Colliery Village
The above image shows graffiti from the 1984-85 miners’ strike that appeared in the alleyway (colloquially known as a ‘jitty’) leading from The Quadrangle in the colliery village to The Crescent and the Blidworth Colliery.
From 1929 onwards, most of Blidworth’s population resided in the model village. The village was built for workers by the Newstead Colliery Company in the 1920s in the area between Belle Vue Lane in the north and Dale Lane in the south. The houses were generous in size and had large gardens that rivalled similar workers-housing development in Nottinghamshire.
Mansfield Road forms the west of this residential area and is the main shopping area. In the middle of the village is Blidworth Oaks Primary School (formerly Robert Jones Junior and Infant Schools) accessible from Belle View Lane and Haywood Avenue.
Aerial image looking down Belle View Lane towards the old Scala Cinema (at the end of the road) with Robert Jones Junior and Infant School playgrounds visible on the left of the image.
Robin Hood Road, 1980. Concessionary coal was burned in most of the model village properties to provide hot water. The old village on the horizon is almost totally obscured by smoke from the coal fires.
Looking down the hill from the top of Lyndhurst Avenue directly in front of St Andrews Mission Hall gives a sense of how this village grew out of a rural enclave of Sherwood Forest with horses grazing in the fields around Haywood Oaks on the horizon.
Walking down Lyndhurst Avenue brings you to a crossroads occupied by two supermarkets. This area was originally served by four independent shops. On the left, towards Appleton Road was Bingley’s Sweet Shop – a favourite of school children on their way to and from Robert Jones Junior and Infants Schools. Next door was Hilton’s general store, and across the road on the Aberconway Street side was their rival Lenton’s general store, and a butchers shop.
There were two additional general stores (Dennis Lester, and Kings) located along Park Avenue along with a fish and chip shop – Blidworth was truly self-sufficient.
The bottom of Lyndhurst Avenue intersects with Dale Lane where the colliery village ends.
Turning right brings us to the next location on the trail.