Issue 5 February 1991
Lenton Gregory F.C.
This is the story of one of Lenton's local football teams. Founded in 1924 the Club started playing in the Boys Realm League and by 1932 had graduated to the 2nd Division of the Notts Alliance. In 1934 for reasons not entirely clear the Club decided to disband. Twelve years later a group of local men decided to re-establish the Lenton 'Gregs' and entered two teams in the Notts Amateur League. The Club continued for some fifteen years until the members called it a day in the early 1960s. Albert Ellis who was Club Secretary from 1946 to 1958 provided information about the Club and its footballing exploits, plus all the photographs used in this article. (3 pages) A further article on Lenton Gregs in the 1920's in Issue No.6.
Advertising the Past and Church News - June 1942
An assemblage of some eighteen adverts for local businesses that first appeared in the Lenton Parish Magazine for July 1942 set alongside some of the Church news from that war-time period.
The Fleet's in Town
At the age of 48 Henry Robinson decided he had made enough money to retire. A life of self-imposed idleness did not suit and when he successfully backed 'Grand Parade' to win the 1919 Derby he decided to invest his winnings in a new char-a-banc and hire it out for day trips. He bought Clayton's Wharf and the accompanying property in Old Lenton, resumed a former career of coal merchant and combined this with his new interest in char-a-banc hire. The combination worked very well. When the demand for fuel slackened off in the summer the workforce could switch to the char-a-bancs - come the winter it was back to the coal deliveries. In the next few years he built up the char-a-banc trade and at one point was running twelve vehicles. The story of his 'Grand Fleet' Char-a-bancs was recalled by 'Bert' Robinson, Henry Robinson's son. At the time of the article Bert was eighty eight but his memory of those early days of the char-a-bancs was as sharp as ever.
Local Profile: Iva Keen
Born in Manchester, Jamaica, Iva Keen came to England in the mid 1950s. At the time of writing her hairdressing business had been part of the Lenton scene for some twenty odd years. Iva's corner-shop business was the one permanent fixture in a part of Lenton that has seen no end of changes.
Hillside Recollections Part 2
The first half of Jack Hill's Hillside recollections (in Issue No.2) focussed on the stretch of canal that ran alongside Hillside. In this second helping his recollections take us to various other locations in the Lenton area.
G.B. Willbond Ltd.
This recounts the history of G.B. Willbond, a plumbers' merchants, who until recently were based on Faraday Road, Lenton.
Corrections
Correction to articles in Issue 4.
Society Snips
The Society's recent news section.
Editorial for this issue
The print run for Issue No.5 is 1,600 copies. This is an all-time record for Lenton Times made possible by the generosity of our sponsors who decided to purchase sufficient copies for all those customers on their mailing list. We trust this new readership will enjoy the feature on G. B. Willbond Ltd. and that they will discover other parts of the magazine that engage their attention. If these complimentary copies prompt any readers to seek out future editions, the magazine is available from most newsagents in the Lenton and Wollaton Park areas and also from selected City Centre bookshops.
We also entertain the hope that our sponsor's mail shot might help bring to light the odd person with Lenton connections who is subsequently moved to send us their reminiscences and/or old photographs (which we would return once copies have been made). Most of the articles in this particular issue started life as a letter or telephone call to the Society and in several instances that initial communication was simply to tell us the whereabouts of others who might have an interesting story to tell. So don't hesitate - get in touch!
The months so far chosen for publishing issues of Lenton Times have been October, May, November, June and now February. We realise this shows a certain lack of consistency and leaves potential purchasers somewhat uncertain as to when they should start looking out for the next edition. We can only apologise but must state that we are not really in a position where we can guarantee exactly when the magazine will appear. Our target for Issue No. 6 is September 1991.