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Saxondale Drive, NOTTINGHAM, NG6 9DX

Residential road off Highbury Road.

View eastward, towards Daybrook, Nottingham etc.; ex-Great Northern, Grantham - Nottingham - Derby line. The locomotive is LMS Ivatt 4MT 2-6-0 No. 43059. See Image for details about the line.

View eastward, towards Nottingham (Victoria), Colwick etc. and Grantham. Basford & Bulwell station only became 'Basford North' on 21/9/53; it was closed on 7/9/64 to passengers, along with the service from Derby (Friargate) etc. (goods 4/9/67). Beyond the station can be seen Park Lane Bridge, beyond which was the bridge carrying the main ex-Great Central line from Sheffield (Victoria) to Nottingham and the South. Trains through this station to/from Nottingham Victoria joined the main line at Bagthorpe Junction by connections either side of this bridge. A curve to the left just beyond the end of the Up (left) platform connected at Bulwell South Junction with the main line towards Sheffield. The lines straight ahead led to Leen Valley Junction and by the Daybrook Loop ('Back Line') round the north side of Nottingham to the great Colwick Yards and the main line to Grantham; the Back Line lost its meagre passenger services after the partial collapse of Mapperley Tunnel on 4/4/60, although Goods continued until 1/6/64. The GC main line effectively ceased as a through route on 5/9/66 and Nottingham Victoria closed on 5/7/67.

Looking north east from the junction with Brooklyn Road. The houses are typical of inter war council housing in Nottingham.

The houses on the left and the industrial estate on the right are built on the site of the Great Northern Railway line from Nottingham to Derby Friargate, which crossed the road here on a substantial brick arch. Basford North (originally Basford & Bulwell) Station was to the right, its platforms ending at the bridge, high above Vernon Road. The high embankment to the left was levelled and Oakleigh Street, Susan Drive, Gabrielle Close and Lauriston Drive occupy its site.

A defunct public baths sits on Vernon Road at the junction with Oakleigh Street. These were opened in 1908 and records show that 10,000 bathers attended one year, including 1,000 school children who attended for swimming lessons, whilst nearly 6,000 individuals patronised the ordinary baths. It is currently home to a Christian church congregation.

This view westwards from the former railway bridge on Park Lane shows the industrial units built on what was from 1878-1968 Basford North railway station, on the Great Northern Railway line from Nottingham to Derby Friargate, a line built principally to carry coal from Erewash Valley pits to the marshalling yard at Colwick for onward despatch. Ben Brooksbank's Image] shows the station from the west, looking towards here, in the days of steam.

The building is now used by the Calvary Family Church. It was photographed from the corner of Vernon Road and Roderick Street on a wet morning.