This Is Hucknall: The Changing Face of Hucknall's Houses

Take a walk around Hucknall and you will see a variety of building styles and materials. On this page we have included some of the physical changes that have taken place over the last 60 years, including some of the trends and fashions.

Typicical early-twentieth-century terraced houses, modernised with uPVC doors and window frames. The house in the middle has had a coating added to the surface of the brickwork.

These early-twentieth-century terraced houses have had major physical improvements. The two houses in the centre have been re-roofed, and the one on the right has had an extra room added to the loft space. The original decorative brickwork is still visible below the eaves.

More early-twentieth-century terraced houses; this time three with their original limestone walls and lintels. The house on the right has been re-roofed with slate-coloured tiles, whilst the other two have their original slate roofs.

Some terraces were built with passageways at ground-floor level, which give access to rear doors, back gardens and yards. Some of the passageways are narrow, and just wide enough for people; however, some are wider (presumed built for small horse-drawn carts), as seen here.

These 1950s-style semi-detached houses have had improvements. Both have had uPVC window frames (presumed double-glazed). The house on the right has had a frame and door added to its arched porchway . The house on the left has been re-roofed in slate-coloured tiles, whilst the one on the right has retained its original slate roof.

More 1950s-style semi-detached houses which have had improvements; this time we can see how garages have been added.

Another example of frame and door being added to an arched porchway; this time it's a 1930s semi-detached house.

An example of improvements to an arched doorway; this time with hardwood frame and aluminium door and window frames.

Some houses in the west of Hucknall were built for RAF personnel, and were sold to civilians when the RAF base closed. This is an example of an ex-service house on Astral Grove.

Some original architectural features can still be found in properties; for example, here is an original window frames with leaded half-lights.

More original features; this time decorative ridge tiles on a red-tile roof.

Half-timbered features have been retained on some properties, such as this 1930s semi-detached house on Watnall Road.

Half-timbering features continue to be added to new buildings, such as this 1990s house.

As well as half-timbering, some newly-built houses have Edwardian-style features such as this bow window.

Another example of an Edwardian-style bow window on a 1990s house. This house also has a simple wooden fence to the front of the property, but many different styles of boundary can be seen around Hucknall...

such as this combination of wooden ranch-style fencing (between the properties), plus concrete posts and pre-cast concrete panels (front boundary) and wooden panels (seen in background).

Another example of concrete posts and wooden panels, and a farm-style gate used at the front boundary of semi-detached house.

This newly-built house has been provided with a traditional brick wall and double wooden gates.

Ornamental wrought iron gates became popular again in the late-1990s, and continue to be a fashionable addition to front boundaries.

The front boundary wall of this house is mainly brick, with decorative concrete blocks.

A closer view of the decorative concrete blocks.

"U-bend" steel fencing, as seen here, is often used by social landlords and housing associations.

Chain-link fencing is less popular today than in the 1950s and 60s, but can still be seen in some parts of Hucknall. (Note the wheelie bin, which now seem to be a regular sight on many roads - even when it isn't a waste collection day.)

A combination of half-walls and wrought iron fencing has become popular in the 1990s/2000s. Combimations of half-walls and wooden panels are also popular. (Note the choice of stone/shingle in the garden; a low-maintenance option that became fashionionable throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.)

In addition to be a low-maintenance option for gardens, it is useful as hardstanding for cars, as seen here. With increased car ownership, some householders are converting their gardens to accomodate two or more cars.

Another popular option for vehicle hardstanding is block paving, as seen here. Block paving has become popular choice for property owners who are undertaking home improvements.

Some newly-built houses have block paving included as part their design, as seen here.

The majority of Hucknall's houses are made of traditional clay brick, as seen in this 1930s dwelling.

Builders have generally used bricks in the red-brown through to terracotta red colour range. Newly-built homes usually plain, uniform walls.

However, some recently-built houses have interesting combinations of brick colours.

This pair of 1970s semi-detached houses include the use of coloured "reconstituted stone" below their downstairs windows. The top half of the wall has been rendered with a semi-smooth coating.

Similarly, this house has been half-rendered; this time with a crushed stone finish.

This house in the west of Hucknall uses a variety of materials mentioned above. The chimney stacks indicate that a number of coal fires would have been used to warm the house when it was first built; this would have included bedrooms as well as downstairs rooms. It is assumed that the fuel would have been supplied by the nearby colliery. Red terracotta chimney pots would have originally been on top of the chimney stacks - one chimney pot for each fireplace. With the introduction of gas fires and boilers, many of the oroginal terracotta pots have been removed from buildings.

This 1970s bungalow still has has a chimney pot, suggesting that the occupier still has an "open" fire. However, the central chimney has fitted with a ventilation cap, indicating that a gas fire or central heating boiler may have been installed.

These semi-detached houses also appear to have been converted to gas-fired heating, judging by the vents on top of the central chimney stack. The small chimney stack on the left of the picture appears to have been capped.

This picture shows an older house with a chimney stack alongside a pair of 1990s semi-detached houses that did not have chimney stacks included as part of their design. Note the aerials on the older house; the two TV aerials seem to be pointing to different transmitters.

These semi-detached bungalows have vertically-polarised TV aerials suggesting that they aligned to a "repeater" transmitter in a poor signal area. (Possibly the "repeater station" at Eastwood.)