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Hello, just testing with this first message. Not sure how this all works so I'll just say how I got here. I finally got around to taking some action yesterday on getting to the truth (or otherwise) of whether there was ever a large house on Arno Vale Road, around about where Whernside is? I was looking up old Ordnance maps and found one of the relevant area which seems to show a Lodge which led down a track to a much bigger (but unnamed on this map) property, with extensive grounds around it.

Then I confess I got sidetracked by a reference to Daybrook House - so I looked up its history and found myself here! Just for the record, as I believe people were asking questions about Daybrook House a couple of years ago, my Husband and I had our Wedding Reception there in October,1974, and a very nice job they did for us too. It was connected with The Home Brewery, though I don't know if it was owned by it.

Anyway, back to Arno Vale - I'm not sure what a Lodge would have been, though I think they do tend to be located near grand houses, and associated with them. Now I've started looking I won't stop so I just have to find where next to try for a more detailed map - any help welcome. I'm Nottingham Born and Bred too so maybe there are topics I'll be able to help others with.

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On a copy of an o.s. map of Sherwood dated 1899, Arno Vale is shown as the name of this house, they also mention that the house was occupied in 1881 by John Lawson Thackeray, a landowner and magistrate, after whom Thackerays Lane was named.

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Welcome to Nottstalgia LocalGel. I think the building you are referring to was Arno Vale House.

arno-2.jpg

In present day terms it was roughly at the bend where Thackery's Lane meets Saville Road (where I've marked the red arrow) but around 1890 it looked like this

house-2.jpg

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Further to Cliff Tons image , if it is that building that you mean , looks like it was demolished in 1935 , according to this site that has listed all the demolished country houses throughout the UK . It lists about 50 in Notts and provides links to images and info for many of them .

http://lh.matthewbeckett.com/lh_complete_list.html

This from the Evening Post 13/11/1931 , looks like it could have been an article about the plans to demolish the building . Unfortunately the OCR software hasn't translated it well and you will have to pay to see the actual scan .

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/newspapers/results?recordCount=-1&firstName=&lastName=&fromYear=&toYear=&county=Nottinghamshire%2C+England&keywords=%22arno+vale+house%22

NEW ARTERIAL ROAD. known Arno Vale House f r o Thackeray's-lane. It stands on tir? Vfe acres but has additional park lands lav to about 20 acres. h * *^° been planned to take advantage tural amenities of the estate, and the Ye been sited to run with the contours. Nottingham Evening Post
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Hello again,

Well I now know considerably more than when I first started out. Yes, there very definitely was a big house there and it's fairly easy to find out when you know where to look isn't it? My own earlier attempts had resulted in zilch even though I had correctly guessed that if there was a large building there it might well have been called Arno Vale House. All I got when I Googled it at that time was a list of houses for sale on Arno Vale Road - and they were very nice too - but I couldn't afford them.

So thanks for the replies which have given me the info I needed. I've already found myself replying to another post - so it looks like I'm hooked!

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I recall reading somewhere that the front garden walls of the houses on Thackeray's Lane either are the original walls as shown in the pic above, or re-used the stone.

Whichever, it's sad to lose such a nice looking building.

I also see that on the OS map in Cliff's post, there was a lodge at the 'top' entrance to Arnot Hill Park. I wonder what happened to that.

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Hi Rob L

Thanks for that bit of info i have been trying to look into details of th old house now the GBC offices in Arnot Hil Park. I knew there was a lodge cottage at the bottom entrance to the park opposite Home Ales but i did not know about the lodge to which you refer at the top entrance, would this have been by the old railway bridge at the end of Sandfield Road where the adventure playground and aviary used to be.

Thanks FCH782C

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Hi Rob L

Thanks for that bit of info i have been trying to look into details of th old house now the GBC offices in Arnot Hil Park. I knew there was a lodge cottage at the bottom entrance to the park opposite Home Ales but i did not know about the lodge to which you refer at the top entrance, would this have been by the old railway bridge at the end of Sandfield Road where the adventure playground and aviary used to be.

Thanks FCH782C

The lodge at the Nottingham Road end is still there, but despite living two minutes away for the last 20 years, and walking the dog round the park twice a day, I never knew about the lodge at the 'top' entrance until I saw Cliff's map.

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i only remember the lodge on nottingham road as about 24 years ago i was a member at the Club/Bar in the old house in the park grounds and the caretaker lived in the bottom lodge, did anyone else on here drink in that club, if i remember correctly there was a council employee and non counil employee Pool Team

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Hi, me again, you are right on my old patch. Yup, there was a building of some description that would have been just inside where the top gate is. I got into mega-trouble aged about 9 when I went to that shop on the corner of Sandfield Road and Arnot hill, which used to be a sweets and iced lollies main supplier for local kids. I was told to return STRAIGHT home but I went across to the Park with a friend and we discovered the remains of what had been a substantial building lying around in the long grass. There were great big pieces of stone and pillars and we climbed all over them. We were fascinated and I swear we only stayed there a few minutes but when I got home I got soundly told off and was grounded - not even allowed out to play in the heavy snow that arrived soon after! What I was never able to work out of course was how did my Mum KNOW?

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Hi, me again, you are right on my old patch. Yup, there was a building of some description that would have been just inside where the top gate is. I got into mega-trouble aged about 9 when I went to that shop on the corner of Sandfield Road and Arnot hill, which used to be a sweets and iced lollies main supplier for local kids. I was told to return STRAIGHT home but I went across to the Park with a friend and we discovered the remains of what had been a substantial building lying around in the long grass. There were great big pieces of stone and pillars and we climbed all over them. We were fascinated and I swear we only stayed there a few minutes but when I got home I got soundly told off and was grounded - not even allowed out to play in the heavy snow that arrived soon after! What I was never able to work out of course was how did my Mum KNOW?

Sounds like there was a local branch of the Parents' Securitate - as there was a Long Eaton too ! "Vee know effrythink about you - vere you vent; vot you do - effrythink - Jah!"

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The most recent map I have access to where the 'top' lodge opposite Sandfield Road is still shown as standing is 1955, so your little adventure LocalGel must have been after then.

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I have since consulted my Brother who remembers that Lodge still standing - and yes, it was definitely after 1955!

Big Brother also mentioned a problem concerning the annually squashed frogs (interesting what sort of things stick in a boy's mind!) and wondered who else remembers them? They used to try to get across Arnot Hill Road from the fields nearby apparently, get flattened by cars for their trouble, and when it rained the road got very slippery because there were so many of them. They would have been going that way long before there was a road and houses of course and not know it really wasn't helpful to carry on, but it's interesting how times have changed. If that was still happening now there would probably be local Wildlife Trust Members (of which I am one) out every Spring catching frogs by the bucketful! In some parts of the Country (Notts. included) if it isn't on a main route, a road can be temporarily closed to allow amphibians safe passage, and wildlife 'bridges' are now built over motorways.

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I have since consulted my Brother who remembers that Lodge still standing - and yes, it was definitely after 1955!

Big Brother also mentioned a problem concerning the annually squashed frogs (interesting what sort of things stick in a boy's mind!) and wondered who else remembers them? They used to try to get across Arnot Hill Road from the fields nearby apparently, get flattened by cars for their trouble, and when it rained the road got very slippery because there were so many of them. They would have been going that way long before there was a road and houses of course and not know it really wasn't helpful to carry on, but it's interesting how times have changed. If that was still happening now there would probably be local Wildlife Trust Members (of which I am one) out every Spring catching frogs by the bucketful! In some parts of the Country (Notts. included) if it isn't on a main route, a road can be temporarily closed to allow amphibians safe passage, and wildlife 'bridges' are now built over motorways.

The local frog fanciers were always out in force in the Spring assisting safe passage across the main road to the village pond where we lived in Hertfordshire. One year we decided to empty our rather large pond to deepen it to help protect the fish from herons. We saved all the fish in large containers but there were hundreds of frogs and toads so we piled them into a couple of dustbins and took them up to the village pond. A chap came along and gave us a right old telling off, saying that we were not allowed to move the frogs from their local habitat. Was he correct? Anyway we then drove to the nearby golf course and put them in there, rightly or wrongly!

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Made me laugh that did! Yes, thank goodness, there have always been people willing to step in, and I've had a few attempts to 'help' wildlife go slightly off-course too (ouch, sorry, couldn't resist). You're not advised to move things in an ideal world but it isn't an ideal world is it and one does need to intervene sometimes? I don't think it was strictly correct to say you were not allowed to move the frogs and toads though as they aren't protected, apart from Natterjacks, as far as I know, and if you moved those you really would be in trouble - but then you'd have to find some first.

It sounds as if you dealt with your situation in the best way you could at the time. Amphibians do move from pond to pond of their own accord in the Summer months and, though they might have been a bit surprised at the suddenness of the change on this occasion, as long as it suited them they'd have been fine. If not too far away, as you said, they would have made their way back to where they were spawned anyway, to breed the following Spring.

I wonder if you managed to foil those herons after all your efforts in the end as they are well practised at just standing still and waiting until the fish swim into the shallows right under their noses!

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  • 1 year later...

I used to live on Sandfield road next to the corner shop. the last occupant of the top lodge was a very old man named Mr Hammond who I believe died there. I think his wife pre deceased him by a few years. As I recall he used to open and close the big wrought iron gates to the park every morning and evening. I think he passed away in the early 1960's but not certain of this now. Every autumn he would collect conkers from the trees at the top end of the park and store them in the old type blue paper sugar bags. He would give us small boys a bag of conkers in return for doing little jobs for him. After Mr Hammond died the lodge stood empty for a few years and I believe it was demolished as it became frequented by undesirables.

The field ref 562 .755 in the plan (between the lodge and the railway line) used to be the home of an old brown shire horse which I believe was used by the council to pull a rubbish cart. The horse was usually kept in that field whilst 'employed' and was later retired and saw its days out there. a chap called Jeff who used to work for my Dad swore that he was the horses owner and used to go and sit with it every dinner time and feed it cobs he had got from Sulleys bakery on Front St (left overs from the day before). all the local kids used to take veg scraps, bread etc to feed Jeffs horse. Until we all moved on in life it was always know as Jeffs Horse Field.

In post #14 by Local Gel we often used to go and play on the pile of stones which were off the main path to the right in the top corner of what was a big playing field. We were always told they were parts of old statues which had been dumped there. I suppose they've long since gone.

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  • 2 years later...

I think the owner of the shop on the corner of Sandfield Road and Arnot Hill Road was called Ramsbottom.  Angela Ramsbottom was about my age so she would have been born c 1943, and she had a brother called Michael who was about 7 years older, I think

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