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Burton Road to the southwest of Derby has been completely transformed during the last one hundred years or so, turning into what residents have described as the best entry road into the city.
During the Victorian and Edwardian periods, cramped slums stood where residents now live in mostly large detached houses, with gardens backing up onto Rykneld Park. Hotels, care homes, supported living and flats can also now be found along the street.
But locals, including some who have lived on the street for more than 40 years, say they were not aware that overcrowded and dangerous houses were once crammed together in the same area, before they were pulled down in the 1960s and 70s.
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They were part of Derby’s “Little City”, which was demolished as part of the city’s slum clearance to make way for the new ring road, helped along by new public health laws.
William Barron, 75, who lives with his dog Chip, runs a letting agency in Ashbourne. He is incredibly proud of Burton Road and says it is the best entry road into Derby due to its greenery and residents.
William, who has lived on the road for four decades, said: “Burton Road has got to be the nicest, most beautiful entry road into Derby. Definitely better than Uttoxeter Road.
“Duffield Road is nice but it doesn’t have the greenery that you see here as you come over the top of the rise. It’s wonderful when the cherry trees outside my house are in bloom, you’ve just missed it. The grass also looks good because it is nice and long. I’m calling for ‘No Mow June’ and ‘No Mow July’.
“Osmaston has Spider Bridge…Ashbourne Road doesn’t have greenery. It has the houses.
“Our only rival is Kedleston Road, that area alongside Markeaton Park. There’s lots of greenery there. I get around the city a lot, I know the roads, the traffic lights, humps, you name it.”
The one complaint locals have about the area is that there is a lot of traffic. William added: “At nine, ten, eleven o’clock people like to show off how quickly their cars accelerate.
“We also have Rykneld Park which is easy to get to. There’s the royal bus into town, and the Harlequin down to Uttoxetter. Otherwise it’s a 17-minute walk into town.
“It’s a brilliant road to live on with a huge amount going for it. We have a Post Office, an Iceland, a Co-op and a Sainsbury’s.”
William also praised the community. He said: “We have nice people living up and down. All very nice people. We have a chat with dog walkers in the park, it’s great.”
He finishes however by saying that the bottom of the street, where more flats ands hotels appear as the suburbs merge into the city, does need a good litter pick.
William said: “I pick up litter up and down the road – 99% of the street is litter-free, but not the bottom. Where you get trees you invariably don’t get litter, it’s the same in any town. More people pick up their own litter here.”
Micheal Peace, 75, who used to manage Long Eaton Furniture Centre, has called Burton Road home for nearly 25 years. He too says life is good, apart from the noise created by the traffic.
“The traffic does get very busy, very fast at times. That’s the worst thing. But there’s plenty of garden spaces backing onto the park.
(Image: Adam Toms)
“Most of the houses are a reasonable standard, but some drives are a bit steep. I certainly find the hill on the road steep when cycling.”
He says it’s good to have privacy, as a result of bushes, fences and walls separating his house from the next, but this does mean he doesn’t see much of his neighbours.
Michael added: “We’ve got good relations with neighbours, but we don’t tend to see them much.”
His neighbour, Diane, 79, a housewife, is another long-term resident of the road, having lived there for about 40 years.
She agrees that the roads can get quite busy and also says that the consequence of privacy has been that she has not seen much of her neighbours.
She said: “The road is quite busy, that’s the main thing. I think that’s because there have been so many new houses in Littleover. This road is the main access through.
“Privacy is why people move here – in these houses you don’t really see much. But it means that you don’t have a lot of contact. Neighbours are fine when they do talk. With these high bushes and walls, less contact with people is the consequence of that.”
She added that it would be different if she lived in a terraced house, but she wouldn’t want to do that.
A carer who assists a resident living in supported living accommodation, also on the road, said: “Some of these houses are mad. We’d all like to live in one of those.
“But it’s a great mix here, I find. You see lots of disabled people down the shops with their carers.”
