Nottingham street corner : The men, who were nervous, dropped to one knee to propose. There were benches stomping about and swinging pints afterwards, more sobering memories about loved ones that passed away at the same place in Nottingham during different times. The intersection of Derby Road and The Ropewalk located at Canning Circus, has many fond memories, however it’s based on the generation you are from.
The buildings, which were lastly used to house the Dancing Dragon Chinese Restaurantand Ropewalk restaurant next door are both closed. However, back in the days there was many activities.
The location was the home of Richard Clower & Sons, funeral parlour as well as the Co-op and many remember visiting their loved family members there to say goodbye for the last moment. We asked the members of the Old Nottingham Pictures Facebook Old Nottingham Pictures page Old Nottingham Pictures for their memories, and we received many responses.
Stan Coupland recalled: “I made coffins at Vic Fearn’s in the sixties who supplied Clowers and the Co-op there. I remember saying goodbye to my grandma there in 1967.” John Cameron remembers walking past while he was on his way to school, and as the doors opened, he could witness the coffins being built as Keith Harris said: “It was very eerie to a young lad.”
It also scared Lynette Susan Randall who was able to recall: “I used to walk past there late at night on my way home from working at the Playhouse. I say walked, I ran because the building gave me the creeps.”
Sharon Henton went there in the 70s to visit her grandfather. She remembers: “I was impressed with how they had prepared him, he looked like he could just sit up and talk to you. It made a lasting impression on me as a 17-year-old seeing her first dead body.”
After many years of being funeral homes The building was later repurposed to be a number of bars and restaurants. There was a Mr Haddock providing fish and chips in the early 1980s.
David Banks said: “When it was Mr Haddock’s I recall the small wall lights in the restaurant were coffin-shaped paying homage to its previous function!”
Colin Shaw commented: “We used to go regularly – first it was to The Running Horse, then across the road to Mr Haddock’s. It was definitely the best fish and chips in Nottingham, and then back to the Running Horse to watch the bands, and that was a brilliant night out.”
George Daly recalled “Worked on there from day one turning it from undertakers to Mr Haddock’s – very scary place at the beginning.”
Iz Mari Laurence wrote”Mr Haddock’s meal was so tasty that it received several mentions in the (then) diary of a schoolgirl! “We ate a miniature Everest of fish and chips …’ I had no idea of the history of the building however, not that it would’ve deterred me!”
But, some said they were uncomfortable eating in the restaurant, given the building’s background.
Elizabeth Hodgson said: “I only have memories of this place as Clowers or the undertakers and I passed by often when walking to school. My maternal grandparents were there following their death in between 1967 and 1970, and I was able to visit my grandmother’s coffin before the funeral. This is not a place that I would never want to visit particularly to eat… there are too many painful experiences to me.”
There’s no shortage of stories that are true, but whether or not is anyone’s guess. Jeanette Hill wrote: “I remember it was a fish restaurant after it closed as a funeral home. My mum said it was to hide the smell of embalming fluid… never went in,” as Graham Gough reckoned: “Mr Haddock’s used the marble slabs from the undertakers as counters, so legend goes.”
