The Mucky Duck

Notts RAF Base 

This is a former Officers Mess and Accommodation Quarters. The site was subject to a number of reports back in 2008 and 2009 but since then has attracted little attention due to the state of the buildings.

The RAF base itself was heavily connected with aviation legends such as Guy Gibson VC, Gus Walker and Bill Reid VC, who were all based there during the war. They used the officers’ mess which was built in 1940 for dining, drinking and accommodation. Gibson went on to complete 170 sorties and was promoted to Wing Commander and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), all by the age of just 24. Gibson was later chosen to lead the Dambusters and took command of 617 Squadron and given the authority to pick his own new Squadron. He was awarded the Victoria Cross and went on to be the most highly decorated pilot in the RAF and a national hero. Sadly he was shot down in 1944 during a bombing raid on Rheydt.

The site was put into care and maintenance after operations at the base ceased in 1970. The complex was then sold off by the Ministry of Defence and the Al-Jamia Al Islamia School opened in 1994. In 1997 Ofsted inspectors criticised hygiene, safety and teaching standards and the buildings themselves were starting to deteriorate. In the same year a roofer fell off the roof and broke his back. The school was judged to be culpable and the roofer obtained an order banning the sale of the buildings and the land until he was paid compensation. His claim was settled in January 2007 and the school shut later that year.

The Antique Store Mill

In 1781 this land was bought to build a cotton spinning mill. It was one of a series of textile milles constructed in the area during the Industrial Revolution.
These pioneering developments, which included the creation of new communities to house and cater for the workforce they required, are now recognises as being of international importance.
The Mill complex eventually included spinning, bleaching and dying mills, as well as foundries, joiners’ workshops, a gas-works and a corn-mill. The Warehouse, constructed in 1793, was an early attempt by William Strutt, Jedediah’s eldest son. To design a fire-proof multi-storey structure. Later, and more successful, attempts at fire-proofing are embodies in the Dyehouse building, near the bridge. Whilst almost all the early mill buildings were demolished in the 1950s and ‘60s, much of the associated industrial housing has survived. Many of these houses were built by the Strutts, from the late 18th century onwards, transforming the area from a riverside hamlet into a company village. 

Graffiti Farm House

Little Motruary 

Old Car Garage

Car Guy's Church