Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group. The city lies along the River Trent.
The city also has a Lord Mayor; though now simply a ceremonial position, in the past the office carried considerable authority, with executive powers over the finances and affairs of the city council.
Nottingham is famed for its links with the legend of Robin Hood and, during the Industrial Revolution, obtained worldwide recognition for its lace-making and bicycle industries. It was granted its city charter as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria in 1897 and has since been officially titled the City of Nottingham.
Map of Nottingham
History
In Anglo-Saxon times, around 600 AD the site formed part of the Kingdom of Mercia and was known in the Brythonic language as Tigguo Cobauc, meaning Place of Caves.
In the 11th century Nottingham Castle was constructed on a sandstone outcrop by the River Leen. The Anglo-Saxon settlement developed into the English Borough of Nottingham and housed a Town Hall and Law Courts.
By the 15th century, Nottingham had established itself as the centre of a thriving export trade in religious sculpture made from alabaster.
During the Industrial Revolution, much of Nottingham's prosperity was founded on the textile industry; in particular, Nottingham was an internationally important centre of lace manufacture.
Architecture
- Nottingham is home to a multitude of different architectural styles, with buildings dating from the 1100s.
- The geographical centre of Nottingham is usually defined as the Old Market Square, the largest city square in the UK.
- The western third of the city has most of the city's modern office complexes. Tall office buildings line Maid Marian Way.
- To the south, is Broadmarsh Shopping Centre. The Canal-side further south of this is adjacent to the Nottingham railway station and home to numerous redeveloped 19th Century industrial buildings reused, as bars and restaurants.
- The eastern third of the city centre contains the Victoria Shopping Centre, built in the 1970s on the site of the demolished Victoria Railway Station.
Economy
Nottingham is home to the headquarters of many well-known companies:
- Boots the Chemists (now Alliance Boots) founded in 1849
- Credit reference agency Experian
- The energy company E.ON UK
- The tobacco company John Player & Sons
- Amusement and gambling machine manufacturer Bell-Fruit-Games
- Engineering company Siemens
- Sportswear manufacturers Speedo
- Games and publishing company Games Workshop
- PC software developer Serif Europe
- The American credit card company Capital One
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 expansion of Jubilee Campus.
Creative Industries are a target growth sector for the city with graphic design, interiors and textile design being a particular focus. There is already a thriving design and new media industry in the city.
Nottingham City Council announced that other target sectors include Financial and Business Services, Science and Technology, Public Sector and Retail and Leisure as part of their economic development strategy for the city.
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.
Representatives of Nottingham City Council have created an economic recovery and renewal plan reimagine Nottingham as a green, creative inclusive and digitally enabled city, widely recognized as:
1. An internationally renowned City of culture, creativity & innovation
2. The UK’s first Carbon Neutral City
3. A City, which offers opportunities for everyone
Transport
East Midlands Airport is within 20 miles of Nottingham and is the 10th busiest airport in the UK in terms of passenger traffic.
Nottingham is also well connected by both road and rail.
The opening of Nottingham Express Transit in 2004 made Nottingham one of only six English cities to have a light rail system.
Nottingham has well-developed transport services of buses and trams.
In November 2010, Nottingham City Council won Transport Authority of the Year by the UK Bus Awards, for services for providing safer and sustainable public transport.
Education
Nottingham's educational system consists of state and independent schools, colleges and universities.
Nottingham is home to two universities: the University of Nottingham, and Nottingham Trent University, centered on Burton Street in the City. Over 70,000 full-time students attend them.
The University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1881. The University of Nottingham belongs to the elite research intensive Russell Group association.
Nottingham's main campus is located within the City of Nottingham, with a number of smaller campuses and sites elsewhere in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Outside the UK, the university has campuses in Semenyih, Malaysia and Ningbo, China. Nottingham University is organized into five constituent faculties, within which there are more than 50 schools, departments, institutes and research centres. Nottingham has about 45,500 students and 7,000 staff.
Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university in Nottingham, England. Its roots go back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham Government School of Design, which still exists within the university today. It is the 9th largest university in the UK (out of 169) with 33,255 students split over five different campuses.
Culture
Nottingham has two large-capacity theatres, the Nottingham Playhouse and the Theatre Royal and a smaller theatre space at the University of Nottingham's Lakeside Arts Centre. Also, within the University of Nottingham Campus grounds, The New Theatre, the only entirely student-run theatre in England.
There are also several art galleries which often receive national attention, particularly the Nottingham Castle Museum, the University of Nottingham's Djanogly Gallery and Wollaton Park's Yard Gallery. Both of the city's universities also put on a wide range of theatre, music and art events open to the public throughout the year.
The city has many multiplex cinemas, e.g. the Broadway Cinema, where Quentin Tarantino held the British premiere of Pulp Fiction there in 1994.
Sport
Nottingham is home to two high profile football clubs.
Nottingham Forest, who current play in the Football League Championship, were English league champions in 1978 and won the European Cup twice over the next two seasons.
Notts County, are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They were also among the Football League's founder members in 1888.
Ice Hockey is one of the biggest and most popular sports in Nottingham. The city is home to one of the biggest ice hockey teams in Britain, the Nottingham Panthers.
Notable sporting events that take place in the city include the annual tennis tournament and the Robin Hood Marathon.
Tourism
Nottingham receives around 300,000 overseas visitors each year. Many visitors are attracted by Nottingham's nightlife and shops, by its history, and by the legend of Robin Hood, visiting Sherwood Forest and Nottingham Castle. Popular history-based tourist attractions in central Nottingham include the Castle, City of Caves, Lace Market, The Galleries of Justice, and the City's ancient pubs.
Entertainment
The 2,500-capacity Nottingham Royal Concert Hall and 10,000-capacity Nottingham Arena attract the biggest names in popular music. For less mainstream acts and a more intimate atmosphere, Nottingham has a selection of smaller venues.
The large number of students within the city bolsters its night-time entertainment scene. There are several well established areas of the city centre focused on evening entertainment, such as Lace Market or Hockley.