If you ask a railway booking clerk in the north east for a ticket to Nottingham, he or she is likely to take a moment’s thinking time before evaluating the options. Even an electronic ticket machine is likely to stop for an extra second or two. That’s because Nottingham is one of the few large cities without a direct service from the north east, and there at least four sensible ways to get there, all with their own fares and schedules.
I most recently travelled by East Coast (LNER as we shall learn to call it since the demise of Virgin Trains East coast) outward via Newark North Gate and return via Grantham, but you can go with Cross Country trains from the north east changing at Sheffield, derby or even Chesterfield. On the way, via Newark, the little connecting train trundled out of the station and turned right on to the line to Lincoln, stopped, and reversed back over the unusual flatbed crossing (like a crossroads for trains) across the East Coast Main Line to go semi-fast to Nottingham. There was a big fire, believed to be arson, at Nottingham’s imposing station in January, but it is now only affecting a small part of the station at platform 7. Apart from the burned down bit, it is a grand station, rebuilt in 1904 at a cost then of £ 1 million, more like £100m today.
If a public transport professional died and went to heaven, he might wish to end up in a celestial Nottingham. Public transport is amongst the best in the country with two excellent and award-winning bus operators, Nottingham City Transport and Trent Barton, and the NET (Nottingham Express Transit) trams now running through the City with a new extension to the south. I stayed at the Premier Inn on Goldsmith Street and was delighted to find there was a cross-city centre fare between the railway station and the tram stop outside my hotel for only £1.
Despite all these excellent buses and trams, I enjoy exploring the city on foot, interspersed with excellent ales in the City’s many pubs. The oldest, pictured, is Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, in the shadow of the Castle which you can also visit, which has a range of real ales and little nooks and crannies to drink in. That claims to be the oldest inn in England, dating from 1189. But if you cross the city to the Market Place, the Bell Inn claims to be the oldest pub in Nottingham, dating from 1437. They cannot both be right, and to confuse the situation further, the Salutation dates from 1240. The Salutation is named after the meeting of the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary – which certainly did not happen in Nottingham – and has a fascinating cave underneath the pub which I persuaded the landlord to show me a few years ago. Ye Olde Trip and the Bell are both owned by Greene King, so you would think they could sort the matter out!
Apart from many excellent pubs, try the museums. The Museum of Nottingham Life is currently closed for refurbishment, but the National Justice Museum on High Pavement is in a building on the east side of the City Centre which has been a court since 1375 and a prison since 1449. They even provide educational services to the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Ice Centre, Theatre Royal, and Park Tunnel (built too steep for horse-drawn carriages at 1:12 which defeated the object of its construction) and many more – take your choice.
www.visit-nottinghamshire.co.uk
