor would welcome some historic content, especially now Don Wright (club historian) has stepped back from contributing articles.
Click to expand...
Only because they’re generally family things that would form no relevance if you know what I mean? snippet's in conversations, recollections. I’ll have a think and see if there’s anything of value for Don. Good idea though
 
Morpeth

Morpeth

John Robertson
Otis Redding said:
That's interesting Sammy. I'm fairly sure I've previously commented on here that I thought he was a kid I recognised from the Meadows. I was clearly mistaken. I've always regarded it as great photo that evokes more innocent times.
Click to expand...
It might have been you Otis who said they had that picture on your wall. I think it’s a great photo @sammy the snake and wonder what year it’s from?
 
I'm Red Till Dead

I'm Red Till Dead

Stuart Pearce
Morpeth said:
It might have been you Otis who said they had that picture on your wall. I think it’s a great photo @sammy the snake and wonder what year it’s from?
Click to expand...
By the way, if you would like an a2 poster of the picture you could try contacting Andrew Dollowat at Max Media Publishing using the contact form on their website here -
https://www.maxmediapublishing.com/contact-us

I don't know if he has any left or the price but I'm sure he will help you if he can. Tell him Nicola on LTLF said to contact him.
 
Morpeth

Morpeth

John Robertson
I'm Red Till Dead said:
By the way, if you would like an a2 poster of the picture you could try contacting Andrew Dollowat at Max Media Publishing using the contact form on their website here -
https://www.maxmediapublishing.com/contact-us

I don't know if he has any left or the price but I'm sure he will help you if he can. Tell him Nicola on LTLF said to contact him.
Click to expand...
You know what, I think I’ll do just that and contact him in the morning and see if I can get a copy. Fingers crossed.

And of course, it was you and I bet it looks great on your wall.
 
I'm Red Till Dead

I'm Red Till Dead

Stuart Pearce
Morpeth said:
You know what, I think I’ll do just that and contact him in the morning and see if I can get a copy. Fingers crossed.

And of course, it was you and I bet it looks great on your wall.
Click to expand...
I only say to tell him I told you to contact him as he doesn't have it on his website. I just thought it would streamline the how did you find out about it conversation. I hope you can get one.

I think it looks nice. I got an A2 clip frame off of Amazon to put it in. A proper glass fronted frame would have been nicer but they are a bit pricey these days.
 
Morpeth

Morpeth

John Robertson
I'm Red Till Dead said:
I only say to tell him I told you to contact him as he doesn't have it on his website. I just thought it would streamline the how did you find out about it conversation. I hope you can get one.

I think it looks nice. I got an A2 clip frame off of Amazon to put it in. A proper glass fronted frame would have been nicer but they are a bit pricey these days.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this. I looked on his website before and couldn’t see it so sounds like it’d be a one off print. I’ll let you know how I get on.
 
valspoodle

valspoodle

Steve Chettle
Ian Moore Gone Little said:
And there is of course a Crocus Street in the Meadows, a bit nearer the city centre than my recollection of the Town Ground’s location. As the whole area was meadowland between the town and the river before it was built on I expect there would have been plenty of crocuses in the area.
Click to expand...
Reminds we of when we moved to Woodthorpe when we came back from Egypt in the late '40s. They were just developing the Somersby Road/Melbury Road area (the houses on Barden Road and Pately Road had yet to be built and we used that wild area as our cowboys and indians fort and playground) and we could walk out of our house on Melbury Road, over the rutted track that was Somersby Road and over the hill to the railway line leading up from Gedling Colliery. The hill was alive with skylarks and other wildlife in the long grass and at the top we'd scrump a few apples from the orchard there before going down to the railway line to collect some coal which had fallen from the coal wagons as they climbed out of the tunnel. Happy days.
 
I'm Red Till Dead

I'm Red Till Dead

Stuart Pearce
(Nottingham Evening Post, Thursday, September 24, 1885)


NEW FOOTBALL ENCLOSURE IN NOTTINGHAM.

(The Gregory Ground)​

The spirit of competition is abroad in sport no less that in commercial enterprises nowadays. The visitor to Nottingham, viewing the spacious and smooth turfed recreation grounds in the Meadows and on the Forest almost, if not absolutely, unequalled in any other provincial town, might well be sceptical about the necessity for providing further facilities in Nottingham for the pursuit of either of the two great national spirits (sic.) of this country – cricket and football. Ten years ago, or even less, the accommodation was ample both for cricketers and followers of the winter game, and for the former it is not now absolutely insufficient. Whereas formerly the number of football clubs in the town could be counted on the fingers of one hand there name now is legion, and the game which within the last decade played second fiddle to hockey in this district is even more popular than cricket with the youth of this generation, and with those children of older growth who are content to be spectators of sport. Having regard to this fact and remembering the greater space required for a football match than for a game of cricket, it is obvious that the demand for grounds has outgrown the supply, and each succeeding winter increases the inconvenience. With the leading clubs of the time the want now most keenly felt has been for an enclosed ground – to supplement the accommodation provided at Trent Bridge. Great expense is incurred in bringing to Nottingham the leading exponents of the Association football in Great Britain, with whom clubs like Notts. the Forest, and the Rangers arrange fixtures, and “gate money” is a sine qua non if the best class of match is to be provided for the public. When the Notts. and Forest clubs alone encountered “foreign” teams, and matches of first importance were few and far between, a friendly arrangement with respect to dates permitted of both using Trent Bridge, but since engagements have multiplied and other local clubs have forced their way towards the top of the tree, the accommodation has become entirely inadequate.

Three seasons ago the Notts. Club acquired the right to use Trent Bridge during the winter season, and the Forest Club were driven to the Castle Ground. Subsequently they relinquished that convenient and suitable enclosure, of which the Rangers, a rising local organisation, are now in possession, and the Reds betook themselves to a field adjoining Lenton Sands. They made the best they could of a sloping and irregular piece of ground, but neither the players, nor the public took kindly to it and at the end of last season it became clear that if the Foresters wished to maintain their high position they must seek, if not “fresh woods,” certainly “pastures new.” After much trouble and not a little anxiety a stretch of ground some 200 yards lower down Lenton Sands than the bleak and comfortless rendezvous of last season, admirably suited both to cricket and football purposes, has been secured, and will be inaugurated on Saturday next by a match versus Stoke-on-Trent.

The new enclosure is upon the estate of Mrs. Sherwin Gregory, on the town side of Lenton railway station and continuous to the Wheat Sheaf Inn. The Lenton Boulevard, so far as has been completed, runs within 100 yards of the entrance, and will ultimately be continued parallel with the side of the ground, though some short distance from its boundary. The enclosure is almost extensive enough to permit two matches being played within it simultaneously, but the Forest Club committee have been content to devote their attention to little more than one-half the space, which has been converted into an excellent football ground. All the inequalities of surface which existed when the club took possession have been erased, the ground has been re-turfed in many places, and is now quite level and in capital condition. The sub-soil being of sand and gravel, the ground dries rapidly after the heaviest downpour of rain – no small advantage.

The playing piece is 115 yards long, by 70 yards wide, and is fenced round at a distance of 8 yards from the touch line on the unreserved side and of six yards on the members’ enclosure side, by a rigid barricade of iron piping screwed into stanchions firmly secured in the earth, the whole affording a barrier capable of offering resistance to the greatest pressure. The corners are rounded, and the distance at which spectators are kept from the touch line will enable a good view of the game to be obtained without uncomfortable craning of necks. Plenty of room is left for the corner kicks to be taken by the players, and the rear of each goal is strongly protected. Inside the barricades on the enclosure side a row of seats has been provided, and behind them, at a distance of three yards is a wooden terrace of two broad steps, commanding a view of the ground from goal to goal and from end to end of the touch line. The same arrangements, minus the seats near the barricades, is provided on the “sixpenny side.” Each platform or terrace is 120 yards long, and altogether there is accommodation on the stands and forms for over 3,000 people. A space is reserved for carriages, and two refreshment bars – one in the enclosure and the other in the unreserved part of the ground – are provided, together with dressing rooms for the players. The platforms are substantially built, and admit of easy removal in sections from one part of the ground to another.

The main entrance is from Lenton Sands, where a neat gateway is provided to admit carriages as well as spectators on foot, but another outlet is made to be used when the attendance is exceptionally large, nearer Lenton station. The ironwork has been done by Messrs. Goddard and Massey, the platforms have been erected by Mr. T. V. Woodhouse, the other woodwork has been furnished by Messrs. Marshall Bros., and the levelling of the turf by Mr. Cope, contractor, Lenton. Arrangements have been entered into with Mr. George Seldon to run conveyances from the top of Mansfield Road, to the ground every few minutes on match days; Mr. Maun will have a special service of breaks, &c. Starting from the Walter fountain, Carrington Street, to carry passengers along the Lenton Boulevard up to the entrance of the ground, and the Midland Railway Company have consented to stop all trains at Lenton. The Forest Club is to be congratulated upon having such a thoroughly suitable ground within a reasonable distance of the centre of the town, and lying midway between two centres of population like Hyson Green and the Meadows, where football supporters muster so strongly. In the summer the enclosure will be used by the Lenton United Cricket Club. The match versus Stoke-on-Trent, next Saturday commences at three o’clock, and upon the form shown by the Potteries club thus early this season, is sure to be well contested and interesting.
 
I'm Red Till Dead

I'm Red Till Dead

Stuart Pearce
Reproduction of the ad for the opening game

GG-Opening.jpg
 
Strummer

Strummer

Socialismo O Muerte!
LTLF Minion
It was forever a source of pride, when, at international tournaments, the camera would linger on a particular player, and the graphic would flash up on screen, with his club, „N. Forest“.
 
I'm Red Till Dead

I'm Red Till Dead

Stuart Pearce
valspoodle said:
I wonder how many on that photo survived the War?
Click to expand...
I have found all bar two of thems deaths -
Graham - 1983
Munro - 1992
Ashton - 1989
Davies - 1978
Surtees - 1992
Trim - 1997
Perry - ?
Clark - 1994
Maund - ?
Pritty - 1996

So, at least 8 of the ten, and possibly all of them.

Edit: Maund died in 1994.
Perry died in 1942 in the seige of Tobruk where he was a driver in the Royal Army Service Corps according to
Wikipedia

So in answer to the question, 9 of the 10 survived the war.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom