Residents have shared what it is like living in a rural hamlet that's next to one of the county's busiest roads. Brough, near Newark, is a small hamlet in Nottinghamshire that is home to only a handful of houses and farms next to the A46.
The hamlet used to be located adjacent to the busy carriageway, but has now been bypassed. Brough resident, Rebecca Steeples, 45, has lived in the village on and off for most of her life.
She said: "My parents moved to Brough 43 years ago from Bridgford, Nottingham, into a derelict house that had no water or electricity, but they loved the location and the ruralness of Brough. It was tough in the beginning and at the time the the A46 was running right by the side of the house."
Rebecca explained that the closeness of the A46 did cause some issues and in the past they had cars end up in their garden and once had "a lorry hitting what was then our kitchen" as well as "missing numerous pets to the road."
She added: "It was also noisy but over time we got used to it. We had a phone box and post box and a chapel when we moved here.
"You definitely need a car here to get to any shops for essentials. It would be very isolated without that." Speaking of the hamlet in its current state, Rebecca explained that since it was bypassed it has become "much more rural."
She said: "It’s lovely, the locals can ride horses and bikes and walk dogs safely, most of the time, through the village and enjoy the countryside. I have to say it actually took us time to get used to not having the A46 as close when it was bypassed as we had got so used to the noise being close. Now it’s much better - we have a close link to the main road without the noise and worry of it being so close."
When asked about the community in Brough, Rebecca added: "We are a close-knit village and everyone looks out for each other." Volunteer co-ordinator, Nicola Broadberry, 46, has lived in Brough for eight years after moving due to needing "more space" and wanting "a more rural setting to live in."
When asked her favourite thing about Brough, Nicola replied: "My view from the back garden. Most people have horses, I don't have any at the moment but I have dogs, and it's great for walking."
She continued: "There are no facilities whatsoever, but we are a short distance from Collingham and Newark.
"We came from Collingham after living there ten years and the children were still at school there when we moved here and we are still Collingham parish council here. The longer we have lived here the more we have realised that it's quicker to get to Newark to use facilities there."
Nicola added that the village did have a methodist church which has since closed, but "it was nice to go to the church service there." She explained that during the pandemic she set up a Whatsapp group for residents in the hamlet, and there was a lot of swapping of eggs and vegetables that people had grown.
When asked if there was anything she disliked, Nicola explained: "My biggest grudge with Brough is it's very quiet and we don't have a lot of traffic but this road is 60mph. When they built the new carriageway they should have changed this and made it 40mph.
"We have lost a load of cats." She explained that she is currently campaigning to try and make the road a reduced speed limit.
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