On Nottingham Road in Stapleford stands a large group of listed framework knitters' houses, many three storeys high, some still with the knitters' workshop windows on the top floor. They are a reminder that this town on the Derbyshire border, about seven miles west-south-west of Mapperley, grew on knitting and lace. Patch Me If You Can plasters homes right across it, old and new.
Old cottages and later streets
Stapleford's population climbed from under 800 in 1801 to over 4,000 by 1891, and kept rising rapidly through the 20th century as new housing went up. So alongside the 18th-century framework knitters' cottages that survive east of the town, and the late 18th and early 19th-century houses on Church Lane, there are plenty of later homes.
For older and listed properties, the priority is understanding the wall before touching it. The parish has 17 listed buildings, and listed building consent can cover internal work, so check with Broxtowe Borough Council before original plaster comes off. Once you know what is allowed, loose areas can be cut back, repaired and skimmed to suit.
Later houses are more often about everyday indoor plastering: patch repairs after a new kitchen or rewire, a smooth skim on walls and ceilings, plasterboarding, or a stud wall to make an extra bedroom. Media walls and wall panelling are good ways to update a living room or hallway, and whole properties are taken on too.
Whether you are near The Roach crossroads, by the Hemlock Stone on Stapleford Hill or close to the tram at Toton Lane, call 07877 353120. We work seven days, 7am to 5pm.
