Forest Fields. Forest Fields was, after the Inclosure, until about 1880, agricultural fields, when it became chiefly under the ownership of Sir Thomas Birkin, and has since been developed as a building estate, with many good houses. The principal building is the fine range of schools on Stanley road, at which there are baths in continual use by the children from many other schools.
There are Presbyterian, Wesleyan, and Primitive Chapels, and St. Simon's Mission Hall.
Race Course. The Nottingham Racecourse, on its first formation, was four miles found, and extended into the parishes of Radford, Lenton, and Basford, being on forest waste ground before it was enclosed. About 1730 it was reduced to two miles. In 1797, on the enclosure of that portion of the forest which appertained to Lenton and Radford, it was all but utterly destroyed. In 1798, another course was made, in the form of spectacles, or a poor figure "8." This, however, gave a bad view of the sport, and an oval form 11/4 miles in extent was made in 1813. This was closed in 1892, and the grand stand demolished in 1910, after a lifetime of one hundred and forty-two years, and now the forest has become a great recreation ground, with provision for cricket, bowls, football, and other sports—a distinct advantage to the city, and especially to the district,
A Monument. The parish church of Radford stands as a monument, not merely of the piety of the men and women who reared it, but also of the troublous period through which Radford and the country were passing. For generations the war with France had continued. The victories of Sir John Borlace Warren, and others, had been celebrated with bells ringing, sheep roasting, etc., but many of the people were starving; for war, trade, and manufactures will not act in unison; workmen had little to do, the average of the framework-knitter's clear earnings by long hours of labour seldom exceeded 6s. or 8s. per week, and the price of bread was double what it now is. Wheat at the commencement of 1812 was £5 8s. per quarter; in July it rose to £8.Add to this the fact that improvements in machinery had apparently lessened for the time being the amount of work to be done by hand, and although such improvements might ultimately increase the work, that was a lesson not then learned. The poor deluded stocking-makers met in the Market-place on March 11th, 1811, to talk over their grievances, and at night went to Arnold and smashed sixty-three frames, and there followed breakages so numerous that it is said the record of them would fill a volume. Outgang Lane, Aspley Terrace, and Mr. Noble's, New Radford, were among the places named where machinery was broken and outrages took place, so that by February, 1812, six hundred and twenty-four frames had been destroyed. An act of parliament was passed, imposing a death penalty for the offence, and many men had fourteen years transportation. Such was the state of affairs when Radford Church was built, and a great comet glared. Light was needed in the darkness, and we may be thankful that since that time "the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light."
There were in 1844, in Radford and "Ison Green," 775 stocking "frames."
Churches and Chapels. A statement like the following will be sure to provoke comment — of a varied kind. There are in the two miles of houses with Cobden Park on the west, and Sherwood Rise on the east, six Parish or District Churches and seven Mission halls or rooms, three Congregational chapels, four Baptist, three Wesleyan. six United Methodist, five Primitives, one Presbyterian, two Salvation Army, two Roman Catholic, one Brotherhood. It will be useless our complaining of the number or the variety of the provision, and the wisest way will be for us individually to cultivate a spirit of unity and the breadth of God, and with sunshine to exclaim, Thank God that in about forty places in the district week by week is made known the glorious gospel of Infinite love and grace, of pardon, purity and peace to souls burdened and hearts wounded, of power to mount up over trials, failure, and disaster, of hope, help and heaven to the sick and downcast, of guidance, sympathy and usefulness for the young, and that all these priceless blessings are to be had by anybody, without price or merit, for in the absence of the proclamation of these aids, and of other good and useful influences, what could replace them? The parish and the world would be poorer for the loss A spirit of unity is vital, is commanded, and is earnestly to be cultivated, but we must bear in mind that all clocks cannot be made to strike together, and that fashions, flowers, or faces cannot be formed alike.
There is, however, another aspect in which the present state of affairs may be properly viewed, for while all the bodies heartily sing, "We are not divided: All one body we," and that is true of the divinity within them, and all may be doing their duty in their several stations, yet how much more benefit would be realised were there in the whole district one grand combined movement to carry the gospel of love, healing, comfort, rescue, and cleansing to all the people by godly, trained, handy, smiling, and sympathic women, and there is here a fine opening for the energies of the Church of England Men's Society, and for Brotherhoods, with scope for the varied talents and tastes of all, without restraint.
Let us not forget that much excellent work has been and is being done. The many agencies and earnest activities of the Church of England, with district visitors and nurses, sisters, Church Army officers, etc., are a marked contrast with, and an immense improvement on. the sleep of sixty years ago, and in other directions we do well to recognize merit wherever it is found, and to give credit for good work wherever it is done. "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" It can—the Good did come, and good is coming. Anyone walking up De Ligne Street and seeing the old Wesleyan Chapel there would not be attracted by outside appearance, but from training at that place there has gone forth into the mission field the Revs. T. Cresswell to the Transvaal, T. G. Selby to China, H. Webster to West Africa, J. Webster to China, O. Thompson to South Africa; and to the Home ministry the Revs.T. W. Johnstone, J.W. Warrington, S P. Bevan, and J. Bevan Mr. Savidge, a useful Town Missionary, went from there. Mr. W. B Wigston. for many years cashier at Mr Fisher's factory, conducted a noble class of young men So certifies Mr. C. L. Moorby, who has for forty-eight years been connected with the work.
Schools. There were, in 1844, nineteen "Academies," two of which had boarders, but most of the "academies" were dames' schools. The National School was built in 1841, at a cost of £700 There was also among the list of householders "a professor of astronomy, astrology, and the occult sciences," but whether the "professor" taught, and, if he did, how far the people were benefited by the lessons, does not appear. There had been a school on the west side of St. Peter's Street, built by Mr. William E. Elliott, which was given up to the parishioners in lieu of £60, which he bequeathed to the poor, and which was afterwards divided into two or three tenements. The village school was held in one of the rooms in these houses, and tradition says that on one occasion (about 1818) "The Old General," (Benjamin Mayo, the children's half-witted idol) presented himself at the school and "begged" for the children a holiday, when the school, with or without consent, was cleared in a trice, to the astonishment of the master.
There are now Church Trust Schools at Old and New Radford.and Hyson Green, and two Roman Catholic Schools, having together provision for nearly two thousand children, and the Council Schools at Berridge Road, Forster Street, Ilkeston Road, Boulevard, Scotholme, Alfreton Road, Forest Fields, and Wollaton Road, provide for eight thousand children. There is also a Handicraft Centre at Acourt Street. In all these the instruction is becoming more and more adapted to the future lives and surroundings of the children, the development of their powers of observation, love of nature, handiness, readiness, and the improvement of their morals and behaviour, the advantages of children entirely abstaining from intoxicating liquors and tobacco, cleanliness of their teeth and habits and homes, learning to swim, the uses of ventilation, domestic economy for girls, and Scout practice or Boys' Brigade exercise for boys, and other subjects which will be for their future advantage, are being increasingly taught in the schools, while there is among thoughtful teachers a growing desire to put the religious motive as the foundation and sustaining power of moral duties.
High Pavement School. The principal educational establishment in the parish is this school, which takes its pupils from all the schools in the northern part of the city, for a four years' course, from twelve to sixteen years of age, and later. The High Pavement School was established in 1788, and was transferred to the School Board in 1891. New premises were built on Stanley Road, and the school removed thereto in 1896. It is now conducted as a Secondary School, under the able and successful management of Mr. Francis, with over three hundred boys and girls in attendance, exclusive of the children in the Infants' and Preparatory Schools in adjoining premises. The Handicraft Centre, in which boys are taught the use of tools in wood and iron work, as a discipline of hand and eye, and resoursefulness, and girls domestic work, is full of interest, and there are conveniences for the lunches of students attending from a distance. In the higher educational subjects the school has attained a high position, and the scholars marked success.
Libraries. The Operatives Libraries were a feature of three generations ago. They were usually kept at public-houses, and were open on Sunday mornings or evenings, and Wednesday evenings. There was one at the "White Swan," Alfreton Road, and another at the "Cricket Players '' In Nottingham there were five, having from 200 to 1,600 volumes, but the Artizans' Library on Smithy Row, and the Mechanics' Institute in St. James' Street (in 1844 removed to Milton Street), happily superseded the public-house element. There is now at Hyson Green a Free Lending Library and Reading Room, and a Reading Room at Radford, where, combined, nearly 50.000 books are issued yearly, and the daily average attendance is 1,850 persons.