Chaddesden Park Hotel
Nottingham Road / Chaddesden Lane
The Wilmot Arms was Chaddesden's only public house during the first
part of the twentieth century. In February 1930, Altons & Co, brewery
of Derby, announced plans to build a new pub on land that had been part
of Chaddesden Park. The middle of the Great Depression was not the
obvious time to open a new public house. In justification of their
plans, Altons stated that 705 houses had been built in Chaddesden in the
preceding six years and the Wilmot Arms, 950 yards away, had doubled its
business and was becoming inadequate for the licensed trade of the
district.
The proposed hotel was intended to cater for motorists as well as
local residents. It would have a car park and be set back from
Nottingham Road in anticipation of the widening of that road to 100 feet
(a dual carriageway) as well as being near the junction of a new
arterial road (Sunny Grove was the first part of a new road to the
centre of Spondon, although never completed).
The new house was built to the design of the architect, T.H. Thorpe,
in a Tudor style, similar to that of the nearby houses. It was built by
Derby builders, W. Ford and Sons at a cost of £11,000 and opened in
December 1931.
As originally laid out, the entrance hall led to a lounge, 30 x 18
feet (9 x 5.5 metres). On one side was the Tudor Room, on the other,
the dining room with panelled walls and a polished oak floor. A separate
entrance led to the largest room, the Assembly Room, 36 x 19 feet (11 x5.8m).
[Derby Daily Telegraph, 18 December 1931]
The licensee was Laurence Bottomley and the telephone number Spondon 67.
[Kelly's Directory 1932]
Two photographs from pre-war picture postcards. Above may have been
taken during winter 1931-32 as it appears to show the original wooden boundary
fence around the park with straggly bushes behind. The fence has gone from the
lower photo and a new entrance built directly from the road junction at
Chaddesden Lane End, something that would not be permitted today. On the left
can be seen the back of a "Halt at Major Road Ahead" sign as there were no
traffic lights at the junction, and also a short length of the low stone wall
that once marked the road boundary of the park.
There have been several changes of name and ownership over the years.
From January 1972 it was Beau Brummel, then The Park, then Rosie
O'Brien's Pumphouse from 1992, and since 2002 is branded simply as Toby
Carvery, although local residents still use the original name, The Park
Hotel.
The Beau Brummel in 1980.
A recent photo taken after Toby house colours were applied.
