Ilkeston - Towards Hallam Fields
w/e 18 May 2003
Home Thoughts From Abroad
Jayne Sidiropoulou sent me an email recently recalling her childhood
in Ilkeston. Here are a few lines from it:
"I'm a born and bred Ilkestonian, but for the last 15 years
I have been living in Greece. My parents still live in Ilkeston
on Brook Street where my mother has lived for 60yrs. Is it possible
for you to add pictures of the lower end of Ilkeston ... Gallows
Inn, Brook Street, Stanton Institute, to name but a few. I also
hear there are plans to knock down the Middleton Club near The
Triangle."
Well Jayne, this week's pictures are especially for you.
An evening walk took my wife and I towards Hallam Fields. From
this vantage point on Brook Street we could see a white building
on the corner of Nottingham Road and Thurman Street and the higher
ground at Longfield Lane beyond.
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Crossing over Nottingham Road and standing on Thurman Street,
we could look back to Brook Street (extreme left) and in the
same vista see the Gallows Inn (right) on the other side of the
canal bridge. You can see more pictures taken last year of the
Gallows Inn area by clicking here.
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A little further on and from outside the Church of the Nazarene
(inset), a former Wesley Methodist Church, the whole expanse
of The Triangle can be seen.
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We are now on Corporation Road and as we start up the gentle
incline, the wooden structure that houses the Middleton Club
nestles between the semi-detached properties that line this side
of the road.
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On the opposite side are a number of factory units, the largest
being on the corner of Hallam Fields Road. This, for many years,
was the home of lingerie and knitwear manufacturers Charnos,
a leading employer in the town. My own mother was employed in
the finishing department for well over 25 years and as a child,
I attended a number of Christmas parties in the canteen but sadly,
the premises now stand empty.
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Our goal on this walk was to reach the Hallam Fields Sports Ground,
home ground of the Ilkeston Rugby Club and where much of the
first series of the TV drama about a ladies soccer team called
"Playing The Field" was filmed. The ground was opened
on 11th December 1937 and the building was the Stanton (Ironworks)
Men's Institute. It is still known today as the 'Stute.
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