Nottingham

i mean its cool, but its just a bit, dunno, scary. i cant put my finger on it. ive been there loads of times and always get the same feeling. the social is quite a good venue though. and ive still never been to the bomb.
there are lots of good nights there - like stuff at moog, and the the new rhythm rooms. (not been to either though)

On the other hand, one of my friends recently turned a job there down because she saw Nottingham as a crime-infested hole. Now she works in Sheffield.

There's a new venue behind Rock City called The Rescue Rooms which is quite nice. Saw Gold Chains (bit shit) and the Delgados (brilliant) there.

Stevem, I think One Live goes to a different city every year, so i doubt it'll be back in Nottingham for a while.

Anyone else live there?

yeh thats what i thought but i was confused with Rock City (bleurgh) or something

As for Nottingham...I've only been there a couple of times, and then not properly, in order to get to and from my then-girlfriend's grandma's house in Mansfield Woodhouse. The area around the station is terrible but then areas round stations often are. When we were in the taxi from the station we noticed that it had a Hooters. There were lots of very run-down looking pubs. The layout of the main shopping area is rather odd...two largish shopping centres with bus stations next to them with a long pedestrianised street in between, which we had to run down in order to catch our connection back to Oxford, only to discover that due to storms (this was last October) no trains were running at all.

My mum used to live there and I went to the university for four years so I'll always have a soft spot for the place. Probably the best small city in the country - I never got that claustrophobia thing.

The town centre is a mess at the moment because they're putting in the tram system. Virtually the whole town is being dug up.

Selectadisc does indeed rule and it has a Fopp too. And the legendary Rob's Record Mart, home of thousands of records piled literally 6 feet high.

All my Grandmothers family are from Nottingham and so we've got loads of relatives there, some of them owned the factory that got turned into the huge pub near the station. They all live in West Bridgeford and out near the Edwalton though, so they don't tend to go near the dodgier places like St Marys(I think that's what it's called, dodgy place)

Search also Holme Pierrepont, Trent Bridge, all the Paul Smith shops.

however:
Home of Selectadisc, Britain's finest record shop. (I would say original home, but I think it first started as a market stall in Mansfield.)

Thankyou, I can never go in Selectadisc again.

I think it started out as a Northern Soul market stall, but we're talking early/mid 70s. It's not had a Mansfield connection for decades. Does that make it alright?

James, I've said why I support Liverpool (and Chesterfield too fwiw)many times, basically, when I was a very wee nipper they were the first team I saw on telly playing in red, then later my neighbour was a scouser who used to take me and his son to Anfield about 5 times a season.

I'm about the only person on this board who gets asked about supporting a team that's not their own local team, surely I'm not the only one?

Tag, explain yourself.

I find it even funnier when I come across city fans from outside Manchester (and believe me, I know plenty) given their holier-than-thou "only team in Manchester" attitude.

I can't talk - by distance alone I should have grown up supporting Stockport County.

But this has got nothing to do with Nottingham - sorry for the thread derail (me ducks).

Not many who support Forest though (do you see what I've done there?)

I was there last weekend, funnily enough..

Anyone know a cheap but decent hotel near university park?

Huh, can't believe I never posted to this thread. Yay Nottingham! Sadly I don't live there now or I would've offered you my old spare room.

I can't think off the top of my head about hotels but I'll have a look at what's out there and might be able to say 'avoid' or 'okay' to one of them.

Thanks!

I've never been there--should I just be looking to stay in Nottingham city centre, and cab it to the university (I'm going to give a paper at a conference, so I'll only be there for one day)? Or is there even like an urban area that would have hotels nearer the university?

Hmm, well, from looking at the map of where hotels are, there really isn't that much close enough to prevent you from having to get a bus or a cab.

So you'd either be looking at the city centre, down Derby Road on the way to the university, or Beeston, which is a small town on the other side of University Park. Beeston is fairly close, and there are two obvious looking things there:

http://www.hylandshotel.co.uk/
http://www.andrewshotelnottingham.com/

On the other hand, if you'd have to get transport anyway, perhaps I should be bigging up my mum's house - she lets some of the rooms to visiting university/theatre people. It's a really nice house, with a working pottery studio and my lovely cat, but you would definitely have to get a taxi to the university.

By the way, what's the paper on?

Aw thanks for the ideas. I'm thinking that maybe if I have to get a cab to the university anyway, maybe I should just stay in the city centre, close to the train station, so at least on that end (station to hotel, hotel to station), I don't need to worry about transport.

xpost Portnoy's Complaint and Annie Hall!

Yeah, there are lots of fairly standard hotels very close to the station. Nearest one is a Jury's Inn, I think, aside from one above a pretty rank pub which I'd be a bit wary of.

So if you were to spend but one evening in Nottingham city centre, where would you have dinner?

Depends on your budget...

Restaurants: Iberico World Tapas (dressy), French Living (less dressy).

Pub with good food: Kean's Head, or maybe the Cock And Hoop (both in the Lace Market). Or The Dragon (just off the market square) if you're on a tight budget.

Best Indian: Laguna on Mount Street, or Desi Downtown at the bottom of Hockley if you want to eat cheaper.

This is gonna be a film thread soon btw :-/

e.mily has left Nottingham? Damn does this mean she won't be coming to my photoshow this year? Us east midlanders are few and far between...

xpost: Nope, they've renamed it "Robin Hood": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0955308/

So am I the only ILX-er currently living in Nottingham?

thanks Mike!

I think there's two of us in Leicester. Anyone from Derby care to stand up and be counted?

e.mily has left Nottingham? Damn does this mean she won't be coming to my photoshow this year? Us east midlanders are few and far between...

― Ned Trifle II, Wednesday, 15 April 2009 15:33 (1 hour ago)

When is it? I'm always up for complimentary wines. Even if it is a 150 mile train ride..

Yeah, I'm in Brighton now. Really miss Nottingham, though. Let me know when your photoshow is anyway, as I try to get back up once a month for band practice. Is it in Notts this time or another one in Leicester?

I never eat out very often and when I do I tend to stick to continental European or pub grub as I am boring, but you could try the Broadway cinema bar for food if you don't want to spend too much, and then hop in and watch a film? The food has always been pretty good there. It's in Hockley, on Broad Street.

http://www.broadway.org.uk/Social/social.php

I must beg to differ re. the food in Broadway, Emily: much as I love the place in every other respect, it's typical half-assed arts centre slop. And if you want their "Broadway Bites" meal deal, you have to allow a good 90 minutes before the start of your film... and that's for ONE course! And it's only some bloody microwaved lasagne anyway!

However, there's a new-ish place opposite Broadway which is cheap and cheerful and efficient and popular - although the name escapes me - and there's also Shaws on the corner, which is basically OK. (But Broad Street hasn't been the same since they shut the tranny bar... ah, them were the days...)

Well, I did pretty much say that I have plain tastes, so it's always been good enough for me. Agree about the time thing, though. If you hit it at rush hour then it takes an age. Is the place you're thinking of that's opposite Edin's? Not been there to eat, but they started doing some gigs in the basement that I went to before leaving town.

Um, bad sentence structure: does 'new-ish place' (that is opposite the Broadway + that you were trying to think of) = Edin's?

Maybe Jamcafe? It's round the corner from the Broadway and I had a nice breakfast in there recently.

ahhhh broadway, still there I see

the smallest cinema still just across the road?

Yep!

http://www.screenroom.co.uk/

Broadway is soooooooo slow for food. It's almost funny. Except when your film is about to start. But it's still a good cinema esp. the little screens downstairs with the Paul Smith chairs.

Our next photo show is in Leicester again but I'm not too proud to use a Nottingham thread for shamless self promotion.
http://www.photocopied.co.uk/

Yes, Edin's! That's the place! And the Paul Smith screening room downstairs at Broadway is a good spot, I agree...

Isn't Edin's very fancy though? The basement gigs we saw there were quite shouty and there was a winetasting thing going on upstairs for one, and some kind of coffee and cheese night at the other I think..

Is Nottingham worth a visit, then?

Passing nearby and tempted to nip into the Danish Furniture Store. Recommendations for elsewhere to visit and/or food?

Then where next between Nottingham and (our eventual destination) Leeds?

What kind of thing are you looking to do/eat? Nottingham's a big place and not knowing what you're after makes recommendations a bit haphazard.

Personally I'd skip the castle (it's just a big house) but take in Nottingham Contemporary art gallery. Then you're near Hockley which is a good hub for a variety of things. Although the Trip to Jerusalem is a great pub for tourists (and it's a pretty nice pub in general) and that's right near the castle, so maybe you do want to see the big house?

I'm not a foodie but a friend of the family runs The Larder and it is 100% excellent food. It's not overly pricey for a fancy restaurant but it is restaurant prices rather than pub food prices. I haven't lived in Nottingham for almost a decade now so can't really give any more tips there.

Between Nottingham and Leeds there's only really Sheffield, unless you want to take a slight detour and stop off in the Peak District?

Food: vegetarian. Cheap 'n' cheerful. Not an epic meal.

Do: well, the places we've thought of going are the Peaks (not sure which bit), Saltaire and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Light-weight walks rather than hikes, probably.

Oh damn, there are definitely some good veggie places but I can't think. The Alley Cafe is still around which has always specialised in vegetarian/vegan food, and is not too expensive, but I can't vouch for quality as I've not been there in years (also am not a vegetarian so usually wanted to go somewhere else for a bacon sandwich).

Yorkshire Sculpture Park is a pretty good shout for a stop-off! The peaks are very lovely, though.

Thanks emil.y.

The sofa I am sitting on right now came from the Danish Home Store.

I no longer live in Nottingham, but have visited twice in the last week, after a 16 month gap. There is now a good record shop in Cobden Chambers, down an alleyway by the Bodega on Pelham Street, and excellent periodical emporium next door. Edins (see upthread) now has a second branch on Carlton Street, which did a great breakfast this morning. There's a good craft beer place down another alleyway, which connects Bridlesmith Gate and Fletcher Gate. Other alleyways host a fine book store, Five Leaves, and the second hand junkstore palace that is Rob's Records. Another record store - Plates on St James St, beneath the characterful Malt Cross - leans more towards dance music. Rough Trade is on the same street as the glorious Broadway Cinema; a street below that, there's Jamcafe, which has live music and DJs. I hope the Chameleon is still going, a uniquely amazing little gig venue. The city has long punched above its weight for live music in general. Le Chien Et Moi on Derby Road stocks Interesting and Different Things. Lakeside does consistently good exhibitions.

...and I was told that the National Videogame Arcade is vast and amazing, with many Machines of Yesteryear. If that's your thing. (It's not mine.)