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The 'moni', a monument to George Hern

By 1911 a further twenty houses had been built and a total of sixty families housed in semi-detached houses with white rough-cast walls and dark red tiled roofs, and the social life of the community had developed considerably. The second stage of the development received a serious setback when George Hern died on 13^th October 1911. He was considered by all to be an admirable man as Manager of the building programme. At this stage of the development, no two houses were alike, as tenants had been allowed to dictate their requirements.

A beech tree was planted at the lower end of Fern Rise as a memorial to Hern, a special meeting was called, and a resolution passed that Hern’s salary be continued for one month and that his brother, Albert, be approached to give assistance to the secretary. (Minutes of 14 October 1911). In the same Minutes, it is also recorded that Mrs Hern be offered the job of cleaning Room and Office at a fee of 2/6d per week. Mrs Hern continued to live on the estate with her two sons.

By the 1950's the seat had long since disappeared, but the iron bolts, along with washers and nuts, remained and they provided an ideal foot rest for children riding aroung on their bicycles (it was safe to ride the roads at this time).

In the 1970s, under pressure from the Netherhall Estate tenants, who used the Suburb's shops, the City Council decided to make up the roads, for which Anchor Tenants were charged £20,000. The memorial to George Hern - the copper beech and seats - was removed as a 'traffic hazard'; Laburnum Road had already been extended into the west side Council development, and the Council named the walk-way through to Keyham Lane, Lilac Walk. Stein's walk, once a narrow footpath through to Scraptoft village, was enlarged and named Netherhall Road.

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