Between 1801 and 1901 Ilkeston grew more than tenfold, from under 2,500 people to over 25,000, on the back of coal, iron, hosiery and lace. Bricks were often made alongside the coal pits, and Erewash Borough Council says this local brick accounts for the strong character of the town's conservation area. Patch Me If You Can covers Ilkeston from Mapperley, which is about seven miles to the east.
Across the town
The work reaches every part of Ilkeston: Cotmanhay, Larklands, Hallam Fields, Shipley View and Kirk Hallam, where the St Norbert Drive area was built as public housing in the 1950s and the Godfrey Drive area followed with mixed public and private homes in the 1960s and 1970s. The conservation area runs along Bath Street and South Street to the Market Place, with Wharncliffe Road a mainly residential part where detached houses stand on wider plots.
Each type of house brings its own jobs. In older brick homes, plaster that has blown or cracked is cut out, patched and skimmed so the wall is sound and smooth again. In the post-war houses of Kirk Hallam, it may be a tired ceiling to board and skim, or a room to re-skim after old wallpaper comes off. Stud walls, plasterboarding, media walls and wall panelling are all part of the indoor plastering on offer, and full properties of up to four bedrooms are taken on too.
Call 07877 353120 to talk it over. We are open every day, 7am to 5pm.
