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Published: March 4th 2021
The buzz of the crowd was missing yet again, as I wandered across Trent Bridge. Nottingham Forest were at home with no spectators. They didn't miss anything much mind. The Bournemouth boys arrived from the South Coast with a plan.
We are still in lockdown mode, so extended exercise walks are the only travelling possible. After a rather dull and cloudy morning, the sun and blue skies were making an appearance by lunchtime. The England cricketers had been enjoying some sunshine in Chennai on the TV before I ventured out, but then the sun always shines on TV. Alas they hadn't enjoyed much else about their day, as the wickets tumbled to the spinners.
We walked up London Road towards the city centre. The Other Half had made a purchase from a central shop, that she needed to collect. The main Midland Railway Station was away to our left, but on our right was the London Road Railway Station. It once housed the operation of the Great Northern Railway and their route to London Kings Cross via Grantham. They even had the cheek to declare a faster route time than the rival service to London St Pancras. The building
opened in 1857, but finally ceased operations in 1967 when Grantham service was diverted to the Midland. The main entrance still looks every bit a railway station, but is now the hub of the Virgin Active health club. A sign on the railings above the adjacent canal advertised the Island Quarter. In truth, it is more of a concept than a reality. A nucleus of buildings has been in place nearly 20 years, but the rest of the land remains effectively waste ground. The BBC, Premier Inn, a NHS Walk In Centre and a Government building form the entrance gateway, but under normal circumstances the land before us is just a rough car park for big events at the nearby Arena. A COVID testing centre recently in situ, has now been dismantled and moved on. Is it a sign of better things on the horizon? The buildings on the far side go under the title of Bio-City and are a sort of research centre of excellence. It is also a National Chemical Landmark, no less. A blue plaque on the wall by the main entrance says as much. It is all very dramatic, but this is where the research was
undertaken for Ibuprofen. The next time you reach for your anti-inflammatory, remember where it was developed. The building was originally part of the Boots empire and known as E3 Building - the home of the biological and medical sciences research. Boots are synonymous with the Beeston area of the city, but had other premises in this area. A plaque on Station Street opposite the side of the Midland Railway Station Mark's those killed, when the building took a direct hit from enemy bombers on 9 May 1941.
The Nottingham Arena is a just a stone's throw round the corner. The current sponsor, Motorpoint, has a logo emblazoned on the exterior. Whatever the sponsor, the official title of the building is the National Ice Centre. It was constructed between 1998 and 2000 and is perhaps a fitting legacy to the Nottingham skating duo, Torvill and Dean. The building replaced the old Nottingham Ice Stadium, which had probably seen better days. The new complex now has a 10,000 capacity and a separate practice ice rink. If the rink space is used, the capacity is even higher. It stands ironically on Bolero Square, in homage to the gold medal night performance in
Sarajevo all those years ago. The current pandemic has seen all fall quiet in the last year. There have no big concerts or home games of the other main user, Nottingham Panthers ice hockey team. The ice hockey season was abandoned a couple of weeks ago without a puck being fired in anger. The likelihood of any major concerts being able to go ahead in the next few months looks zero, so Liittle Mix can rest easy knowing that their attendance record will remain intact for some time to come. In case anyone is inquisitive, 15, 685 is the record crowd they crammed in for them.
We headed into the Lace Market. The centre of the lace industry for the whole British Empire was housed in these adjoining streets. It was once famous for a distortion in the population demographic of they city - the lace employees were predominantly women. The workforce diminished from a peak of 25,000 in the 1890s and now the area is largely executive apartments. The red brick Victorian warehouses are now sub-divided into multiple residences. St Mary's Church towers over the area - the tower is 126 feet high. The Church gets a mention
as far back as the Domesday Book and is one of only five Grade 1 listed buildings in the city. The nearby former Church, High Pavement Chapel, has found a modern day use and is now a Pitcher & Piano pub. It apparently gets a mention in the Sons and Lovers book by D H Lawrence. The commanding looking building in between the two churches is the National Justice Museum - once the Shire Hall and centre of justice in the area and home to executions up to 1877.
There were few folk around, as we made our way through Hockley towards the edge of the Victoria Centre. This was only our second visit to the city centre since last March. The lockdown was having a permanent effect on the landscape, as more and more To Let signs were evident. Hockley is very much an entertainment area these days and with no bars or restaurants open, it was disproportionately quiet. The mural on the end wall of the Broadway Cinema glistened in the sun. I snapped the frontage of the former offices of Watson Fothergill, who was behind the architecture of many of the prominent old buildings in the
city and wondered whether all their creations would still be looking quite so good in 2022. Watson Fothergill sounds like a partnership, but was in fact one man. He did well. The value of his estate on his death in 1912 mounted to over £4 million in todays value. The Express Building on Parliament Street often goes unnoticed. The gothic exterior is somewhat lost in the current ground floor usage - a Tesco Express. The upstairs is now a student accommodation residence, but it was home to Nottingham's radical, liberal newspaper "The Daily Express" up to 1918. The building was subsequently occupied by the successor newspaper, the Express & Journal. Today, the focus is very much on students. The 9 minute walk to Nottingham Trent University gets a mention in the advertising for the building, but nobody mentions the ornate tiles of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the entrance porch. Graham Greene was a sub-editor in 1925, before departing to The Times in London. A plaque inside the porch records his thoughts on the quirky old building. J M Barrie - author of Peter Pan - was also a journalist, who worked in this building and the sister building
on Pelham Street. An inscription plaque at first floor level confirms the point on the Pelham Street premises.
The flag was fluttering in the breeze on the top of the Theatre Royal, but little else moved. As with Hockley, the entertainment sector is totally closed. Similarly, nothing was stirring at the Royal Concert Hall directly behind the theatre. Parliament Street was dead. The intersection by the main Victoria Centre entrance is possibly the city centre area with the highest footfall. There is no shopping centre experience at the moment of course, so very little reason for people to be out and about. Whilst there were few folk around, we bump into my old friend Brian. He stands, in his typical celebratory pose, at the Speakers Corner at the bottom of King and Queen Street. This is a different statue of the Man from Middlesbrough to that in Albert Park - where boots slung over his shoulders, he was on his way to make his mark on the world. In this 2008 statue, he had brought the Cup with the Big Ears back to Nottingham. We had a good chat once in Morrisons, as he signed a book for my
Dad. Brian recognised the accent and much to the annoyance of those in the queue behind, was keen to discuss his recent trip to Marske and the NEPSR to visit his wife's relations. The statue looks towards the Council House, where the crowds thronged in Market Square in 1979 to rejoice after the victory over Malmo. The Man in the Middle was not among them - he was still on a train with the hardcore on the way back from the Olympic Stadium, Munich! He was becoming overly familiar with German trains, having had his dummy run for the Final with a trip to Cologne in the Semi. I always think the building behind the statue is one of the finest in Nottingham. The old Prudential Building is not a Watson Fothergill creation and is the work of architect, Alfred Waterhouse. The 1893 building is possibly best remembered recently as the former home of the Nottingham Hard Rock Cafe.
Old Market Square was partially under reconstruction - again. The Square - often called Slab Slab Square - has been the centre of Nottingham life since the 11th Century. The annual Goose Fair was held here and only moved out
in 1928. The Council House dominates one end of the Square. The 200 foot dome can be seen from various parts of the city centre and the exterior of the building is crafted from the same Portland stone used by Christopher Wren in St Paul's Cathedral. The foot of the Council House is guarded by two huge stone lions. They are technically called Agamemnon and Menelaus from Greek mythology. The "Left Lion" is possibly regarded as the most popular meeting place when "in town". We walk a circuit of the Council House. The upper side is called Long Row. Primark's now stands in place of the old Black Boy Hotel. The top end of the Council House leads on to Pelham Street and back up towards Hockley. At the corner of Thurland Street stands another fine example of Watson Fothergill - the old Headquarters of the Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Bank from 1881.
A circumnavigation of Nottingham is not complete without mention of Robin Hood. There is a statue of the little guy and his bow and arrows on the forecourt by the Castle. Similarly, his band of merry men get a statue too. We crossed Maid Marian Way to
take a few photographs. Robin Hood - the legendary heroic Outlaw, who stole from the rich to give to the poor - has his bow pulled back and is aiming at the Castle entrance, headquarters of his arch rival the Sheriff of Nottingham. The Castle website describes it as a castle of curious rebels". The entrance is very much as you would expect a Castle to look like, but the interior is dominated by the Ducal Mansion house. The military functions of the Castle became obsolete after the end of the English Civil War and the 2nd Duke of Newcastle built his mansion in the grounds. The Castle Rock gives the location a commanding view over the surrounding countryside and the approach from the River Trent. The COVID crisis has seen many attractions closed over the last year, but the Castle has been closed since the summer of 2018 for a major makeover and is not now due to reopen until autumn 2021. One side, the Castle overlooks the swanky residential area called The Park. On the lower southern side sits Ye Old Trip To Jerusalem. The pub claims to be the oldest in England and quotes 1189, as when
it opened. The only snag with the claim is that a number of other pubs also claim the "oldest" title. The situation is a bit confused by two others within walking distance have similar boasts to be the oldest pubs in the city. The claim of the Bell Inn on Market Square and the Old Salutation on Maid Marian Way throw the story of the Trip being the oldest pub in the country into disrepute. Whatever the truth, the place is worth a visit - if only to see the maze of the interior rooms carved out of the soft sandstone underneath the Castle Rock.
One of the big controversies in the city in recent times has been the future of the Broadmarsh Centre. The shopping centre and bus station at the lower end of town is the gateway from the Railway Station and was added to replace the old slums. The streets such as Drury Hill were effectively incorporated into the concrete structure, linking the end of Bridlesmith Gate and the approach to Canal Street. It opened in 1975, but seems to have been at the centre of a conversation to replace it for at least the last
20 years. Today, it is a derelict wreck - mess of tangled concrete smashed by the demolition ball. The plan for a new shopping complex is a distant memory - sunk with the collapse of the Intu shopping centre company. The ideas now include a green space in the heart of the city, although what happens next is anybody's guess. Whilst the scene gives little hope for any immediate turnaround, the new bus station and leisure building just beyond is an example of what can be done to improve the city vista. The building will host the new library, car parking and the bus station. It glowed attractively in the sunshine, behind a layer of orange cladding. The burnt orange theme blends nicely into the old red stone of Carrington Street and the Midland Railway Station. Another new addition in the immediate vicinity is the new Nottingham College building next door. The Railway Station has a new neighbour too - the latest HMRC office block is nearing completion. In a new socially distanced workplace post COVID, will it ever be totally occupied to capacity. We made our way back down London Road towards home. Forest were still playing against Bournemouth,
New Broadmarsh Centre, Nottingham
...with the dome of the Council House in the distance but Woody's masterplan was still holding firm A 0-0 draw helped him secure a managerial contract to the end of the season. He perhaps fancies swapping Teesside for Sandbanks on a permanent basis.
Postcript TFB has announced his roadmap out of lockdown, since I started writing this blog. The vaccine programme is on track and grounds for optimism. We now know it will April before non-essential shops can open, still 6 weeks to go before a haircut and the earliest we might get back in a football ground will be late May. June 21 was quoted as the possible day for the easing of all restrictions. It remains to be seen whether there will be any bumps in the road along the way.
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