Tucked into the leafy slopes of Woodthorpe Drive in Nottingham stand two neighbouring properties that have quietly borne witness to more than a century of local transformation. White Cottage and Pelham House are fine examples of early suburban architecture. They represent the personal histories of [ … ]
Mapperley Golf Course – An Uncertain Future
There has been a predictable reaction to the announcement of Gedling Borough Council’s Local Development Plan, which sets out the future of the area up to the year 2043. The most contentious aspect will always be in relation to housing. Sites for possible development have [ … ]
The Little Shop With Many Memories
In July 2025, we came across this photograph of The Little Shop on the Old Nottingham Pictures group. 1983 The Little Shop, 876 Woodborough Road, Mapperley. Anybody remember this? Sally Williams certainly did. She was able to recall the various names that the shop had [ … ]
Nurse Waddingham – The Sherwood Murder Of 1936
Despite being almost a century ago, the name Nurse Waddingham is still remembered in Nottingham. Convicted of murder in 1936, she was the last person to be hanged at Winson Green Prison and there were 10.000 protesters outside the prison. Local Author Reviews The Case [ … ]
Recommended Fencing Contractors
In April 2025, we posted a request for recommendations for someone to supply and install fencing in their garden. Here’s what we were told: KAB Best Fencing – Netherfield – Tel: 08001931717 – Email: enquiries@kabbestfencing.co.uk Inline Fencing Ltd Barnard Fencing Beechdale Fencing Ltd – Nottingham [ … ]
Tree Surgeons and Arborists
Tree Surgeons are also referred to as Tree Climbers and Arborists. Tree surgeons work in towns and the countryside, assessing tree health, removing branches, planting new stock and felling unsafe trees. There are several ways to train and operate as a tree surgeon, so qualifications [ … ]
Florence Paton – Our First Woman MP
Here’s the story of Florence Paton, an influential woman and politician whose contribution to women’s health and the teaching of SEN children is recognised at the Garden For The Blind on Carlton Hill. Born Florence Widdowson in 1891 at Somerset, she moved to Wolverhampton where [ … ]
Private Kenneth Wagstaff (1925 – 1944)
Kenneth Wagstaff lived with his parents in St Anns Nottingham. Like many of his peers, he joined up to serve in the Second World War, but unlike most of his peers, he never returned Pte Kenneth Wagstaff was ‘killed in action’ just three days before [ … ]
Memories Of The Metropole
Located on Mansfield Road in the Sherwood district of Nottingham, the Metropole cinema was a wonderful art-deco gem. Here it is in the early 1970s, not long before it closed. Note the Esso petrol station on the corner of Elmswood Gardens, and ‘The Candy Shop’ [ … ]
Local Walks – Ploughman Wood
Whenever the sun is out in Mapperley it seems everyone gets out for a stroll. It took us 3 hours to walk from Mapperley Top along to Dorket Head, down through Woodborough and back to Lambley via the historic Ploughman Wood where we tookthis panoramic [ … ]