Nervous men got down on one knee to propose, there was stomping on benches and swinging pints, and then more sobering recollections of loved ones who had passed away - all at the same location in Nottingham in different decades. The corner of Derby Road and The Ropewalk, at Canning Circus, holds many memories but it depends on which generation you belong to.
Currently the buildings that were most recently the Dancing Dragon Chinese restaurant and Ropewalk bar next door, are both boarded up. But back in the day this was a location with plenty going on.
The site was once home to Richard Clower & Sons, a funeral parlour, and later the Co-op, and many people remember going to see their loved ones there for the final time. We asked members on the Facebook page Old Nottingham Pictures for their memories and there were hundreds of responses.
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Stan Coupland recalled: "I made coffins at Vic Fearn's in the sixties who supplied Clowers and the Co-op there. I remember saying goodbye to my grandma there in 1967." John Cameron remembers walking past on his way to school and when the doors were open he could see the coffins being made, while Keith Harris said: "It was very eerie to a young lad."
It also spooked Lynette Susan Randall, who remembered: "I used to walk past there late at night on my way home from working at the Playhouse. I say walked, I ran because the building gave me the creeps."
Sharon Henton went there in the 70s to see her granddad. She remembered: "I was impressed with how they had prepared him, he looked like he could just sit up and talk to you. It made a lasting impression on me as a 17-year-old seeing her first dead body."
After years as a funeral home, the buildings went on to become a series of restaurants and bars. Amongst them was Mr Haddock, serving fish and chips, in the early 1980s.
David Banks said: "When it was Mr Haddock's I recall the small wall lights in the restaurant were coffin-shaped paying homage to its previous function!"
Colin Shaw commented: "We used to go regularly - first it was to The Running Horse, then across the road to Mr Haddock’s. It was definitely the best fish and chips in Nottingham, and then back to the Running Horse to watch the bands, and that was a brilliant night out."
George Daly recalled "Worked on there from day one turning it from undertakers to Mr Haddock's - very scary place at the beginning."
Iz Mari Laurence said: Mr Haddock's was so delicious it got more than one mention in this (then) schoolgirl's diary! 'We polished off a mini-Everest of fish & chips...' Had no idea of the building's history, though - not that it would have deterred me!"
However, several said they didn't feel comfortable eating there, knowing the building's history.
Elizabeth Hodgson said: "I only remember this building as Clowers, the undertakers, and I walked past it most days walking into town after school. My maternal grandparents were taken there after they passed away 1967 and 1970 and I did go to see my grandmother in her coffin prior to her funeral. Not a place I would ever want to go in especially to eat... too many unhappy memories for me."
There's no shortage of anecdotes - whether they're true or not who knows? Jeanette Hill said: "I remember it was a fish restaurant after it closed as a funeral home. My mum said it was to hide the smell of embalming fluid… never went in," while Graham Gough reckoned: "Mr Haddock's used the marble slabs from the undertakers as counters, so legend goes."
Something Special was another restaurant - and many people, who visited it said it was. Angie Dickinson said: "Something Special was where Dave and I celebrated our engagement, was very upmarket for a 'Medders' girl, first time I had a waiter place my napkin on my lap and light my cigarette!"
Nina Greensmith said: "It was special. It had warmers for your brandy so it was the right temperature. I remember one starter, it was half a pineapple with large prawns in mayonnaise sauce with peppers and apple. They used to make flowers out of vegetables.
"You all had little coves in the caves where the dead bodies used to be. I must admit I went to the funeral home to see my dad. It wasn't pleasant. So when we used to go for a meal, they went that little bit extra to make it special. Loved it."
Both Mr Haddock's and Something Special were owned by Richard Hartley, the proprietor of Motorist Discount Centre, a commercial director at Notts County FC and the youngest ever chairman at Mansfield Town in the early 1980s.
Anthony Potts said: "I worked at Mr Haddock shortly after it opened. It was a restaurant and takeaway. For the first few months it was absolutely manic but then the demand petered out and it went from all day opening to split opening. Next door was the very posh Something Special which was the diametric opposite of Mr.Haddock. The answer to the question everyone asks is ‘No. We never had any spooky or supernatural experiences.' Most of the people who worked there had no idea it used to be a funeral parlour."
Further down the line Pengelly's came along, "one of the most successful and pub/wine bars in Nottingham" according to Phil Pendleton. There was Mr Man's Cantonese restaurant. Shirley Ellis said: "My hubbie and I were there one Saturday evening, a chap opposite our table ordered a Sambuca. They used to put a coffee bean at the bottom and flame it. Instead of waiting till the flame went out he tried to drink it it, it was hilarious."
Then there was the Bierkeller in the 1990s. Ian Bradders Bradford said: "We manufactured the tables and benches. Whilst still in the workshop six of us had to get on top of them and jump up and down to convince the safety officer they were fit for purpose."
Mexican restaurant Tequila was another. "I painted murals for them. Including Mexican revolutionary, Zapata, charging on his horse," said Jeff Lewin.
Long before it was a funeral home or restaurants, it was a milk voucher distribution centre in the 1950s. Graham Allsopp said: "I seem to remember going there with my mam in the 50s to get orange juice and cod liver oil. I think it must have had something to do with the health service."
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