The demise of our pumping station.

 

Sadly, this year saw the demolition of one of the oldest buildings in West Bridgford. Our very own Abbey Road Pumping Station, to make way for much needed new housing. 

 

Incredibly, the plans of the pumping station were found in a skip! The drawings, which date from 1901, revealed the station at the Abbey Road depot was built in 1886 and it is hoped that they will be sent to the County Archives for safe storage as they show how West Bridgford has developed over time, having housed a pumping station, a bus depot, a council refuse depot and even a mortuary! 

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The depot site actually featured a number of other historic structures that were built slightly after 1900/1901. The whole development was built to treat the refuse of Bridgford which included a destructor, that burnt solid waste. The clinker from that was then used under the roads of West Bridgford. There were stables and cart sheds, cottages for on-site staff and offices, and the site dealt with the waste and refuse of the people and businesses of Bridgford.

 

Abbey Park Residents Association’s  - Simon Middlecote, liaised with Rushcliffe Borough Councillors in the hope that the pumping station could at least be saved and repurposed as a community hub, but unfortunately, this was not to be.