First Impressions
No. 02 - Part 04 - Station Road
w/e 21 November 2010
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
After crossing the bridge over the Erewash Canal, this next section
of Station Road leaves behind the industrial sites and retail
park taking on a more residential feeling. There have been changes
to several sites in this area over the years and for people who
remember former buildings this could well be a trip back to the
good old days. And "The Good Old Days" is the name
of the pub that stands on the north side of the road alongside
the canal but it has only gone by this name for a handful of
years. Prior to that the building which has stood here since
early in the last century, was for members only and known as
the "Ilford Club".
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The pub faces down Rupert Street which again has undergone changes
in recent years. A builders' merchant traded from here until
a new canal side housing estate was built and the corner site
on the right was were the Wesleyan Methodist Church stood for
a hundred years until it was demolished about 1990. A photo dating
from the first decade of the twentieth century showing the church
that was designed by J H Nicklin and built by John Manners can
be seen at the Picture The Past site (ref DCER001022). Peering through the fog
it was just possible to make out the trees at the end of Rupert
Street which is where Gordon Street joins from the right. This
also marks the entrance to Gordon Street Playing Fields or as
they are more commonly known The Ashes. The playing fields stand
on the site of an old brick works.
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  Continuing along Station Road, the north side
is occupied mainly by three storey residential dwellings but
there are a number of short streets like Canal Street (left)
and Blake Street (right) that lead to Mill Street and an area
of terraced dwellings of the late Victorian era. On the other
side of Mill Street is the Wash Meadow playing field (Johnny's)
that we saw in the Millership Way part of this series.
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On the southern side of Station Road at this point is another
hostelry that unlike "The Good Old Days" has retained
its club status. This is "The Enterprise Sports And Social
Club" which boasts its own bowling green at the rear of
the premises.
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Despite the construction of Millership Way, Station Road is still
a busy thoroughfare used by traffic to reach the Waterside Retail
Park and industrial premises at The Ropewalk and Ilkeston Junction.
Such is the flow of traffic that at certain times of the day,
it is only when someone uses the strategically placed pedestrian
crossing just beyond Blake Street on the right, that traffic
joining from Alvenor Street on the left can actually access Station
Road safely.
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The corner of Alvenor Street too is the site of another former
church. I remember a green corrugated iron building standing
here that was often referred to as the Tin Tabernacle but was
officially called St Mary's   Church
Army Mission Hall. See DCER000303 at Picture The Past for a photo
from 1911.
Although this area is now mainly residential, there are still
a number of "corner" shops like the one on the opposite
corner of Alvenor Street (left) and more as the road starts to
climb (right) as it gets closer to the town centre.
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