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Archiver > GEN-TRIVIA-ENG > 2004-01 > 1075210864


From: "Johno" <>
Subject: [TRIVVIES] THE PRAM
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 13:41:04 -0000


I thought a stroll along to Trivington before the bad weather comes in would be a good idea and so i strolled, of course i would get a pint and then take a seat under the old Oak Tree and watch the villagers at
whatever they were doing. I had just sat down and took a swig when who pops along but the nurse ,she took a seat but would not accept my offer of a drink because she was driving (her bike) ...
Johno she said, i have a few minutes to spare and wondered if you had one of your stories to tell me.? a true story that when you relate it
it causes your hair to stand up ?, well nurse you are lucky .i recall such a time and it does make these 3 hairs stand up when i think about it..

Here goes. I would be about 12 yrs old, it being August time my School was on the months holiday and i was making the best of the
holiday ,now Margaret was my youngest Sister at the time 2/3 yrs old.

Mother can we take Maggie (pet name) with us on a hike to Matlock
( 9 miles distant )..yes but be careful....the pram was in good order and traffic was very light ,we may meet a tramp on the Rd but he would be too interested in looking for" fag ends" and would not bother us...
So with a bottle of water and some dripping sandwiches we set off
there was 4 of us and it was about 8/30 a.m. when we left
Barker Lane, we hoped to reach Matlock at lunch time......All went well
we reached Stanedge about an hour later and enjoyed a little while rock climbing on some rocks which had been upheaved by
earthquake in the distant past....On we went and as we had drank the
water, we refilled at a spring we knew of,lovely cold clear water.

We now arrived at Slack Hill and acknowledged by the locals to be the steepest hill around those parts, my story is connected with this hill
on the way back....
The hill was so steep that there were notices at intervals advising Bus
drivers when to change into various gears during negotiating the hill.
We arrived in Matlock about lunch time and carried on to Matlock Bath
it was there that the most interesting parts where and a spot by the river where we decided to picnic....It is one of the finest beauty spots
in Derbyshire, we could not enjoy the more scenic parts because there was an admittance fee, and we were strangers to money......
Anyway we had a good romp about and left about 2 p.m. hoping to be back home 6/7 ish......
We arrived at the top of the hill and boy ,did it look steep....
In those days a hobby was collecting used Bus tickets and i was a collector,we had just started to descend the hill and i noticed some tickets on the ground we 3 began to pick them up,in doing so i let go of the pram and what happened in the next few minutes makes my hair stick up when i recall.....
The pram was off and Margaret was laughing as i set off to catch it,it
was gathering speed,now i do not know for sure but
i guess i could have put the 4 minute milers in the shade, i certainly had to gallop to catch it up ,catch it i did and we were
half way down the hill before i had full control.....
Hope my story interested you nurse ,now i must leave you and stroll back for lunch...........Byee..






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