HAPPY ANNIVERSARY GILLIAN LOVE FROM HUSBAND THOMAS XXXX Eight YEARS
Tag Archives: Nottingham
My books have arrived in Waterstones book shop in Nottingham – Manners Bear And Friends by Gillian Sims
Photo by kind permission of Katrina the book buyer in Waterston’s Nottingham today
Preparing to put my book on sale.
Manners Bear And Friends is a children’s poetry book based on manners. The book is £6.95 plus p&p
ISBN No: 9780956400628
If you would like to order the book you can buy at Waterstone’s Nottingham or online
Or order direct from us by email at: gillianandthomas@yahoo.com
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Goose Fair
Goose Fair has been celebrated from days of old
When geese were brought to Nottingham to be sold
Thousands would gather for the sale
While many others came just to drink the ale
With so many people gathered there
The sale gradually changed into a bustling fair
An annual celebration to be enjoyed by all
A time of entertainment when the autumn began to fall
Folk gathered to watch the wrestlers and performing bears
Feats of skill by jugglers they had practised down the years
There were side shows with freaks thought to be funny
And folk could have a laugh if they paid their entrance money
You could have your fortune told if you had a penny
The gypsies told their stories,but did not convince many
They took it in good humour,but some hoped it would come true
Especially when they were told ‘ good luck would come to you’
The barrel organ was invented,the music was loud and shrill
And this added to the pleasure of those looking for a thrill
The development of the steam engine led to the carousel
Which waits to join the action when the Lord Mayor rings the bell
At noon in the first Thursday of October in every year
The Lord Mayor gives a welcome to everybody there
They come from far and near,there is excitement in the air
The geese no longer come, but it’s still called Goose Fair
Ron Martin
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Goose fair
Goose fair smells fantastic
On the rides twisting around
October wind blows
Screaming out
Exciting, just can’t stop laughing
Flying down the track
Adventure in the bumper cars
I get bashed around
Rush to see the lights
BY PAIGE
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GOOSE FAIR
Goosey- Goosey gander where do you wander
Down to the forest where the grass is so green
To the goose fair site where all can be seen
With all the smells in the air what a wonderful atmosphere
Helter Skelter roundabouts and Dodgem cars all whirling about
Mushy peas and candy floss
children screaming as the rides go so fast
There’s Gipsie Rose Lee is reading your palms
Filling you up with all her charms
Big wheel so high I feel I could touch the sky
Its time to go as the goose fair lights go low
Then trailer’s packed and off they go
This year’s gone so fast
By
Thomas Sims
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This is Nottingham
Nottingham is a lovely place, so much to see and do,
a castle, caves, the river, we’ve got a windmill too!
Two football teams, ice skating rink, a tennis centre place,
rugby, bowling, health clubs, whatever you can face.
Our medical care is first class, we’ve got the Q.M.C.
They really do look after us, they are there for you and me.
The University grounds are beautiful when the rhodo’s are on show,
on a sunny afternoon it is the place to go.
If you want to see how criminals were treated in days gone by,
you could go to the Shirehall Galleries, if you DARE give it a try!
If you are a night owl there are many clubs for you,
to stay until it’s quite late, or dance the whole night through.
We also have some friendly pubs, if you want a quiet drink,
or you can go and have a lunchtime snack, if your cooker’s on the blink.
Our restaurants are wonderful whatever you like to eat,
the choice is quite a amazing it’s simply hard to beat.
You can even go to the theatre, plays, concerts, whatever you want to see,
there are also lots of cinemas if you fancy a movie.
From the Nottingham Midland train station you can go anywhere at all
but you really should just stay right here, you will really have a ball!
JUNE FISHER Sutton-in-Ashfield
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“Fairground Attraction”
“Fairground Attraction” Size 12×12″ Acrylics on Canvas
Exhibition:From 24th September 2013 Studio 61 Gallery, Studio 61 Gallery,
Leashaw Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 5AT 01629 534532
My latest painting is inspired by the famous Nottingham “Goose Fair”. I was asked by a local company in Nottingham if I’d like my art featured on their website for September 2013 they also featured one of my paintings last year “The Great British Mini” www.artbymandy.com.
Debbie Mawhinney Directorat The New Fat www.thenewfat.co.uk suggested I tie in an event or similar that would occur in Nottingham, I agreed to do some research and on my findings I decided the Nottingham Goose Fair would be a good choice and so Debbie happily agreed and changed my feature date to October.
The Goose Fair ties in with autumn one of my favourite seasons and the very famous event. I also lived in Nottinghamshire for a while as a child and later again as a teenager it couldn’t be a more perfect choice I really love to find connections.
I researched further and found that the Goose Fair had been running for over 700 years. It all began at the time of King Edward l in 1284 and began as a trade fair for animals, farmers would paint the feet of their geese with tar and walk them more than 50 miles or more to the fair. Over the years entertainment and stalls were added and eventually travellers brought their attractions and thus The Goose Fair became a “Fairground Attraction” and always at the beginning of October, it is now the biggest fair held in Europe with over 100 attractions. Last but not least there is also a famous painting by Artist Arthur Spooner “The Nottingham Goose Fair” 1926 and sold by Christies in 2004. The paintings is now exhibited at Nottingham Castle.
It would be just perfect to recreate my own larger version in the not too distant future.
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Goose fair poems
As soft as clouds, as pink as a rose, the smell of the candy floss won’t leave your nose.
It’s like a sky scraper standing proud and tall, though when I am in it I feel very small.
Whizzing as fast as the speed of light, I get a headache as I watch the sight. (Written by Megan King)
Rides spinning round and round, getting closer to the ground.
Sounding like volcanoes erupting. (Written by Adrian Wagstaffe )
The bright lights hit her head with a bang!
She wandered over to the food van.
Rides whizzing past.
As she queues up for one rather fast. (Written by Isobel Pye)
The candy floss is oh so nice, you will have to eat it twice! ( Written by Holli-Ann Beer)
EVEN SCHOOL KIDS ARE GETTING THE POETRY BUG
SO COME TO NOTTINGHAM AND HAVE SOME FUN AT THE NOTTINGHAM GOOSE FAIR
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WILFRED OWEN – DULCE ET DECORUM EST – BEST KNOWN POEM OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
DULCE ET DECORUM EST(1)
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares(2) we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest(3) began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots(4)
Of tired, outstripped(5) Five-Nines(6) that dropped behind.
Gas!(7) Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets(8) just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime(9) . . .
Dim, through the misty panes(10) and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering,(11) choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud(12)
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest(13)
To children ardent(14) for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.(15)
Wilfred Owen
8 October 1917 – March, 1918
Notes on Dulce et Decorum Est
1. DULCE ET DECORUM EST – the first words of a Latin saying (taken from an ode by Horace). The words were widely understood and often quoted at the start of the First World War. They mean “It is sweet and right.” The full saying ends the poem: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori – it is sweet and right to die for your country. In other words, it is a wonderful and great honour to fight and die for your country.
2. Flares – rockets which were sent up to burn with a brilliant glare to light up men and other targets in the area between the front lines (See illustration, page 118 of Out in the Dark.)
3. Distant rest – a camp away from the front line where exhausted soldiers might rest for a few days, or longer
4. Hoots – the noise made by the shells rushing through the air
5. Outstripped – outpaced, the soldiers have struggled beyond the reach of these shells which are now falling behind them as they struggle away from the scene of battle
6. Five-Nines – 5.9 calibre explosive shells
7. Gas! – poison gas. From the symptoms it would appear to be chlorine or phosgene gas. The filling of the lungs with fluid had the same effects as when a person drowned
8. Helmets – the early name for gas masks
9. Lime – a white chalky substance which can burn live tissue
10. Panes – the glass in the eyepieces of the gas masks
11. Guttering – Owen probably meant flickering out like a candle or gurgling like water draining down a gutter, referring to the sounds in the throat of the choking man, or it might be a sound partly like stuttering and partly like gurgling
12. Cud – normally the regurgitated grass that cows chew usually green and bubbling. Here a similar looking material was issuing from the soldier’s mouth
13. High zest – idealistic enthusiasm, keenly believing in the rightness of the idea
14. ardent – keen
15. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori – see note 1 above.
These notes are taken from the book, Out in the Dark, Poetry of the First World War, where other war poems that need special explanations are similarly annotated. The ideal book for students getting to grips with the poetry of the First World War.
Pronunciation
The pronunciation of Dulce is DULKAY. The letter C in Latin was pronounced like the C in “car”. The word is often given an Italian pronunciation pronouncing the C like the C in cello, but this is wrong. Try checking this out in a Latin dictionary!
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LAST DAY
TO COME
TO THE WORLD FAMOUS
NOTTINGHAM
GOOSE FAIR
COME AND HAVE SOME FUN
IF YOU DARE
THANK YOU TO EVERY ONE FOR LETTING US USE THERE POETRY AND VIDEOS
FOR GOOSE FAIR 2012
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR MY BE AT THE FAIR
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WE WILL GET YOU THERE NOTTINGHAM GOOSE FAIR DO NOT MISS A SINGLE RIDE ENJOY THE FUN OF THE FAIR
TRAM NETWORK GETS READY FOR GOOSE FAIR
28 Sep 2012
Visitors to Nottingham’s most famous annual event can take advantage of a fantastic travel offer on the city’s tram network.
The popular Family Ticket has been re-introduced for the duration of the Goose Fair, offering families of up to five, including two adults, a day of unlimited travel for just £5.
Families and other visitors can simply glide into Forest Park to join in the fun at the fair that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the UK and beyond.
Due to the scale of the event, the tram network’s Forest park and ride site will be closed temporarily to make way for the festivities.
Although the tram stop remains open, the car park will be inaccessible to vehicles between 6.00pm on Saturday, September 29 to 6.00am on Wednesday, October 10.
However, around 2,000 spaces will be available at four other park and ride locations around the city.
Visitors to the fair, and anyone who uses the tram more regularly, can also take advantage of a special Kangaroo ticket if they need to combine their journey with train or bus travel.
Florian Le Loroux, Marketing Manager at NET explained: “At any time, the tram offers the easiest and most convenient way to get around the city centre but when there’s such a huge event taking place it makes more sense than ever.
“However, due to the size of the Goose Fair, and depot extension work at the Wilkinson Street site, there’ll be a reduction in the amount of parking spaces available.
“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and we would also like to remind motorists that park and ride spaces are reserved for tram users only.”
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Goose Fair
It it’s October,
It must be Goose Fair!
Around more than 700 years.
This year, started Wednesday, ended Sunday,
An extra day!
Funfair rides never seen before
Thrill ride favourites
The Enterprise, the Observation Wheel, closed gondolas,
Helter Skelter, carousel rides, Waltzers, Ferris wheel,
The Roller.
Enjoy stalls, treats, burgers, mushy peas, even chips.
Fun for everyone
A big loud festival.
A deconstruction poem by Ellie O, James, Tom, Nakai, Haziq and Ellie:
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UPDATE ON THE NOTTINGHAM POST 7.9.12
Re Poems
The Nottingham Post has been in touch, about the poetry not being published Monday to Friday. Their explanation was that only regular poets were sending in their work and no-one else, this meant that they have not enough poems to publish during the week. I then suggested that the paper put a notice to this effect and to invite all poets within the area of the paper to send in their work or comment on their statement.
It then transpires the main reason is that the Letters page takes priority over the poems I was told that they were not intending to put poems in the paper Monday to Friday
The member of staff I spoke to said he would consult his editor about putting more poems in the paper on Saturday’s.
As you can see for yourselves, there is a contradiction on both subjects.
What I would like to see first is constructive comments on both issues.
I cant believe the poets are not sending poems in to the Nottingham Post, because there so much hidden talent out there, and I am sure readers of the Post have missed the beautiful poems submitted by all poets.
Are we to stand by and allow this to happen? I know poetry is not everyones cup of tea.
Surely, it is every readers right to show concern on issues such as this. Remember we all have the right to voice our opinions as to what we like or dislike , we contribute towards the paper by purchasing it every week, although the price has been increased.
Malcolm G Bradshaw
8-9-12
I will keep you informed of more developments when I receive them from
The Nottingham Post.
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Lest We Forget
Have we forgotten their ultimate sacrifice?
Of these men and women who died in their millions?
Brave and true, without question,
proud to be British, not ashamed to be Christian.
So many years have passed,
it seems our memory doesn’t last.
Forgetting these courageous people, to our shame.
Why can’t we remember their names?
How short is our memory?
That we have forgotten them already?
Died in their millions fighting for our freedom,
believing in our free democratic ideology.
What does it take to wake up this country,
to rise once again from its complacency?
How much more do we take, before we decide to fight,
for our beliefs, our traditions and our liberty?
Armed Forces Day in the UK
Lest We Forget
by Simon Icke UK
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BATTLE FLAG
The battle flag snapped and swung up to fly in the wind
Above the post on the hill that even God had forgotten about back then
Rifles swung up and pointed out and down across the clearing
Searing rounds were sent out for the human shearing
A burst returned ripped holes in the flag that flew in the wind
Blood and mud spattered, its fabric so worn and so thin
That flew above boys that day sudden turned into men
It snapped and swung up to fly in the wind
Above the post on the hill that no one, not even God knew about back then.
THANK YOU FOR LETTING US USE YOUR POEM
kind regards
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GILLIAN’S Great book give away in St Annes nottingham
Gillian Sims gave free books to members of her community on Tuesday 23rd October. 2012
The Manners collection was published in 2009.
This book was at the heart of the community on Tuesday where it was first launched at the Chase library three years ago.
Many children will have the pleasure of reading the light-hearted poetry about manners and will engage with the fun characters while they tell their tales.
Photos and books were exchanged in the community,and all were delighted to receive the books.
BISHOP JOAN RICHARDS
AT
THE ELOHIM DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY
WELLS ROAD
NOTTINGHAM
THOMAS HOLLAND
AT
RENEWAL TRUST
THE CHASE COMMUNITY CENTRE
ST ANNES
NOTTINGHAM
CHECK OUT THE FULL STORY IN THE NOTTINGHAM EVENING POST TODAY
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