A Nosey Around Nottingham

Welcome to the “6th roughest city in the UK”!

That’s how one Notts resident described Nottingham to me. To be fair, that means there are 5 worse places so, ya know, silver linings and all. And to be fair again, everyone thinks their own hometown is terrible – this pessimism is what makes us British. All I can say is, I’ve been to Nottingham a few times over the past two months and my overriding impression has been… rain. And that Nottingham hates car. Seriously, it’s an absolute ball-ache to park there and you usually end up having to spend loads in a multi-storey. But still, IMO it’s a decent place to visit, so I’ve compiled a bunch of must-sees if you fancy a day out in a city where you’re gonna get rained on.

The Arboretum

Or as I continually call it, The “Arba-tor-eum”. I have no idea how that word has entered my diction.

It’s a nice little quiet space in a busy city. You can park on Addison Street, on the north-east side of the Arboretum for one hour, but no longer. Inside you’ll find…

…a Chinese bell tower, some statues – including one for a local MP and philanthropist…

…Samuel Morley, and some squirrels that are not so timid.

But still, it ran away as I inched closer.

The Arboretum is also THE PLACE to visit in Nottingham if you wanna see some dead birds in a cage.

They didn’t wake up, even when I offered the fresh cuttlefish. Of course, they’re not dead – they’re made of plastic – but I cannot understand the reason for their being. Besides the plastic birds are some real ones.

They too were unimpressed with the rain.

As you’d expect, the park is particularly photogenic in winter, but when the weather is right, it can look nice…

Nottingham Castle

You simply cannot visit Nottingham without visiting Nottingham Castle! It features a mix of medieval and Victorian architecture, plus nearly a thousand years of history! I simply couldn’t wait to visit.

The site will reopen fully in 2021. FFS.

The castle is built upon ‘Castle Rock’ which features cliffs 40m high. Built into said rock, you can find England’s oldest surviving inn…

Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem

The pub claims to have been established in 1189. Inside it’s cosy and warm and quite uniquely features caves for you to relax in.

Currently on tap is an ale called Fireside, and it is one of my favourite ales ever. Delicious.

The Robin Hood Trail

Up at the Castle you can find this statue.

You can also find the beginning of a trail through Nottingham’s streets that help you learn about the man, the myth, the legend.

The trail takes you past some more historic sites, including the 221-year-old Royal Children pub.

Of course, if you come to Nottingham cos you love Robin Hood, then you are more than likely going to visit Sherwood Forest. I hear there’s a blog you can read about that place too… *cough*

 

Old Market Square

The heart of the city; and where throughout the year you’ll find events and fairs et cetera. I visited in November & December which meant (as with most English cities) the Square had turned rather Germanic.

Now I’m an adopted son of Manchester (which as I’m sure you will ALL agree, hosts the best Christmas markets in Britain!!!) so this is high praise when I say I really enjoyed Nottingham’s Christmas offering. I had a particular enthusiasm for a stall that sold something called kartoffel.

Google Translate tells me that ‘kartoffel’ is simply German for ‘potato’ which sounds pretty uninteresting. It definitely wasn’t.

Herby spuds with bacon and German sausage, and optional garlic mushrooms. The memories are making me salivate. If German cuisine isn’t your thing, there are other stalls selling cheesy food, Greek food, Spanish food and of course, a filled Yorkshire pudding, to name a few. And after you’ve filled up on all that stodge, you can lose a few calories and possibly fingers on the skating rink.

I’m sure you’re appreciating all this Christmas content on a blog posted in January. I accept it isn’t that relevant right now. Soz. Events come and go in Old Market Square but one man is omnipresent.

No, not me. Brian Clough. Often described as the greatest English manager never to manage England, Clough managed Nottingham Forest for 18 years and won them many trophies including a First Division trophy and two European Cups. A visit to his statue is a must for all football fans.

Intu Victoria Centre

If you’re one of those super adventurous and inquisitive people whose first thought when they visit somewhere new is to go a shopping centre, then by all means, put the Victoria Centre on your must-see list.

It features an array of stores you’ll find nowhere else in Britain, such as River Island, John Lewis and a place called Tesco.

Rock City

This is one of the most famous music venues in Britain. Now entering its 40^th year, Rock City has hosted some of the biggest names in Alternative music, and also hosts a few weekly club nights. I had a great time dancing to an eclectic mix of Guns N Roses, Drake, ABBA and Darude.

So there you have it, a handful of reasons to visit Nottingham – and I didn’t even touch on the Lace Market or the two football stadiums.

I leave you with one image that comes to mind when I think of Notts: a man rode past me on his bicycle one early morning. He was helmetless and had only one hand on the handle bars, for the other was clutching his can of Stella. SKILLS.

P.S. Shout out to Harriet who I asked to pose in front of the Christmas tree.

I saw in her face the same look of embarrassment I express every time Brendan makes me pose on our T.W.A.T.S…

WHAT HAVE I BECOME?!

P.P.S. Shoutout to anyone who spotted the Monty Python reference…