NG3 March/April 2021

Northward Bound
by Bob Massey
Through the centuries Nottingham was
contained within a city wall. Beyond the wall
was Sherwood Forest which stretched over
most of the country all the way to York.
If you were travelling north from Nottingham
there were only two roads you could take. The
main route was what is now the A60/614 which
travelled through thick forest for most of its
route. Roads at this time were very bad and
the hill at Redhill was near impassible in bad
weather. In winter, travel stopped altogether.
This was a much travelled route however and
became the major route for travellers and
armies to follow.
When the Turnpike Act came into force in the
19th century this road was fitted with toll gates
along its length. The road surface was also
much improved. The downside of this was that
it involved a cost to traverse each section and
it slowed travellers down. If you had a large
number of animals or people to transport it
became very expensive, especially if you had
to pass through multiple toll gates. There was
another route that you could take, at least for
the early part of your journey. This was up the
hill leading to Mapperley and along Mapperley
Plains joining the now A614 after Leapool. As
a result it missed out most of the toll gates,
saving a considerable amount of money for
a large party. The road was rough and still
required climbing steep hills including the
steady climb of Woodborough Road.
In 1827, Woomwells Menagerie, who were
leaving Nottingham to visit Worksop, used this
route with their long train of animal trailers and
wagons.
At the time, Mapperley was a windy place,
mainly covered with scrubland and sheep with
only a few farms dotted about. Not an easy
place for highwaymen and robbers to hideout,
unlike the other northern route through thick
forest. So if you could manage the rough road
this was a better option.
Travellers started to use this alternate route
and an inn, the Travellers Rest, was built to
accommodate their needs. It was built about
half way from Nottingham to where the road
rejoined the main route north. To this day it’s
still out-of-the-way, within a mainly agricultural
area.
Having negotiated Woodborough Road hill,
the wilds of Mapperley Plains and the terrible
road conditions, the travellers were due a welldeserved
rest at this inn before continuing their
journey north.
The road through Mapperley was eventually
improved as the area started to grow in
importance. The industrial revolution and the
great demand for bricks meant that Mapperley
needed good roads to transport the millions
of bricks now being produced. Houses, shops
and pubs started to be built for the travellers,
brickyard workers and residents. Eventually
a tram line was constructed from Nottingham
which made access to Mapperley much easier.
The route from Nottingham over Mapperley Top
towards Leapoool however began to decrease
in use. This was because the Mansfield/Rufford
Roads were deturnpiked in the late 1800s. It
was now free to travel this way. The Redhill
cutting had been made in 1812 and so even
this hill was not the problem it once was. Traffic
north from Nottingham now mainly travelled the
A60 route again. The alternative route had lost
its importance.
I am researching the history of Mapperley and would be very pleased to hear from anyone with
more details or information. Email: bob.m.massey@gmail.com or post via NG5 magazine.