36 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF NOTTINGHAM AND DISTRICT 



in the Keuper Marls serve to constrict the valley. Both Stapleford and 

 Sandiacre, centres of lace, hosiery and general manufacturing, are closely 

 connected with Nottingham. Near the former is the Hemlock Stone, a 

 massive erosion feature of great interest, sculptured naturally from the 

 Bunter Sandstone. Below Sandiacre the valley broadens and merges 

 imperceptibly into the Trent plain, where spacious flats furnish the site 

 of the growing town of Long Eaton and the scene of two important rail- 

 way activities. Of the latter, the Toton sidings, which are among the 

 largest in the country, handle a great proportion of the output from the 

 Notts, and Derbyshire section of the coalfield, whilst Trent Junction is 

 an important focus of main lines and a vital point in the operation of 

 both passenger and goods services on the L.M.S. system. Though ad- 

 ministratively in Derbyshire, the town of Long Eaton is linked closely with 

 Nottingham by reason of its industries and transport services. It is the 

 only centre of lace manufacturing of considerable size apart from the 

 city itself, though it has in addition a variety of lesser pursuits. The 

 town has grown from a small centre of 1.600 inhabitants in 1861 to one 

 of 22,000 to-day. 



Next comes the vale of the Trent itself, which is at once the most 

 obvious unit of landscape among the sub-divisions of the Nottingham 

 region. In form it resembles a long shallow trench whose sides are 

 generally steep and in places sufficiently abrupt to be termed cliffs, e.g., 

 Clifton, Radchffe. For a great distance it maintains a more or less 

 uniform width of a mile and a half, whilst over its flat monotonous floor 

 the only exception to the general level is a slight rise of ground here and 

 there not exceeding ten or twelve feet, due to the appearance of older 

 gravel above the alluvium. The present river, though a small stream 

 compared with its prototype, is liable to flood, consequently these slight 

 eminences afforded by single patches or marginal terraces of gravel have 

 played a large part in the fixing of settlements. The villages below Trent 

 Bridge, such as Holme Pierrepont, Stoke Bardolph, Shelford and Gun- 

 thorpe, are all situated thus, as well as the older part of West Bridgford 

 itself. Beeston, until recent times, was strictly confined to the limits of 

 a gravel terrace. Serious flooding occurs rarely, though a few fields 

 neighbouring the river are inundated whenever the Trent rises after a 

 prolonged rainy spell. The greatest flood ever known in Nottingham 

 was that of 1875, but that of May 1932 was also widespread and des- 

 tructive. These and other notable levels are recorded on the embank- 

 ment wall at the city end of Trent Bridge. 



With modern drainage methods and measures to control the river, 

 settlement has spread less precariously over the vale. Not only has the 

 city extended thus, but some of the outlying centres, such as Beeston. 

 Netherfield and Colvidck, have done likewise. The process is still going 

 on especially in connection with industrial development. Once freed from 

 the menace of serious flooding, the stretches of meadowland adjoining 

 the river and the railway tracks afford innumerable factory sites. Many 

 recent concerns have been established near to Nottingham in response to 

 these conditions. To the east of the city the Netherfield sidings 

 (L.N.E.R.) utilise the level surface and function as the counterpart of 



