CHARITY rockathon Live Aid had entertained and inspired households across the county and country – including Nottingham's ice royalty, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.
The pair were asked to top the bill of a sports spectacular planned by fundraising mastermind Bob Geldof, in the wake of the Live Aid concert the previous weekend.
The world-beating ice dancers were said to be "very interested" in plans for the sporting equivalent of the Wembley and Philadelphia concert, which inspired pledges of more than £40 million.
The Post commented: "You have to admit that the Live Aid television spectacular achieved what international jealousy usually spoils.
"What international leaders never even get a sniff of.
"What most politicians don't understand or simply perceive as an impossibility.
"It's called a unity of nations.
"United nations if you like.
"And fact is that Live Aid succeeded in creating more harmony – in music and spirit – in just 16 hours than the official United Nations have managed in 16 years."
Sport Aid would eventually be held the following year on May 25, taking place in 89 countries simultaneously and raising $37 million.
Notts residents had also been inspired to put on their own Live Aid-style events but had faced a few hurdles. Elizabeth Sewell, of Tewkesbury Drive, Old Basford, wrote to the paper: "A few weeks ago a gentleman in the Evening Post said how he attempted to organise a Live Aid-type concert in Nottingham at the Royal Concert Hall but was unable to get the big names in pop together.
"I thought about this and came up with the solution which could help a concert take place. This would be to put on a bill of stars who alone couldn't sell out at the Concert Hall but together they could.
"My suggestion involves groups like the Alarm, the Damned, the Cult, New Model Army, Sisters of Mercy, etc.
"I am quite sure that for the seats available at the Royal Concert Hall these would be completely sold out.
"I would be quite willing to help anyone get this concert together for such an important cause."
After months of planning and £250,000 spent, the D H Lawrence Centenary Festival was officially launched in Nottingham.
However, not everyone was on board with the celebrations as the county waited with bated breath to see if the festival would be a roaring success or a disappointing flop amid concerns that, while it would please the educated, it had little to offer the man in the street.
The three-week extravaganza kicked off with a carnival, followed by an international literary seminar at Nottingham University, readings, writers' workshops, plays and competitions.
A specially commissioned boozy treat, called Centenary Ale, was handed out to revellers by Lawrence lookalike Stuart Hellen, who claimed he was the writer's grandson.
Nottingham Forest were back on the ball and ready to get stuck into some pre-season training. The Reds boarded their club bus and headed to Wollaton Park for a two-and-a-half-hour stint.
Forest faced a two-week programme before beginning a series of matches on the South Coast against Weymouth, Bournemouth, Brighton and Portsmouth. Only central defender Chris Fairclough, who had recently undergone a minor calf operation, was unable to train flat out.
It was the first opportunity for the squad to meet their newest signings – Neil Webb, from Portsmouth, and former Coventry pair Stuart Pearce and Ian Butterworth.
