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Like Arkwright Street, Wilford road was another street that had just about everything you could want. Likewise totally wiped out by the 1970's planners!

Once again thanks to www.picturethepast.org.uk we still have a record of the area.

Looking north from the Embankment end, Wilford Road terminus 1974. A place I cought my bus (40 St Anns) into town on many ocassions.

What memories do you have of this area?

Further up Wilford Road still looking north

Wilford Road/Deering Street

"Waiting for opening time"

A Wilford Road Watering Hole in 1973

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As a child in the early to mid 50's, I lived on Wilford Road at my Grandparents House (Hickling family) --  Number 230)   right outside the Trolleybus Terminus and fascinated by the Vernons / Littlewo

Hi Mary just seen this regarding the ice cream van,take it you mean the one at the bottom of Queens Drive across from the pub,I was friends of the Bartorelli's who lived on Kirkewhite St east and the

My first job after leaving school in October 1966 was as Laboratory Technician at Roland Green School in Wilford. I would catch the 43 into town from Radford Rd then walk across the square to cat

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Can anyone jog my memory about Wilford Rd please.I rememer the name of course but can't place anything in the area itself.

Caz

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It ran from the end of Castle Blvd, near to Castle Road, all the way down

to the Embankment entrance near to Halfpenny Bridge.

Hey remember having to pay to cross? :D

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Wilford road, the Loco pub as we called it, my mum god bless her worked there, my x brother in law was in the 60's the Landlord, Ernie and Kath Hart. When i was 18 i did my first bar stint at the Castle Pub just futher up Wilford Road towards Castle Boulevard end. Me mams favourite shop on Wilford Road was the porn shop.

As for eightpenny bridge, Deering School was over it and we didnt have to pay then.

Another infamous pub was the Magna Carta, Wilford Road and Kirkwhite Street Junction, there was a blind woman who played the organ there at weekends and her faithful guide dog, i think her name was Ada? does anyone remember her?

Opposite the Magna there was a factory, and as a child i remember it caught fire and all us kids went up there to watch it burn down.

I have a lot of pics of Wilford Road, must pass them on to Mick to include on the forum for all who have forgotten Wilford Road. dicko

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I vaguely remember a Blind woman playing a piano in a pub somewhere, not

that one?. I can also remember a factory burning down on Castle Blvd in the 70's. Magnet Joinery?

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talking about the toll bridge , i had an accident in 1954 on brickyard bridge ruddington?ran into the back of a stationary car, on my bike , not looking where i was going , looking at my boyfriend instead , silly me . anyway the police came and decided it would be quicker in the police car , so with flashing lights and sirens we approached the bridge from the wilford side and there stood ivy and her mam standing in the middle of the road expecting the car to stop and pay the halfpennythey didnt of course . and when we looked round she was shaking her fist at us

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Ayup all,

I vaguely remember some sheep being driven over the ha'penny bridge back in the 50s. I think they were unloaded from the cattle trucks in the railway sidings and made to trot across the bridge to the fields where the rugby pitches are now, I too have paid to go over the bridge, but if you bought some sweets from the little shop there you could go across free.

Rog

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Wilford road, the Loco pub as we called it, my mum god bless her worked there, my x brother in law was in the 60's the Landlord, Ernie and Kath Hart. When i was 18 i did my first bar stint at the Castle Pub just futher up Wilford Road towards Castle Boulevard end. Me mams favourite shop on Wilford Road was the porn shop.

As for eightpenny bridge, Deering School was over it and we didnt have to pay then.

Another infamous pub was the Magna Carta, Wilford Road and Kirkwhite Street Junction, there was a blind woman who played the organ there at weekends and her faithful guide dog, i think her name was Ada? does anyone remember her?

Opposite the Magna there was a factory, and as a child i remember it caught fire and all us kids went up there to watch it burn down.

I have a lot of pics of Wilford Road, must pass them on to Mick to include on the forum for all who have forgotten Wilford Road. dicko

Chris!! Your Mum into porn!! I'm shocked.. smile2

I think you mean Pawn t'old luv.. smile2

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It wasn't eightpenny bridge neither luv. T'was apen'y bridge as in half penny. An apen'y was two farthings.

It seems a world away from when you could buy a "pennyworth of gobstoppers, please Mister".

Alison

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Wilford Road was alright though. From '54 to '57 I delivered papers for the Newsagents that used to be next to the canal on the right heading up towards Castle Boulevard.

We had these incredibly heavy red bikes with paniers on the back. Weekends, when every paper weighed a ton, the newsagent would drive around refilling our bags because we couldn't manage them all in one go.

We used to collect the money on Saturdays. Tips weren't bad on my round up the Park. There was one lady on Peveril Drive who always gave me mincepies and choccies at Christmas.

Hugs Alison

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I think the Toll bridge was closed to traffic a lot earlier than that Den, sometime in the early to mid 60's. I think light vehicles like cars and motor cycles were allowed across when my parents moved us to Briar Street around 1960ish, and I believe the council condemned it for any traffic a couple of years later.

I know when I was at Clifton Colliery, traffic wasn't allowed across, and the pit closed in 68.

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Clifton Bridge was opened in 1958. Before that the most straightforward route to the Clifton Estate would have been over the 'apeny Bridge. I remember seeing barricades across the bridge in the late '50's, but that might have been to make sure that users paid the toll.

I am fairly certain I crossed it in 1963 on a motorbike. I had rels living in Ruddington whom I used to visit when on leave from the RAF.

Hugs Alison

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The Original Toll Bridge

Twenty-two years after Sutton wrote those lines, an 'upstart' toll bridge opened in Wilford ending 400 hundred years of ferry crossings at Wilford. The ferry made its last voyage across the Trent on the18th of September, 1864 although the Wilford Toll Bridge was not opened until the 16th of June, 1870. During the period in between, a temporary wooden bridge for foot traffic was erected. Wilford Toll Bridge took much longer to build than expected as first work began in 1863! It was built by the popular last Baronet of Clifton, Sir Robert Clifton. The bridge was built to support the traffic for Clifton's Colliery ( also opened in 1870 ) on the opposite banks of the Trent. It was also expected to relieve the wear and tear on the crumbling

Trent Bridge and offer a far safer passage over the river than the ferry. Unfortunately for the Clifton Family , the brand new Trent Bridge opened in 1871 robbing them of a lot of potential revenue. The bridge remained in the ownership of the Clifton family until the Council took it over in 1969. Throughout the 99 years it belonged to the Clifton's, all traffic and pedestrians were charged a toll. Locals used to refer to it as the 'Halfpenny Bridge'. The bridge was closed to traffic in 1974. The center span of the bridge was in a poor state and so had to be demolished. The center spans were replaced by a smaller foot bridge. Today in retrospect it seems a shame the bridge wasn't upgraded to take some of the traffic that now builds up every day on the very busy Trent Bridge. On the other hand, todays traffic levels would have ended Wilford's peaceful village atmosphere. The Clifton influence on the bridge is represented on the North bank of the bridge by a tall, dominating statue of Sir Robert Clifton. The pillars of the original sections of the bridge still bare colourful metal plaques bearing the Clifton coat of arms; a stark contast to the ugly modern grafitti sprayed on to the surrounding brick work.

From the Wilford and Clifton site. Wilford and Clifton.

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Locals used to refer to it as the 'Halfpenny Bridge'.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, yes" to quote Jim from the Vicar of Dibley.

Only tutty people from West Bridgeford would call it the Halfpenny Bridge. Us Medders kids called it the 'apeny bridge. The Suspension Bridge was Spenii and the Memorial Gardens were the memo' gardens. I don't recollect Arkwright Street ever having the suffix "street" either. It was just down Arkwright.

Mind you we were a scruffy lot, both visually and linguistically. <giggle>

Any of this lot remember the Creche on Brierley Street. It was at the top end of the reckie. Was taken there in the mid to late forties, but refused to stay. I was a difficult bu99er then to.

Hugs Alison

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  • 1 year later...
Like Arkwright Street, Wilford road was another street that had just about everything you could want. Likewise totally wiped out by the 1970's planners!

Once again thanks to www.picturethepast.org.uk we still have a record of the area.

Looking north from the Embankment end, Wilford Road terminus 1974. A place I cought my bus (40 St Anns) into town on many ocassions.

What memories do you have of this area?

i remember the castle pub we used to live on constance grove next to the rail yard where the cattle came,also the pawn shop near the top where i used to take my dads suit on a monday and fetch it out on saturday,also the threepenny rush at the pictures.great days and good people.you could leave your door unlocked.
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  • 5 years later...
  • 5 weeks later...

Hi

The first Terrace/Street from the bottom of Wilford road was Headon Terrace. My grandma/granddad used to live at number 4. Later after they passed away my aunt/uncle lived there. Going over to the embankment was an ice cream van Salaries! I think (can any one remember this ice cream van) there was a pub on the corner called The Cremorn my bother had his 21st their also at the same time it was grandma/granddads golden wedding. Going back to school days my father went to Bosworth St school can any one remember it?

Mary1947

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  • 4 months later...

I worked Sundays only for a few hours at Jack's Locomotion Pub (or was it the Locomotive?),

The Imperial cinema often got my custom, cause they tended to show more of the old films. Perhaps they were cheaper to rent for them. But it suited me, even then I enjoyed the oldies films.

On Wilford Street, was where my Dad used to house his cart horse every night (British Railways Deliveries), and later the lorry he used.

And of course, the bridge I fell off into the canal was there...

There was a hardwear store that must have stocked everything available to us - opposite the Maypole shop. Can't remember the name. Had stuff hanging outside, mops brushes, baths, hosepipes etc.

Blissful memories eh?

Cheers.

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Hi. I do remember this, I was born and lived much of my life on Waterway street ( Terrace). I and my family have fond memories of the old Meadows. I still live in the area.

The shop was called Targets I think, it was facing Constance Grove. The ironmongers was next to Haywards paper shop where I had a paper round.

The Castle pub was my local, I remember Mr Ward a landlord and Nellie and Jean Guy. Crikey what memories.

I remember Ernie and Kath very well, in fact I was speaking to Kath the other day. Sadly Ernie has passed away. They called the Locomotive the number 4 shed, being that there was 3 sheds that housed the railway engines. It was called the 4 shed because the pub was full of railway workers in the days of steam. What about Sam Meakin then to mention

another connection to the Loco.

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They called the Locomotive the number 4 shed, being that there was 3 sheds that housed the railway engines. It was called the 4 shed because the pub was full of railway workers in the days of steam.

Here they are, waiting to get in.

locom.jpg

And if you don't know where it was.......

locomap.jpg

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