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My late mother was in the 'Hartley Road Children`s Homes' until she left school. That would be in the late 1930s.

I can find the Hartley Road area all right but can find no record at all of this Home.

Surely there must have been some kind of record?

Any ideas?

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I was a Foster Carer and had 49 children over the years. 99% of the time were really happy times. I had two sons of my own and decided from day one that any foster child would be treated as my own. Wi

Poohbear, lots of interesting stuff on your above reference; I can see I'm due to spend quite a time reading. Incidentally an occupant of the parish workhouse: 18, St Peter's Street, Radford (later

Well to be really honest I cant remember much about Hartley Rd Childerens home I was only about 3 years old at the time. My sister told me years later,that on the day we were put into Hartley Rd home

Thank you for that - but wouldn`t you have thought that there`d have been records in some sort of archive or Council record?

It`s not as though it was in medaeval times - it was just before the War.

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Not a Barnardo's Home - the only one in Notts was in Retford.

You can find a list of all the old Dr. Barnardo's Homes HERE.

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There was a childrens home on Hartley Road on the South-east corner of Norton Street opposite the sweet factory. I recal seeing it in an old Radford map on Nottstalgia but cannot find it now. On the map I think it is noted as a "hosp."

There is a photo on Picture the Past, is this the one you are looking for Eileen?

Picture the Past

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Thanks fot that Bro

PtP says..

'The building in the photograph was taken shortly before its demolition c 1960. Together with its adjoining building in Hartley Road, it was erected in the 1890s by the Nottingham Union, which was responsible for the care of orphaned and other children without proper guardianship. This duty was transferred to the City Council in 1929 when the union was dissolved. The buildings then became known as the 'Scattered Homes' and after the Childrens Act 1948, they became offices for the Children's Department.'

Taken from Geoffrey Oldfield's book on Nottingham published by Breedon Books in 2007.

Thats not the building I rememer it was a smaller detatched building further over, and was there till around 1964.

That part of the land was empty at that time. I rember the side on Hartly road was a brick wall capped with sandstone blocks,

with a cast iron fence set in it. Oh yes and some holly bushes.

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Thank you so much!

How I wish I could have found it before it was demolished. I shall try to get the photograph.

My mam talked a lot about her time in the Home.

She wasn`t an orphan. Her mother died when she was little and her father re-married a younger woman who had a daughter of her own the same age as Mam.

Her stepmother didn`t get on with her and Mam was put into the Home where she lived until she left school at 14.

When she left school and started work her older brothers and sisters were suddenly able to take her in.

I`m not judging. Times were hard in those days.

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To find useful stuff try the following searches on Google

"Scattered Homes"

"Scattered Homes" nottingham

Which might give you such as...

DServe Archive Catalog Overview103, CA/SS/3/3, File, Children's creed and history register for the Nottingham Scattered Homes, 1906 - 1932.

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Yup, it was where the highrise flats are.

The boys used to attend Windley Juniors on Forest Road, I expect the girls went to Bentinck.

At Windley, the boys (one class for all ages) were segregated into a special class at the back of the school (so they didn't infect the other kids?).

It was pretty cruel and callous.

After school they all had to walk home together in lines (like convicts). As I lived on Norton Street, I went the same route.

I was about 8 at the time, and i tried to talk to some of these kids from time to time, the way they were treated just did not seem right. I did not have much luck getting a conversation out of any of them and then one kid whispered to me that they weren't allowed to talk to kids outside the home - they would get into trouble.

There was a kid in our class called Ashley Evans. He also lived there because his Dad was one of the staff at the home. I think Ashley had some friends among the inmates, but I never remember him talking to any of them in public.

Also, the kids on Norton Street and Independent Street used to play ball and hang out by the stone wall that surrounded the home. The wall was about 7 foot of sandstone blocks so was easy to climb. We used to climb on the wall and try to talk to the kids, but they always kept away from us. Occasionally, one of the staff would tell us to bu99er off, but not often, the kids were too scared to talk to us anyway.

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Thank you so much for this background, Richard. Although it all sounds a bit bleak. My mother wouldn`t have gone to Bentinck - she was deaf so went to a School for Deaf and Blind children. (She didn`t have much luck, did she?)

Oddly enough, she used to tell us about the great food they had in the Home. There wasn`t much around in her 'family' home I reckon. She used to say that a great favourite that all the kids went mad for was the minced liver! I suppose that the food was nutritious and fairly plentiful and they could count on the next meal arriving.

One sad thing she spoke about, (well, I found it sad) was one Christmas when she was in hospital for Christmas Day. She said a 'posh lady' came round handing out presents and gave her a doll. At the end of the day she tried to give it back to the nurse and was bemused when she was told, 'No, it`s yours to keep.'

Of course, when she went back into the Home it was taken away and put into the communal toy box.

This wasn`t in Victorian times, I remind myself, it was the late 1930s.

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I remember a big house, surrounded by a high wall, where an old school friend lived (circa 1960) on the corner of Norton st & Hartley Road, alfreton road side.

The house was called Welbeck House, & was divided into flats, very large high ceilinged rooms, but the building had the feel of having been some kind of institution/hospital, as it had wall tiles in all the corridors & stairwells.....my friends name was Russell Whillis & he was half carribean in appearance & looked a bit like Cassius Clay!! Doe's any one recall this place? It stood in a very large area of walled land, with the building right in the middle, the grounds were all tarmac/concrete..............

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I moved opposite there in the early 60's.

It must have just been knocked down then because it was all waste land.

There was a big guy lived on norton street right near Player.

I think he was called Geoff, and he wasnt all there?

He would gallop down Hartley Road with his left hand behind his head,

punding on his left elbow with his right hand whilst, making a noise like AAAAaaaaarrrrgghhh!

If you ever saw him you would never forget him?

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Thanks Mick, I've just had a look at the old radford map (1920) you posted earlier, the house on the corner of Norton/Hartley was not the one I recall I think perhaps that was demolished, the house I refer to was the same orientation as the second plot along Norton street, obviously all the concret/tarmac was the derelict site of the corner house (if you can follow my garbled reasoning)................anyroadup it was definitely called Welbeck House...............

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  • 3 weeks later...

hi eileen,

if you go to Friends ReUnited for Windley School around 1958 you should find Ashley Evans.

it's been ages since i emailed him, but he lived at the Home on Hartley Road / Norton Street.

he must have a lot more knowledge of the place than me.

Good hunting

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https://www.hpacde.org.uk/picturethepast/jpgl_nottingham/NTGM015025.jpg

this is a picture of the Home from Norton Street.

in fact it looks like it was taken from the house where i lived.

Notice the 7 foot high sandstone wall (easy to climb)

Also there is a lamp-post and a telegraph pole.

next to my house was an entry with a wooden gate upon which we used to chalk a wicket.

this view is on the "leg" side of the wicket.

if we hit the ball to the lamp-post, it was 4 runs, to the telegraph pole was a 6.

we were about 6 or 7 years old. the street was generally quiet except for when Players factory emptied out.

if a car came past (very infrequent occurrence) it would slow down and we would pause the game while it went past.

this would be around 1954.

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  • 1 year later...

I put this photo in the thread about the aerial view of Radford, but I've just noticed this thread which is actually on the subject of Hartley Road Children's Home

Seems to make sense that the topic should include a picture of the subject in question

hartley.jpg

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What year would that be Cliff?

I remember that wall and Railings.. and the holly bushes like it was yesterday. I moved opposite that site in around 1965.

The flats were built not long after that.

hartley.jpg

Hartleyroad4.jpg

 

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What year would that be Cliff?

I remember that wall and Railings.. and the holly bushes like it was yesterday. I moved opposite that site in around 1965.

The flats were built not long after that.

I've had a look, and the book (Nottingham Yesterday and Today - Geoffrey Oldfield, 1995) doesn't give a date for the photo, but I'd guess mid 1950s.

The car just in shot is a Mk1 Ford Consul and apparently they were in production from 1951-56

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  • 3 months later...

It is a pity the old buildings were not kept and restored.

THANKS for posting the pics :)

Must have cost them a bit to knock down that classic Bunter sandstone wall and build that brick monstrosity!

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