We were contacted by Olivia who has been renovating her home on Kenrick Road in Mapperley. After removing an old electric fire, they found a birth certificate hidden deep in the chimney breast! It was an original birth certificate from 1882 and related to a [ … ]
Category: History
Wild Days Lodge – Mapperley’s Forest School
The magnificent former gate-keepers lodge on the Wells Road is to reopen as a Forest School in the summer. We have posted several times about this building, that was disused for many years. In February, the modernisation work was starting to show what a beautiful [ … ]
Navarra – Our Favourite Italian Deli
Navarra Italian Shop at 92 Oakdale Road is our favourite Italian Deli. The restaurant may not have reopened after the Covid pandemic, but we are pleased that the shop is still serving and delivering the finest Italian products to doors of Mapperley. Here’s an article [ … ]
Mapperley Says Farewell To Actor Peter Bowles
Mapperley can proudly lay claim to the career of actor Peter Bowles, who died recently at the age of 85. Bowles was best known for the hugely popular sitcom ‘To The Manor Born’. He made a success of playing the posh villain or the cultured [ … ]
The Tragedy Of Hillsborough
On the day that Nottingham Forest take on Liverpool in the FA Cup, local author Jacques Morrell reflects on his personal memory of the tragic events of 1989. Jacques writes: The most melodramatic and tragic event that I have seen unfold was the ill-fated FA [ … ]
Diary Of A Derbyshire Yeoman
Introduction On the 10th November 1942, the 1st Derbyshire Yeomanry Regiment sailed from the UK for North Africa. 19 year old Dennis Dawson was one of them. He had enlisted at Catterick on 23rd April 1942. His Army Pay Book shows his Army Number as 7958147. Apart from [ … ]
Ernest Never Chucked His Dummy
This is the story of Ernest Dawson. His life started in tragedy, then through the great war and to settling in the Mapperley area of Nottingham. This is Ernest. He was born on 15th October 1895. His mother died on 8th May 1898 when he only two [ … ]
The Tree Tops Public House
The Tree Tops is one of Mapperley’s best known public houses. It has had several refurbishments over the years, but what do we know about it’s history? Paul Key, a local historian gave us this information. Originally a private house, Arnold Hill House was built [ … ]
Gedling Colliery in 1948
A short two minute documentary about our former Gedling Colliery in 1948. A documentary made in 1948 about Gedling Colliery, one of the deepest pits in the region. The film shows how the pit increased its output through the introduction of new technology. The colliery [ … ]
Local True Crime Case – Pretty Windows
Many of you will be familiar with the ‘Pretty Windows’ murder case that features in a new true-crime podcast. The murder of publican George Wilson in 1963 shocked the community of Nottingham and it remains unsolved. Psycho Killer The Podcast takes a fresh look at [ … ]