JOHN PALMER SHARES HIS MEMORIES OF THE AREA
I visited Bestwood Village a few times in the late 1970s - early 80s. Some friends from London, Geoff and Deborah Coates, wanted to go into the licensed trade and the Bestwood Hotel was their first pub. By this time it was just a pub, with two bars downstairs. The function rooms upstairs had not been used for a long time. Several of us used to come up for weekends and work hard to swell the profits of the pub and the Home Ales brewery.
Although the mine had shut more than 10 years previously, there was still a very strong sense that the village was a close-knit mining community. It was completely different from anything us urban southerners were used to - and the people of the village thought we were pretty strange too! But we all got on very well and had a great time.
On one of my visits I took these photos which I recently rediscovered. Not sure where the third photo was taken. If you recognise the location please drop us a line using the contact form.
Although the mine had shut more than 10 years previously, there was still a very strong sense that the village was a close-knit mining community. It was completely different from anything us urban southerners were used to - and the people of the village thought we were pretty strange too! But we all got on very well and had a great time.
On one of my visits I took these photos which I recently rediscovered. Not sure where the third photo was taken. If you recognise the location please drop us a line using the contact form.
The photos are from a Sunday afternoon walk around what is now the Country Park with Eric, the crazy pub dog. The Winding Engine House looks disused but not in too bad a state, unlike the Alexandra Lodges which look in very poor condition. I don't really know where we went on the rest of the walk, but we passed an area which had been laid out for housing. All that was there was the road layout marked in kerb stones, it looked as though it had been there for some time with no further development.
Bestwood Village was quite remote in 1980. I remember that to get into Nottingham we had to get the "Skills Bus" down into Bulwell, which only ran a few times a day, then catch a regular service bus into the city.
Spot the difference by comparing with the contemporary views below. For interest take a look at the OS map from the 1970s - how small and compact the village was then.
Bestwood Village was quite remote in 1980. I remember that to get into Nottingham we had to get the "Skills Bus" down into Bulwell, which only ran a few times a day, then catch a regular service bus into the city.
Spot the difference by comparing with the contemporary views below. For interest take a look at the OS map from the 1970s - how small and compact the village was then.
