Three times in as many weeks, we headed off towards Nottingham station from Lowdham, en route to Derby, Carlton Male Voice Choir at Dadfest on Father’s Day at Binks Yard and day four of the Trent Bridge test match against New Zealand. Nottingham station has been revitalised in recent times. It’s a grand old building to begin with, of course, in smart red sandstone on the outside and solid Victorian red brick downstairs at track level. The concourse is now in two sections, having taken in the substantial former porte cochere [and then taxi ranks] into a modern, airy space - naturally well-lit from above and with a range of retail and fast-food outlets.
The surrounds have changed, too, with the pedestrianisation
of the adjacent Station Street and the planting of trees around the station
entrance. Binks Yard is another modern development, this time on a derelict
brownfield site, with a new restaurant and entertainment venue standing directly
opposite Nottingham’s distinctive first railway station at London Road Low
Level, which was opened in 1857. Connecting up the central city area in
Nottingham with the station and the riverside area has been an admirable part
of the plan for the future, helped enormously by the removal of the Broadmarsh
obstruction.
I’m heartened by many of the ways that our traditional
provincial cities are reclaiming their central spaces in ways that encourage
people to return there, both to live and to enjoy what are becoming increasingly
attractive environments. The marrying of what was good about the old that has fortunately
been saved with inventive recent additions makes rediscovering these areas an
altogether pleasant experience. Being old enough to remember the cost to the
inner urban areas of rapid deindustrialisation in terms of displacement, deprivation,
dereliction and despair, its encouraging to be around to witness this
rejuvenation taking place.
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