It was quite a drive to get there but it was great to have a day out mostly on my own in Nottingham. I have not had more than an hour on my own since the beginning of lockdown in March. I am not a people person. I like to have time to myself. My home has not been that for months and I have been overwhelmed.

We went to Nottingham because Alan had an appointment there. Because of all the COVID stuff, I couldn’t go to the appointment with him but I could go for a walk. The original plan was for me to have a walk in Sherwood Forest but the weather was threatening rain and it was VERY windy. Since the weather was icky I decided to have a walk around the city centre.

I haven’t written up a turn by turn walk because I just wandered. I had read that there was a castle to see so I walked to that. I saw that there was a river or canal so I made a point of walking down to that as well. I am very sure there were other things to see but I didn’t think I was going to have all that much time. Turned out I had three hours to myself.

Most of the time I just meandered around the centre. There are some beautiful buildings there and all the shopping one needs. One of the unusual things was that there was a big fun fair thing in the middle of town and it looked like it might be a permanent thing. There is lots of public transit including a tram line. I was there over two hours before I actually saw a tram (then saw three in minutes). There was the usual high street still shopping as well as a shopping centre. I also noticed Nottingham has quite a few bars and cafes often with outside seething.

The castle was about a half mile away from the shopping if that. There are a couple of old pubs around it. One of those pubs is apparently the oldest pub in England. The castle was closed though because of COVID so I can only give you a taste of the outside of it. I fond this castle a bit different from most. It is built on a sandstone rock that towers up from below. Also, you can walk around the full circumference of the castle. That oldest pub is actually built into the same castle rock the castle is on.

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The water I saw on a map was the Nottingham and Beeston Canal. It goes through at the bottom of town near the Court of Justice. There are three canal side pubs with lots of outside seating. I can imagine on a typical summer day with good weather that area would be packed.

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I can see why people would like Nottingham. It has a nice feel to it. I understand it is not the most well off area but it didn’t feel deprived at all. You could feel that the town has pride in itself. I can imagine that one day we will visit Nottingham again when e can visit the castle and caves properly and enjoy the pubs. I think it could make a nice little weekend city break.

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I hope you have enjoyed my pictures. I enjoyed having some time on my own. If you find yourself in Nottingham have a nice wander about yourself.