The Mansfield Road, Nottingham, is no longer there

I remember the Mansfield Road in Nottingham as being lined with secondhand bookshops and record shops.

Maybe it never was quite that good: we are talking about memories of 30 years ago. So I was not too surprised to find them all gone when I went back there today.

There is still a record shop, but it closes for half the week. The bookshop Jermy & Westerman, which was getting rave reviews only recently, has closed down.

Some shops have even been turned into houses, suggesting no one expects those good old days to return here.