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Post by tramper on Nov 3, 2023 19:57:38 GMT
When's part two ? 🤷🏻🥴🤔
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Post by marshallstack on Nov 3, 2023 20:19:35 GMT
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Post by fretbuzzzzz on Nov 4, 2023 12:09:52 GMT
From what I gather, trainspotting was considered 'cool' in the 50s especially. If you happened to be a young male and not into trainspotting then you were treated with a great deal of suspicion. Back then, trainspotting had been every bit as important and fashionable to young boys and men as football later became for younger peeps since the World Cup in 1966, with a few exceptions of course. ps...Little Trains etc is on the 'More 4' channel Says who? Well, granny...I have watched various documentaries over the years relating to history and transport. It has been said that trainspotting was a serious pastime for young lads and trendy, particularly in the 50s. Post-war and not much else for youngsters to get involved in and it didn't cost much to do, as hobbies go! Long before The Beatles and the Revolution!
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Post by granny on Nov 4, 2023 15:55:13 GMT
Well, granny...I have watched various documentaries over the years relating to history and transport. It has been said that trainspotting was a serious pastime for young lads and trendy, particularly in the 50s. Post-war and not much else for youngsters to get involved in and it didn't cost much to do, as hobbies go! Long before The Beatles and the Revolution! You can watch all the documentaries you like but I was actually a teenager throughout the 1950s. I only ever met one trainspotter. Alan was the elder brother of my best friend and he was a super spotter who everyone normal thought was weird. He loitered on station platforms with his friend Neville and their notebooks and at home played 78s on the radiogram all of which contained just train noises, wheels, gusts of steam, whistles, braking and doors slamming. Not what the rest of us would call "cool". I don't know where the documentaries were set but I bet it wasn't Manchester or Stockport as that was the decade when we were spoilt for choice in cheap activities. Youth clubs flourished, there was an indoor roller rink in Longsight and vibrant Levenshulme Palais, apart from the local cinemas (cheap), multiple ways to meet the opposite sex out of the rain. Trains meant going somewhere - a day return to Blackpool or Southport or a trip into the Peak District for a hike. Both trains and buses were cheap and covered much more areas than after Beeching or privatisation. Long before the Beatles? I was at the showing of "Rock Around the Clock" at the Kingsway cinema when a riot broke out with dancing in the aisles and on the seats. A dozen police arrived to frogmarch selected participants out but it didn't have much effect on the rock 'n' roll. Many cinemas banned the film. And then in 1956 I can remember the first time I heard Elvis sing "Heartbreak Hotel".
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Post by fretbuzzzzz on Nov 4, 2023 19:11:46 GMT
Thanks for sharing your experiences granny. Just trying to picture the carnage at that cinema!
Perhaps the documentaries and books were sponsored by 'The Society of Trainspotters'?!
Though it's just one of those things that has stuck in my head ever since, about trainspotting and the stereotypes that wasn't necessarily completely correct. It probably had been regional thing to a certain extent. I'm fairly sure the main focus was on London and the suburbs and the greater rail network.
We are possibly talking about different age groups here as well? I had been referring to a much younger age group than the groups that would be able to go to meet the opposite sex at Dance Halls etc and get their kicks in other more grown up ways. My mum used to tell us stories about the heady days of her going to see Jack Parnell's Jazz band in London in the late 1940s-1950s and blown away watching him bash the devil out of his drum kit. Apart from that, all quite civilised I believe!
I had been talking about the much younger generation, who got their kicks from either playing around on bomb sites after the war or by watching locomotives thundering by, as close as they dared get to the railway line. The first Heavy Metal?!
I suppose there was a real excitement for them watching the likes of the Flying Scotsman roaring past at great speed, before they eventually discovered other recreational activities!
I was a child of the 60s and it was just Saturday morning pictures at the cinema for us of a certain age. My brother had the interest in model railways and made a spectacular layout in our shared bedroom in the late 60s - early 70s. He would go with a mate and watch trains at different stations. I think he started noting down types of trains and serial numbers etc but he eventually gave up on that and it was just a phase at a certain point in his young life. I don't think he was in anyway weird but doing what others were into, in his circle.
There are varying degrees in many things and trainspotting is probably no exception. You will have had the real obsessives who would hang around on platforms all day and noting every detail and then other types of trainspotters who got their kicks watching steam trains and their later Diesel counterparts thundering along. The youngsters who didn't have other ways to get that same excitement.
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Post by granny on Nov 4, 2023 20:05:38 GMT
By the way, young lads were into football with the heros being Roy Clarke for City and Dennis Viollet for United. The star strikers weren't the millionaires they are now and actually talked to fans and some made appearances for worthy causes without charging a fee.
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Post by fretbuzzzzz on Nov 4, 2023 21:34:08 GMT
By the way, young lads were into football with the heros being Roy Clarke for City and Dennis Viollet for United. The star strikers weren't the millionaires they are now and actually talked to fans and some made appearances for worthy causes without charging a fee. That's where the women's football is at the moment from my experience and the players taking loads of time to speak to fans and have photos taken after games and more direct involvement with fans, a completely different culture to the men's game but signs are that as the women's game is growing at a phenomenal rate following England wining the Euros last summer, that will inevitably change at the higher levels with playing in the main stadiums etc. Putting to one side for now about the story of the Dick Kerr Ladies at Preston North End in the 1920s and that part of football history. Though some fans of the women's game are over stepping the mark a bit now, with requests for this and that from the players after the game. For some fans, the result doesn't seem as important as getting their hands on a players shirt or other item after the match. I am sure some young lads were into football back in the 50s. We were mad about football ourselves in the late 60s/early 70s and the highlight for my brother and me was when 'GOAL' magazine dropped through our letterbox and then the arguments would start about who's turn it was to read it first! I don't remember seeing many very young fans on the terraces at first division matches in the early 70s as the terraces could be 'dangerous' places with crowd surges and after a goal had been scored, you could end up in a completely different place on the terrace from where you were originally stood and a bit battered and bruised! My brother and me did eventually discover the 'Children's Enclosure' that occupied a small section of the stadium. Though you could easily end up with your head taken off by a stray ball as the enclosure was at pitch height and right next to the pitch and no protection. Happy Days.
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Post by granny on Nov 5, 2023 9:28:43 GMT
We often watched Corinthian Ladies FC play in Fog Lane park in the early 50s. Doris Ashley was well known and respected around Burnage/Didsbury/Withington.
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Post by fretbuzzzzz on Nov 6, 2023 11:16:23 GMT
We often watched Corinthian Ladies FC play in Fog Lane park in the early 50s. Doris Ashley was well known and respected around Burnage/Didsbury/Withington. That's good to know that you could still go to watch women's football locally back then and rebels, in a sense, during the FA ban. Incredible really. Respect! Another one of those things that has stuck in my mind from watching documentaries and reading in books about how the FA banned women from playing football at FA-affiliated grounds from 1921 to 1971. The FA stated something along the lines of "football being unsuitable for females and shouldn't be encouraged". How times have changed. My daughter and myself have spent the last 2-3 years visiting as many League and a number of non League football stadiums as possible. We have visited something like 115 across England and Wales. We had hoped to tackle (?) as many football grounds in Scotland as well, but my carefully planned itinerary had to be cancelled at the last minute, unfortunately. Another time perhaps. I imagine some trainspotters may see our epic stadium tour as almost tragic! Though I imagine they would actually be very understanding. I wouldn't know if it is a cool thing to do or not but we have enjoyed every minute and sod what anyone else thinks. I suppose some people may see us lot on here as obsessive, discussing Quo to the nth degree. Possibly any consuming hobby or interest is seen as a bit odd or uncool by others less inclined. On our travels, we met a few women players along the way. We met Jill Scott at her Boxx 2 Boxx coffee shop (not of the Amsterdam persuasion!) in Manchester. Had a chat, photos etc and she served us coffee and biscuits. She wasn't really a household name at this time, though she had some true longevity in women's football and only people who had been following the women's football for a number of years knew about her. England and Jill had just returned from the Olympics but women's football in general still wasn't on the radar in a serious way. Then just a year later, Jill was part of England's Euro winning team, a few months later she started to appear on TV and heard on the radio. 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here', football punditry and now part of the TV series 'League Of Their Own'. By the way, where the hell do fans park at City's Etihad Stadium? We took our chances and parked at Asda across the road! We stayed in Salford Quays so able to leave the car at the hotel and walk across to Man United's stadium. We also managed to squeeze in a visit to the 'FC United of Manchester' stadium. I had watched a documentary a couple of years ago. Think it was called 'Who Owns Football?' and it covered various clubs but also covered the building of the new FC United of Manchester stadium and talking to the Man Utd fans who were, for various reasons, discontented and decided to break away and start their own club.
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Post by dennis on Nov 6, 2023 11:37:27 GMT
We often watched Corinthian Ladies FC play in Fog Lane park in the early 50s. Doris Ashley was well known and respected around Burnage/Didsbury/Withington. That's good to know that you could still go to watch women's football locally back then and rebels, in a sense, during the FA ban. Incredible really. Respect! Another one of those things that has stuck in my mind from watching documentaries and reading in books about how the FA banned women from playing football at FA-affiliated grounds from 1921 to 1971. The FA stated something along the lines of "football being unsuitable for females and shouldn't be encouraged". How times have changed. My daughter and myself have spent the last 2-3 years visiting as many League and a number of non League football stadiums as possible. We have visited something like 115 across England and Wales. We had hoped to tackle (?) as many football grounds in Scotland as well, but my carefully planned itinerary had to be cancelled at the last minute, unfortunately. Another time perhaps. I imagine some trainspotters may see our epic stadium tour as almost tragic! Though I imagine they would actually be very understanding. I wouldn't know if it is a cool thing to do or not but we have enjoyed every minute and sod what anyone else thinks. I suppose some people may see us lot on here as obsessive, discussing Quo to the nth degree. Possibly any consuming hobby or interest is seen as a bit odd or uncool by others less inclined. On our travels, we met a few women players along the way. We met Jill Scott at her Boxx 2 Boxx coffee shop (not of the Amsterdam persuasion!) in Manchester. Had a chat, photos etc and she served us coffee and biscuits. She wasn't really a household name at this time, though she had some true longevity in women's football and only people who had been following the women's football for a number of years knew about her. England and Jill had just returned from the Olympics but women's football in general still wasn't on the radar in a serious way. Then just a year later, Jill was part of England's Euro winning team, a few months later she started to appear on TV and heard on the radio. 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here', football punditry and now part of the TV series 'League Of Their Own'. By the way, where the hell do fans park at City's Etihad Stadium? We took our chances and parked at Asda across the road! We stayed in Salford Quays so able to leave the car at the hotel and walk across to Man United's stadium. We also managed to squeeze in a visit to the 'FC United of Manchester' stadium. I had watched a documentary a couple of years ago. Think it was called 'Who Owns Football?' and it covered various clubs but also covered the building of the new FC United of Manchester stadium and talking to the Man Utd fans who were, for various reasons, discontented and decided to break away and start their own club. Didn't you go by train?
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Post by Mustang Bass on Nov 9, 2023 20:49:10 GMT
Sharing his passion for railway modelling, Pete takes Status Quo's Francis Rossi down memory lane to inspire his first layout.
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Post by camerst on Nov 9, 2023 23:00:45 GMT
Thanks for posting but as much as Francis is a rock god/hero/idol to me I only got about a minute in,couldn’t bring myself to listen to him taking about model railways.
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Post by Mustang Bass on Nov 10, 2023 9:47:37 GMT
Thanks for posting but as much as Francis is a rock god/hero/idol to me I only got about a minute in,couldn’t bring myself to listen to him taking about model railways. Me neither, but I thought some might be into it.
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Post by fretbuzzzzz on Nov 10, 2023 20:01:03 GMT
Thanks for posting but as much as Francis is a rock god/hero/idol to me I only got about a minute in,couldn’t bring myself to listen to him taking about model railways. Blimey...cut him some slack camerst! Most of his appearance was about how the railways were a significant part of his early life and his past. He was walking/riding trains with Pete W around the suburbs. Not that different from him and Alan L retracing their old steps/places in the Hello documentary, in a way. I reckon most peeps can appreciate the aesthetic of a fabulous model railway layout especially if it conjures up emotions and memories ...you're just in denial camerst!
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Post by curiousgirl on Nov 10, 2023 21:52:25 GMT
Thanks for posting but as much as Francis is a rock god/hero/idol to me I only got about a minute in,couldn’t bring myself to listen to him taking about model railways. Blimey...cut him some slack camerst! Most of his appearance was about how the railways were a significant part of his early life and his past. He was walking/riding trains with Pete W around the suburbs. Not that different from him and Alan L retracing their old steps/places in the Hello documentary, in a way. I reckon most peeps can appreciate the aesthetic of a fabulous model railway layout especially if it conjures up emotions and memories ...you're just in denial camerst! Thanks Fretbuzz. You've peaked my interest to give this a look.
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