This is a self-guided walk around West Bridgford Town Centre, written by local historian Peter Hammond. We suggest you allow 60 minutes to complete the walk. Along the way you'll see many of the key locations that shaped modern West Bridgford and learn more about some facinating characters from its past.

Our walk begins at Bridgford Hall (1), a Grade II listed Georgian manor house which sits a short walk from Central Avenue within the grounds of Bridgford Park. Mundy Musters, Lord of the Manor of West Bridgford, built the hall between 1768 and 1774. Lewis Heymann, a famous Nottinghamshire lace manufacturer credited with pioneering the lace curtain industry, moved there in 1840. He was succeeded by his eldest son Albert Heymann, a wealthy Nottinghanshire banker and generous local philanthropist. During their residency at the hall the Heymann family made various extensions.. The date when the third storey of the hall was added can be deduced if you look carefully at the drainpipes on the front of the hall. Notice also the former stable block to the left. A stone mounting block still survives in the nearby park where people used to mount horses and also climb into carriages. The original hall garden was partly surrounded by a ditch to prevent grazing animals from entering. Known affectionately as a ‘ha ha’ parts of this can still be seen today. The Heymann family also built the nearby Park Lodge (2) as domestic accommodation. In 1923 the hall was sold to West Bridgford Urban District Council. It was converted it into offices while, at the same time, the grounds were opened up as a public park which featured a bowling green, tennis courts, children’s play area and aviary. Several cast iron park seats embossed ‘WBUDC’ still survive in the park today. Rushcliffe Borough Council took over ownership of the hall in 1974. The hall now houses Nottinghamshire County Council’s Registrars Service and an apart-hotel. It is in Albert Heymann’s honour that nearby Albert Road gets its name (and not as might be supposed after Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert).

On leaving the Park by the main Park Lodge gates you pass the rebuilt West Bridgford Library with it original 1936 frontage on your right (3). Cross Bridgford Road here at the zebra crossing. This was formerly called Brook Lane as the road went over some arches over a brook. This still exists within a culvert beneath Park Avenue. After crossing, continue westwards along the old Bridgford Road. Facing opposite is the original Post Office, now extended at its front and forming Café Nero (4). This building formed the corner of Central Avenue, which was first laid out in the early 1900s. Note that the post box still survives.

Continuing along Bridgford Road there is a pair of semi-detached cottages on our right (5) dating from the 1840s. Turn into Church Drive. Opposite is Lutterell Hall (7) with its fine tiled brickwork. This was originally built as St. Giles Parochial Hall in 1929. Turning into Church Drive are some of the oldest surviving cottages from the old village, probably dating to at least the early 18th century (6). These are best viewed when entering St Giles churchyard.

The church of St. Giles (8) is of course the oldest building that still survives in West Bridgford, part of it – now forming the south aisle – dating to the 13th century while the tower is 15th century. As a result of the huge expansion of West Bridgford from the late Victorian period onwards, the church was extended in 1898 and again in 1911. Within the churchyard quite a number of gravestones still exist. The oldest, situated within the row of slate headstones to the left of the porch, dates from 1705. This is a superb example of one of the so-called ‘Belvoir Angel’ gravestones with a simplified angel’s head at the top of the stone with its outstretched wings, an hour glass in the left hand corner and crossed bones in the other. Over three hundred of these stones have been identified within the region of the Vale of Belvoir, and they often carry a simple verse beneath the memorial, this one being a typical example. Nearer the porch is a larger slate gravestone to Samuel Chapman who died in 1825. He was the landlord of the Old Three Horse Shoes – later rebuilt and now known as the Trent Bridge Inn (31). After his death, his widow married the landlord of the Bell Inn in Nottingham’s Old Market Square – a certain William Clarke. He is better known of course as the founder of the Trent Bridge cricket ground. So, if it wasn’t for Samuel Chapman’s untimely death at the age of 44 years the cricket ground may never have been built. To the right of the porch is a yew tree which marks the grave of Albert Heymann, his wife Mary, and his eldest daughter Henrietta.

On leaving the churchyard turn right and continue along Church Drive. The bend in the road here marks the boundary between the old village and ‘New Bridgford.’ In 1880 the Chaworth-Musters family decided to commence building operations on the farmland surrounding the old village. A grid-like pattern of roads were laid out, the principal one not surprisingly being named Musters Road. Others were named after members of the same family including Millicent, Chaworth, George, Patrick, and Henry. When initially laid out most were named as streets but, as this did not reflect upon the middle-class desirability of the new development, they were soon converted to roads. Larger detached and semi-detached houses were specified along the major roads such as Musters Road, Loughborough Road, Bridgford Road, Radcliffe Road and Melton Road. The side roads were lined with good quality mainly semi-detached houses, though a few terraces were later built as the development continued. As we enter the end of Church Drive and turn left into Stratford Road, first laid out in 1891, we see an example of these houses. Some properties on the west side are adorned with stone plaques giving them villa names (9). Note also the remnants of the iron fences protruding from the Bulwell stone garden walls – all ripped out because of the metal shortages during WW11. Opposite the end of this part of Stratford Road is the scout hut. This marks the site of the old village pinfold (13) where stray farm animals were rounded up and kept safe. Turning left we go round a corner into what is now the end of Stratford Road but originally an old village lane. Note the old cottage on the right (11) – originally four cottages but now turned into one residence. This probably again dates back to the 18th century. On entering Rectory Road (itself named after the former Rectory opposite St Giles, demolished in the 1960s) there are some early mid-19th century houses on both sides, some with half-timbered effect (10), again from the old village.

Crossing the road at the zebra crossing turn right (westwards) to Byron Road. At the back of the Conservative Club (12) are remains of the old National School, originally built in 1865 and closed in 1900. Opposite on the north side of Rectory Road is a fine detached Victorian house named ‘Villa Roma.’ Re-cross the road and either walk back up Stratford Road or Edwalton Avenue and proceed towards the West Bridgford Infants School (15). This was built in 1902 and would originally have been entered (14) through a tunnel under the Midland Railway. The former embankment here would have hugely altered the view from the old village when it was originally built in the late 1870s. Much of the embankment was removed in the 1980s and houses and apartments built along its route. Today just one original bridge remains in Devonshire Road. Two metal marker posts for the railway still survive along the perimeter wall of the school, which are marked on their reverse ‘M.R.’ The original West Bridgford Secondary school was situated on the corner of Musters Road and George Road (16). Built in 1895 it was demolished in the early 1980s and this now forms the site of the St. George’s Medical Practice.

Turning into Epperstone Road there are detached houses diagonally opposite each other towards the south end (17), again giving this side road a more grandiose appearance. Continuing along, remains of wooden plaques, that originally bore villa names, can be seen on houses on the right (18). Many of these exist all over the Victorian parts of West Bridgford, with some still legible ones visible in parts of Lady Bay and along Rosebery Avenue near Trent Bridge. Now turn left into William Road (19) This is named after an estate agent and friend of John Chaworth Musters named William Lambe Huskinson. Huskinson lived at Epperstone Manor – hence the name of Epperstone Road. West Bridgford Methodist Church (20) was built in 1888 and much enlarged in 1899. This in turn was much modified in the late 1990s though the original foundation stone still survives along the eastern wall.

Turning right into Musters Road we see various detached and semi-detached villas, some bearing names upon the gateposts or on stone plaques upon the houses themselves (21). Houses along the main roads such as this were set back 25 feet. Different styles of architecture can be seen due to these houses being constructed by various builders. Some also had their own coach houses and many of the original residents were well-enough off to employ house servants. On the south west corner of Musters Road and Millicent Road is the Friary Church (22) completed in 1901.

During WWII air-raids completely destroyed a number of houses in West Bridgford, especially in Musters Road, Loughborough Road, and parts of Lady Bay. Others, including one on the south east corner of Musters Road and Millicent Road, (23) were badly damaged. Its later rebuilding is obvious to see, while others were completely replaced after the War including some further along the north side of Musters Road. One of the early builders of ‘New Bridgford’ was John Rushworth, so it is not surprising to find a thoroughfare named after him (24). This includes a rather splendid row of terraced houses. Continuing along Musters Road are some of the first houses to be built when the Chaworth-Musters family released their land for building. Dating from the early 1880s one of these pairs of semi-detached houses bears woodwork characteristic of the well-known Nottingham architect Watson Fothergill (25) and these may well have been designed by him. As you turn right into Bridgford Road note the West Bridgford War Memorial, erected in 1919 and designed by local architect William Gleave, with an extra octagonal stone erected in 1949.

Along Bridgford Road behind the cricket ground is Hound Road, which itself leads into Fox Road. These names reflect the association the Musters family had with hunting. On the southeast corner of Bridgford Road and Hound Road is a splendid detached villa named ‘Rose Mount’ (26) with a fine monkey puzzle tree. Further along both sides are some attractive villas. These are bounded on the south by the former Midland Railway embankment which still survives along here, and brickwork from the former Bridgford Road railway bridge can still be seen (27). Across to the south of the embankment is Bridge Field. This has never been built on and shows the original level of the land. The oak and sycamore trees lining Bridgford Road here survive from the old Brook Lane as it rose to cross the arches over the brook where the car park is now situated.

If you have more time to explore further, other points of interest include:

• Tudor Square (29) named after the former Tudor Cinema that used to stand on its north-west corner. First opened in 1931 it remained as a popular attraction until its closure in 1959.
• Peatfield Alms Houses, Rectory Road, (34) built by Mrs Catherine Peatfield in 1892. A plaque to this effect still survives on the west facing wall.
• Baptist Church (33), junction of Musters Road and Melton Road, built in 1907. This crossroads was for many years known as ‘The Three Lamps’ from lampposts that once stood there.
• George Road (32) which again includes some attractive late Victorian and Edwardian houses, some built in the half-timbered style.
• Trent Bridge Inn (31), formerly the Three Horse Shoes, completely rebuilt in 1885.

To find out more about West Bridgford's hidden history visit  West Bridgford and District Local History Society's website at www.bridgfordhistory.org The group meets on the first Friday evening in the month  from October to April in the Lutterell Hall on the corner of Church Drive and Bridgford Road