1
Girls' High School playing field, Grassington Road
Now owned by Nottingham Girls' High School, this huge playing field was once Players Rec, home of Players Athletic cricket, football and other sports teams. In the days of benevolent employers, all the big Nottingham firms had fine sports grounds, and John Player & Sons was no exception. (The Raleigh ground was at Wollaton and Boots at Lady Bay.)
Image: © John Sutton
Taken: 27 Aug 2010
0.06 miles
2
Ascot Road to New Bridge
The Ascot Road end of a footpath through the allotments to New Bridge, Ainsley Estate and Old Radford. Player's Bonded Warehouse, on Wollaton Road, is on the skyline in the centre.
Image: © John Sutton
Taken: 11 May 2012
0.08 miles
3
Bobbers Mill: allotments and Ascot Works
This not especially exciting 2009 photograph is now of some small historical interest as Ascot Works, latterly occupied by Speedo, was demolished in May 2013. This view from the path through the allotments (some of which are behind the hedge) which links Bobbers Mill, Ainsley Estate and Old Radford shows the former factory building (still standing) occupied by Collins Cash & Carry on the left and one of the more recent parts of Ascot Works straight ahead. Alan Murray-Rust's
Image] shows Ascot Works from Bobbers Mill Bridge; my
Image] and
Image] show the site after demolition.
Image: © John Sutton
Taken: 20 Nov 2009
0.09 miles
4
One of the allotments between Ascot Road and New Bridge
A big area of the Mill Allotment Holders Association's plots stretches from Ascot Road to New Bridge, between Grassington Road and the railway. The railway is over the hedge at the back, and the houses on Poulter Close (built on the site of Radford Colliery) can be seen through the trees on the other side of the railway. These allotments feature in Radford author Alan Sillitoe's short story "The Decline and Fall of Frankie Buller", set in the 1930s.
Image: © John Sutton
Taken: 20 Nov 2009
0.10 miles
5
Grassington Road: playing-field entrance
Now owned by Nottingham Girls' High School, this huge playing field was once Players Rec, home of Players Athletic cricket, football and other sports teams. All the big Nottingham firms had fine sports grounds, and John Player & Sons was no exception. (The Raleigh ground was at Wollaton and Boots at Lady Bay.)
Image: © John Sutton
Taken: 27 Aug 2010
0.10 miles
6
The Leen Valley Railway at Bobbers Mill looking south
One of three competing railways up the Leen Valley between Nottingham and Mansfield, this was the first to be built and the last to remain. It is now the route of the Robin Hood Line. To the right can be seen part of the Speedo swimwear factory.
Image: © Alan Murray-Rust
Taken: 4 Nov 2007
0.11 miles
7
Bobbers Mill: new houses on a brownfield site
A small estate is being built on the site of Ascot Works, near Bobbers Mill Bridge. Behind the camera the cinder path leads through allotments to New Bridge and Ainsley Estate.
Image] was taken from a similar spot in 2009.
Image: © John Sutton
Taken: 29 Jun 2017
0.11 miles
8
Speedo and Collins
The nearer buildings are part of the Ascot Works of the Speedo swimwear company. The long building behind is no longer in the textile business but instead houses a large Cash and Carry business
Image: © Alan Murray-Rust
Taken: 4 Nov 2007
0.12 miles
9
View from Bobbers Mill Bridge
Trains from Worksop and Mansfield are on the last leg of their journey to Nottingham as they pass Bobbers Mill Bridge and the Speedo factory on the right. This line was built, in 1848, to carry coal, but is now used by commuter trains. The overgrown area to the left of the tracks was once part of Radford Colliery. Player's Bonded Warehouse on Wollaton Road is in the distance to the left of the tree in the centre. On this bright early-autumn morning the plume of steam from Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, eight miles south-south-west of here, showed clearly. For another distant view of it taken a couple of hours later, see
Image Alan Murray-Rust took
Image] here in much greyer November 2007.
Image: © John Sutton
Taken: 15 Sep 2011
0.12 miles
10
South from Bobbers Mill Bridge
The houses to the left, on Meden Gardens and (behind the trees) Poulter Close, are on the site of Radford Colliery, which closed in the 1960s. The railway, now The Robin Hood Line from Nottingham to Mansfield and Worksop, was built by the Midland Railway in 1848. The many-windowed white building in the distance is Players Bonded Warehouse on Wollaton Road.
Image: © John Sutton
Taken: 21 Jun 2011
0.12 miles