Ilkeston - Market Panorama
w/e 17 January 2016
All of this week's pictures were
taken with a Kodak DX6490
We'd had a fairly busy morning on Wednesday but still
went out for a walk in the afternoon. Being Wednesday it was
half day closing and thus rather quiet in the town centre. Reaching
the fountain in a corner of the Market Place we decided to rest
our weary bones on one of the seats for a few minutes and observe
the panorama that lay before us.
With the Sir John Warren to our right and the King's Head behind,
the line of pubs continues to the left with the Queen's Counsel
(in the premises formerly occupied by a company of solicitors),
Shakers Cocktail Bar and the Market Inn.
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The Harrow and The Borough Arms were just out of view at the
top of Bath Street due to the curvature of the road but The Observatory
overlooks the site of the original Market Place. The public toilets
by the church wall stand on the site of the old Butter Market.
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The tower of Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin now stands 45
feet closer to the Market Place than it did at the beginning
of the 1900s. It was demolished and rebuilt when the nave was
extended in 1909/10. (Picture the Past site image ref: DCER001470). It's also surprising to learn
that the tower nearly 200 years earlier was topped with a spire.
The spire collapsed during a storm in 1714. For a potted history
of St Mary's click here.
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Adjacent and connected to St Mary's is the Cantelupe Centre which
as well as being used for church activities also acts as host
for a number of groups and community projects. To the right of
the centre is the Garden of Remembrance.
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Diagonally across the Market Place from our seat is Market Street
with the former Rutland Garments factory on one side and the
Corner Cafe which is located in the former Church Institute building
on the other. I think it is because of the configuration of the
buildings but whenever the wind blows, Market Street often feels
like the windiest street in Ilkeston.
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The remainder of the south side of the Market Place is taken
up with the Carnegie Free Library which was opened by the Duke
of Rutland in 1904. In front stands the town's main war memorial,
originally erected in 1922 to commemorate the lives lost in the
First World War but since added to. There are other memorials
too in Park Cemetery and at Hallam Fields.
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Looking directly ahead from our seat past the ornate fountain
and down South Street we could see the tall structure of the
Bingo Hall that was formerly the Ritz Cinema. The iconic features
of the former Co-Op building that is currently being refurbished
stand on the corner of Wharncliffe Road.
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We were sitting on one of the seats that surround the fountain
or to give it its full title the Drinking Fountain and Horse
Trough. This was erected in 1889 to commemorate the creation
of Ilkeston Borough two years earlier. Behind the fountain is
the Italian-styled Town Hall, built in 1867-68.
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Glancing over to our right more of the seats circling the fountain
can be seen in front of the Sir John Warren pub. With The King's
Head behind us along with the other town centre pubs already
mentioned, you can be certain that nobody goes thirsty in this
town.
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Between the Warren as it is commonly known and The Kings Head
is the entrance to Burns Street and Pimlico and of course the
Scala Cinema, the only picture house remaining in the town. Built
on an old burial ground in 1913, the cinema is reputed to be
haunted but the same has been said of several other buildings
in the town. The Kings Head has reverted to this name after several
years of being called The Moon and Sixpence.
With the temperature dropping it was becoming too cold to be
sitting about so with one last look at the panorama before us,
recreated here by stitching all the pictures together, we moved
on.
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