Description: Thomas William Hammond 1854-1935. Born in Philadelphia of Nottingham emigres, and orphaned at the age of four, he came to England with his younger sister Maria and lived for a short while with his grandparents in Mount Street. In 1868 age 14 he enrolled in the Government School of Art. On the 1871 census he is described as a lace curtain designer, and in 1872 he was awarded the 'Queen's Prize for a Design of a Lace Curtain'. Other prizes followed and in 1877 he was again awarded the Queen's Prize, this time for the design for a damask table Cloth. Hammond was an indefatigable worker, and soon began to use his skills as a draftsman to record aspects of the changing town. He began showing his work at local venues in 1882 and in 1890 exhibited for the first time at the Royal academy. His real hobby was black and white sketching in charcoal. He drew about 350 pictures all together mainly scenes of a Nottingham he knew but which has largely passed away today. Extracted from 'The Changing Face of Tom Hammond's Nottingham' by John Beckett which is the introductory essay in 'A City in the Making Drawings of Tom Hammond'. In this picture Mr. Hammond displays once more his genius for discovering beauty in unexpected places. His point of view is from the old foot bridge which spanned the canal at the end of Trent Street, and is now replaced by a modern structure which, unlike its predecessor, carries vehicular traffic. Trent Street is a continuation of Sussex Street, which has a very interesting history. In olden days the river Leen was navigable for the small craft then in use as far as the end of Sussex Street, that is to say just where Trent Street forms its continuation. Goods were brought from the wharf along what is now called Sussex Street, and up Middle Hill to the market place at Weekday Cross, and this thoroughfare was called 'Town Wharf Alley' which name became colloquialised into 'Turncalf Alley'. Unfortunately a generation or so ago this historic name was abandoned, and the somewhat colourless modern name of Sussex Street was adopted. Modern conditions seem to point to the revival of water-borne traffic, and before long no doubt we shall see this canal used as a portion of the great scheme which is now being materialised, for turning Nottingham into a port. Image and descriptive text taken from 'Nottingham Past and Present', published in 1926.