My theme for the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is – Places I Have Been. After some contemplation I decided to limit it to Places I Have been in the UK, this is because I have been to far more places in the UK and have very limited experience of places outside of the UK. I hope you enjoy my post.

NOTTINGHAM

Nottingham is widely associated with Robin Hood, and Sherwood Forest. In the legend it is said that Robin Hood, set up his camp in Sherwood Forest and hide from the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. Unfortunately there is no actual evidence that Robin

As you can imagine there are nods to Robin Hood located around the City. If you make your way to Nottingham Castle there are statues of Robin and his Merry Men along the route. Robin is always easy to spot as he usually has his bow and arrow.

Nottingham Castle is a beautiful place to visit. The building is a Stuart Restoration-era ducal mansion built where the original castle once stood. The Norman Castle which was there originally was built in 1068 and throughout the medieval era, it was extended quite extensively, and was considered to be one of the royal residences. Edward the III resided there and it is believed that it was here he kept, King David the II of Scotland, prisoner here. In 1651, following the English Civil War the Castle was demolished.

After the Restoration in 1660, the 1st Duke of Newcastle began building the Mansion that is present on the site today. His son the 2nd Duke completed the building work after his fathers death. In the following years the Castle lost favour. During the Industrial Revolution, Nottingham was claimed to have the worst slums in the Empire outside of India. When the Duke at the time voted against the reform bill, the residents of these slums rioted and the Castle was set on fire in 1831. The Castle remained derelict until, 1875 when a local architect restored the building and it became the first municipal Art Gallery located outside of London in the UK.

Up until our visit it was still an Art Gallery and there were some interesting pieces on display. One of the exhibits I liked was the Wedgwood pottery that was on display. It was nice to see it in person. There were also some carvings that were also very interesting. Unfortunately, we have been unable to go back and visit due to the Castle being closed, but I have just looked on the website and it re-opens again in June 2023, so I might take a trip there again.

The Castle is located on what is known as Castle Rock. It has a fantastic view of the City and surrounding area, I can see why this spot was chosen. There are a number of tunnels in Castle Rock and we had a little tour while we were there. Then we left via a tunnel and ended up by the oldest pub in the UK, ‘Ye Old Trip to Jerusalem’. So, we had to go inside. There are various items on display in the building, but we also stopped and had some food and drink there. We sat in a room that was located in one of the caves and it was fun. Nice and cool on a hot day. The food we had there was also very nice and the service was excellent.

I feel as though I need to spend the day in Nottingham again. There were a lot of things that we never had chance to see. I would also love to go to Sherwood Forest and see Major Oak, the ancient Oak where legend has it, Robin and his Merry Men slept.

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Thank you for reading x