The historical archaeology of Nottingham
Industrial buildings beside Nottingham Canal, now demolished and replaced by apartments.
Nottingham's industrial past is poorly served. The lace and hosiery factories and warehouses have disappeared, or been converted into apartments, or offices, or stand gloomily empty. The Raleigh bicycle factory is no more. The presence of the railways is hardly visible, and you have to look hard for any evidence of the collieries that existed almost in the city centre. The tobacco and pharmaceutical industries have moved out to the edges of the city (ironically next to each other) though several original buildings remain. And so on...
You'd expect that the city would nevertheless possess an industrial museum crammed with interesting material culture to reflect this important heritage. Instead, a long-neglected collection of bits and pieces now lies mothballed at Wollaton Hall, open to the public only when the stalwarts of the Arkwright Society hold an "in steam" open day.
I visited the museum shortly before it closed in 2009, and put together a photo-essay.