Monthly Blog – October 2025

From Marple Square to the M31 Galaxy

Marple Square Remembered

Jo Singh sent us some photos taken by her father in the 70s and 80s. These are of the Marple Square flats on Woodborough Road off Cranmer Street. Built with its own neighbourhood shopping centre in the 1970s and taking its name from Marple Street, it went into steady decline and was demolished in 2002.

I used to walk to the newsagent on Marple Square when I worked at Hawk Cycles (Now Asiana), quite regularly in 99/2000. It was proper rough! Remember a lad coming in to the shop crying because he’d had his new trainers stolen off his feet, and the shops always had the shutters down so the windows couldn’t be put through. Most of the shops were shut by this point but a couple were still open. – AJ Oakes

I grew up in the area surrounding Marple Square. There used to be two newsagents/off licenses and I remember a hairdresser too at one time. There used to also be a children’s home behind the square as well – Lorraine Weston.

Plains Fish Bar

On 8th October we posted: Say hello to Nasi, our new manager! The Plains Fish Bar runs in the family for very many years, Nasi’s grandad Harry owned the shop in 1986 & then his dad Peter took over in 1991. 

Congratulations Nasi! Our favourite chippy is in good hands.

Even though he likes Derby County, he is a great lad – Richard Brown

Great Chip Shop. Always service with a Smille – Dave Laing

Milestone

On 13th October, the Mapperley People Facebook page reached a milestone.

Carpet Style – Great work guys!

Paragon Locksmiths – Great work well done everyone! a big achievement and lots of hard work that’s gone into the group 😁

Andreea Dulgheru Nail Technician – This is amazing! 🤩 well done

Jaya Ram Dahal – Wow, 20,000 followers is a huge milestone! Amazing work! 🎉

Mapperley Street

Thanks to Mike Crew for posting on the Old Nottingham Pictures page, this image of Mansfield Road, Sherwood showing the junction with Mapperley Street in 1951.

The Star Super Valet Cleaners (still known as Geoff Blore’s Bookshop) has a Wine Shop next door. This was long before Brigitte Bordeaux arrived. Their building is visible but it’s unclear what business operated there. Does anyone know? On the left is a post war Austin A40 Devon and on the right a 1939 Austin 12.

Winter 1947. 

A steam train makes its way from St Anns Well Station, heading under Mapperley via the Sherwood Tunnel and towards Sherwood Station.

Taken from David Birch’s record of the Nottingham Suburban Railway, the photograph is attributed to Aubrey Gibson and Alan Westby and probably taken from the parapet of the tunnel. The line was in a cutting at this point with the houses on Wells Road above the line to the left.

The second image (provided by Mike Clay) shows the location marked. This image is looking from above Standhill Road Carlton over Porchester Road towards Wells Road. Thanks to Paul Key posting on the Mapperley Local History Group.

What an incredible picture, it just demonstrates that life simply had to carry on even in the worst winters. Everything would be cancelled now, lockdown everywhere – Raymond Walton.

In the second image, the straight row of houses you can see on the lower LHS, Kildare Road I do believe. And still exists today. The bridge you see would be roughly around where Astley Drive is now – Marc Roberts

Carlton’s Sky At Night

On 27th we posted: Don’t forget to look up! This image of M31 Galaxy was taken from a house in Carlton Nottingham on a rare clear night last Saturday. Resident photographer Steve Komarek used a Seestar S50 scope to capture the M31 in a total of 344 x 30sec captured and stacked images. M31 is the catalog name for the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest major spiral galaxy to our Milky Way, located about 2.5 million light-years away from Earth. It is also visible to the naked eye.