Alfreton Road

[trogg 2,016]

PP I found the picture on Britain from Above , number EPW054990 , I have enlarged it but it is not very clear.

 

[PeverilPeril 3,279]

Thanks Trogg. Looking down Peveril St past the Midlans Bank on the corner you will see Beales Hosiery Factory. Halfway down on the left there is a block of six houses with shop fronts. Ours was the fifth one down, almost opposite to Lake St. At the back of the houses, between another hosiery factory were the yards. My bedroom faced the factory fire escape. Further down from our house there is the white ended building. The houses in between that are set back from the street were derelict. During the war there was an air raid shelter in front of the derelict hoses. There was a passageway there into Aspley Place where all the other houses and a garage were also derelict. I notice that Skills yard was not in existence, nor Jack Pownalls yard. All of the houses each side of the Spread Eagle pub on Alfreton Rd had access from Peveril St.

[Gem 1,430]

2 hours ago, trogg said:

PP I cant remember where I found it I will search around again and let you know.

Trogg, near the bottom of Alfreton Road was there a Players factory left  hand side.

[Cliff Ton 10,464]

I posted this somewhere before, but not in this thread. It might give PP a few more things to comment on.

 

[trogg 2,016]

Gem  I don't know the area that well , but here is one of further  down the road with Bentick school in the bottom right hand corner.

 

[Jill Sparrow 10,305]

Interesting photo, Trogg. Can clearly see Gregory Boulevard and Berridge on there. The area around  Birkin Avenue looks a bit odd, especially where it intersects with Brushfield Street. Looks like the land hasn't been built on but it might just be poor definition.

[PeverilPeril 3,279]

Looks odd to me too Jill? Great shot of my Infants school and senior school though. Also St Michaels and all Angels with the church hall, very important to me in the 40's and early 50's. Used to climb over a wall from the church into an engineers scrap yard to nick ball races. Smashing the races to obtain the ball bearings was very dangerous - how did we ever survive?

[Jill Sparrow 10,305]

Glad it's not just me, PP. Anyone else got any ideas about the Birkin Avenue area?

[PeverilPeril 3,279]

CT's picture has got me guessing? The trolley bus turning place around the bank looks odd. Did the bus go behind the bank? On previous pictures there were buildings behind the bank. The bank is currently joined up with the shops but it looks like there was a bit of road behind the bank for a few years. In the late 40's early 50's the buses turned in front of the bank.

[Jill Sparrow 10,305]

I see what you mean, PP. The colour image does give the impression that the bank is on an island with space behind it. Could be camera angle, I suppose.

[Gem 1,430]

4 hours ago, trogg said:

Gem  I don't know the area that well , but here is one of further  down the road with Bentick school in the bottom right hand corner.

 

Thanks Trogg, the reason I was asking when I first came to Nottingham the university found us a flat opposite the Players factory, my friend and I are reminiscing but can't find the street anywhere.  Our memory just not helping.  Gem

[Jill Sparrow 10,305]

There were Players factories on Radford Boulevard too, Gem. Is that where it was?  Only I vaguely recall you mentioning it before. Radford Boulevard isn't visible on trogg's photo.

[Cliff Ton 10,464]

 

3 hours ago, PeverilPeril said:

CT's picture has got me guessing? The trolley bus turning place around the bank looks odd. Did the bus go behind the bank? 

 

2 hours ago, Jill Sparrow said:

I see what you mean, PP. The colour image does give the impression that the bank is on an island with space behind it. Could be camera angle, I suppose.

 

There is a space - the road - between the front of the bank and the end of the traffic island. You can follow it by looking at the trolley wires above.

[Gem 1,430]

46 minutes ago, Jill Sparrow said:

There were Players factories on Radford Boulevard too, Gem. Is that where it was?  Only I vaguely recall you mentioning it before. Radford Boulevard isn't visible on trogg's photo.

Jill, i had mentioned it before never followed it up, all i can remember is looking out and all i could see was the factory it seemed to fill the full length of the road.    Looking at Troggs photo meant nothing but its been a long long time, trouble with looking back is memories can get mixed up. We did try looking on google search with what little knowledge we had and it seems to be an industrial estate. Will try looking at old photos of Radford Boulevard, so thank you for the pointer.

[Jill Sparrow 10,305]

The factories on Radford Boulevard have gone too, so it will look very different. I know what you mean about memories getting mixed up though.

[PeverilPeril 3,279]

The photo of the Midlands Bank at the top of Peveril St cannot be a true image. The front of the bank shows no pavement and the road behind the green triangle goes nowhere? I am beginning to suspect that some of these old aerial  photo's have been cobbled together resulting in faults at the joints or vague/missing areas?

[Cliff Ton 10,464]

Really ?   The white lines across the road are visible on the Alfreton Road side, and the open end of the Peveril Street side is also visible.

 

And as I mentioned earlier, you can see the line of trolley wires going across the front of the bank.

[mary1947 2,079]

I' m sure the bank was The Westminister and not the Midland , but I could be wrong but I think the Midland was near the top of Alfreton Rd next to the pawn shop.

[AfferGorritt 868]

Eyup Gem,

 

I don't think your flat was on Radford Boulevard. Players Head Office was on the boulevard and had wide steps leading up to a very swish reception area. All marble and carpets. Opposite this was Players No. 2 Factory, so you wouldn't have been living opposite either.

 

You can see the roofs of 3 factories at the left of Trogg's photo, and the whitish buildings near the centre of the photo became 3 extensions to these factories. No. 1 Factory (furthest from the camera) became the length of Player Street. Beckenham Road (nearest the camera) became Beckenham Road Main and Beckenham Road Extension. In the middle, accessible from a gate on Player Street, was the imaginatively named Centre Block - Main and Extension again. All three blocks joined on the Alfreton Road end.

 

If you were in a flat in a small terraced house with your nose virtually touching the factory wall, you were probably on Player Street, or the top (Alfreton Road) end of Beckenham Road. If there was a bit more room between you and the factory I would guess you were on Alfreton Road, a much busier main thoroughfare, somewhere between Player Street and Beckenham Road junctions. (Think the houses were a bit bigger too).

 

I can't think of anywhere else you could have lived that would have been dead opposite the factory. If you can think of any other little detail I might be able to help. I worked at Players for 30-odd years.

[Cliff Ton 10,464]

In addition to what AfferGorritt has just said, I'll add another possible suggestion.

 

Maybe Gem was living on Forster Street (or the parallel stretch of Radford Boulevard) and saw the Boulevard Works, which looks as though it could be a Players factory, but actually wasn't.

[Gem 1,430]

My thanks to you both but it was definitely Players as my flatmate worked there, also the smell was like no other.  We were literally over the road I had thought it was at the bottom of Alfreton  Road,  but could well be wrong on that,  we were in a terraced flat.  I wish we could remember more but the factory just seemed to go on forever, my friend continued to work there after we moved but left she thinks  early 1972.  I remember turning right when leaving our flat to go to the main road to catch my bus not much help I know.

[Jill Sparrow 10,305]

Wasn't there a Player's building on the corner of Prospect Street and Radford Road before you reached the big, impressive structure with the clock outside?

[AfferGorritt 868]

Hi Gem and Mary

 

If you turned right to the main road get a bus into the city, then I think you were on Beckenham Road. Player Street would have entailed a left turn. Mary, if you walked up Prospect Street to Radford Boulevard there was once the Players multi storey car park on the right hand corner. After that was the Personnel Block, then No. 2 Factory with the clock. Opposite, on the corner of Beckenham Road was the Engineer’s Wilton Road stores. Around the corner, going up Hartley Road was the old Windsor Cinema, which became the Gift Showroom, when Players were putting gift vouchers in the packets.

 

I worked on Dorking Road, halfway up Beckenham which was the Engineers offices. It’s a listed building so still there. I think it’s now some sort of accommodation - nurses?

[PeverilPeril 3,279]

Yes CliffTon the enlargement makes it more clear that the trolley bus did go in front of the bank. At a glance the white line on the road to the left of the Bank looked to be behind the bank.

Looking down Peveril St on the left you can see the first floor windows protruding over the shop fronts. They would be the shop keepers lounges. Mam and dad used ours as a bedroom. They are still there but it all looks like rented housing now.

 

The Spread Eagle Pub became a club of some sort and it has been mentioned that Terry Doaks owned it. Does anyone know anything about this club or did they know Terry? 

[Beekay 5,138]

Re- bobbers mill area. The nearest pit would have been Radford colliery. The river Leen ran passed the pit and passed the padding pool at the bottom of Denman St., it was pretty shallow there too! As kids we used to walk down and play in the pool ( noted for its ' bloodsucker's'). In warmer weather we used to walk by Radford pit and splash around the colliery outlet where warm water ran back into the Leen. B.