The construction of Abbey Bridge was completed in 1928. This provided a road link between Castle Boulevard and Abbey Street and ultimately on to University Boulevard. This later portion of highway had been paid for by Sir Jesse Boot when he converted his Highfields estate into a municipal park and a new site for University College, Nottingham. The land either side of Abbey Bridge remained undeveloped until the mid-1930s when Nottingham City Corporation decided to use it for a small Council housing scheme. The first residents of Coleby Avenue, one of the streets making up this housing estate, probably moved into their new houses round about June 1936. This photograph shows a portion of Coleby Avenue in 2006 was taken by Martin Burton.

The pedestrian access from Abbey Bridge leading to Coleby Avenue is featured in the second of three photographs taken by Martin Burton. Martin now lives in Perth, Australia but his childhood home was here on Coleby Avenue and he took the photos when he came back to Nottingham on a visit. Martin got in touch with us in 2012 to tell us about a book he had recently had published out in Australia. The book called Paper Planes is an account of his adolescent years here in Nottingham. Martin had a somewhat unpleasant time while at the local secondary school and the bullying he suffered while there is a central theme of the book. With the exception of his best friend Gerald, all the other names have been changed.

The third of Martin's photos shows the view along the pedestrian access to the steps which take you back up to Abbey Bridge.