Nottingham is a compact city in the heart of the East Midlands of England. It is split into different residential areas set around the city centre.

When you mention Nottingham to people from elsewhere, four main things usually spring to their minds:

"Robin Hood"

Yes, Nottingham was, according to legend, the home of the famous outlaw Robin Hood, and there are various tributes to him around the city, not least the statue shown in the photo above, which is actually outside Nottingham Castle.

Actually, Sherwood Forest, where he is alleged to have hailed from, is some miles away from Nottingham city, but let's not let that get in the way of a good story!

"Brian Clough"

The (in)famous football manager who took Nottingham Forest through their glory years. Old Big 'ead is sadly no longer with us, and now has a stand named after him at the club's football ground, plus the main A52 dual carriageway between Nottingham and Derby has been renamed 'Brian Clough Way' and the city has a statue of him too.

"Torvill and Dean"

The gold-medal winning ice-skating duo did originally hail from Nottingham, and actually both have streets named after them in the very nice suburb of Wollaton.

The old ice-rink where they trained has long since been demolished, but in it's place is the Nottingham Trent FM Arena, where there is a fabulous public ice rink, plus it plays host to major name acts when they pass through Nottingham.


"Gun crime"

A couple of years ago, Nottingham was named by the font of all knowledge (Kirsty and Phil from Channel 4!) as the worst place to live in Britain , or something like that. This was apparently due to the high amount of crime, gang related activity and specifically gun crime in the city.

Admittedly there was a period of time when this was somewhat true, but it has improved vastly. I don't see Nottingham and the surrounding area as worse than any other area of Britain!

The city centre has been cleaned up a lot, and lately it feels a lot safer.

There are two main indoor shopping centres, plus many other shopping areas and streets in between them. All the usual shops have branches in Nottingham. The Broadmarsh Shopping Centre is unusual in that it has a tourist attraction underneath it: The Nottingham Caves.

It only takes you around 15 minutes to walk between the two main centres if you walk direct, which is great.

Currently there is a tourist attraction on the Old Market Square called the Nottingham Eye, a scaled-down version of the London Eye. I went on this last year, it was a bit expensive at £5.00 per person, and was just like riding a giant ferris wheel.

Five minutes away from the Old Market Square, is Nottingham Castle, a fantastic structure with a museum inside. This is free to Nottinghamshire residents, and is a general museum and art gallery, with some really interesting works and pieces inside.

Due to the presence of two universities, Nottingham stays fresh because there is a new influx of faces every year - to cater for the students, there are hundreds of bars and nightclubs and Nottingham has a great nightlife: I have had many a fab night out here!

House prices are reasonable, and the position of Nottingham smack bang in the centre of England, plus proximity to the M1, means it's a great location, location, location. Don't listen to those stupid TV programmes!