First Impressions
No. 06 - Part 01 - Ladywood Road
w/e 10 April 2022
All of this week's pictures were taken with a Nikon D3300
I didn't realise until starting
this look at the 6th of the nine roads into Ilkeston that I started
this series back in January 2009. In fact the 5th part was also
nearly two years ago (July 2020) but that is partly due to the
lockdowns so it's high time we madw a bit more headway.
Some years ago I heard that the wagon on the island at the northern
end of Chalons Way caused confusion to visitors as they thought
they were entering a place called Stanton due the the name painted
on the side of it rather than being in Ilkeston. The same confusion
could also arise when approaching the town along Ladywood Road,
the A6096 from Derby, as the sign welcomes visitors to Kirk Hallam.
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Kirk Hallam of course was once
a village in its own right but is now recognised as part of Ilkeston.
The anomalies don't stop there however as this part of the enlarged
village now falls within the parish of Dale Abbey. A service
road from Ladywood Road serves some of those properties.
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The approach to Kirk Hallam along Ladywood Road is, in my opinion,
one of the more pleasant routes into the town as it drops down
from the west to the valley of the Nut Brook before rising up
into the centre of Ilkeston. The higher ground provides panoramic
views of the town and the entry into Kirk Hallam is always enhanced
at this time of year by the thousands of daffodils on both sides
of the road.
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Once the service road for the properties off Ladywood Road is
crossed, so is the boundary between Dale Abbey and Kirk Hallam
and the first building on the left is the Cat and Fiddle pub..
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The pub car park is on the corner of Godfrey Drive, the main
spine road through the northern half of the Kirk Hallam estate
that was built during the 1960s and 70s.
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Opposite Godfrey Drive is St Norbert Drive leading to the southern
half of the estate that was built a little earlier in the 1950s
and 60s and which housed many workers employed at the nearby
Stanton and Staveley works. Both St Norbert Drive and Godfrey
Drive loop round in a semi-circular fashion to meet again further
along Ladywood Road.
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I can't help thinking that if these estates had been built today
that the wide verges and service roads off Ladywood Road would
not exist and there would be far fewer semi-detached houses and
many more town houses and probably three and four storey structures
too.
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The estate development along Ladywood Road ends at the Co-op
Garage and shop and Captain Kirk's Fish and Chip Shop ....
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.... after which older properties line Ladywood Road.
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The only vehicular access to the northern half of the Kirk Hallam
estate is along Godfrey Drive but there are pedestrian routes
such as the footpath alongside the fence that surrounds Ladywood
Primary and Nursery School.
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