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Here is the Nottinghamian from Friday, February 3.
Hello,
Today's edition of thre Nottinghamian takes a look at one West Bridgford man's fight to save a historic property. It comes as an impressive turreted building on the bank of the Trent is up for sale with planning permission for modern apartments.
We will also take a look at the return of Nottingham's Light Night and where you can catch the illuminated artwork across the city. Plus we have tributes for a much loved ice cream man.
Fighting for preservation
A petition has been launched to save a historic property on the banks of the River Trent from being flattened and replaced by modern luxury apartments. Once a house but more recently offices, the impressive Neo-Gothic turreted building currently stands empty and is partially boarded up.
The property at 26 Wilford Lane once stood next door to Jesse Boot's summer house, Plaisaunce, where the founder of Boots would entertain employees with dances, musical performances, swimming and fireworks, before it was razed to the ground in 1961. Planning permission was originally granted by Rushcliffe Borough Council in 2019 to demolish the existing building and construct four executive apartments within a four-storey building overlooking the River Trent, plus a detached three-storey house at the front.
The plans, revised to build six apartments over four floors, were approved in 2021. Savills is marketing the plot with a guide price of £1.5million, describing it as a "rare and exciting opportunity for a developer to undertake a bespoke project in a truly special, one-off location overlooking the River Trent".
Award-winning photographer Tom Keen has started a petition in the hope of saving the "glorious building" from demolition. He has contacted Historic England to see if the building could be granted listed status and the Nottinghamshire Building Preservation Trust. He said: "Nottingham is to lose an architecturally and culturally significant building. We want variety and a record of history, not profit above all. There are plenty of new developments and space for them along the river. We should save our old impressive buildings." Read more here.
Weather and trivia
Weather: Cloudy with isolated patches of light drizzle, winds generally light on Saturday. Late evening a band of rain moves across the area, clearing after midnight to give a cold and frosty night. Maximum temperature 10 °C.
UV: Low
Further reading: Channel 4 viewers struggle with bad language as Guy Phoenix looks to create £1bn Nottingham property
Trivia question: How many stations are there on the Nottingham Express Transit?
The answer to today's trivia question is at the bottom of the newsletter.
Lit up
Nottingham will be lit up this weekend as it becomes home to more than 30 immersive and interactive light-based installations, performances and activities. The Light Night event will run on Friday and Saturday (February 3 and 4) and has been organised by Nottingham City Council in partnership with Nottingham Business Improvement District.
The 'Pulse' attraction in Old Market Square is a large-scale light sculpture that explores the perspectives of audio-visual perception. The attraction has more than 14,000 individually programmable LEDs across twelve large mirrored rings, which are all tightly synced and choreographed.
Evanescent is another highlight of the event, which is an immersive light and sound environment in the form of a large bubble. The artwork was inspired by the pandemic, will be located at Sneinton Market Square. Other attractions include the Nectary on Carrington Street where visitors can experience ‘the hum of the earth’ as they mimic pollinating insects underneath huge glowing flowers. Read more here.
Tributes
Tributes have poured in after the sudden death of a beloved Mansfield ice cream man who served the area for 40 years. Michael Connolly, known widely as 'Mick the ice cream man', died of a heart attack on January 15, aged 68.
Described as "kind and loving" by one of his four children, Emma Spencer, Michael was said to have "gone out of his way for everybody". She said: "He was so kind, he'd do anything for anybody, nothing was too much trouble." In 1982, Michael loaded his ice cream van for the first time.
"He enjoyed doing his runs and his own hours," said Ms Spencer. "He enjoyed seeing his customers and saw them throughout the generations. He used to take parents' numbers and phone them to say he was coming round, particularly for autistic children to make sure they weren't alarmed." Michael leaves behind his wife Dawn, children Peter, Paul, Emma and Steven and grandchildren Rhianna, Joey and Freddie.
That's all for today
Thank you for joining me for today's edition of The Nottinghamian. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did why not sign up to receive it directly in your inbox every weekday by clicking here.
The answer to today's trivia question, how many stations are there on the Nottingham Express Transit, is 50.
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