So much more than men in tights!!! (Nottingham in General)

Member Name: MandyMinx

Product:	Nottingham in General
Date:	24/11/03 (903 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great shopping, Great people

Disadvantages: Poor footie teams..lol

I thought it was time to tell you a little more about the city where I live. If I were to mention Robin Hood, that gangster in tights, you would probably immediately think of Nottingham. Although well known for its ties with this legendary hero Nottingham has much more to offer than just its famous outlaw.
Positioned right in the heart of the East Midlands, Nottingham once boasted one of the finest lace and textile industrial areas in the country. Nottingham lace is still sold in the markets today and the city is very proud of its lace market area which is now a buzzing cultural and educational centre full of museums and stylish office blocks.

Historically Nottingham has many claims to fame. High on a cliff top overlooking the city is Nottingham castle. Once the home of royalty, Nottingham castle now houses a museum and an art gallery. Admission is free during the week, with a small charge on weekends.Outside the castle is a big bronze statue of Mr Hood himself. Over the years I can't count the times someone has stolen the poor mans bow and arrow. I think it's welded on now. Round the corner from our noble castle is Ye old Trip to Jerusalem, thought to be the oldest pub in England this tiny tavern is built into the side of the cliff that holds up Nottingham castle. Reputedly haunted this is a great place to call into on hot summer day. This is not the only place that is supposed to be haunted and ghost walks are held every Saturday night around the city.

Next door to the pub is The Brewhouse Yard museum. Here we are transported back in time to the second world war. Here you get a real taste of life years ago with displays of the shops, the toys and the whole way of life during the war. Down below in the caves you get a real feel of what life was like for the people as you get to visit one of the shelters that were used in an air raid emergency. Again as with most of the museums in Nottingham there is no admission charge during the week



but a small charge is made weekends and bank holidays.
Nottingham is built over an impressive underground cave system and many of these are open to the public. The Broadmarsh caves, situated in the Broadmarsh shopping centre are a popular tourist attraction and are open all year around.


If museums aren't your thing, Nottingham is a great place to shop boasting two indoor shopping centres. The smaller of the two, The Broadmarsh Centre is home to Argos, Alders,British Home Stores and nearby is good old Marks and Spencer's.
The Victoria centre has over 120 shops and is visited by over 22 million customers every year. Some of the top retail stores can be found here as well as many speciality stores. River Island, House of Frazer, Boots, John Lewis, Next,to name but a few. There is also a huge indoor market and a meat and fish market. With an abundance of eating and meeting places the Victoria Centre is a shoppers paradise. We tend to avoid it of a weekend as it can get really busy. At christmas time the centre is always beautifully decorated and many people trundle in with their children to look at the sights.

There are over 2,700 parking spaces situated under the centre so you shouldn't have a problem parking. There are three park and ride schemes in operation, the nearest being situated at the Forest Recreation ground about 5 minutes ride from the city centre. We personally never use them as we tend to avoid town of a weekend and there are always plenty of spots to park in the week.
There are two MacDonald's in the city centre as well as Pizza Hut, Kentucky fried chicken and Burger King. Between the two centres there are some really great stores including Lush, Littlewoods and many more.

Right in the centre of the city is the Old Market Square. Once the home of Nottingham's infamous Goose Fair this actually one of the biggest market squares in the country. Towering over the square is the
counc
il house with its domed tower housing 'Little John' the clock whose chimes can be heard all over the city. Talking of the council house, not only does Nottingham appoint a mayor every year, we also get a new sheriff of Nottingham. (We haven't had one as bad as the one in the fables yet.)There are fountains in the square. Very often you go and find the square full of bubbles because someone has poured a box of wash powder into them overnight. We must have the cleanest pigeons in the country.


Night time in Nottingham is as cultured or as wild as you want it to be. There are over 120 pubs and some fantastic night clubs. There is the famous Palais. This club has been here since the dance hall days but don't worry that it might be a bit long in the tooth, The Palais has a state of the art music and laser lighting system and is definitely the place to be.
We have our own Jumping Jaks, Jongleurs Comedy Club next to the canal side and Oasis on the outskirts of the city rocks.For those of you into the rock scene there are some great gigs at Nottingham's Rock City.
Oh, and apparently in Nottingham there are 5 girls to every guy. So your chances of pulling have to be good.
Nottingham tends to serve the entire East Midlands' gay community and pubs like The Ice Bar and clubs like NG1 are popular attractions.

We have restaurants to suit every taste and nationality. A big favourite has to be Antibos. This Italian restaurant has a buy one get one free policy in the week and makes for a cheap night out and is situated right in the centre of town, close to The Palais. The Mogal-E-Asam is a famous Indian restaurant in the city centre. Close to the Theatre Royal this quaint little place has a wall full of the stars that have eaten there over the years. Mark and I ate there once. Unfortunately I was so drunk I can't remember what I ate or what it was like. I know it was expensive though because Mark moaned for day
s afterwar
ds.

Many of the cinemas in Nottingham are alas no more and many shed a tear as The Odeon closed its doors for the last time. We now have Warner Village and of course Showcase, situated on the outskirts of the city close to Megabowl.

Although Nottingham is home to the Theatre Royal and around the corner the beautiful Royal Concert Hall, we didn't tend to attract the big names in the world of Rock and Pop due to the venues being slightly small. This was not always true though, Tina Turner, Elton John and the Kids from Fame have all played at the Royal. All this has changed however with the opening of the The Nottingham Ice arena which is not only a great place to skate and home of the famous ice hockey team the Nottingham Panthers, it also doubles as a fantastic venue for concerts. Gemma went to see the Smash Hits tour there last year and saw some really great bands.
Nottingham is of course the home of two football teams. Nottingham Forest and Notts County. Both grounds are quite close together situated alongside the river Trent. Of course I couldn't mention that part of Nottingham without mentioning Trent Bridge Cricket ground where many a test match has been played and lost.


If you are looking for a place to stay Nottingham has loads of Bed and Breakfast places to choose from as well as two Holiday Inns in the city centre. If you are looking for somewhere a little more special then the Nottingham Moat House on Mansfield Road or the Royal Moat house on Wollaton Street really are the bees knees for comfort.


Transport in Nottingham is abundant. The bottle green City transport buses have routes that cover most of the city and the easily recognised City Taxi's can be hailed from anywhere in the city. They are expensive though.

Nottingham has just the one train station but many of the areas surrounding the city have their own station
s too so it is actually quite easy to get out an
d a
bout. P
arking is fairly priced but there are often queues in the city centre on a Saturday. Disabled parking is free as long as you are a badge holder and wheelchair hire and assistance can be accessed in the Victoria Centre car par which runs the mobility scheme.( If you ring ahead you can book a parking spot too)

We do have a one way system that operates in the city centre. It can be confusing. (It's nothing compared to Birmingham though!) Driving around the city centre will be more of a problem soon as Nottingham will be opening it's Tramway's in the very near future. These high tech transporters are going to cause chaos I can tell you and have been a bone of contention in this fair city since work started on them a good few years ago. Nottingham is infamous for its roadworks and the city centre is full of them at the moment. I would advise you tune your radio to TrentFM (96FM) as you enter the city, they have regular traffic bulletins and they also give out parking information too.


There you have it. Nottingham is a great place to visit. Business is booming and this is evident in the number of regeneration projects that are being set up all over the city. Nottingham has it's beauty spots too though. There is nothing nicer on a hot day than a stroll by the river Trent or a walk in the Grounds of Wollaton Hall. For the more adventurous of us The National Water sports Centre at Holme Pierpoint, with its white water rapids and raft building is a fun day out.
Nottingham racecourse hosts some of the best flat racing on the calender and those that haven't had enough after a flutter on the gee gees can go to the dogs at the stadium next door.

Nottingham is a great place to live and a great place to visit. Give us a try, I know you will like it here.

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