Lenton Times

The Magazine of Lenton Local History Society

This section of Derby Road as you move away from Canning Circus is not strictly speaking in Lenton but the parish boundary is only about eighty yards or so further along the right hand side of Derby Road. Photograph taken in 2007.  See also Hermon Street.

This photograph taken in 2006 and the previous one were both taken by Ray Teece.  On the right is what used to be Alton's cigar factory which has now been converted into flats.  For other photographs by Ray Teece see his City of Nottingham website

The building originally housed the Park Hill Congregational Church.  After its closure the property was purchased by the Greek community and it is now a Greek Orthodox Church.

The junction of Arundel Street and Derby Road in the 1980's.  These properties  were probably built in the 1850s.
David Clarke sheds further light on this row of properties - see Memories below

The entrance to The Park via North Road. This photograph appeared on a postcard produced in the early 1900s.

The entrance to The Park, shown in the previous photograph, can just be glimpsed between these two trolley buses which have made their way up the Derby Road hill as they head into the city centre in 1962.   

The properties situated on the triangular patch of land at the junction of Barrack Lane and Derby Road. The photograph, taken in the 1920s, was used to accompany a piece in Lenton Times Issue No.9 on newsitems from the 19th century.  The newsitem in question appeared in 1833 and related to the sale of the land for building purposes.

A later view of the junction of Barrack Lane and Derby Road - this time taken in the early 1980s.  The corner property then housed 'Park Batteries'.

The Park Stores, grocers & delicatessen, as it looked in the late 1980s.

In the days when it was a turnpike this is the tollgate situated on Derby Road.  It was probably to be found just down the hill from where the Park Stores is today.  When the Derby Road ceased to be a turnpike the toll house was demolished and the lamp standards were moved to the North Road entrance to The Park.

An undated photograph of Willoughby Cottage which could be found at the junction of Willoughby Street and Derby Road.  Clearly at some later date the ground floor of the property was changed to incorporate the commercial premises shown in the next photograph.

Billy Hill's newsagency, 227 Derby Road.  Photograph undated but possibly late 1950s.  Billy Hill himself died in 1947 but 'Billy Hill' continued to be used as the name of the shop even after its move into the Church Square Shopping precinct.

By the time this photograph was taken the old Willoughby Street properties had been demolished and the Willoughby Street flats were under construction.  These properties fronting on to Derby Road were subsequently demolished and their site is now incorporated into the grassed area alongside the Savoy Cinema.

A 1990 view looking down at the junction of 'Willoughby Street' and Derby Road.  The site of Billy Hill's shop would have been at the top corner of the patch of open ground next to the Savoy Cinema.  On the other side of Derby Road is Cottesmore Road and to its left the buildings that formerly housed the Cottesmore Schools.

Lenton Boulevard to Middleton Boulevard
Click on each photograph below  to show the enlarged version

A view of what was then the Gregory Ground used in the summer by Lenton United Cricket Club.  Photograph taken in 1969/70.  The land is now used as the sports field for Green Holme School. See Lenton Listener Article - Cricket Lovely Cricket

An undated photo of the Butt Houses which were situated on Derby Road next to the Gregory Ground.  Following their demolition in the 1970s three blocks of maisonettes were subsequently erected intheir place.

Derby Road looking towards the junction with Gregory Street- photograph taken in June 1992.  In the far distance is Fanum House then serving as offices for the Automobile Association.

A 1930s view of Derby Road looking towards the junction with Gregory Street. By now the tram service had been extended as far as Wollaton Lodge.

A 1962 shot of a trolley bus turning round at Gregory Street in order to make the return journey into the city centre.  The white van on the left is just about to enter Derby Road from Radmarsh Road and the Three Wheatsheaves is visible behind it.

The Three Wheatsheaves Pub in 1990. The pub faces the junction of Gregory Street and Derby Road. For the history of The Three Wheatsheaves see the Lenton Listener article.

Since the previous photograph was taken in 1990 there have been a number of changes, as evidenced in this 2007 shot.  The Three Wheatsheaves is no longer a Shipstone's pub but had become part of the Greenhall Witney imprint.  The velux windows indicate that the roof space has undergone redevelopment but the the main changes are just glimpsed either side of the building with the arrival of the huge student accommodation complex known as the Riverside Point based on Radmarsh Road.

The Three Wheatsheaves Pub was originally an old farm property, the earliest parts of which date from the late 17th century.  The part of the building in the foreground of this photograph is 'quite recent' dating from Victorian times.For the history of The Three Wheatsheaves see the Lenton Listener article.

Much the same view as the previous photograph but a somewhat earlier shot taken at the beginning of the twentieth century.  This was a picture postcard prepared for the proprietor of the pub, a certain G.H. Burnham who used it as a business card.
For the history of The Three Wheatsheaves see the Lenton Listener article. See also Lenton Times No.22

This property, at the corner of Gregory Street and Derby Road, was the replacement for an earlier building which had once been Lenton's 'Manor House'.  The earlier property had been demolished to allow for the construction of the road bridge over the railway. This and the companion shot displayed under Gregory Street, of admittedly poor quality, are the only shots the Society has of this building.

A 1980's view of the properties between Radmarsh Road and Triumph Road.  The building on the right provided the shell for the new car showroom featured in the next photograph.

Taken in November 1987 this shows Mann Egerton's new Rolls Royce showroom - the building in the previous photograph was remodelled and new cladding placed on its exterior.

A mid 1980s shot of the building at the corner of Derby Road and Triumph Road which housed the Nottingham branch of the Automobile Association.  Since their departure in the mid 1990s the property has been converted into the base for 'Nottingham Emergency Medical Services'. See also The Ghost With Unlikely Associations!  

The William Woodsend Memorial Homes, which are situated next to The Rose & Crown public house.  Photograph taken in July 1987.

This photograph was taken by Ada Marriott in the late 1940s and shows the Derby Road following flooding from the River Leen.

A view of the Rose & Crown looking from Arnesby Road.  The photograph is undated but from the age of the cars looks as though it was taken in 1940s/50s. The main articles in Issue No.3 were devoted to a history of this pub.

A view of the Rose & Crown taken in August 2005 from the car park entrance with the top of Lenton Lodge just visible on the left.

When this photograph was taken in the early twentieth century Gregory Street was the terminus for the Derby Road tram.

This is a copy of an early twentieth century 'double' postcard of Derby Road with the canal just visible on either side of the picture.  The building on the left is Lyndale House.

Another view of Lenton Lodge but this time it is the River Leen that is visible in the foreground and the Nottingham Canal lies beyond the hedge on the left.

 Shot from almost the same spot as the previous photograph this colour picture postcard from the early 1900s shows slightly more of the River Leen and a little less of the gatehouse.

 In the early 1920s Edith Marriott poses for her photograph behind Lenton Lodge, the gateway to Lord Middleton's property, Wollaton Hall. The photograph is from the cover of The Lenton Listener Issue 26 - September to October 1983. An article on the history of the gatehouse was included in Lenton Times Issue No. 24. 

A twelve year old Reg Meakin posing for his photograph in front of Lenton Lodge in 1920.

"I lived at Lenton Lodge at that time. It was my wedding day May 1st 1956. With me is my brother Arthur Beal, he gave me away because my father was killed in the second world war. My marriage to Barrie Fines took place at St Marys Church on Wollaton Hall Drive, I could have walked there it was so close to the Lodge but of course that was not done and Burley Fox who drove and owned the beautiful Black Damilar had to drive around the block. I loved living at the Lodge."
Pat Fines - Australia 

This photograph appeared in the Nottingham Evening Post February 1st 1977 and shows a Barton bus which earlier that day had ended up in the River Leen having careered through the parapet of the bridge.

The section of the River Leen into which the Barton's bus had nose-dived.  The photograph, taken in Spring 1984, shows workmen removing silt from the left hand channel.

A 2005 shot of the same section of the River Leen but looking back towards Derby Road with the head offices of Mansell Construction Ltd. just visible on the other side of the road.

This 2001 shot shows some intrepid individual perched on the concrete dividing wall in the middle of the river.  Although he is clearly taking advantage of the summer sun what may not be totally apparent is that he is actually an angler intent on catching fish.

The Hillside shops in 2005.  A branch of 'Subway' now occupies what used to be the Hillside Post Office.

Substantial extensions to Lyndale House, the cottage at the corner of Derby Road and Hillside, took place in the late 1980s when the property was converted into a nursing home.  The photograph itself is undated but was probably taken in the 1950s/60s.

Half way between Derby Road and Wollaton Road was the No. 5 Lock shown in this photograph.  On the far side of the canal is the boundary wall of Wollaton Park.  No date is given for the photograph.

These properties were once to found on the stretch of road between the canal and the Rose & Crown.  In the foreground is Kenyon's Garage. An old water mill was the original occupant of the site.

Passengers descending at Hillside from a Derby Road trolleybus.  The garage shown in the previous photograph can just be seen on the other side of the road.  The trolleybus's service number is '8'.  Later it would be altered to the No.45.

The Jelley Homes dedicated to the memory of Alderman Jelley and built in the 1920s.  Photograph taken in June 1987.

A city bound trolley bus is just about to set off again along Derby Road having stopped to let a couple of passengers off.  Shot taken in 1962.

The section of the Derby Road leading up to the main entrance to the Queens Medical Centre.  The red coating on the surface of the road seen on the right of the photograph, taken in 2005, highlights the presence of the bus lane.

Derby Road beyond Middleton Boulevard
Click on each photograph below  to show the enlarged version

The lodge house belonging to Lenton Firs was built in 1861 and was erected while extensions were being carried out to the main house. See June Ingleby's reminiscences of living in Lenton Firs Lodge.

This building originally served as the lodge for Lenton Hall.  The Hall later became the Hugh Stewart Hall of Residence.  The photograph was taken in the early 1990s just prior to a refurbishment of the property.

An early twentieth century shot of the South Lodge to Wollaton Park taken by Arthur William Bird.  Mr Bird (1871-1963) was a keen amateur photographer and many of his Nottingham photographs have subsequently been lodged with the Local Studies Library in Angel Row.  The man in the photograph is identified as Tom Poole.

A picture postcard showing the South Lodge on Derby Road.  From the smoke issuing from one of the chimneys it was clearly used as a domicile in those days.  To the right of the figure in the middle of the road is the junction with Beeston Lane.

The South Lodge gatehouse in 1988.  Used by countless numbers of University students to gain entry to Wollaton Park.

This is Beeston Fields Farmhouse which came down in the 1930's to make way for the Astoria Cinema at Lenton Abbey.  The Astoria later changed its name to the Essoldo and after that the Classic and finally closed as a cinema in 1975.  The site is now occupied by the premises for a building company.