The Hallam Fields
Industrial Trail - Part 1 - The Stute
w/e 17 July 2005
All
this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490
Having recently completed the Ilkeston Town Walk
I have now decided to turn my attention to another part of the
town and follow an industrial trail in the southern area around
Hallam Fields. The walk will be following a route as described
in a leaflet published by the Ilkeston & District Local History Society,
supported by the Stanton Works Benevolent Fund and British Waterways.
It was written and illustrated by Mr Danny Corns who has personally
given me permission to use his notes for the purpose of this
series. Although, for the most part, I will be using my own words
and photos, I will of course be relying heavily on Mr Corns'
knowledge and memories but thought that there is no better way
to set the scene than by using some of his introduction in the
leaflet.
 INTRODUCTION
The walk along the trail begins at the former Stanton Men's
Institute and incorporates the old community houses, the Erewash
Canal, the Nutbrook Trail and Crompton Road, a distance of about
two and a half miles. It is hoped you will be able to picture
the area as it used to be as much of it has disappeared. Some
history of the Stanton Works will help give an idea of what stood
proudly along the trail. You will be able to get a glimpse of
what was once a thriving industrial scene dating back to the
early 1870s along with its company based workforce, nestling
in the shadows of giant furnaces and coke ovens.
Many Ilkestonians, like Danny, will remember the thriving industry
but I will be showing images of how it looks now and can only
echo Danny's words, hoping this series will give a glimpse of
the past and that it will do both him and the area justice.
And so, we'll commence our walk at The Stute.
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Anyone with only the slightest knowledge of architectural style
would probably guess that this building dates from the 1930s
and they wouldn't be far wrong. Designed by Ilkeston's own prodigious
architect Harry Tatham Sudbury, who was responsible for many
buildings and monuments throughout the town, the former Stanton
Men's Institute (known locally as The Stute) along with the Sports
Ground was opened on December 11th 1937.
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The Local History panel on the wall of The Stute adds that it
was opened by the Mayor of Ilkeston, Councillor Ernest Adams,
himself a Stanton employee, and that it had a membership of over
4000 catering for most employee interests. The panel also includes
information about several other nearby locations.
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Behind The Stute is the Sports Ground which is the home venue
of The Elks, Ilkeston's Rugby Union Football Club. The club also
has an active youth section the Junior Elks, that is also based at The Stute.
Still overlooked by an industrial landscape, the pitches were
adjacent to Stanton's Coke Ovens and although this picture shows
clear blue skies, many games played here would have been under
a dense cloud and a thick blanket of pollution.
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Football (soccer) is also catered for at The Stute as well as
rugby and much of the BBC TV's first drama series about a ladies'
football team, "Playing The Field" was filmed here
in 1998. The fictional Castlefield, the location for the series,
was supposedly in South Yorkshire and subsequent series were
shot both here in Ilkeston and at other locations further afield.
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"To the Glory of God and in memory of the men of Hallam
Fields who gave their lives in the Great War"
Still in the grounds of The Stute, near to the car park entrance
is the Hallam Fields War Memorial. A simple monument it lists
underneath the inscription shown above, the names of twenty seven
men from Hallam Fields who gave their lives between 1914 and
1918.
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As we leave the car park to begin our walk along Hallam Fields
Road we'll pass these two signs. The first is for the already
mentioned Rugby Club but the second is of more historical interest.
Made of cast iron it still bears the "Iron Horse",
the company emblem of the long gone Stanton Ironworks, the words
surrounding the emblem being "The Stanton Ironworks Company
Limited".
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