Paul Key, a member of the Mapperley Local History and Preservation Group recently posted about the anti-aircraft defences that were installed in Mapperley during World War II.
These were in the area of what is now the Nottingham Academy on Ransom Drive. On the left of the map (at No 404) is where Blyth Street meets Staples Street. The embankment on the right shows the railway entrance to the Sherwood Tunnel.
Paul Key writes
The role of Mapperley, in building and protecting Nottingham has been one of long service, from supplying building bricks to providing a safe pressurised water supply. Mapperley also had a key role, but an almost forgotten role performed in World War 2, with the provision of an heavy anti aircraft battery to defend Nottingham from air raids. This was located to the east of Blyth Street. The circular positions were the location for the guns, the boxes within the circles I recall had heavy steal doors. It can only be assumed to safely contain the ammunition for the guns. The guns were removed by 1942, and the other buildings were Ministry of Defence property, integrated within a once secure compound. With such a commanding view over the skies of Nottingham and with access to both the Sherwood and St Ann's railway stations close by to resupply, the site would have been an ideal location to help protect Nottingham in a time of need.
Andy Torr remembers:
As a child, I lived almost opposite (on Woodborough Road) in the ’50s, and I remember my parents and grandparents reminiscing about the ear-splitting noise those guns made when they were fired. There was also a military camp / barracks near where the Walter Halls School now is, and after the war ended, the huts were used as temporary accommodation for local families well into the late ’50s
Andy Torr
Helen Darbyshire recalls the huts being removed.
I remember the day in the 60s when a wrecking ball knocked down the air raid shelters at Walter Halls. We were in assembly and had strict instructions not to look out the windows at all the excitement. Spoil sports!
Helen Darbyshire
The Mapperley Local History Group is on Facebook via this link https://www.facebook.com/groups/MapperleyHistory/