Sunday, January 18, 2004 - 11:00 AM

Elizabeth Penrose Hodgson (nee Bradley) of Cornwall, who discovered our website by chance has emailed some of her reminiscences of The Park. Click on the story heading above or on "read more..." below to see them. All small historical details like this are most welcome. Does anyone know which is the former Bradley house that she describes?

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I would first of all like to congratulate you on "The Park Estate"website. I came upon it by chance.

I was born at Nottingham in 1946 and know The Park well. I was educated at Broadgate School,Western Terrace. At that time the head mistress was Miss Gem and the school occupied two buildings joined by a pathway above the playground. One was the junior house and the other the senior.

I also had an Aunt, my mothers sister who owned 29 Newcastle Drive. It was a large house in which she and her late husband had made into flats. My Aunt occupied the largest which was on the ground floor.

Many members of my fathers family had also lived in The Park and I would like to quote a paragraph from "Rambles around Nottingham"vol 1,1856, "One of the best wooded and ornamented portions of the elevated environs of The Park,is that occupied by the abode of J.Bradley, Esq., of the lace thread factory,at Mansfield on the apex of the height nearest the castle. Mr Bradley is also the owner of the picturesque Swiss looking cottages perched amidst clusters of elms, on the steep slope below his mansion, which in itself commands by far the finest of the prospects around The Park, chiefly from it's proximity to the exquisite landscape details, rendered less attractive by distance when viewed from the houses at the top of it's circuit. The plot of ground on which the house is situated, is accessible by a carriage drive from the top of Park-Row, is tastefully laid out and planted. Mr Bradley has made a recent"annexation", which must be regarded as a singular curiosity;-a passage hewn in the solid rock, in the rear of his premises, conducts to a large and deeply cut excavation of considerable extent, surrounded on three sides by the adjoining houses; at the other shelving up to the natural level,. This is the ancient reservoir of the Nottingham Waterworks Company, the site of which Mr Bradley has purchased, converting the further half of it, lying at a uniform depth of about twenty feet, into an exellent tennis court, bounded by walls of solid rock. In an archaeological point of view, the excavation becomes exeedingly interesting, in consequence of it's connection with a subterranean way, or watergate, leading underneath the General Hospital, and emerging amongst the excavations of the castle rock; whilst marks of the subterranean passage having been guarded by a portcullis, and, adjoining it, a recess or chamber, with an opening half way up, enabling any one to look over into the moat, it also indicates, that originally, this excavation had formed part of the dry moat defences which are supposed to have environed Standard Hill."

I would like to point out,that Mr Bradley was my great grandfather.I do hope that all this has been of some interest to you.I moved away from Nottingham thirty four years ago to live in Cornwall.I have visited Nottingham only once in that time,more than twenty years ago.Without doubt there have been many changes!

Yours Sincerely,
Elizabeth Penrose Hodgson nee Bradley