Normanton

My personal challenge for this round of Miss Jenny Matlock's alphabe-Thursday is to post about a location within the borders of my own county of Derbyshire, UK, for each letter of the alphabet.


Look for the letter, to see where I am.

N is for Normanton Road.

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Normanton is an area of Derby, to the south of the city centre. The modern community grew out of an ancient village once known as Normanton-by-Derby and Normanton is thought to have been one of the original sites of Viking settlement;  Normanestune (Norseman's Settlement).

The main thoroughfare linking Normanton with the city centre is Normanton Road, but I think you would be hard pushed to find many Norsemen settled here today. You would, however find plenty of other nationalities because Normanton is the heart of Derby's ethnic community.

The main demographic of the ethnic community is Asian and the shops around here reflect that.

...catering for body and mind.

This is just one of four fashion/fabric shops.

Pak Foods is one of two major grocers and is always full of people. On the day I visited, the Derbyshire Constabulary were out on the streets conducting a Policing Matters consultation exercise; gathering local opinion on the way policing is conducted, finding out what people know about the Safer Neighbourhood team and gauging how people feel about different crimes as a problem in their locality.

This Asian solicitor deals with another aspect of the law; giving aid and advice on matters ranging from immigration to personal injury to taxi licensing (a lot of Derby's taxis are driven by people from ethnic minorities!).

Normanton Road also has a couple of training centres; this one specifically for Asian women.

Although the main concentration of Asians here come from India and Pakistan, there are also those from the other parts of Asia, including Turks,

nations which have re-emerged from the Soviet Union,

and a small representation of those who originate from South East Asia.

The Asian population encompasses people from three major faith groups; Islam, Hindu and Sikh. All three have places of worship close to Normanton Road.

The closest is the Derby Mosque, which is set back from the road behind only one other building.

Ironically, the building behind which the Derby Mosque was built is this one; the New Life Christian Centre, a vibrant multi-ethnic Christian church which includes many members from an Afro-Caribbean background.

Slightly higher up the road is this place of worship...

Although this area is predominantly Asian, the expansion of the European Union has seen the borders of the UK opening up to a new group of people; Eastern Europeans. Since the second world war, Derby has had a thriving Polish Community, but that has mushroomed and spread in recent years, as is reflected here.

I hope that those who read my Littleover post, 2 weeks ago, have enjoyed seeing the contrast between two parts of my city; which is relatively small in comparison to some of the biggies in the UK. (In the 2001 census, Derby was ranked just 18th in the country.)

Meanwhile, I will leave you with the smiling face of a lovely lady who stopped for a chat outside the Mosque.

She told me that walking round Normanton felt like walking in India or Pakistan, so I asked her where she came from (expecting Pakistan to be the probable answer).

She replied...

"I'm from Holland. I'm Dutch."!!

LOL - Got me fooled then!