Relics of Old St Ann’s
BBC East Midlands interviewed Mapperley’s modern and accessible farmer after Storm Babet had exposed some landscaping methods from the 1960s. John Jones at Woodborough Park Farm spoke about the floods and the land that was washed away, revealing thousands of bricks underneath. These were placed there in the late 1960s as Nottingham’s Victoria Railway Station and the old terraced housing of St Anns were demolished and redeveloped.
It has to be said that the bricks probably originated from the many of Mapperley’s brick works and to some extent, returned to the place of origin.
We asked John at Woodborough Park Farm about this interesting piece of history. The location is off Georges Lane but NOT accessible to the public.
Apparently in the 1960s there used to be a very large gulley / valley that went between two fields. All the fields were in permanent grass at the time, and ‘leveling them’ made it possible for them to be used for arable crop production. The rubble from the demolition of the old St Anns and the Victoria Station allowed for the leveling, with soil placed on top. Apparently it took about 18 months before the infill was completed.
Parrots Arrive In Mapperley.
It’s fair to say that the UK’s only naturalised parrot, the ring-necked parakeet, have established themselves in Mapperley. We knew that these birds had been seen in Wollaton Park and Woodthorpe Park, but in early November several messages came in with sightings in the Porchester Gardens area. Initially on Pilkington Road and then moving along to Hickling Road.
11th November
‘So delighted to welcome the Mapperley parakeets to our garden on Hickling Road today’
Final Farewell To Raleigh Cycles
On the week that Nottingham said its final farewell to Raleigh Cycles, this 1966 Raleigh Runabout is a regular visitor to Mapperley Top.
This pedal and go moped was the British equivalent of the French ‘Mobylette’ and capable of 35 mph.
1980s Nostalgia
A reader sent us this photo of Mapperley Top in the 1980s. For those that weren’t around then, they soon learnt that Sharpe’s Vauxhall Garage is now Sainsburys and Baileys Food Market grocers shop is now Icon Barbers.
Not much else has changed, has it?
Apparently there used to be Roy and Patricia’s Bed and Breakfast along this stretch of Plains Road. Does anyone remember it?