Festivals, Fireworks and Firearms (Nottingham in General)

Member Name: flutel

Product:	Nottingham in General
Date:	16/06/09 (106 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots to do - especially in the summer.

Disadvantages: A spot of gun, knife and tasering crime.

I have lived in Nottingham for a very long time 20+ years - so I should know it. I even moved back to Notty after spending a post grad year away. I do have mixed feelings about the place but I'll try to give you an idea.

The City
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Nottingham has a good transport system including a tram the runs from the outskirts (Hucknall) into the city. The disabled access on this tram is brilliant. I went on a trip with a lot of students with complex needs and they all fitted on to the tram in their wheelchairs. Buses are good but quite expensive. (£1.50 single for a short trip). In fact anywhere I've been in the world has cheaper buses than Nottingham! There is a special offer in school holidays where groups of people can travel together cheaper - this is a good job as a lone parent taking one or two kids out for the day would cost an arm and a leg otherwise.

The city is quite affluent ( with a few flashy apartments and expensive shops) but surrounding it are areas that have quite a degree of poverty; a doughnut of disadvantage is how I like to see it. I used to work on regeneration projects so I spent much time there. In fact I live on the edge of a 'disadvantaged area'. This is the source of many of the city's knife and gun problems - there are area gangs (two main ones I think). Having said this, I travel through one of those areas daily and never see any trouble. I drive through it at night and never see any trouble.

Some trouble that I did see was on the tv this morning; the police seemed to be repeatedly tasering a man on the floor. This was, however in the centre of the city outside the rather middle class Theatre Royal.

Nightlife
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I move effortlessly on to this after leaving you with an image of Nottingham nocturnal fun. The city has the highest concentration of pubs and clubs in its city centre. This makes it an excellent night out for people who like to wear no clothes summer or winter because tottering from one pub to the next is easy - and there are millions doing just that at the weekend. At New Year, the place was full of nakedish people sitting and lying on the floor outside pubs (smoking, crying, laughing).

I expect it is also fairly easy to have a pub crawl if you are a wheelchair user as there are plenty of refurbished places with improved access all quite near to each other.

There are also a number of gay pubs and 1 club (NG1) which is frequented by plenty of straight people too. These pubs cater for differing groups within this (rainbow) umbrella - eg a pub for older gay guys, mainly lesbian pubs. Because the city is so compact, they are all within walking distance - allowing for a pub crawl of diversity.

Shopping
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The city has a great array of shops including some department stores: House of Fraser, Debenhams, John Lewis, Marks and Spencer. There is also a large indoor market in one of the two big shopping centres Broadmarsh and Victoria Centre. Victoria Centre has a large musical clock and fountain in a main area. Whenever I look at it I am reminded of a friend who hates it. He told me that if he ever found out that the world was going to end in X minutes he wouldn't waste his time having sex with someone - he would jump into the fountain and trash the clock big time.

The smaller shops are good - and many are situated down a small street called 'Bridlesmithgate'.

Fun in the City
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This is a category as well as the pubs. There are four cinemas in Nottingham including the huge Cornerhouse Cinema. The one to write about though, is the award winning 'Broadway Cinema' which has a beautiful auditorium with sweeping pink curtains and deep,plush chairs that have dedications plaques on the back (inc people's weddings,memorials etc). The cinema shows general release films as well as more obscure films and foreign language films. It has great disabled access and a bar/cafe that serves veggie and vegan food as well.

There are a great variety of restaurants and cafes in the city, including several veggie/vegan cafes - probably the best known of these is the lovely 'Alley Cafe' situated up some stairs in a tiny alley just off the main Market Square (disabled access not that good in this one).

Nottingham also has a bowling rink and an ice rink that doubles up as a massive stadium for bands.

Festivals
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Nottingham hosts a number of festivals that attract hundreds/thousands of people.

Green Festival (beginning of June)
A festival for all thing ecological - stalls, picnic and bands in the park (it was fab)

Nottingham Pride (end of July)
Festival for lesbian, gay and transgendered people - stalls, picnic, bands in the park. This festival is heaving with people.

The Riverside Festival (beginning of August)
Music, stalls, fairground and fun by the side of the river Trent. There is a free, massive wonderful firework display that happens here in the evening.

The Splendour Festival (July/Aug)
Music festival in the grounds of Wollaton Hall. It costs about £15 to get in if you are a City resident.

Caribbean Carnival (August)
A carnival with stalls and bands in the forest ground park

Goose Fair (1st w/end in Oct)
Huge fair - rides and stalls.

Why I live here
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I have lived here so long that I have friends that It would be terrible to leave. Honestly, I can say it is the comunity that keeps me here and not the actual city - but that is a pretty good thing to say of a place anyway.

To Conclude
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I am aware that this is just a tiny snapshot of a complex city and that I will need to add to when I think of something that is desperately important. I hope it may be of use to you if you visit or are thinking of living here.

Summary: A great city despite some 'problems'