The Octagon and its predecessor


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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.

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#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.

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#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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

 

octagon1_zpsepsrhuqt.jpg

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#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.

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