A driver who was fleeing from police through Ruddington last summer, before being brought to an abrupt halt by an unexpected closed gate, has unwittingly been responsible for a much more attractive replacement!
A police pursuit on June 14th 2019 resulted in the suspect’s vehicle crashing into the locked gateway from Churchill Drive into Manor Park – destroying one of the brick pillars and damaging the gate itself (below).
As it is a private road, for which local residents pay a ‘frontage charge’ for the upkeep, it fell to the Manor Park Residents Association to fix it. After realising the old gateway was beyond repair, the association decided that two new pillars and a more opulent wrought iron gate should be commissioned for their entrance.
They chose a design by South Notts Fabrications Ltd – which is a small business with a base on Nottingham South & Wilford Industrial Estate, off Ruddington Lane. This company fabricates and installs metal gates, railings, balconies and stairs both for homeowners and commercial clients – including some work recently on the Bellway site in Ruddington.
Business owner Matthew Mott told us: “We were asked to quote for making the gates on some indicative styles. After some discussions, and them having a look through our design booklet, we settled on this design (top photo) – which we fabricated to the new opening size once the wall was built.”
Ironically, now the work has been completed, the new gates will rarely be used because they are always kept padlocked – other than in an emergency or for special events. All vehicular access to the exclusive Ruddington estate will continue to be via Wilford Road.
Nevertheless, for the many pedestrians, including James Peacock School children, who walk to either side of them each day, the new gates are unquestionably a much prettier sight than what was there before (below).
