Monthly Blog May 2026

Memories of Judge’s Bakery

Thanks to the Bread and Bitter pub, we shared this photo after John Dean bought it in. John had taken it in 1976 showing the building when it was Judge’s Bakery.

The door on the right is now the door round the back of the pub that goes into the kitchen and the van is parked in the alley that now goes between the hearing aid shop and the cheesecake shop. 

Memories kept flooding back 

#MapperleyHistory #Mapperley #MapperleyNottingham

Martin Greenwood – My sister Yvonne just sent me this. That’s our Dad, Alan Greenwood. I used to go with him round there in the late 70s delivering bread and cakes during the school holidays. What a fabulous photo. We had his wake at the Bread and Bitter when he died in 2018. The van used to park in the stable at the back where lots of swallows lived flying in and out of the door! I think this photo was featured in the Evening Post at the same time as the one we had put on a canvas and presented to the pub after the wake where it shows them all taking bread out of the ovens. The van was from Sharpes garage that was where the Sainsbury’s local is now at the top corner of Breck Hill if anyone remembers it.

Mandy Langley – I started my first Saturday job at Judges and was there for years. The old man judge used to come in and inspect our hands, the pig man used to collect any left overs and the rest I used to burn just round the back. Many happy memories there with Marjorie and the two Margarets. It was quite the learning curve.

Ebony Pearl – Mum used to get a bakewell tart, dads favourite when we were small (1950s) at Judges, we walked up Gedling Road along Plains Rd and back sometimes.

Jason Lee Woolley – I remember passing their shop regularly on Mansfield road around 1986, when I was 16 and on my way to Flewitts bakery, learning the trade. Great memories and many bakers around that time, which most have sadly gone

Local Government Housing Plan.

It’s interesting that (apart from Mapperley Golf Course) almost all of the other potential sites are either agricultural or unused land. Mapperley Golf Club is not only an established asset, it also sits next to a sport and leisure hub. Nuffield Health, Mapperley Plains Social Club, Gedling Miners football and cricket clubs.

The two roads onto the 650+ homes development will be off Colliery Way / Arnold Lane which is understandable but Central Avenue by a school is concerning. Would they even consider taking a road through the ‘Miners Welfare’ site and deny us this facility too.

Sarah Bemrose

It would be devastating to lose the golf course to building …. It’s the green space that really makes the area and it’s getting less and less. Even for a non golfer it provides such a lot of habitat for nature as well as making the area look appealing . 😕

The Belle Vue

We posted this image of The Belle Vue public house on Woodborough Road Mapperley in 1976.

The pub was built on one of the early brickyards along Woodborough Road, where the land had already been dug out and levelled. Unsurprisingly it was named Belle Vue which is French for ‘beautiful view’. It was a popular pub with staff from Mapperley Hospital. 

Reg Baker – Photographer

Reg Baker was a well-known Nottingham amateur photographer and local historian whose work became an important visual record of the city and surrounding villages. He was a local man too, living in Carlton. Whilst not primarily a professional photographer, he worked as a GPO/telephone exchange employee, his photography was his passion.

Reg lived on Galena Drive in Carlton but became a familiar figure around Nottinghamshire because he travelled almost everywhere by bicycle — often in shorts and sandals, with his camera equipment with him. His cycling and photography were closely linked: he would ride around Nottingham and nearby villages searching for buildings, streets, shops and landscapes of architectural or historical interest. His Falcon cycle was included in many of his photographs, leaning against a wall or lamp post.

Reg Baker’s work turned out to be especially valuable because he documented places before they disappeared through redevelopment and demolition. Thousands of his photographs were later donated to Nottingham’s local studies collections, preserving images of areas that changed dramatically.

Reg Baker died in the mid-1980s, but his photographs remain one of the most important visual archives of everyday Nottingham life in the twentieth century.

#oldpubs #mapperleynottingham #mapperleyhistory #shipstonesbrewery #mapperleyhospital #bellevue See less

Richard Bulmer – Old school trio of pubs.  Belle Vue, ‘Porch’ and Plainsman for those who lived up there ❤️

Jenny Dineen – Richard Bulmer l was a barmaid in both Plainsman and Porchester 1976-1978

Gus Hennessy – Was a proper local in the day and had the hardest football team in Nottingham…. just saying 😉

Norman Collins – Mapperley Physiotherapist

We posted: What happened to Norman Collins the physio and his clinic on Whittingham Road? The planning application for the  building work suggests 2 apartment buildings are being constructed on the site, however it may actually be another clinic of some sort. Is Mr Collins still around?

Thanks to Marriotts Estate Agents, we were told:

Norman is ok. A few health issues so now officially retired at almost 90 years old. I sold his practice/premises for him a few months ago.

We were then reminded what a successful career he had at his Mapperley clinic.

The man was renowned by professional athletes including Nottingham Forest players. He was the man who Martin O’Neill thanks for ensuring he recovered from injury to make the squad for 1979 European Cup Final against Malmo in Munich. O’Neill was grateful to former Forest hero Frank Wignall for recommending Norman Collins to him

“Three weeks to the day before the final we were playing Manchester City and I got kneed in the thigh by Dave Watson. I couldn’t strengthen the leg for about eight to 10 days as I had a blood clot,” he said. As each day passed and got closer to the final, Frank Wignall told me about a physio in Mapperley called Norman Collins. He told me Norman Collins was brilliant. His eye sight’s not great but he’s got a fantastic feel! Norman could only see me at 5am as he was so busy. I travelled from East Bridgford to Mapperley each day and did two hours of work before going to the City Ground. Without Norman I’d never have made the bench.”