Distance: 1.4 miles

Difficulty of the terrain: medium

Get the route via: Ordnance Survey Maps or download the GPX. file from Dropbox

Short urban waterways walk along the Nottingham and Beeston Canal from the edge of Nottingham city centre to the River Trent and the Trent Bridge to West Bridgford.

The Story

The Walk

Getting Back

Nottingham’s Trent Bridge

With a population of more than 700,000 in its primary urban area Nottingham should have a good claim to be the English Midland’s second largest city. It would be the largest city in the eastern half of the region by a factor of around 200,000 people.

As it is, the vagaries of local government boundaries means that large chunks of the Nottingham urban area are outside the city’s boundaries, split between several Nottinghamshire districts. This means that Nottingham’s official population of around 300,000 makes it the fourth largest city in the Midlands after Coventry and Leicester.

One integral part of the Nottingham urban area which sits outside the city council area is West Bridgford. This mid-sized town of just under 40,000 people occupies the southern bank of the River Trent opposite Nottingham. For local government purposes it forms part of Nottinghamshire’s southernmost district Rushcliffe and comes under Nottinghamshire County Council which has its headquarters looking out towards Nottingham on the banks of the River Trent. Here the Trent, Britain’s third longest river, is wide, but not so wide that West Bridgford is truly separate from Nottingham.

Indeed Nottingham and West Bridgford have been linked by a bridge across the Trent since at least the early Tenth Century, with one believed to have first been constructed in 920. Presumably there was a ferry at or near the spot even prior to that.

The bridge on the West Bridgford site was often damaged, frequently being replaced throughout the Middle Ages. During this time it was known as the Hethbeth bridge, had around twenty narrow arches spanning the Trent, and was maintained by a religious charity. In 1551 the religious charity was dissolved and responsibility for maintaining the bridge passed to the city of Nottingham where it remains to this day. At the same time the Trent Bridge Estate was created to provide funds from rents and other charges to maintain the bridge.

In 1683 high waters once again damaged the bridge with half of it being swept away. The structure was repaired with the number of arches reduced to fifteen. This bridge endured until the 1860s when it was found to be in poor condition and was increasingly too narrow for the width and volume of traffic looking to use it. This led to work beginning in 1868 on a replacement, the sturdy three arch Trent Bridge which stands today. 

The old bridge remained in use until 1871 – there is a photograph of the two bridges side by side – when the new one was complete and the old bridge demolished. Today’s bridge was widened in the 1920s and supplemented by the more westerly Clifton Bridge across the Trent which opened in 1958. But unlike its predecessors it has stood firm against the momentum or the deep, powerful, River Trent swells.

The Walk

Get the route: via Ordnance Survey Maps or download the GPX. file from Dropbox

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This walk to West Bridgford begins at Nottingham Railway Station on the edge of the city centre.

Once on the central station footbridge turn right and descend down a flight of steps to street level.

Here turn left and pass under a viaduct which carries the tramline running into the city centre from the west.

Walk up the pedestrianised street on the far side with the station on your left and an array of bars, coffee shops and a few convenience stories on your right.

At the top of the road – level with the front of the station – it joins the busy Carrington Street which runs across the Nottingham and Beeston Canal into the middle of the city.

Turn right here and walk a very short way down Carrington Street.

Crossing over onto the left hand side of the road you come to a flight of steps which lead off to the left down onto the towpath of the Nottingham and Beeston Canal.

Once on the towpath of the Nottingham and Beeston Canal turn right.

Walk along the towpath along the cut, which here demarcates the southern edge of Nottingham city centre.

You pass beneath a couple of bridges, one of which carries Nottingham’s cross city centre tram line past the station across the waterway.

Reaching a small basin the towpath turns sharply to the right.

Here there is a steep flight of steps running off the canal to the level of the road.

Turn left just before reaching the pavement and cross over the canal by means of a narrow footbridge.

On the other side of the footbridge turn left down a steep corresponding set of steps.

At the bottom of the steps turn left.

Carry on along the towpath beneath a series of bridges. Here the canal runs through quite a deep cut flanked by roads on both sides.

You carry on along the canal towpath for some distance.

Soon passing through a recentish housing estate you approach the River Trent.

Upon arriving at the river front turn right, crossing over a footbridge across the canal walking over the lock where it meets the River Trent.

Here you see the sturdy Trent Bridge in front of you. Start walking towards it.

Nearing the Trent Bridge turn to the right and head for the stone abutment which carries the road onto the bridge.

In the corner you find a flight of steps up onto the level of the roadway.

Once on the pavement turn left and start crossing the bridge.

On the far side of the bridge carry on walking down the road heading for West Bridgford town centre Along the way you pass the Trent Bridge Cricket Ground. Nottinghamshire County Hall and a branch of Wetherspoons.

This is where the walk ends.

Getting Back

As West Bridgford is not far from central Nottingham it is very quick and easy to get back there either by retracing your steps along the canal or following the roads back into the city centre. It is well signposted. Alternatively there are frequent buses throughout the day to destinations across Nottingham including via the railway station from West Bridgford.