Nottingham
We lived near East Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, in the early to mid 1980's, so Nottingham was our 'local' large shopping centre. Neither of us had been back since we left around 1986, so this was our chance to re-acquaint ourselves with the city. I am afraid that I remembered almost nothing and Chris very little. Thinking back we probably only ever came in occasionally and then just to shop. Our children were young and we had very little spare cash, so the tourist bits just did not happen.
We walked from the boat to the town centre. Our first port of call was the Information Office (we were pointed in the right direction by a friendly policeman - a rare sight to find one on foot these days, so we were lucky). There we picked up a map with details of the Nottingham Trail. Look HERE if you are coming this way and want to do some research before you arrive.
Some we had done as we headed into the city and some we did with the benefit of the map. There wasn't much we missed - it was a very enjoyable walk (interspersed with a bit of shopping) and worth doing if you are ever visiting this city. I am not going to bore you with all we saw, but hope I have picked out a few highlights.
Just below the castle is a corner dedicated to Robin Hood and his Merry Men
A board tells the tale of how Robin Hood outwitted the Sheriff of Nottingham. The latter was frustrated by his inability to capture Robin Hood. He thought he could lure him out into the open by arranging an archery competition thinking that Robin Hood would not be able to miss such an opportunity to show off his skills. The reward was to be a golden arrow. However, Robin outwitted him by arriving with his hair and beard dyed and an eye patch over one eye. He and his men were dressed as beggars. Robin shot straight and true all day, splitting an opponents arrow with a brilliant shot to hit the centre target spot-on. The Sheriff was bewildered by this mysterious archer and presented him with the prize. As Robin and his men returned to the forest victorious and unharmed, the Sheriff sat down to dinner with his nobles unknowingly gloating that the infamous Robin Hood had been too cowardly to turn up. His smugness was soon cut short. At that moment an arrow came through the castle window, burying itself into the table in front of him. The Sheriff went bright red with rage, for attached to the arrow was a note thanking him for the golden arrow. It was signed 'Robin Hood'.
To the left of county hall, below, is where the tourist information office can be found.
To the front of the hall is a huge pedestrianised square complete with an array of water features and fountains.
On one corner of the square is the shop I had my eye on.
Chris and Monty waited patiently whilst I tried to find a new pair of sandals. Job done and we were on our way again.
I am afraid the market stall did not make taking a photo of this quite stunning building very easy - it was Jesse Boot's first major pharmacy store, now a clothes shop.
We were surprised to find The National Videogame Arcade listed on the Trail - hardly historic, but a sign of the times
There might be new games every day, however
it was shut - it is only open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
This is not part of the trail, but I was just taken with the fact that someone has brightened up what would have been a very boring wall.
Another little gem that is not part of the trail
I just picked out a couple of these legends
The Adams Building on Stoney Street is the largest building in the Nottingham lace district. Formerly a lace showroom and warehouse, it is probably the largest and finest example of a Victorian lace warehouse to survive in the country. The building is Grade II listed and now forms part of the City campus of New College Nottingham.
If you want to know a little more about the interesting history of this building and the conditions the lace workers toiled under (they were pretty good compared to a lot of other workers as Thomas Adams was a philanthropist) have a look HERE.
There also appears to be a restaurant inside
From Stoney Street if you peek along Barker Gate you will see the Ice Centre in Nottingham - famous for producing the ice dancers Torville and Dean.
St Mary's Church is very large
and imposing
The brickwork on the tower appealed to me
and those windows must surely be even more amazing from the inside, however .....
We came across three gates and they were all padlocked, so I may never know. A sad reflection on life today.
Nottingham is famous for its ancient caves - around 500 have been discovered so far and it is thought that there are at least 500 more. Broadmarsh shopping centre is the unlikely entrance to one of Nottingham's prime visitor attractions - City of Caves. We did take the tour when we lived here in the 80's (probably the only tourist thing we did), so we did not feel we needed to go again, but it was a great experience, so we would definitely recommend it.
This marks the entrance to the Broadmarsh Centre on the cusp of Low and Middle Pavement - a bit like a bowsprit and hard to miss.
As you enter there is a long corridor given over to local people to give their interpretations of the city.
have a real cat who spotted Monty who returned the stare - looking at you, looking at me
On past the castle gates - somewhere we will go next time we come this way. Sue and Ken did the tour, so I am looking forward to her blog in due course.
A couple of things that were not here in the 80's - the trams, thankfully not as overcrowded as the illustration in the Broadmarsh
and tattoo parlours - well there might have been some, but they were more likely to be hidden down side streets in those days.
Last stop before returning to the boat - a pint at Ye Old Trip to Jerusalem - the oldest inn in England reputed to date back to 1189. Inside are little alcoves dug into the rock.
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