Lady Bay

Lady Bay is an area of West Bridgford, in Nottinghamshire, England, bounded by the River Trent to the north and the (now disused) Grantham Canal to the south. It is within 2 miles of the centre of Nottingham, but is more suburban/semi-rural in its character. It enjoys good bus [ [http://www.nctx.co.uk Nottingham city transport] ] links (route 11 [ [http://www.nctx.co.uk/Timetables/TT011.pdf Route 11 timetable] ] /11C) with Nottingham city centre.

Trent Boulevard is the main thoroughfare running through the centre of Lady Bay, with several small shops, [http://www.ladybay.notts.sch.uk Lady Bay Primary School] and the Lady Bay public house [ [http://www.pub-explorer.com/notts/pub/ladybaywestbridgford.htm Lady Bay at pub-explorer.com] ] fronting on to it. The area takes the form of a wedge of predominantly residential development, with recent increases in residential land values having driven out the last few remaining non-retail business premises. The parallel road layout [ [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=trent%20boulevard%20nottingham&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl Map of the area at Google maps] ] intersecting the Boulevard and the oldest housing date back to the late 19th century.

Lady Bay is on the flood plain of the River Trent and has benefited over the years from progressively upgraded flood defences. Between these flood defences (to the north of Holme Road) and the River Trent is an area of statutory washlands known as The Hook. [ [http://www.rushcliffe.gov.uk/upload/public/attachments/230/member_panel_report_parks_and_open_spacesdr16722.pdf Report] of Nature Conservation Sites by the Performance Management Board of Rushcliffe Borough Council] This meadowland provides a habitat for wildlife and a recreational area for local residents; it floods dramatically every 5-10 years, so will never be developed.

To the west corner of Lady Bay lies Lady Bay Bridge, a railway bridge built by the Midland Railway Company circa 1880 serving their line to Melton Mowbray and beyond to London. With the closure of this line in 1969 the bridge was converted to road use.

To the east of Lady Bay is the Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre.

To the south, beyond the Grantham Canal, lies West Bridgford itself.

In 1941 a German Luftwaffe bomber dropped a line of bombs across Lady Bay, leading to new houses being built in the 1950-60's on bomb sites in streets of otherwise pre-war housing. The two 'Pinders Ponds' to the east of Lady Bay are also alleged to be as a result of flooded bomb craters. The remains of a disused public air raid shelter is on the corner of Lady Bay Road & Rutland Road.

Lady Bay has an active Church of England parish church in [http://www.allhallowsladybay.co.uk All Hallows] , with the parish recently being merged with the adjacent Holme Pierrepont and Adbolton Parish.

In "Sons and Lovers", D. H. Lawrence describes a visit to a house on what must be, by his detailed description, Holme Road.

Lady Bay is also known for its large number of urban foxes, which are popular with some local residents.

Lady Bay has recently become renown for its high quality half marathon alongside the picturesque River Trent. In recent years, due to positive publicity, the 'fun run' has attracted some of the best amateur athletes in Britain and this has contributed to the 2008 men's winning time being the current 5th best in Britain at half marathon distance.

Local residents have formed a group to deal with litter (Lady Bay Litter Pickers). The group holds a community litter pick at various locations on the third Saturday of every month. To find out details of the next event and to join the group, visit their web page listed below.

External links

[http://www.ladybay.co.uk The Lady Bay community web site]

[http://litteraction.org.uk/lady-bay-litter-pickers Lady Bay Litter Pickers web page]

References