Normanton guidebook

Normanton terraced houses

Walking through Normanton is like being on holiday. It’s a colourful mix of cosmopolitan and diverse communities; a real blend of languages and nationalities.

This is where people from all over the world have settled and created a great community spirit, with distinct areas each reflecting different cultures, colours and flavours.

Packed with bars, exciting shops, great restaurants and takeaways, with every type of food imaginable in the shops and eating places, this suburb is lively and fun.

Bustling, busy and vibrant Normanton is just a short walk away from the city centre. It's full of terraced houses, and has the highest Asian and Caribbean population in the city.

It may not be the most affluent part of Derby – in fact it's one of the most affordable in terms of house prices – but it's a daily hive of activity with a great atmosphere.

But don't get the idea that it’s run down - far from it. Yes, the streets and streets of terraced houses may be old, but they're certainly not ill kept.

And if you want open spaces, this tightly packed district won't be for you - but if you don't mind living in back-to-back houses, leaning over the fence to talk to your neighbour, Normanton could be right up your street.

History Section

 Normanton Road

The suburb of Normanton has its fair share of history. The Arboretum, England’s first public park, is here and The Ye Olde Spa Inn on Abbey Street is situated on the site of an 18th century mineral spring.

Derby County and England football legend, Steve Bloomer, lived in Normanton at number 34 and later number 81 Cummings Street. The club anthem, ‘Steve Bloomer's Watching’, is still played before every home game.

The Royal Crown Derby factory is on the Osmaston Road and is a former Union workhouse built in 1839, and Normanton Barracks at the top end of Sinfin Lane, was built to house the 95th Derbyshire Regiment.

It was demolished in 1982, however, later to be replaced by the Forester Park complex which offers supermarkets, a bowling alley, Showcase cinema, fast food outlets and the Oast House Hotel public house.

Property in Normanton

Where is it? It lies next to the city centre. The closest part is just a short walk into the city, and even the farthest is just two miles from the city centre shops.

It consists of two sections, Old Normanton, around the Village Street area, and New Normanton, which begins where Babbington Lane, Burton Road and Normanton Road cross.

What's there? Essentially, lots of Victorian terraces that were built to cope with the population boom as the industrialisation of Derby gathered pace.

Three quarters of the 8,000 houses in Normanton are terraced, with just a handful of flats and detached, and the rest are semis, usually the old big Victorian types rather than modern.

In fact, there’s not a lot of modern build here. It’s a well established, tightly packed area, with no room for expansion, so the only new builds have been where houses have been demolished.

Of the properties, 41 per cent are three-bed; 37 per cent two-bed; and the rest are four- and five-bed big old houses, many of which have been split into flats. 

This is also a high rental area, with a third of homes being rented, the rest being owner-occupied. Prices here are the most affordable in Derby, and are well below the city average.

Normanton is a tightly knit community with plenty going on.  At the last count it had around nine pubs and its own busy shopping street, Normanton Road, which leads to the city centre.

Normanton has the largest Asian community in Derby, and Normanton Road offers a good selection of authentic shops and fast food outlets.

The district also has local doctors' and dentists' surgeries, and is served by eight primary schools.

Buyers: People on a budget; you get a lot for your money here. Buy-to-let investors also like Normanton, and there are lots of big houses that are ripe for conversion into flats.

Pros: Decent houses at the lowest prices in the city.

Cons: It's very crowded but if you don't mind back-to-back living, it's a great place to be.

Surrounding Area: Littleover

Where is it? Littleover is around two miles south west of Derby city centre in between Normanton and Mickleover.

What's there? This sought-after suburb is one of the most picturesque and varied in the city, and is popular with Derby County footballers.

Initially a little village with terraced houses, its landscape changed during the industrialisation of Derby, as it became a popular location for affluent bosses.

A host of spacious detached homes were built to accommodate them, many of which are still spread around Littleover today.

But it was after WWII that construction really took off, with the building of modern housing estates featuring mainly semi-detached properties that continued into the 90s.

There are also the late 20 th / early 21st century estates of detached and three-storey houses, such as the big estate on the site of the former Crest Hotel, and another next to the cricket club.

And Heatherton, on the outskirts of Littlover, has some of the most modern housing developments in the city, as well as a restaurant, a bar and a medical centre.

Ninety per cent of properties in Littleover are owner-occupied, with the rest rented, half of them privately.

Of the 11,400 homes here, half are semi-detached, with around a third detached or bungalows. The rest are a mixture of terraces and flats.

Half of the houses are three-bed, a quarter are four-bed - one of the biggest areas of four-bed properties in the city - a good handful of five-beds (the luxury homes) and the rest two-beds, together with a small number of flats.

Littleover blends a mixture of the old with the new, with some historic landmarks being maintained, such as St. Peter's Church, and the Half Moon public house which dates from the 16 th Century.

There is a wide variety of shops and services in the village, including a doctors' surgery, Iceland, two butchers, Kwik Save, garage and the Half Moon and White Swan pubs.

Littleover Community School is in the top 130 secondary schools in Britain, and in Derby’s top three. Carlisle and Ridgeway Infants' and St Peter's and Gayton primary school are both in close proximity. 

Buyers: Mostly families who don't mind paying a premium to live in a really nice suburb, or to have their children in the sought-after community college catchment area.

Pros: Pretty, airy, clean area with lots of community activities and great schools.

Cons: Pricey... you'll have to pay extra for a house here, even though it rubs shoulders with the less affluent areas of Normanton and Sinfin.

Living here

Transport:

Train: The nearest mainline train station is in Derby city centre, two miles away.

Road: Normanton has small, tight streets which become packed at rush hour, so it's not ideal for car commuters. Parking in these streets is also a bit of a nightmare.

Littleover is a different story. It sits on the ring road into the city centre and also has easy access onto the A50 cross country road which connects with the M1 and M6.

Bus: Excellent service through the districts, and to and from the city centre.

Air: East Midlands Airport (EMA) is just 15 miles, or half an hour away, by car.

Shopping:

There's a great shopping street in Normanton, full of exotic fruit and veggies, Asian clothing and jewellery, and travel agents.

Nearby is the Foresters Leisure Park which was once the headquarters of the Sherwood Foresters regiment.

It’s now a large shopping and leisure complex offering supermarkets, fast food outlets, the Showcase cinema and the Oast House pub.

This notable modern building is, as the name suggests, in the style of a traditional English oast house, a type of structure totally alien to this part of the country.

Littleover has a busy little shopping complex which enough for day-to-day needs. Some other shops scattered throughout the district.

Eating and Drinking:

Lots of pubs and a good variety of food options in Normanton; restaurants and takeaways serve everything from traditional fast food to Caribbean cuisine.
 
Not much on offer in Littleover, however, apart from takeaways.

Entertainment:

Centred around the pubs as usual, but there's cinema, bingo and a space age kid centre at the Foresters Leisure complex.

Sports: 

Normanton has lots of clubs and activities, many based around the several churches and temples. Cricket is a popular sport here.

Normanton Park and recreation ground was opened in the early 20 th Century continues to provide sport and leisure facilities; the Derbyshire Tennis Centre is next to it.

Recreational activities are also available in Littleover with various tennis, cricket and football pitches around the district, including the popular King George's Playing Fields and Clemsons Park.

These parks sit together to form one large recreational space set around the Carlyle Infants School.

Open spaces: 

The Arboretum in Normanton was England’s first public park, dating from 1840, and offers miles and miles of scenic walks reaming with wildlife.