First Impressions
No. 01 - Part 01 - Millership Way
w/e 11 January 2009
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
One of the main routes into Ilkeston from Awsworth and Cossall
used to be along Coronation Road which led directly to a narrow
bridge over the railway lines. The left hand side of Coronation
Road was the site of the Cossall Colliery.
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The colliery has been replaced by an industrial estate and for
a time the old slag heap became an ill-fated ski slope which
although quite popular for a while, eventually went out of business.
The high ground behind the industrial units seen here was the
top of the ski slope.
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The last decade of the twentieth century saw the construction
of a new road to bypass the villages of Awsworth and Cossall
and this opened in 1996. Named Shilo Way the bypass succeeded
in taking the heavy lorries out of the villages but they still
had to negotiate the narrow railway bridge to reach Ilkeston.
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The bypass joined Coronation Road at this roundabout, the straight
run of Coronation Road being diverted to form two of the junctions
on the island. To reach Ilkeston all of the traffic approaching
from this direction whether by Coronation Road or Shilo Way had
to follow the road directly ahead in this view and the bridge
became a bottleneck often causing queues of traffic in both directions.
When the bypass was constructed, provision was made for another
road off the island but it took another dozen years before that
road became a reality. Notice in this picture the tower of St
Mary's Church in the town centre.
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Just before Christmas 2008, the new road linking the Awsworth
Bypass with Ilkeston was finally opened and thus made an easier
access to the town for all those heavy vehicles. The hope is
that the new link will significantly reduce the amount of traffic
on Station Road.
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The three-quarters of a mile link road has cost in the region
of fifteen to sixteen million pounds and has been named after
Paul Millership who died last year at the age of 59. Mr Millership
was chairman of Ilkeston Town Football Club (which can be seen
from the new road, see below) and was affectionately known as
'Mr Ilkeston'.
Mr Millership was also the founder of the town's largest employer,
Belfield Furnishings and the current chairman of the company
is reported as saying "The naming of this road after Paul
Millership recognises the work he put into the local industry
and local sport as well. He was a person totally committed to
Ilkeston."
Many of the areas visible from the new road will be familiar
to anyone who knows Ilkeston but walking along the road does
show them from a different angle to what has perhaps become the
customary viewpoint. In Part 2 we will continue along Millership
Way and I'll try and pick a brighter day to record some of these
views.
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