There's a Mansfield in Ohio, USA:-
And there's a Mansfield in Texas, USA. This Mansfield is famous because it was the hometown of Robert Brague - an award winning senior blogger who is now on a well-earned blogging vacation:-
But the real Mansfield, the town after which the other three are named, is in northern Nottinghamshire in England's East Midlands. It has a population of around 104,500 and was until recently the capital of the county's productive coalfields. A little river runs through the town. It is called the River Maun and indeed in past times the settlement was known as Maunnesfeld or "field by the River Maun". The spelling we know today is derived from "Maunnesfeld".
I was there today. The town has a lovely central marketplace but it is surrounded by the remnants of rather misguided nineteen seventies town planning - dual carriageways and concrete shopping centres. There was a nice buzz about the centre of town but some umistakeable signs of working class poverty were apparent - mobility scooters, people puffing on cigarettes, obesity, shellsuits. That kind of thing.
I wish I could have stayed longer but I was restricted by the amount of change in my pocket when pulling into into the pay and display car park near the old bus station.. Before leaving, I had a coffee and a sausage roll in the "Ten Green Bottles" coffee lounge. There, as I read "The Daily Mirror", I noticed a ten strong group of Romanian immigrants crowded around the window table and wondered if they supported the local football team - Mansfield Town - from whom Hull City acquired the goalscoring legend who was Ken Wagstaff fifty years ago.
The real Mansfield-
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| The Bentinck Memorial, Mansfield |
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| Church Street, Mansfield |
Hmm ~ hot peas and shellfish? Blooming Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteHot peas and shellfish seems like an odd combination to me - Blooming Weird!
DeleteI'm always restricted by the change in my pocket...nothing changes. I rarely carry much change, perhaps I should change!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine hot peas and shellfish...not in my wildest dreams! And I have some wild dreams! :)
Your first sentence suggests you were halfway through a midday bottle of plonk Lee! Hot peas and steak pie yes - but not shellfish! Those strange Nottinghamshire folk!
DeleteWonder if Hot Peas and Shellfish were designed to keep customers out or bring them in? Gross. Gag.
ReplyDeleteThe weather looks fabulous - we've got fog thicker 'n pea soup here the last three days. I am heartily tired of everything dripping and the entire landscape nothing but a wall of slate grey. I like the cobblestones in the last pic. We've still got some original cobblestoned streets in our antique district, downtown Centralia WA.
Nottinghamshire people have some odd customs. We are more sophisticated in Yorkshire with more refined dishes such as tripe and onions and pickled cockles. I once saw real cobbles in Savannah, Georgia. They had taken ballast from European ships and used it to pave the waterfront area.
DeleteAnd a beautiful day it was, too! The last photo is great, with that arch across the road.
ReplyDeleteMobility scooters, obesity, shell suits, fags; that reminds me of Barnsley a bit. Add "bad teeth" and "pasty skin" and you have a perfect description of the kind of people I saw at the "Alhambra" when i was last there (about 10 years ago, I must add).
A far cry from the original Alhambra - Barnsley council should have thought of a more suitable name for their shopping centre!
DeleteIf not Alhambra Brian then maybe "Tub of Lard" or "The Woodbine Centre".
DeleteMiss Arian - the last photo was very difficult because of the big contrast in brightness between the shady street and the church and stone viaduct.
Hello Brian, never been to the original Alhambra, but I remember how odd I found it when I first came to Barnsley and saw that there was a shopping centre by that name there.
DeleteNeil, it really is a very good picture. You make the difficult seem easy.
Why are mobility scooters a sign of working class poverty?
ReplyDeleteI know it is a generalisation AJ but obesity, diabetes and other effects of poor diet and lack of exercise are more prevalent in poorer communities. Also poorer people are less likely to have cars. As you move around The Midlands why not make a mental note of where the mobility scooters tend to be.
DeleteI am not interested today in hot peas or shellfish or even the original Alhambra. I am interested in correcting your sly poke in my direction when you stated (falsely) that the "other three" Mansfields were named after your Mansfield. First of all, there are many more than three Mansfields. Check wikipedia, for crying out loud. More importantly -- and you would know this if (a) you had read certain past posts of mine and (b) your memory was not beginning to fail -- my Mansfield (the one in Teas) was not named after the Mansfield in England. Originally it was not even Mansfield, it was Mansfeild, a community that grew up around the grist mill operated by Ralph S. Man and Julian Feild. Repeated misspellings over the years and assumptions such as yours have brought it to where it is today, f-i-e-l-d and presumed by all to have been named after your Mansfield.
ReplyDeleteYours for accuracy in blogposting,
"Senior blogger" Rhymes
Well that's me told! I shall stand in the corner wearing my dunce's cap while rubbing my rump - following the thrashing from Principal Brague. By the way, for crying out loud, I was well aware that there are other Mansfields and never suggested that there weren't. Wrongly it now transpires, I thought you would find it interesting to see a few photos of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. Have a nice day!
DeleteWhat is a shellsuit? Does it have anything to do with the serving of peas and shellfish? Funny how we all reacted negatively to peas and shellfish.
ReplyDeleteA shellsuit is like a cheap tracksuit made from manmade fabrics. Nothing to do with eating shellfish - more likely pizzas and kebabs.
DeleteWhat's this slur on Italians and Turks all about?
DeleteObesity Graham. Something that very apparently hasn't blighted your trim and muscular figure!
DeleteG'day, I live a couple of hours away from Mansfield, Victoria it is a nice small town, and was named after that town. It was where the police who were killed by Ned Kelly and his gang set off from in the 1870's
ReplyDeleteThanks for calling by Craig. I am glad you stumbled across this post and were able to relate it to your own Mansfield.
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