First Impressions
No. 06 - Part 04 - Stanton Road
w/e 22 May 2022
All of this week's pictures were taken with a Nikon D3300
Three of the nine roads leading into Ilkeston - Quarry Hill Road
(No. 4), Sowbrook Lane and through Kirk Hallam (No.5) and Ladywood
Road (No. 6) - have now come together on Little Hallam Hill and
as we continue towards the town centre this next stage takes
us round the corner on Little Hallam Hill and on to Lower Stanton
Road. Although there is no right turn for vehicular traffic,
the road straight ahead is Little Hallam Lane which leads to
Nottingham Road (N0. 2) and also the Hallam Fields area of the
town..
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With a few exceptions the rest
of Lower Stanton Road and Stanton Road is mainly a residential
area. One of those exceptions is on the corner of Lower Stanton
Road and Catherine Avenue. When the Co-Operative Society had
a major presence in the town with their main store being on South
Street, they also had a number of smaller grocery shops dotted
about. This was one of them and although all of the others have
now closed this one was retained as part of the funeral care
business.
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Among all the houses there is a small green oasis on the corner
of Cavendish Road. To me it's a surprise that at this busy road
junction where there is frequently a lot of traffic congestion,
that a mini roundabout hasn't been installed similar to the one
at the other end of Cavendish Road where it joins Nottingham
Road. But on the other hand we should be grateful for these open
spaces however small they are.
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Another of those exceptions is a row of properties standing opposite
Cavendish Road. This was once a row of shops and although some
still remain, others have been converted for residential use.
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At the end of Lower Stanton Road just before it starts to climb
as Stanton Road, the site of the former Stanton Vale SLD (Severe
Learning Disability) School has now been developed as a small
housing estate. As a nod towards the previous occupants of the
site the road into the estate is called Scholar Close.
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About halfway up the hill and on the corner of Blackhills Drive
is a large Victorian house that has operated since 1996 as The
Pines Day Nursery. To many Ilkestonians, including award winning
actor Robert Lindsay for whom it was a local haunt before he
left to achieve his fame and fortune, it is still fondly remembered
as the Pines Youth Club.
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Next to The Pines is the resting place of another of Ilkeston's
giants of entertainment, the so called "Ilson Giant".
The Stanton Road Cemetery not only has the grave of the 7 feet
4½ inch tall Samuel Taylor but also contains a life sized
wooden sculpture of the man born in 1816 and who had a career
in show business from the age of 16 until his death in Manchester
aged 59.
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As the road begins to level off near the top of Stanton Road,
there are two more buildings of significant interest. The first
is on the corner of Havelock Street and although the signs read
"East Midlands Medical Supplies Ltd", it is of interest
because originally it was built as the town's first purpose built
Fire Station.
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On the next corner, that of Stanton Road and Regent Street, is
the recently opened Zeon Defteros. Built in the 1930s as a public
house it was called The General Havelock and more recently was
known as Finn M'Couls before reverting to its original name.
This year it has been refurbished and opened as a cocktail bar.
To many people though it will always be the 'Avelock. The Catholic
Church of St Thomas of Hereford stands at the other end of Regent
Street at its junction with Nottingham Road.
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And Nottingham Road and Stanton Road come together at the large
island at the southern end of Chalons Way which is still known
as White Lion Square even though all the premises in this area
(including the White Lion pub) were demolished to make way for
Chalons Way and the island. The next road in this series into
the town, the seventh, Derby Road, will also conclude at this
island.
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No. 7 - Derby Rd to follow
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