West Bridgford

West Bridgford (ˈbrɪdʒfərd) is a town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Rushcliffe in the county of Nottinghamshire, England. It lies immediately south of Nottingham, east of Wilford, north of Ruddington and west of Radcliffe-on-Trent. It is southwest of Colwick and southeast of Beeston which are on the opposite bank of the River Trent. The town is part of the Nottingham Urban Area and had a population of 48,225 in a 2018-estimate. West Bridgford was founded between 919 and 924 when defences and houses were built at the south end of Trent Bridge. It was established by Edward the Elder to protect Nottingham and the surrounding area against incursions from Danes in the North of England. A survey during Edward's reign indicates that the population at this time was 192 people, 19 of which were farmers. Most main roads in central West Bridgford are named after wealthy families that dominated its early history. The roads in the Gamston development have names from the Lake District, and Compton Acres from Dorset and the Purbeck Coast. At the end of the First World War, the Musters family sold the Trent Bridge Inn and Trent Bridge cricket ground to the county cricket club. The club owned the inn briefly, then sold it at a profit to a brewery. After pressure, the Musters sold land for building, but strict planning regulations were stipulated for the West Bridgford Estate. This was planned over a grid of tree-lined roads. The main roads, such as Musters Road, had restrictions on housing density and size. All houses had to contain a specified number of bedrooms. Smaller houses were permitted on side roads and terraces were erected on roads such as Exchange Road for the servants of wealthy Nottingham merchants who had bought West Bridgford property. The result is a community separate from Nottingham, with no ties of governance to it. In Nottingham, West Bridgford was sometimes dubbed "Bread and Lard Island", implying that its people had spent so much on big houses and fur coats that they could only afford to eat bread and lard.