Ruddington
Ruddington is a small rural village, six miles south of the city of Nottingham, with a small village green, a cricket pitch and three museums! Its name is originates from the Saxon term 'Rudda' - meaning headman.
Framework Knitters Museum © TAB
This small corner of Nottinghamshire is well known for its textile history. Craftsmen in the village operated a stocking-knitting frame, invented in 1589 by Nottinghamshire man Reverend William Lee. This invention created a new industry for the region, whereby the wholesale manufacture of textiles and lace transformed many small settlements, such as Ruddington, from an agricultural backwater into a thriving industrial community.
A Framework Knitters Museum has been preserved in a block of 19th-century cottages, located in Chapel Street. The museum carefully re-creates the living and working conditions of the skilled stocking-makers, and is one of the few places in the UK where an operational Framework Knitting machine can be observed.
The former Primitive Wesleyan Chapel in Chapel Street was the first of many Methodist Churches built in the village (now a private home).
The oldest dwelling in Ruddington is the Hermitage on Wilford Road, which once contained the village museum. The museum later moved to St Peter's Rooms, which form part of the old village school (circa 1852). It contains a time capsule of reconstructed shops and period scenes depicting community life in the 19th-c. Visitors can also buy textile samples made at the Framework museum.
Rushcliff Country Park © Travel About Britain
Rushcliff Country Park is set in idyllic countryside just south of Ruddington. A lovely rural escape with a range of facilities and outdoor activities, including several miles of flat accessible footpaths and trails. The perfect place for a peaceful stroll or a picnic.
Next to the park is a preserved stretch of the former Great Central Railway, with links to the heritage steam line at Loughborough. Old Ruddington station is now part of the Nottingham Heritage Railway (NHR) and houses a museum containing a vintage road transport collection, a miniature railway and other attractions.
Map of Ruddington
The Midlands
