Jill Sparrow 10,267 Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 In the late 1960s when still at junior school, I was persuaded by a school friend to join the Junior Red Cross. Meetings were held in a lovely late Georgian or very early Victorian house on Derby Road, below Canning Circus, heading down towards Lenton. The house was one of a row, I believe, and was empty except for its use as the British Red Cross Nottingham HQ. I loved it. Always drawn to old houses, its interior fascinated me. A new eyesore, er building, was constructed for their HQ in Lenton and much to my disgust, even then, these lovely houses were flattened and The Octagon, another soulless monstrosity was constructed on the site. This edifice was initially the Nottingham HQ of The Open University but, I gather, has now been converted to apartments. Does anyone remember or have any photos of the houses that originally stood on the site? Among my friends, no one except me seems to remember them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hippo girl 1,995 Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 Would this have been part of Clinton terrace Jill ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,267 Posted August 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 #2 Not sure, hippo girl. Could have been. I just remember the houses. Not much help, sorry! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,435 Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 Could one of these have been your Red Cross houses ? https://goo.gl/maps/YJ9vnQB7GDK2 I have a vague memory of seeing signs to that effect on the door. You can see The Octagon if you swing the view round to the right. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,267 Posted August 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 #4 Just been having a look at that, Cliff Ton. The house isn't standing now and must have been a continuation of Clinton Terrace occupying the site of The Octagon. The Red Cross moved to Lenton around 1972 and I remember being told the house was being demolished to make way for new building. It seemed so awful to stick an incongruous structure like The Octagon in the middle of an existing terrace of much earlier architecture. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,435 Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 This is a map from the 1950s and it appears that nothing was demolished to build the Octagon. It was an empty space between Clinton Terrace and Derby Terrace. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,267 Posted August 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 #6 That is really weird! I remember passing that way when the Octagon was under construction and being unable to find the house! Thanks for the map, Cliff Ton. Certainly proves there was an existing space already there! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,435 Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 What did disappear when The Octagon was built were a large number of mature trees. This is the site from The Park side, and shows the space between the two terraces. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,267 Posted August 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 Very interesting! This must mean the house is still there! Just can't see anything that looks like it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hippo girl 1,995 Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 The building directly behind the Octagon is the now defunct broadgate school house...... A modern house " one degree west " was built on the playground .....could the red cross have hired the school after hours ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,267 Posted August 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 No, hippo girl. The house was used only for the purposes of Red Cross training. It had rooms with old fashioned hospital beds where we learnt to make the bed by using envelope corners for the sheets, draw sheets and how to change a bed with an immobile patient in it etc. There were no carpets either on the stairs or in any of the rooms, just bare floorboards and it certainly wasn't used as a school. We actually took exams in first aid and other areas of health and nursing before the whole operation moved to Gregory Street Lenton in the very early 1970s. The house certainly fronted Derby Road but looking at what is there now, and certainly at Derby Terrace, there seem to be a lot of railings and steps around the front entrances which wasn't the case with this house. However, since nothing appears to have been demolished to build The Octagon, I can only assume that it must have been one of the houses in Clinton Terrace but looking at those on Google they don't look like the house I remembered either. Must be my memory playing tricks although I was certainly told the house had been destroyed when the Octagon was built. It must be the case that it still exists and nobody is more delighted than me to learn that a beautiful old house was NOT destroyed in favour of building an eyesore which still, to me, looks very out of place among the pre existing structures. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FLY2 10,108 Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 I think I remember the one you describe Jill, and am sure it was on Derby Terrace, but as usual, the old grey matter loses its potency. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hippo girl 1,995 Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 Could it once have been the Bately red cross hospital Derby road Nottingham ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,267 Posted August 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 You're not wrong FLY2 and it is a long time ago. I remember the inside of the house much better than the exterior. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,267 Posted August 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 #13 It could have been, hippo girl. Just looked that up but it doesn't identify where it was. It was certainly quite a large house. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,435 Posted September 1, 2016 Report Share Posted September 1, 2016 Looks like I was wrong when I thought nothing had been demolished for the Octagon. Looking in old telephone directories I found that the Red Cross were at 143 Derby Road. Repeating my previous map, look where 143 was located - it's a building which no longer exists, so your old Red Cross house is under the Octagon. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,267 Posted September 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2016 #16 What a shame it was destroyed. It was a lovely house but I remember being unable to find it when The Octagon was being built. The other houses in the two terraces somehow don't look right. The telephone book entry explains why. Thanks for all the hard work, Cliff Ton. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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