Part 2 of our walk around Sandiacre takes us along
Station Road towards Stapleford.
 It is Station Road
that was once known as The Golden Mile and looking at the upper
storeys of the buildings above the modern shop fronts it is quite
easy to envisage a late Victorian or Edwardian scene which is
when the area developed as a shopping centre. Compare this picture
above with a similar one on the Picture The Past website taken about 1920
(search for image ref. DCER000031) and there are few obvious
differences on the northern side of the road. The southern side
of the road though has lost some of its gilding and this small
picture right taken a similar position to the one above shows
only a car park in front of the warehouse type buildings that
are so reminiscent of many of today's out of town retail outlets.
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It was this southern side of Station Road in days gone by that
was the home of some of Sandiacre's engineering companies. I
remember from early in my own working life being able to drive
down Bradley Street to the Sandiacre Screw Company. Taylor Brothers
is another name I recollect and gas engine manufacturers Premier
Crossley were also sited in this area. Now the road is gated
and although some of the old buildings remain, much of the site
is occupied by Balfour Beatty Rail Track Systems Ltd.
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The company undertakes both the renewal and upgrading of existing
track and the construction of new systems and it is perfectly
sited alongside the Erewash Valley line which opened in 1847.
The railway bridge over the line marks the eastern extent of
our walk along Station Road as by crossing it we are entering
Stapleford. Our route from here is back into Sandiacre but before
we return a glance from the bridge, again to the south, shows
the site of the former Stapleford and Sandiacre Railway Station.
Another search at Picture The Past for image DCHQ500001 will
show a view of the bridge from the platform taken in the middle
of the last century.
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Crossing the road and looking from the northern side of the bridge,
we can see further evidence of the influence the railway had
on local industry. Here were wagon making sheds that have now
found a new lease of life as part of an organisation providing
spare parts for Vauxhall cars. Before we leave the railway, here's
a bit of trivia. In 1932 - a prominent year in Sandiacre's history
as we shall see later - a day trip to London was organised at
a return fare of 7s 0d, that's just 35p by today's standards.
You'd probably need that to buy a platform ticket now!
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The old wagon sheds are sandwiched between the railway lines
and this unusual water course which flows at different levels
through these channels and beneath Station Road. This is the
River Erewash which at one time, before being channelled and
straightened, meandered through the valley forming not only the
boundary between Sandiacre and Stapleford but also between the
counties of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
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Our route now is back along Station Road (above left) before
turning right into Regent Street (above right).
From a footbridge over the Erewash at the bottom of Regent Street
we can look back towards Station Road along the straightened
portion of the river and see the start of the channelling. The
channels were constructed after major flooding occurred in the
area in the prominent year in Sandiacre's history that I mentioned
earlier - 1932. Flooding had also occurred in 1890 but the 1932
floods left the whole area between the canal bridge near where
we started our walk and the railway under several inches of water.
To see photos of these floods we can once again turn to Picture The Past and this time search for
images with these references: DCHQ001146, DCHQ001148 and DCER000036.
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