IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Elmswood Gardens, NOTTINGHAM, NG5 4AD

With the initial section of Elmswood Gardens and Mansfield Road (A60) both behind the photographer, this is a view of the middle section of Elmswood Gardens with Sherwood Health Centre on the left and the two tower blocks - "Woodthorpe Court" and "Winchester Court" situated on Chestnut Walk, in the distance.

The Firs is now a care home for the elderly, but was previously a maternity hospital. The day the 1948 London Olympics opened was blazingly hot, something my mother never forgot as I was born somewhere in the building straight ahead on that day. The eaves of one of the more recently-built parts of The Firs take up the top right quarter of the picture, unfortunately, but also made it possible to take an east-pointing picture early on a bright May morning.

With Mansfield Road (the A60) behind the photographer, this is a view along Elmswood Gardens in the direction of Applewood Grove and The Rise. Behind the high brick wall lies an Abbeyfield (Nottingham) Society complex known as "The Firs". This now offers independent living accommodation, warden supervised accommodation and a nursing home all on one site. A house was first built on this plot in 1895 by Mr Alfred Manchester, a Nottingham tea merchant, as his private residence although between 1925-82 it was firstly, a private maternity home and then a NHS maternity unit. One of the two tower blocks in Chestnut Walk is visible in the distance.

With Mansfield Road (the A60) to the left of the photographer, this is a view through the former maternity hospital's entrance into the grounds of what is now an Abbeyfield (Nottingham) Society retirement complex known as "The Firs". This offers independent living accommodation, warden supervised accommodation and a nursing home all on one site. A house was first built on this plot in 1895 by Mr Alfred Manchester, a Nottingham tea merchant, as his private residence although between 1925-82 it was firstly, a private maternity home and latterly a NHS maternity unit.

Hall Street from the intersection with Mansfield Street. Mansfield Road (the A60) lies behind 30 seconds walk away behind the photographer.

The top bar of a T-shaped cul-de-sac known as "The Rise", off Elmswood Gardens. Just visible in front of the street light is an alley leading towards a secondary entrance into Woodthorpe Grange Park.

In 1895 Alfred Manchester, a Nottingham tea merchant, built a private residence behind these now-defunct gates on Mansfield Road (a.k.a. the A60). Between 1926-86, "The Firs Maternity Home", and later on "The Firs NHS Maternity Unit", was developed on the site with an entrance in Elmswood Gardens - i.e. the road that the brown car is coming out of. Some of the newer houses in Hooley Street were actually built upon the tea merchant's kitchen garden around the corner, the land having been bought by developers during the 20th century. Thereafter, the street was renamed Elmswood Gardens. An Abbeyfield Society Retirement Complex is now situated behind these gates, albeit that its entrance is in this neighbouring street. Directly ahead is a section of Sherwood's main shopping promenade known locally as "Sherwood Shops", with Nottingham City Centre being 10 mins journey further on (by car).

An alley used by pedestrians to exit Woodthorpe Grange Park and out onto the top-bar section of a T-shaped cul-de-sac known as "The Rise", that is off Elmswood Gardens.

A secondary entrance/exit into Woodthorpe Grange Park from "The Rise", off Elmswood Gardens.The boundary fence on the opposite side of the park that faces the houses on Woodthorpe Drive forms the boundary line between the jursidictions of Nottingham Council and Gedling Council.

The view from near mansfield Road. Football field in the foreground, pitch and putt beyond. The slope is for real - even the birch trees are not upright!