Baker Street, Hucknall, Notts.

Image: © David Hallam-Jones Taken: 17 Dec 2016

In front of the new 6ft high sandstone wall ahead, presumably built to allow the occupiers of the former malthouse cottages some privacy, is the western end of the new ‘town centre relief road’, viewed from Baker Street. Prior to the construction of the relief road, Annesley Road (on the left-hand margin of the picture), i.e. the road from the Wighay area of Hucknall simply curved round from the left and passed in front of this former mill. The new road is a feature of Hucknall’s current town centre improvement scheme and was opened in November 2016. The overall scheme, of which the new road is a part, received final funding approval from the Department for Transport in February 2015 (procured using the Medium Scheme Framework 2, through the Midlands Highway Alliance). Carillion/Tarmac JV were awarded the contract and work started on it in January 2016. The work, that will include pedestrianising the section of High Street - between Baker Street and Watnall Road - is due to be completed in May 2017. The overall scheme aims to reduce traffic congestion, create an attractive shopping centre, attract new retailers and to assist in the regeneration of the town. A river runs beneath the road here and reappears behind the railings on the left-hand side of the former mill. Obliquely opposite the latter (now a jeweller's shop and residential units) is the town's market place.

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