All of this week's images are as a result of emails sent to me mentioning the locations shown on the map on the left. The images were captured last week and cover three sites starting at Kirk Hallam then travelling north to Heanor Road before returning southwards to the Derby Road area. If there is a particular area of the town, or in the vicinity that you would like to see, just drop me a line and I'll do my best to oblige. Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.

 

Jim Garner wrote to me a little while ago from his home in Canada and sent me a number of images which can be seen on the guest page. He also mentioned Kirk Hallam and asked if I could take a shot or two around the old part of the village such as the church. It's always difficult to get a good angle from the gate or of the tower due to the proximity of the trees but the view above shows the church (dating mainly from the 14th and 15th centuries although its origin is Norman) from the eastern end.

Jim also mentioned Ladywood Road which was his home before he left Ilkeston and he wondered how much it had changed over the years. Well this picture is in the vicinity of Jim's old abode so no doubt he will notice any differences. One obvious change will be the traffic light controlled pedestrian crossing outside Ladywood Primary School in the middle distance.

Another school towards the other end of town is the subject of the second request. Vicki Jeffery has also left Ilkeston but has not gone quite as far away as Jim. She now lives just over the Nottinghamshire border in Hucknall but only a couple of years ago, Vicki was a pupil here at Granby Junior School on Heanor Road.

  

The road has just been resurfaced and is now resplendent with copious amounts of yellow and white lines. Vicki has many happy memories of her time at Granby School and probably passed through the gate shown above to the right of the picture which is the main entrance to the school quite often but she also has one very sad one. In her email to me she recalls teacher Mr. Steve Stone who died of a form of cancer and is missed by many of his former pupils. As a mark of respect she asked for these images to mark the second anniversary of his death. Happy to oblige Vicki.

For our final request in this selection we return southwards to the former Oakwell Brickworks site off Derby Road. Harry Tizard still lives in Ilkeston but said he would be delighted to see some pictures of the area. The site has not been operational for many years, is now derelict and has returned to nature. At one point it was included in the Local Plan as a housing redevelopment area but had to be withdrawn due to "contamination" of the soil.

In its heyday the brickworks must have been a wonderful sight to see but the Hoffman kiln that is still there is now in a very sorry and dangerous state. Notices warn of its condition and advise everyone to "KEEP OUT" but they have not deterred the graffiti artists from leaving their mark on the walls. The design of a Hoffman kiln was such that it allowed brick production by perfecting the moving firing zone thus allowing continuous loading and unloading. As this is part of Ilkeston's heritage, it is worth recording it here even in this dilapidated state before it eventually falls down and is lost for ever. Thanks for the suggestion, Harry.