Ilkeston Explained

Country:England
Official Name:Ilkeston
Population Demonym:Ilkestonian[1] [2]
Population:38,640
Population Ref:(2011)[3]
Shire District:Erewash
Shire County:Derbyshire
Region:East Midlands
Constituency Westminster:Erewash
Parts Type:Areas of the town
P1:Cotmanhay
P2:Town Centre
P3:Kirk Hallam
P4:Larklands
P5:Hallam Fields
P6:Shipley View
Post Town:ILKESTON
Postcode District:DE7
Postcode Area:DE
Dial Code:0115
Os Grid Reference:SK 46399 41774
Static Image Name:Market Square, Ilkeston, Derbyshire.jpg
Static Image Caption:Ilkeston Market Place (August 2003)

Ilkeston is a town in the Borough of Erewash, Derbyshire, England, on the River Erewash, from which the borough takes its name, with a population at the 2011 census of 38,640.[4] Its major industries, coal mining, iron working and lace making/textiles, have now all but disappeared.

The town is close to both Derby and Nottingham and is near the M1 motorway and the border with Nottinghamshire. The eastern boundary of Ilkeston is only two miles from Nottingham's western edge and it is part of the Nottingham Urban Area.

History and culture

Ilkeston was likely founded during the 6th century, and gets its name from its supposed founder Elch or Elcha, who was an Anglian chieftain. The town appears as Tilchestune in the Domesday Book of 1086, when it was owned principally by Gilbert de Ghent. Gilbert also controlled nearby Shipley, West Hallam and Stanton by Dale.[5] Ilkeston was created a borough by Queen Victoria in 1887.

Ilkeston is one of several places where the distinctive dialect of East Midlands English is extensively spoken. Ilkeston is referred to as 'Ilson' in this dialect.[6] Generally the name is pronounced with three syllables, Ilkisstun, not Ilk's tun.

The American Adventure, a large theme park which closed in 2007, was located on the outskirts of Ilkeston on the former Woodside Colliery adjoining Shipley Country Park.

NatWest's Ilkeston branch gained much media interest when a hole in a neighbouring wall received an influx of reviews on Tripadvisor, causing them to suspend reviews in February 2020.[7]

Stanton Ironworks

One of the biggest and most important local employers was the Stanton Ironworks, later known as Stanton and Staveley – the continuation of a long-standing tradition of iron working in this area. There has been evidence of iron working and quarrying in the area since Roman times, and the industry began blossoming into a huge industrial concern in the 1780s. By the mid-19th century there were several blast furnaces and the production rose from around 500 tons of pig iron per month to 7,000 at the end of the century. The Stanton Ironworks acquired a number of smaller ironstone quarrying and ironworks companies. These included the Wellingborough Iron Company in 1932.

Steel pipe manufacturing began at Stanton after World War I and later concrete pipes were produced, Stanton being the first in the UK to develop the 'spun pipe' process.In the mid-19th century the works produced 20,000 tons of iron castings per year, 2.5 millions by 1905. Up to 12,500 people were employed during the period when the works were part of British Steel Corporation, of which 7,000 worked at the Stanton works.[8] [9]

During its long existence the works produced huge quantities of a variety of products, including pig iron, tunnel castings, (used in projects such as the London Underground), pipes and street furniture as well as bitumen, roadstone, chemicals and munition casings.

The works gradually declined, the business being run from 1985 by the French Saint-Gobain Group. The last casting was an emotional event in 2007.[10] The huge Stanton site has been partially given over to business park and the rest of the site is earmarked for redevelopment which is subject to local opposition.[11]

Ilkeston Charter fair

Ilkeston Market Place is the site of a Charter fair.[12] The fair celebrated its 770th anniversary in 2022, the Charter being granted by King Henry III in 1252. This makes the fair older than Nottingham's famous Goose Fair and it is one of the largest street fairs in the Country, indeed in Europe.

The present fair developed from two separate fairs, as another 'agricultural hiring fair' or 'Statutes Fair' was traditionally held on Wakes week in October as well as the original Charter Fair which was held on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (15 August). The two fairs were combined in 1888 and the one Charter Fair has been held in October ever since.

Since 1931 the fair has been officially opened by the Mayor - first of Ilkeston and since 1974 of Erewash - on the Fair Thursday at noon with the Town Clerk (Chief Executive) reading the Charter from the steps of the Town Hall.

Transport

Railway

Ilkeston did not have a railway station from 1967 to 2017, despite its substantial population and the fact that the Erewash Valley Line (formerly part of the Midland Railway, later the LMS) skirts the eastern edge of the town. Ilkeston once had three railway stations. Ilkeston Junction station, also known as "Ilkeston Junction & Cossall" was on the former Midland Railway and later LMS Erewash Valley Main Line: this station closed in January 1967. A short branch led from this station to Ilkeston Town station, at the north end of Bath Street, which closed to passengers in June 1947.

Ilkeston's third station was Ilkeston North, on the former Great Northern Railway (later LNER) line from Nottingham to Derby Friargate station, closed in September 1964. A major feature of this line was Bennerley Viaduct, a 1452feet long, 61feet high, wrought iron structure which still crosses the Erewash valley just to the north east of Ilkeston. Once threatened with demolition, it is now a Grade 2 listed building, though the line and embankments have long since been removed. The Viaduct has been the subject of much renewed interest and has been reopened to the public as part of a cycleway and footpath.[13]

Following a long-running local campaign, in March 2013 Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced that Ilkeston was one of three sites 'most likely' to get a new station as part of the 'New Stations Fund', costing £5 million and sited close to the old Ilkeston Junction station.[14] On 15 May 2013 it was announced this new station would be built, which would be named Ilkeston station. It has two platforms, which can take six trains per hour with up to six passenger cars and includes waiting shelters. A 150 space car park, cycle storage, bus stop, drop off point and taxi rank are also on site. The station is unmanned with automated ticket machines.

Due to flood prevention work and the discovery of great crested newts, the opening was significantly delayed, the new station opened on 2 April 2017.[15]

Buses

TrentBarton operate the majority of buses around Ilkeston including the Ilkeston Flyer into Derby, My15 to Long Eaton and East Midlands Airport, The Two into Nottingham, 31 to Kirk Hallam, 32 to Derby, 33 to Mansfield, and 34/35 into Hucknall.[16] [17] Notts + Derby and CT4N operate some Derbyshire County Council tendered routes around Ilkeston.[18]

Ilkeston spa baths

From early in the 19th century the existence of natural mineral waters was noted here and exploited. A local businessman Thomas Potter built, in 1831, the famous Ilkeston Bath at the bottom of Town Street attached to the Rutland Hotel.[19] For over 60 years the baths helped tourism to the town at a time when spa towns like Bath and Harrogate enjoyed popularity. 'If you're doubled in pain and thin as a lath, Come at once then and try, the famed Ilkeston Bath,' was a well known advertising slogan. A mixture of a general decline in the popularity of spa bathing and, reportedly, contamination of the waters from mining activities led to the eventual closure of the baths just before 1900. The baths and the adjacent Rutland Hotel, which also enjoyed a revenue from tourism, no longer exist though they are remembered in the name of 'Bath Street'.

Sport

Football

Rugby

Cricket

First-Class County games
Every season between 1925 and 1994, the Derbyshire County Cricket Club played up to a couple of first-class cricket matches on the Rutland Recreation Ground, and one-day matches between 1970 and 1994.

Tennis

Basketball

Golf

Media

Local news and television programmes are BBC East Midlands and ITV Central. Television signals are received from the Waltham TV transmitter,[36] and the Nottingham relay transmitter.[37]

The town is served by both BBC Radio Nottingham on 103.8 FM and BBC Radio Derby on 104.5 FM. Other radio stations including Smooth East Midlands on 106.6 FM, Capital East Midlands on 96.2 FM, Greatest Hits Radio Midlands on 106.6 FM and Erewash Sound, a community based radio station on 96.8 FM.[38]

The town is served by these newspapers:

Twin towns

Ilkeston is twinned with:

Notable residents

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Pinchess. Lynette. Mellor. Cameron. Chippy bids farewell after six decades as owner, 84, calls it a day. 14 August 2024. Derbyshire Live. 7 April 2023.
  2. News: Erewash Sound sticks to ex-pat listener Mick Down Under. 14 August 2024. Erewash Sound. en.
  3. Ilkeston is made up of eight wards http://www.ukcensusdata.com/erewash-e07000036#sthash.EJAHhvCg.dpbs
  4. Web site: Town population 2011 . 27 March 2016 . 9 April 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160409022755/http://www.citypopulation.de/php/uk-england-eastmidlands.php?cityid=E35001224 . live.
  5. Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 2003. pp. 753–4
  6. Book: Scollins . Richard . Titford . John . 2000 . Ey Up Mi Duck: Dialect of Derbyshire and the East Midlands . Newbury . Countryside Books . 52 . 1853066583.
  7. News: Ilkeston NatWest Hole: TripAdvisor halts spoof reviews . 5 July 2024 . BBC News . 24 February 2020.
  8. Web site: Ian Scott-Parker iscottparker@pishtush.com . ODAAT: one day at a time... Mon, 10 Nov 2003 . Pishtush.com . 10 November 2003 . 15 November 2008 . 15 July 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110715085026/http://www.pishtush.com/camwrangler/z031110.html . live.
  9. Web site: Ilkeston & District Local History Society . Ilkestonhistory.org.uk . 6 June 2013 . 1 August 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130801012917/http://www.ilkestonhistory.org.uk/history/industry/stantonironworks/stantonironworks.htm . live.
  10. Web site: Archived Report - Stanton & Staveley Iron Foundry... the most epic foundry to date - UK Urban Exploration Forums . 28dayslater.co.uk . 20 October 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110721165015/http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=33797 . 21 July 2011.
  11. Web site: fighting to protect the Erewash countryside . Green Squeeze . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151018191912/http://www.greensqueeze.org.uk/node/1 . 18 October 2015.
  12. Web site: Ilkeston Charter Fair - History. https://web.archive.org/web/20091219100552/http://www.ilkestonfair.co.uk/ilkfair/ilkfairhist.htm. dead. 19 December 2009. www.ilkestonfair.co.uk.
  13. Web site: Bennerley Viaduct . 16 October 2006 . 21 June 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060621085701/http://lawrenceseastwood.co.uk/photo_016.htm . dead.
  14. News: BBC News . 26 March 2013 . 20 June 2018 . 18 January 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160118142430/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-21948348 . live.
  15. Web site: Wait finally over for Ilkeston train station as hundreds turn up to opening | Nottingham Post . 2017-04-02 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170402134611/http://www.nottinghampost.com/ilkeston-train-station-finally-opens-but-the-first-train-is-late/story-30244047-detail/story.html . 2 April 2017.
  16. Web site: Our routes - trentbarton . 17 February 2020 . 27 January 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200127052316/https://www.trentbarton.co.uk/bus-information/route-list . live.
  17. Web site: Ilkeston. https://web.archive.org/web/20201025083218/https://www.trentbarton.co.uk/userfiles/Ilkeston.pdf. dead. 25 October 2020.
  18. Web site: Public Transport in Derbyshire & the Peak District . 17 February 2020 . 11 September 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190911010105/http://www.derbysbus.info/places_index/ilkeston.html . live.
  19. History of Ilkeston 1899 page 252
  20. Web site: Ilkeston Town FC . 20 December 2019 . 21 February 2021 . ilkestontownfc.co.uk . 19 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210119234020/https://ilkestontownfc.co.uk/new-manor-ground-2/ . live.
  21. Web site: Ilkeston RUFC History . 21 February 2021 . ilkestonrugby.com.
  22. Web site: Ilkeston Rutland CC homepage . 21 February 2021 . ircc.play-cricket.com.
  23. Web site: Derbyshire County Cricket League . 21 February 2021 . derbyscountylge.play-cricket.com . 29 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210429164907/https://derbyscountylge.play-cricket.com/home . live.
  24. Web site: Erewash Young Cricketers League . 21 February 2021 . eycl.play-cricket.com . 19 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190719094622/http://eycl.play-cricket.com/ . live.
  25. Web site: Ilkeston Tennis Club LTA . 21 February 2021 . clubspark.lta.org.uk.
  26. Web site: Derby Tennis League . 24 January 2016 . 21 February 2021 . localtennisleagues.com . 26 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210126211148/https://localtennisleagues.com/derby . live.
  27. Web site: Ilkeston Tennis Club on mytennislife.co.uk . 21 February 2021 . mytennislife.co.uk . 30 June 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220630063954/https://www.mytennislife.co.uk/venue/ilkeston-tennis-club/ . live.
  28. Web site: Ilkeston Tennis Club facilities . 21 February 2021 . tennisx.co.uk . 3 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220703081907/http://www.tennisx.co.uk/Venues/Details/4 . live.
  29. Web site: Stanton Tennis Club . 21 February 2021 . tennispartner.co.uk.
  30. Web site: Stanton Tennis Club facilities . 21 February 2021 . tennisround.com . 16 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220316100844/https://tennisround.com/gb/tennis-courts/derbys/ilkeston/stanton-tennis-club-28597 . live.
  31. Web site: Sherwood Basketball League . 21 February 2021 . sherwoodleague.leaguerepublic.com . 31 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201031132813/https://sherwoodleague.leaguerepublic.com/l/index.html . live.
  32. Web site: Basketball England National League . 21 February 2021 . basketballengland.co.uk . 19 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210219053208/https://www.basketballengland.co.uk/competitions/nbl . live.
  33. Web site: Ilkeston Outlaws Basketball Club . 21 February 2021 . ilkestonoutlaws.com . 13 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210513004153/http://ilkestonoutlaws.com/about-us/ . live.
  34. Web site: Pewit Golf Course . 21 February 2021 . leisurecentre.com . 23 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210123134748/http://www.leisurecentre.com/pewit-golf . live.
  35. Web site: Ilkeston Borough Golf Club . 21 February 2021 . 1golf.eu . 30 September 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130930175302/http://www.1golf.eu/en/club/ilkeston-borough-golf-club/ . live.
  36. Web site: Waltham (Leicestershire, England) Full Freeview transmitter . May 2004.
  37. Web site: Nottingham (Nottinghamshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter . May 2004.
  38. Web site: Welcome to Erewash Sound!. Erewash Sound.
  39. Web site: Ilkeston Advertiser | British Newspapers Online . 2 October 2013.
  40. Web site: Ilkeston Life. Ilkeston Life.
  41. Originally called Châlons-sur-Marne, the city was officially renamed in 1998
  42. Web site: Ilkeston Twinning Association . Erewash.gov.uk . 11 April 1957 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110102182904/http://www.erewash.gov.uk/about_the_council/twinning/default.asp . 2 January 2011.
  43. Web site: British towns twinned with French towns . 2013-07-11 . Archant Community Media Ltd . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130705094933/http://www.completefrance.com/language-culture/twin-towns . 5 July 2013.
  44. Book by Ann Featherstone & Beverley Kilby. Ilkeston As it Was (2023)
  45. Web site: Stanley Hawley F.R.A.M. (1867-1916), Musician and composer - Ilkeston and District Local History Society. 15 December 2023.
  46. Web site: Robert Lindsay Biography . Robertlindsay.net . 13 December 1949 . 3 June 2010 . 20 May 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170520112000/http://www.robertlindsay.net/bio . live.
  47. Book: Philip, George . Continents in Collision . 196 .

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