Our rare photograph from 1922 shows a mix of public and commercial transport in the centre of Nottingham as two trams make the turn at the junction of King Street and Queen Street while two taxis, their engines muffled against the cold, cross the Market Place.
The building in the centre was built for the Prudential but since used by a variety of restaurant brands. On the left is a typical Watson Fothergill creation which can still be seen today.
The history of public transport in Nottingham goes back to 1870 when parliamentary approval was given to begin laying the tracks for trams.
Nottingham had waited a long time to emerge from the centuries of travel by makeshift wagons, hauled by pack horses and uncomfortable coaches pulled by a team of four which linked the town with London and Leeds … just a bit more slowly than today’s M1 motorway.
In 1825, a mail coach would leave London in the evening and arrive, 15 hours later, in Nottingham. The next 72 miles to Leeds would add another nine hours to the journey time.
Apparently, in 1832 a chaise-and-four established a record for the 125-mile run from London to Nottingham, covering the distance in nine hours to bring the result of the Reform Bill.
Coaching stops included the White Lion in Clumber Street, Blackamore’s Head, High Street (where the Zara store now stands), and the Black Boy.
On May 21, 1791, John Lambert & Co put the first hackney carriage onto the streets of Nottingham, from a pick-up point in the Market Place. It carried up to six passengers and charged 1/- to any address in the borough; to any church, with a wedding party, 2/6d; within three miles of the town, 3/6d.
The first cab rank was established in Long Row in 1845, and in 1908 taxis began plying for hire. Three such cabs were built by Humber at its works in Beeston; one stood at Victoria Station, one on the Market Place and one at the Midland Station.
Nottingham’s first female taxi driver was Miss Alice Astill, who put her foot to the pedal in March 1916.
In 1993 two enterprising women, Patricia Davidson and Kate Bowles, launched Lady Cars in Radford to provide an exclusively female service … but sadly, no record of what came of this venture exists.