Friday, November 29, 2013

A short time in a favourite city

On Wednesday we drove over to Nottingham to visit friends for lunch and to spend time together catching up on what we'd all being doing since we last met earlier this year.  We managed for once to get up early so we had time to have a walk around the city centre looking at some of my favourite places.  Places we used to visit when I was a child and also places I used to go when I lived and worked in the city.

We wandered up Exchange Walk to the Old Market Square or Slab Square  where there was a continental style Christmas market. The clock on the Council House was chiming the hour of ten - it was a sound that brought back so many memories because I used to work not far away on Wheeler Gate and could hear it every hour of the working day. I had to take a photo of one of the lions as these are one of my earliest memories of being in Nottingham with my Mum, Aunt and cousins.  I still remember a dream I had as a child where one of the lions got up and chased me!  The trams weren't there then but I do remember being on a trolley bus with my cousins on our way to lunch at Woolworth - those were the days!


We walked up Smithy Row and into the Exchange which is now a rather high class shopping arcade it is always beautifully decorated at Christmas time


and into one of my favourite shopping streets Bridlesmith Gate.  There are some lovely shops along here but my favourite is The Tokenhouse and I can't ever pass by I just have to have a good look around.

 Just around the corner on Low Pavement is a new Jamie Oliver restaurant 

 and next door to that is the lovely Georgian building, known as Willougby House, formerly a solicitor's office but now the shop of local designer Paul Smith.


We then walked back down to Wheelergate  I noticed that the building I used to work in is now a Sainsbury's Local.  We turned into Friar Lane passing by a building that I'm convinced used to be a small department store called Toby's - I'm sure I remember going inside and seeing a huge selection of toby jugs.    We crossed Maid Marion Way and walked up to the castle entrance.

No time to go inside or into the Brewhouse Yard Museum which is just around the corner.  We wandered along the old walls of the castle.

The mid 14th century Severns building below used to house a shop and display about the history of Nottingham Lace.  It is closed now.  I wonder what will happen to the building?  It has been dismantled and moved once before in 1970 during the building of the Broad Marsh Shopping Centre.

 'Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem' below is a well known landmark and said to be one of the oldest inns in the country as the building dates from the late 12th century.  It is said to have been built in 1189 during the first year of the reign of Richard I, the Lionheart. 

Behind the 'trip' is the Museum of Nottinghamshire Life in Brewhouse Yard
It is years since I visited this Museum and would like to visit again soon.
You can just see the castle on its mound behind the museum building.


It was time to return to the car which we did by walking along Castle Boulevard passing the old Labour Exchange, now a christian life church, on the way.

I loved the reflection of the buildings on Castle Boulevard in the glass of the Evening Post building below.

30 comments:

  1. I have never been to Nottingham, so lovely to look around with you and find out a little more about the city. xx

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    1. Hello Amy, thanks for visiting my blog. I'm glad you enjoyed looking around a little bit of Nottingham with me:)

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  2. You weren't near us then. You'd have to go up past Trent Uni to find where I work! I sometimes make it down to the market square but I spend too much if I go into town!.

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    1. I'm thinking that is up behind the Theatre Royal or Royal Centre as it is now where Trent Poly used to be on or near Shakespeare Street? I too would find it tempting to go into the centre too often:)

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  3. I enjoyed this tour around Nottingham. Some beautiful places and shops to visit. I enjoyed walking around with you.
    Patricia x

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    1. Thanks, Patricia - there are some lovely shops in the city centre and some unusual ones on the outskirts too - glad you enjoyed walking with me:)

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  4. Thank you for the tour of Nottingham. I've enjoyed your photos. It's a place we visit to go to the theatre in an evening yet have not spent a day there! Something I plan to do in the new year as I know there's so much to see and do.

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    1. When we lived nearer we used to often go to the Playhouse but haven't been to either theatre for ages. Tjhere are lots of things to see and do in and around the city centre:)

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  5. What a delightful tour around Nottingham. I haven't been for quite a while something I think I should rectify soon. Although saying that, my home city of Leicester hasn't been visited for years either - I guess I'm just not really a city girl.

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    1. Although I was born in a city - Leicester - I was brought up in the countryside so can get overwhelmed in large cities but never Nottingham where I always feel at home:)

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  6. I spent a few days at Nottingham University a couple of decades ago whilst studying with the O.U. I never did get to explore the city which looks wonderful. I remember that on my taxi ride from the station to the campus I noticed that most of the buildings were red bricked and it seemed to stay in my mind. x

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    1. I didn't know you'd studied with the OU, Simone - I did too but my summer schools were at Bath and Keele:)

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    2. Hi Rosie, I did a foundation course in science and then 'the environment' and 'our chemical environment' . I was about to embark on organic and inorganic chemisty but fell pregnant. As I was in full time work at the time I was unable to give my studies their full attention. Unfortunately I had to drop out and I never returned :-(

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    3. Wow, Simone I'm full of admiration, I was always poor at anything to do with Chemistry or Physics at school - have you ever thought about contiuning now and finishing your degree? I know several people who have left studies with the OU for a while when life took over and then went back a few years later to finish what they started:)

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  7. I was at the Uni for a short and academically unsuccessful time, but I did enjoy exploring the city and its surroundings. Thanks for the nostalgia!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed visiting again, John - some things have changed so much others not at all since I lived there in the early 70s:)

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  8. A great post and somewhere I think I'd like to visit after reading this.

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    1. Nottingham is worth a visit but at the moment the roads on the Derby side of the city are very congested and there are many delays because of the laying of the tramway extension to Beeston:)

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  9. I hadn't realised Nottingham was so beautiful. Thanks for the trip .... I might need to put it on my list!

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    1. There are some wonderful places to visit, Kathy but, as I explained to Amanda (above) at the moment the traffic is a bit chaotic on the Derby side of the city due to the laying of tramways:)

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  10. I've only been to Nottingham once or twice and I've not explored it properly but it sounds so interesting from your post. I enjoyed reading this and seeing all the photos - definitely somewhere I should re-visit.

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    1. I've only shown you a little bit of the city - there are lots more areas to explore but I just went to the places I love and remember:)

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  11. I've never been to Nottingham- but your excellent virtual walking tour makes me feel like I should. Thanks for sharing:)

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the walk, Amanda, of course there is a lot more than the small area I showed you so plenty to see and do:)

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  12. I visited Nottingham a few times many years ago when I had friends at the University there. I remember the castle - and as students we made sure we visited 'Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem', of course. It was wonderful to see all the other places, too and to get a real sense of the city again in your lovely post. I hope that Severns building is put to good use - it looks a special piece of local history.

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    1. You will remember some of the asreas I was walking in especially around the 'Trip' - I do hope the Severns building will be put to good use and preserved as it is:)

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  13. I've not been to Nottingham for years. I'll stick it on my list for when the days get longer. I used to love a trip in the 1980's as it was the nearest Laura Ashley shop! xxxxx

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    1. I had a dress from Laura Ashley in Nottingham in the early 80s - the other shop we loved was Habitat gone now of course - at least there are still Laura Ahsley shops - haven't been in one for ages though:)

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  14. Susan and I are full of admiration for how you and Paul managed to pack so much iinto such a short, given you were with us just after eleven! Loved the pic of the tram leaving Old Market Square and going into Poultry.
    See you over the hols.
    Love to you both. xxx

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    1. We were there from about 9.45 so we had just over an hour to wander round that walk. Look forward to seeing you again soon:)

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