OpenStreetMap

Podder Lane & Podder Farm

Posted by alexkemp on 31 May 2017 in English. Last updated on 2 July 2022.

Here is a snapshot of recent history & developments within the suburb of Nottingham called Mapperley, and explicitly the private road called Podder Lane which I mapped a few hours ago.

This is what most of Podder Lane looks like today (1st photo below) and what the last 10 yards looks like (in my experience, the 2nd photo is an extreme example of the ‘normal’ condition of unadopted roads):–

podder lane podder lane top

The modern Podder Lane was originally the farm-track that gave access to Podder Farm from Mapperley Plains, and is a quarter of it’s original length. A 3m-high hedge runs unbroken all down the north side of the street. There are only 5 bungalows that open on to the south side and — in spite of the 1847 Act, which declares that every house in the realm must have a number — like many unadopted streets, not one of these bungalows has a number, only a name.

The entire area was originally part of Thorneywood Chase — hunting grounds for the King & followers, a part of ancient Sherwood Forest, home to the legendary Robin Hood, and the reason that Nottingham City has stags as supporters on it’s crest (modern Nottingham is a Unitary Authority; it became a City in 1897 by Grant of Queen Victoria; the Crest stags (granted 1908) were originally (1898) ‘Foresters’, which is to say “Robin Hood”; the arms were officially recognised in 1614; the motto “VIVIT POST FUNERA VIRTUS” translates as “Virtue Outlives Death”):–

Nottingham City crest

Mapperley Plains runs along the ridge-line at the top of the hill that rises all the way from Lambley Lane. Podder Farm is now long-gone and, with hindsight, never had much chance of surviving. The farm can be seen on old maps (in JOSM use NLS - OS 1:25k 1st Series 1937-61). The modern cycle lane/footpath that connects Denbury Court with Gedling Country Park crosses the top of the no-longer-existing farm-track, at the point where the farm-buildings began, just where the cycle track leaves the trees. It is as if the old tracks continue to haunt the land, and there is more of that…

Podder Lane used to run all the way & connect to where the footpath meets Chedington Avenue (and yes, both are on the old maps, as is the public footpath that connects to Mapperley Plains). The Regency Heights developer wanted to use Podder Lane to get his deliveries in & out, but that road is a private road & the folks already living there (who own the land that the road is on) all flipped the developer the finger. The developer was not best pleased.

At that stage the lane had previously supplied a car scrapyard & (I believe) a Rugby club. The lady in the last house told me that the rest of Podder Lane was owned by a mushroom farm, and that they sold it to the developer, who promptly de-commissioned it as a road (the Google Satellite photos suggest that the developer did not bother to even lift the tarmac).

Podder Farm essentially received a death sentence as soon as Digby Coal Company (Gedling Pit) was established in 1899. The pit spoil was carried by aerial ropeway & deposited over large parts of the hill, including Podder Farm’s fields. The pits closed in 1991, and 5.71 acres (23,169m²) of Podder Farm land were sold in 2011 for £4m GBP by the City Council to Taylor Wimpy (pdf). That land is currently being prepped ready for new houses. Meanwhile, much of the rest of the hill was desolate wasteland, and potentially dangerous if not stabilised. Gedling Council have re-sold part of it to the public as the Gedling Country Park and, since masses of new houses require require tarmac so that their co-owners can go to & fro a bypass is being built through the lower parts (observing the size of the garages I often think of modern houses as being co-owned).

Update 2 July 2022

Mapillary has changed it’s download URLs & therefore all links within my diaries that use photos stored in Mapillary are broken. I’m slowly going through to update them. The new URLs are terrifyingly long, but show OK on my screen (and I hope also on yours).

Location: Woodthorpe, Arnold, Gedling, Nottinghamshire, England, NG5 4JY, United Kingdom

Discussion

Comment from Barrett29 on 31 October 2018 at 21:49

This is not correct. I don’t think you have any correct information about podder lane.

Comment from alexkemp on 1 November 2018 at 02:12

Why not point out which statements are wrong? If I’ve got something wrong I’ll change it really quick.

However, what a stupid remark. 677 words, 3,800 chars, hours & hours of research on my part and you devote 10 secs to say “you don’t have any correct information”. I fully expect to never hear from you again.

Comment from Barrett29 on 1 November 2018 at 09:11

So much is incorrect that I would have to dedicate some time aside to address what you have stated. As the previous owner, it does frustrate me that people can put whatever they like on the internet now days with such conviction that they state the facts.

Comment from alexkemp on 1 November 2018 at 11:14

Start with the first incorrect statement on my part, and do not forget to state why it is incorrect. Then, move on to the next one. I say again, if I’ve got something wrong I’ll apologise & change it immediately.

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