Some local bilge visited during 2023. Might be of interest to other local folk. Apologies for the amount of photo collages but it definitely didn't warrant a two-parter.
Agard Street Tower Cranes - Derby
Agard Street in Derby city centre has undergone much change during the last couple of years - from the demolition of student housing to create the UoD Business School by Kier to the creation of 2 more student accommodation blocks on the site of a former office car park and Victorian terraced housing & factory shop. These latter two sites only had smaller tower cranes and while there have been taller ones in the local area - notably at the aforementioned Kier site and also some big ones at the former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary site - once you find yourself anywhere high in Derby, there really isn’t much to see anyway.
Lucerne House - Nottingham
A stylish Victorian villa (outwardly at least) along Wilford Lane in West Bridgford next to the river trent which is due to be demolished and replaced with an identikit block of modern apartments. This area was at one time awash with Victorian era villas - including one built for the Boots family - but most succumbed to gentrification in the 60s, eventually leaving Lucerne House as the last one standing.
All I really remember about this is badly slicing the entire palm of my hand on a nail climbing up into the tower and then drinking a can of Stella sat by the river in the sun afterwards.
Basford Cemetery Chapel - Nottingham
Former chapel at Basford Cemetery built in 1876, pretty derelict but mostly well locked up inside.
South Sherwood Street Fire & Police Station - Nottingham
Nottinghams’ Guildhall complex has received a lot of attention in the last couple of years after getting more and more popular on social media. This was the only part of the site I’d never really looked at while the alarms still worked - it was the original police and fire station constructed at the same time as the Guildhall until the much bigger stations were built in the early 40s. The police station then became office space for the NCC and the fire station just appears to have been junk storage.
Melbourne House - Derby
A very swanky looking, gothic Victorian villa along Osmaston Road which became part of the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary site as the Sisters’ Residence and was latterly the University of Nottingham School of Nursing. Since the DRI closed it’s been sold at auction, raped of all its lead flashing and badly set fire to by a homeless man who accidentally ignited a blocked chimney.
Broadmarsh Shopping Centre Offices - Nottingham
A remaining chunk of the almost demolished Broadmarsh Shopping Centre. I was actually looking for a way of getting to a set of sandstone caves nearby but failed and ended up wandering in here. I think at the time one part of one of the floors was in use by the construction workers(?) but clearly other people had been here since I found the roof door kicked off its hinges.
Glenbrooks Infant School - Nottingham
This is a surviving 1940s section of the former Glenbook Infants School which was subsequently rebuilt in the late 2000s. I think this part escaped demolition as it was in use as offices by the NCC, before being re-used for educational puropses again.
Ladygrove Cottages - Derby
A row of ten terraced houses built in 1879 for the workers of Royal Crown Derby (at the time known as the Derby China Works). The OS map of 1880 shows there were originally 14 houses, presumably 4 were demolished at some point to free up more car parking room. By 2002 only 2 of the houses were occupied with the last one becoming vacant in around 2020.
Hopefully some better quality local stuff to come in 2024.
Agard Street Tower Cranes - Derby
Agard Street in Derby city centre has undergone much change during the last couple of years - from the demolition of student housing to create the UoD Business School by Kier to the creation of 2 more student accommodation blocks on the site of a former office car park and Victorian terraced housing & factory shop. These latter two sites only had smaller tower cranes and while there have been taller ones in the local area - notably at the aforementioned Kier site and also some big ones at the former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary site - once you find yourself anywhere high in Derby, there really isn’t much to see anyway.
Lucerne House - Nottingham
A stylish Victorian villa (outwardly at least) along Wilford Lane in West Bridgford next to the river trent which is due to be demolished and replaced with an identikit block of modern apartments. This area was at one time awash with Victorian era villas - including one built for the Boots family - but most succumbed to gentrification in the 60s, eventually leaving Lucerne House as the last one standing.
All I really remember about this is badly slicing the entire palm of my hand on a nail climbing up into the tower and then drinking a can of Stella sat by the river in the sun afterwards.
Basford Cemetery Chapel - Nottingham
Former chapel at Basford Cemetery built in 1876, pretty derelict but mostly well locked up inside.
South Sherwood Street Fire & Police Station - Nottingham
Nottinghams’ Guildhall complex has received a lot of attention in the last couple of years after getting more and more popular on social media. This was the only part of the site I’d never really looked at while the alarms still worked - it was the original police and fire station constructed at the same time as the Guildhall until the much bigger stations were built in the early 40s. The police station then became office space for the NCC and the fire station just appears to have been junk storage.
Melbourne House - Derby
A very swanky looking, gothic Victorian villa along Osmaston Road which became part of the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary site as the Sisters’ Residence and was latterly the University of Nottingham School of Nursing. Since the DRI closed it’s been sold at auction, raped of all its lead flashing and badly set fire to by a homeless man who accidentally ignited a blocked chimney.
Broadmarsh Shopping Centre Offices - Nottingham
A remaining chunk of the almost demolished Broadmarsh Shopping Centre. I was actually looking for a way of getting to a set of sandstone caves nearby but failed and ended up wandering in here. I think at the time one part of one of the floors was in use by the construction workers(?) but clearly other people had been here since I found the roof door kicked off its hinges.
Glenbrooks Infant School - Nottingham
This is a surviving 1940s section of the former Glenbook Infants School which was subsequently rebuilt in the late 2000s. I think this part escaped demolition as it was in use as offices by the NCC, before being re-used for educational puropses again.
Ladygrove Cottages - Derby
A row of ten terraced houses built in 1879 for the workers of Royal Crown Derby (at the time known as the Derby China Works). The OS map of 1880 shows there were originally 14 houses, presumably 4 were demolished at some point to free up more car parking room. By 2002 only 2 of the houses were occupied with the last one becoming vacant in around 2020.
Hopefully some better quality local stuff to come in 2024.
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