IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Woodborough Road, NOTTINGHAM, NG3 5GG

Nottingham City Council's "Mapperley Community Centre" is visible on the left-hand side of Woodborough Road (B684) in the direction of the suburb of Mapperley. This very building was part of the Mapperley Brick Works, at whose entrance it stood. Many millions of its bricks were purchased for use elsewhere in Great Britain, including those used in the construction of St.Pancras Station.

One of the many surviving suburban cinemas in Nottingham, but one that is not a Bingo hall. It houses a large golf equipment store.

Much has happened since I photographed the building in 2009 https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1197724 . By around 2018 it was occupied by The Haunted Museum, but this closed in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. Permanent closure was announced in 2021 due to the condition of the building, the Museum having moved to new premises. 2020 also saw the Listing (Grade II) of the building by Historic England https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1472567 which will be a constraint on any new occupier. The building remained unoccupied at the time of this visit, but this has the advantage that the frontage is free of signage, allowing the architecture to express itself.

A view of the junction of Belvoir Street with Woodborough Road, looking towards Mapperley. Whilst at a first glance this stretch of properties looks like a row of terraced houses, the builder working on the property with the "For Sale" sign attached to it had just uncovered a long rectangular shop sign under some rendering he had removed. An elderly man walking past it confirmed that it had been a "beer off" (an off-licence) when he had been a lad and that he had gone into it occasionally and bought sweets there too. In our conversation it transpired that at one time this had in fact been a parade of shops.

A view of the cul-de-sac known as Belvoir Street. Almost opposite where it joins Woodborough Road (B684) Mapperley Community can be seen, occupying a single storey brick building that was previously part of the local brick factory that once produced the bricks for St Pancras Station, amongst other buildings. It seems likely that at least some of the terraced houses in Belvoir Street would have been occupied by employees from this nearby factory. It also seems possible that the larger property in the centre of the picture (currently being insulated externally) may have housed the family of one of the brick company's more senior employees?

. . . and second hand cars. Showroom on Woodborough Road, Mapperley.

A view along Woodborough Road (B684) in the direction of the suburb of Mapperley, i.e. away from Nottingham city centre. The "Belle Vue" Care Home for elderly individuals suffering with dementia that opened in 2011 can be seen in the distance on the right-hand side of the picture. The care home was constructed on the site of the demolished Belle Vue pub.

A stretch of the B684 (Woodborough Rd) running in the direction of Nottingham city centre. The rear of a bus is visible on Mapperley Rise, commencing its descent down the hill that leads to the suburb of Sherwood. Opposite the entrance/exit into Mapperley Rise the "Belle Vue" residential home for the care of individuals with dementia (opened in 2011) - on the site of the old "Belle Vue" pub - can be seen.

Now covered by residential housing, in the sixties there were several ponds in this area resulting from the brick works where I used to collect newts.

Bennett Street, a cul-de-sac off Woodborough Road (B684), showing a new housing development outside the boundary wall of the former Mapperley mental hospital. The institutional-style hospital building is part of "Duncan Macmillan House", a unit that continues to provide mental health care services. The name Mapperley is thought to be associated with a certain Mr Thomas Mappurley, an M.P. for Nottingham between 1353-56 who owned of an area of land known as "The Mappurley Closes" in 1377. It seems highly likely that the bricks used to build the hospital and its numerous extensions came from the Mapperley Brick Works that once existed immediately opposite the entrance to Bennett Street.