Nottingham

This article is about the English city. For others, see Nottingham (disambiguation).

City of Nottingham
Geography
Status:	Unitary, City (1897)
Region:	East Midlands
Ceremonial County:	Nottinghamshire
Area: - Total	Ranked 274th 74.61 km²
Admin. HQ:	Nottingham
Grid ref.:	Template:Mmukpc prim
ONS code:	00FY
Demographics
Population: - Total (2003 est.) - Density	Ranked 27th 273,863 3,671 / km² Nottingham Urban Area: 613,723 Metro Area: 750,000
Ethnicity:	84.9% White 6.5% S. Asian 4.3% Afro-Caribbean
Politics
Arms of Nottingham City Council Nottingham City Council http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:	Labour
MPs:	Graham Allen, John Heppell, Alan Simpson

Nottingham is a city and county town of Nottinghamshire, in the East Midlands of England. Nottingham lies on the River Trent, which flows from Stoke-on-Trent to the Humber.

The main suburbs within the City of Nottingham include St. Anns, Bakersfield, Bulwell, Clifton and Sneinton.

The City of Nottingham boundaries are tightly drawn and exclude several suburbs and towns that are usually considered part of Greater Nottingham, including Arnold, Carlton, West Bridgford, Beeston and Stapleford. Outlying towns and villages include Hucknall, Eastwood, Tollerton, Ruddington, Ilkeston and Long Eaton of which the last two are in Derbyshire. The geographical area of Greater Nottingham includes several local authorities: Gedling, Broxtowe, Rushcliffe, Ashfield, Erewash and Amber Valley.

The 2001 census recorded a population of 270,300 in Nottingham itself, with an additional 613,723 people living in the surrounding conurbation (Greater Nottingham). The nearby East Midlands City of Leicester has more people than the City of Nottingham, but its metropolitan area is not as big as Nottingham's.

Nottingham is famous for its involvement in lace-making, its association with the legendary outlaw Robin Hood, and the supposedly exceptional beauty of its young women. Perhaps not unrelatedly, Nottingham is also nationally famous for the high ratio of females to males, given at various times as between 3:1 to 6:1. In 2001, however, the official ratio was published as 1.015:1.

The heart of the city is the Old Market Square (the market moved in the 1920s), the largest such surviving in Europe. Most of the main shopping streets are around the square. The Council House, whose disproportionately tall dome can be seen for miles around, is at the top of the square. The bell inside the council house dome, named 'Little John', has the deepest tone of any bell in the country. The sound produced by the bell travels over 7 miles on a clear day, which leads to a claim that it is the country's loudest bell. This honour is actually held by London's Big Ben, which produces the loudest sound measured in decibels, but the noise travels much less far in London due to the landscape and the built-up nature of the surrounding districts. The Old Market Square is currently being redeveloped, and is due to be completed at the end of 2006.

A bohemian quarter of the city known as Hockley has arisen in recent years, situated close to the Lace Market area.

According to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Nottingham is one of the English regions eight core cities. Nottingham is the fastest growing city in England, and second fastest growing in the whole of the UK, behind only Glasgow.

Nottingham was named the "second worst place to live" in the UK by a recent programme on Channel 4. The show made claims about gun crime in the city, stating such things as that there is "one shooting a day". Comments such as this have earned Nottingham the title of "gun crime capital of the UK" in the media. The programme probably drew conclusions from statistics of the Queen's Med hospital; the UK's largest hospital, that also boasts a specialised gun wound clinic, so the figures will have been disproportionate of national averages. To put pay to this situation, Nottingham City Council recently employed extra staff, at a cost to local taxpayers of £300,000 per annum, in an attempt to ensure any future publicity about the city is more accurate and portrays the city in a more positive light.

History

Founded as a Saxon settlement, Nottingham was later captured by the Danes (Vikings) and in the 9th century became one of the five boroughs (fortified towns) of the Danelaw. From its earliest beginnings, parts of the settlement have included man-made caves, dug into soft sandstone. During this period the settlement went by various names including Tigguo Cobauc ("House of Caves") and Snottingaham (from the Anglo-Saxon for "Snot's people", Snot being a local chieftain). The populace is grateful that the S became lost in the course of history.

In the 11th century a castle was constructed on a sandstone outcrop by the River Trent and a town grew around the castle. The cave network was substantially expanded and became home to a large proportion of the poorer populace, particularly those involved in the tanning industry. The caves were gradually abandoned in the 18th and 19th centuries, but came into use again as air raid shelters during World War II. A section of the cave network under the Broadmarsh shopping centre is now open as a tourist attraction, and some parts are still used as pub cellars.

Another section of the caves, under the castle, is still in regular use as the indoor rifle range of Nottingham Rifle Club. Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem Inn, partly built into the cave system below the castle and named for its role as a major meeting point for those going on the Crusades in the Middle Ages, lays claim to being the oldest pub in Britain. However, this is due mainly to the spurious date of 1189 painted on the side of the Inn, and the building itself only dates from the 16th or 17th century; the caves themselves may date to the 11th century and could have been the site of the brewhouse for the castle. Two other Nottingham pubs—Ye Olde Salutation Inn and the Bell Inn—both lay claim to being the oldest in Nottingham. Dendrochronology dating evidence from roof timbers in the Salutation give a date for the building of c.1420 with similar dates for the Bell. The roots of the multiple claims can be traced to various subtleties of definition in terms such as "public house" and "inn".

The city became a county corporate in 1449, giving it effective self-government, in the words of the charter, "for eternity".

A tram passes the Council House in the Old Market Square

The legend of Robin Hood first arose in the Middle Ages. Robin Hood is said to have lived in Sherwood Forest, to the north of the city, with the Sheriff of Nottingham as his greatest enemy. While the legends are almost certainly untrue, particularly in their details, they have had a major impact on Nottingham, with Robin Hood imagery a popular choice for local businesses and many modern tourist attractions exploiting the legend.

The English Civil War began in Nottingham in 1642, when King Charles I raised his standard upon Nottingham Castle. The original castle was demolished by the victorious Parliamentarians in 1651. The castle mansion was built for the Duke of Newcastle on this site, but was gutted in 1831 during riots over the Reform Bill, the then occupant being a known opponent of extending the franchise. In 1878 it was reopened as the first council run art museum in the UK outside London.

A major industry in the 19th century was lace-making, with Nottingham lace becoming famous. While some lace-making still goes on in the city, it is no longer of much economic significance. Also in the 19th century, the Nottingham Park Estate was built on the castle's former deer park.

Famous people born in or near Nottingham include William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army, Jesse Boot founder of Boots the Chemists, mathematician George Green (of Green's Mill), authors Alan Sillitoe and D.H. Lawrence, the fashion designer Paul Smith, musicians the Stereo MCs, DJ Graeme Park, and the actors Richard Beckinsale and Su Pollard. The poet Lord Byron resided at Newstead Abbey and is buried at nearby Hucknall along with his mathematical daughter Ada Lovelace.

Government

Nottingham has since April 1, 1998 been a unitary authority, and not been governed by Nottinghamshire County Council. It was a district under Nottinghamshire between April 1 1974 and March 31 1998 - and before then was a county borough. Nottingham received a City Charter from Queen Victoria in 1897. As a result of a Royal Charter of 1449 the then Borough of Nottingham was made into a distinct County with total independence from the shire county of Nottinghamshire. This was recognised until 1974 by the fact that the City has its own Coroner and Lord Leiutenant. It was formerly the administrative centre of Nottinghamshire. The County Council's main offices were based in Shire Hall from 1889 to after the second world war. The present County Hall at West Bridgford is outside the city limits. Nottingham is the de facto capital city of the East Midlands region, and is the home to the Government Office for the East Midlands. Nottingham City Council elects 55 councillors representing 20 wards and is currently controlled by the Labour party. Elections to the council are held every four years the last election returned 38 Labour 9 Liberal Democrats 7 Conservative and 1 Independant.

It has been said by some of the population of Nottingham that the City Council has a phobia of Skyscrapers and that is why Nottingham still remains a low rise city, unlike most other regional capitals where tall buildings are starting to pop up.

Politics

Nottingham City is divided into three parliamentary constituencies— Nottingham North, East and South— Nottingham North has been represented by the Labour MP, Graham Allen, since 1987. The other two city constituencies have returned Labour MPs since 1992. The three principle suburban boroughs approximate to three parliamentary consituencies, namely Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe. Broxtowe and Gedling have returned Labour MPs since 1997. Rushcliffe has returned Ken Clarke (former Chancellor of the Exchequer) since 1970. Labour won Broxtowe and Gedling in the landslide of 1997 prior to which they were held by the Conservatives. The status quo was maintained in 2001 and 2005; however, all with reduced majorities and incresed votes for the Liberal Democrats.

Entertainment

Nottingham has a good reputation for a lively pub and club scene and it also boasts some great eating establishments. The large number of students in the city helps to bolster the nighttime entertainment. There are several well established areas of the city centre for entertainment such as Lace Market, Hockley, The Waterfront and The Corner House.

Industry

Nottingham is home to the headquarters of Boots the Chemists, founded in the city by John Boot in 1849 and substantially expanded by his son Jesse Boot (Lord Trent). Other large current employers include the credit reference agency Experian, the energy company Powergen, the tobacco company John Player & Sons and the American Credit card company Capital One, whose European offices are situated by the side of the Nottingham station. Until recently bicycle manufacturing was a major industry, the city being the birthplace of Raleigh Cycles in 1886 and later joined by Sturmey-Archer, the creator of 3-speed hub gears. However, Raleigh's factory on Triumph Road, famous as the location for the filming of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, was demolished in Summer 2003 to make way for the University of Nottingham's new Jubilee Campus. Other major industries in the city include engineering, textiles, knitwear and electronics.

Nottingham is progressively changing from an industrial city to one based largely in the service sector. Tourism—particularly from the United States and the Far East—is becoming an increasingly significant part of the local economy.

Media

The BBC has its East Midlands headquarters in Nottingham. BBC East Midlands Today is broadcast from the city every weeknight at 6:30. Central TV was broadcast from Nottingham on ITV until recently, but has now been moved to Birmingham. This decision was controversial and although a petition was set up to try to stop it, the TV studios where shut down in early 2005. Central News still keep a news bureau in the city, though.

Several radio stations broadcast in the city: BBC Radio Nottingham, 96 Trent FM and Heart 106 (formerly Century FM) are the main stations, along with Classic Gold GEM and student radio on AM. Heart 106 has its headquarters in the same business park as the BBC, while Trent FM's (and GEM-AM's) building is on the other side of the Nottingham City Centre near to Nottingham castle.

Student Radio is broadcast in the city permanently by URN (University Radio Nottingham). URN has won many awards for quality and which is broadcast on medium wave (AM) around the main campus (University Park) at 1350kHz and from Sutton Bonnigton campus on 1602kHz. It is also streamed over the internet at www.urn1350.net

Nottingham has one daily newspaper, Nottingham Evening Post. There are also a number of weekly/monthly publications available which focus on individual areas within the city, for instance the Hucknall and Bulwell Dispatch.

A community news project called Nottinghamshire Indymedia, which was set up in April 2005, works within a variety of groups to create community media and collaboration between communities throughout the county. The Notts Indymedia Videogroup makes community film and at the centre of the project is an online news site, which is run on the principles of open publishing.

Culture and sport

A view of the Nottingham skyline

Nottingham has two main theatres, the Nottingham Playhouse and the Theatre Royal (which also houses the Royal Concert Hall). There are also several art galleries which often receive national attention, particularly the castle museum and the Angel Row gallery (attached to the main library). Both of the city's universities also put on a wide range of plays, concerts, and other events throughout term time.

The annual Goose Fair is always popular. More generally, the city is regarded as having a good nightlife, with many clubs and bars in the centre of town that are popular amongst both the local and student communities with the style of nightclub varying from the large mainstream dance club The Works through to the small and retro Cookie Club and the most famous of which is probably Rock City.

The city is home to two football teams: Nottingham Forest (currently in the first division) who under their most famous manager, the late Brian Clough, won the European Cup twice in succession; and Notts County (who play in the second divison) and who are the oldest Football League team in the UK. having been founded in 1862 (a year before the establishment of the Football Association). The Trent Bridge cricket ground, home of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, is frequently a venue for international Test matches.

All three famous sports venues are within sight of each other, even though the River Trent separates Trent Bridge and Forest's stadium (known as the City Ground and next to the cricket ground) from Notts County's pitch. As a curiousity, the County Ground is actually in the City of Nottingham and the City Ground is in the County of Nottinghamshire, the river forming the boundary. Further more, Forest should not be confused with The Forest which is an (open) green space where Goose Fair (see above) is held.

New Buildings on the South Side of the Lace Market are.

Also in the city is the National Ice Centre, a large ice skating rink; the city's links to ice skating can be traced back to arguably its most famous children of recent times, Olympic ice dancing champions Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean who collected a unamious 6.0 score. The NIC is home to the Nottingham Panthers ice hockey club, one of the UK's top sides. The city also has a rugby club, and a large tennis centre, where the annual Samsung Open is held in the weeks immediately prior to Wimbledon and has been used as warm-up practise by Greg Rusedski.

The National Ice Centre doubles as Nottingham Arena. Mainstream and popular bands play in the arena on tour. There is also an award-winning rock music venue called Rock City and a smaller venue The Rescue Rooms where more alternative rock bands play.

The National Water Sports Centre is based at Holme Pierrepont, with a 2000m regatta lake for rowing, canoeing and sailing, and a white water slalom course fed from the river. A number of other sailing, rowing and canoeing clubs are also based along the River Trent.

Nottingham won the Britain in Bloom competition, in the Large City category, in 1997, 2001 and 2003. It also won the Entente Florale Gold Award in 1998.

Popular tourist attractions in Nottingham include Nottingham Castle, Caves of Nottingham the Galleries of Justice, and the Tales of Robin Hood on Maid Marian Way, as well as the City's ancient pubs. There are a number of parks and gardens around Nottingham that are popular among tourists and residents. These include Wollaton Park (over 500 acres) next to the University, with Sherwood Forest, Rufford Country Park, Creswell Crags and Clumber Park being much further away from the city itself.

Nottingham is known for its large teenage alternative (Emo, Punk, Goth etc.), the heart land of which being Old Market Square which is currently being redeveloped, to their dismay. Another major hotspot is Rock City.

Shopping

There are two main shopping centres in Nottingham: Victoria Centre and Broadmarsh shopping centre, with two smaller centres being the Exchange Arcade and the Flying Horse Walk (the latter once a famous hotel). The Bridlesmith Gate area has extensive designer shops, and is also the home of the original Paul Smith boutique. At least four major department stores also operate in Nottingham: House of Fraser, John Lewis, Debenhams, and Marks & Spencer. John Lewis was until recently called Jessops, even though owned by John Lewis since 1933. It changed its name in 2002 after a refurbishment. Experian's Town Futures Retail Report for 2005 rated Nottingham as the fourth best shopping area in the UK. Hockley Village caters to alternative tastes with shops like Ice Nine and Void, famous across the city. The Broadmarsh Shopping Centre is set to be redeveloped to a greater standard in the near future.

Education

File:Trent Building and Lake.JPG

The University of Nottingham and Highfields Park

Nottingham is home to two universities: the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University as well as over 35,000 full-time students. The University of Nottingham's teaching hospital, Queen's Medical Centre, is the largest hospital in the UK. Other notable educational institutions include the further education college New College Nottingham, Nottingham High School and Nottingham High School for Girls.

The Nottingham School of Fashion is a fashion school respected around the country and produced the designer Paul Smith.

Transport

Nottingham is close to the M1 motorway and is also well-served by train services from Nottingham station to London, Birmingham and the north. The nearby Nottingham East Midlands Airport, served by low-cost international airlines, makes the city easily accessible from other parts of the world providing daily services to many principal European destinations such as Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam, internal flights to Edinburgh and Belfast and limited services to trans-continental destinations such as Barbados, Sanford and Florida. Nearby Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield also provides domestic European and Trans-Atlantic services. Birmingham International airport is about one hour's drive away, providing flights to most principal European cities, New York, Boston Toronto, Dubai and the Indian Sub-Continent. Internally, the city has an extensive bus network. Nottingham City Transport run frequent services every few minutes within all parts of the city area, and, along with TrentBarton, run services out of the city to the surrounding picturesque countryside and towns such as Mansfield, Southwell, Loughborough and Long Eaton. A tram system known as Nottingham Express Transit has recently been installed, running from Hucknall in the north to the city's railway station. An additional spur to/from Phoenix Park serves as a Park and Ride Station close to the M1 motorway (Junction 26). Planned future lines will create a substantial tram network across the city and its western suburbs.

Unlike many British cities of similar size, Nottingham does not possess a large overground rail network; however, the re-opening of the Robin Hood line in the early 1990s has linked Nottingham with its close neighbours of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Sutton-in-Ashfield and Mansfield. Older lines still connect the city to Beeston, Burton Joyce, Netherfield and Carlton.

Nottingham is the only city in the UK outside of London where bus use is growing and unemployment falling. Much money has been invested in the city's bus network, and the two principal operators, NCT and TrentBarton, have some of the newest fleets in the country. These two operators are also frequent winners of the National Bus Operator of the Year award: NCT are the current holders.

Geography

Nottingham is located at 52°58′00″N 01°10′00″W (52.9667,-1.1667)¹.

Areas of Nottingham

• Arboretum
• Bulwell
• Basford
• Clifton
• Dunkirk
• Forest Fields
• Hockley
• Hyson Green
• Lace Market
• Lenton
• Lenton Abbey
• The Meadows
• The Park
• Radford
• Sherwood
• Sneinton
• St Anns
• Wollaton

Twin cities

• Ghent, Belgium
• Harare, Zimbabwe
• Karlsruhe, Germany
• Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Minsk, Belarus

See also

• Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change
• Xylophone Man (famous busker in Nottingham)

External links

• Student guide to Nottingham
• URN, Student Radio for Nottingham
• Nottingham Chat Forum
• this is nottingham
• globalnet.co.uk
• BBC Nottingham
• The Open Guide to Nottingham
• Nottingham Express Transit
• TrentBarton
• Nottingham City Transport
• Nottinghamshire Independent Media Centre
• Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem Inn
• The Park Estate
• Nottingham Trent University
• New College Nottingham
• Nottingham High School
• Nottingham Playhouse
• Nottingham Theatre Royal and Concert Hall
• Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
• History of Nottinghamshire
• The University of Nottingham
• Left Lion - Nottingham Culture
• Nottingham Web Resources - Nottingham directory and pictures
• Nottingham Inter Faith Council - linking local religious groups
• Weather For Nottingham