Nottingham
- This article is about the English city. For others, see Nottingham (disambiguation).
{| border=1 cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="right" width=300\n|-\n!colspan=2 align=center bgcolor="#ff9999"|City of Nottingham\n|-\n|colspan=2 align=center|
\n|-\n!colspan=2 bgcolor="#ff9999"|Geography\n|-\n|width="45%"|Status:||Unitary, City (1897)\n|-\n|
Region:||
East Midlands\n|-\n|Ceremonial County:||
Nottinghamshire\n|-\n|
Area:
- Total||
Ranked 274th74.61 km²\n|-\n|Admin. HQ:||Nottingham\n|-\n|
ONS code:||00FY\n|-\n!colspan=2 bgcolor="#ff9999"|Demographics\n|-\n|
Population:
- Total (
2002 est.)
-
Density||
Ranked 28th270,005
3,619 / km²\n|-\n|Ethnicity:||84.9% White
6.5% S.Asian
4.3% Afro-Carib.\n|-\n!colspan=2 bgcolor="#ff9999"|Politics\n|-\n|colspan=2 align=center|
Nottingham City Council
http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk\n|-\n|Leadership:||Leader & Cabinet\n|-\n|Executive:||
Labour\n|-\n|
MPs:||
Graham Allen,
John Heppell,
Alan Simpson\n|}
\n
Nottingham is a city located in the
East Midlands of
England. Nottingham lies on the
River Trent, which\nflows from
Stoke-on-Trent to the
Humber - the only English river to flow North. Nottingham's boundaries are tightly drawn and exclude the suburbs of
Hucknall,
Arnold,
Carlton,
West Bridgford, Ruddington,
Beeston,
Long Eaton, Stapleford, and
Ilkeston - some of which are actually in
Derbyshire.
The
2001 census recorded a population of 284,300 in Nottingham itself, with around 750,000 people living\nin the surrounding
conurbation. Nottingham was the traditional
county town of
Nottinghamshire but since
April 1,
1998\nhas been a
unitary authority.
Nottingham is famous for its involvement in
lace-making, the supposedly exceptional beauty of its young women, and its\nassociation with the legendary outlaw
Robin Hood.
Nottingham is also nationally famous for the high ratio of females to males - given at various times between 3:1 to 6:1. In 2001, however, the ratio was an unremarkable 1.015:1.
History
Founded as a Saxon settlement, Nottingham was later captured by the Danes (Vikings) and in the 9th century\nbecame one of the five boroughs (fortified towns) of Danelaw. From its earliest beginnings, parts of the settlement\nhave included man-made caves, dug into soft sandstone. During this period, the settlement went by names\nincluding Tigguo Cobauc ("House of Caves") and Snottingaham (from the Anglo-Saxon Chieftan Snot's people (inga) of the riverside/hillside (a) village (ham) ). The\npopulace are grateful that the S became lost in the course of history.
In the 11th century a castle was constructed on a sandstone outcrop by the River Trent and a town grew around the\ncastle. (see Nottingham Castle) The cave network, substantially expanded,\nbecame home to a large proportion of the poorer populace -- particularly those involved in the tanning industry.\nThe caves were gradually abandoned in the 18th and 19th centuries, but came into use again\nas air raid shelters in World War II. A section of the cave network under the Broadmarsh shopping centre is now open as a tourist\nattraction, and some parts are still used as pub cellars.
A section of the caves under the castle is still in regular use as an indoor rifle range (Nottingham Rifle Club).
Ye Olde Trip to Jeruslaem Inn, partly built into\nthe cave system below the castle and a major meeting point for those going on the Crusades in the Middle Ages (hence its\nname), lays claim to being the oldest pub in Britain. However, since two other Nottingham pubs -- Ye Olde Salutation Inn\nand the Bell Inn -- both call themselves the oldest in Nottingham they must \nbe considered contenders for the title of oldest in Britain as well. The roots of the multiple claims lies can be traced to various\nsubtleties of definition in terms such as "public house", "inn" and so on.
It was in the Middle Ages that the legend of Robin Hood first arose. Robin Hood is said to have lived in\nSherwood Forest, to the north of the city, and the Sheriff of Nottingham to have been his greatest enemy. While the\nlegends are almost certainly untrue, particularly in their details, they have had a major impact on Nottingham, with Robin\nHood imagery a popular choice for local businesses and many modern tourist attractions exploiting the legend.
The English Civil War began in Nottingham in 1642, when King Charles I raised his\nstandard upon Nottingham castle. The original Nottingham castle was demolished by the victorious Parliamentarians in\n1651. The castle mansion was built on this site, but was gutted in 1831 during riots over the\nReform Bill, the current\noccupant being a known opponent of extending the franchise. In 1878 it was reopened as an art museum.
A major industry in the 19th century was lace-making, with Nottingham becoming famous for its lace.\nWhile some lace-making still goes on in the city, it is no longer of much economic significance. Also in the 19th century,\nthe luxurious Nottingham Park Estate was built, on the castle's former deer park.
Famous people born in or near Nottingham include William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army,\nthe author D.H. Lawrence and the fashion designer Paul Smith. The poet Lord Byron resided, and is buried, at nearby Newstead Abbey.
Industry
Nottingham is the home of the headquarters of Boots the Chemists, founded in the city\nby John Boot in 1849 and expanded substantially by his son Jesse.\nOther large current employers include the credit reference agency Experian, the energy\ncompany Powergen and the tobacco company John Player. A\nmajor industry until recently was bicycle making, the city being the birthplace of Raleigh Cycles in 1886.\nHowever, the company's factory on Triumph Road,\nfamous as the location for the filming of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, was demolished in summer 2003.\nOther major industries in the city include engineering, textiles, knitwear and electronics.
Education
Nottingham houses two universities: the University of Nottingham and\nNottingham Trent University. The University of Nottingham's teaching hospital, Queen's Medical Centre, is the\nlargest hospital in the UK. Other notable educational institutions include the further education college\nNew College Nottingham and Nottingham High School.
Culture and Sport
Nottingham has two main theatres -- the Nottingham Playhouse and the Theatre Royal (which also houses the Royal Concert\nHall). There are also several art galleries which often receive national attention -- particularly noteworthy are the\ncastle museum and the Angel Row gallery (attached to the main library). Both of the city's universities also put on a wide\nrange of plays, concerts, and other events throughout term time.
The annual Goose Fair is extremely popular. More generally, the city is regarded as\nhaving a good night-life, with many clubs and bars in the centre of town that are popular amongst both the local and student communities.
The city is home to two association football teams, First Division Nottingham Forest, who under their most famous manager Brian Clough won the European Championship twice,\nand Second Division Notts County. The Trent Bridge cricket ground, home of\nNottinghamshire Country Cricket Club, is frequently a venue for international Test matches.
Also in the city is the UK's National Ice Centre, a large ice skating rink; the city's links to ice skating can be\ntraced back to argaubly its most famous children of recent times, Olympic ice dancing champions\nJayne Torvill and Christopher Dean. The city also has a rugby club, and a large tennis centre, where the annual\nSamsung Open is held in the weeks immediately prior to Wimbledon.
Nottingham has won the Britain in Bloom competition, in the Large City category, in 1997, 2001 and 2003. It also won the Entente Florale Gold Award in 1998.
Transport
Nottingham is close to the M1 motorway and also served by train services to London, Birmingham, the north and\nall other parts of the UK. It is a short distance from Nottingham East Midlands Airport,\nmaking the city easily accessible from all parts of the world. Internally, the city is well-served by buses and a\ntram system known as Nottingham Express Transit has recently been installed, running from Hucknall in the north\nto the railway station. Planned future lines will create a substantial tram network across the city and its suburbs.
Geography
Nottingham is located at 52°58'00" North, 01°10'00" West (52.9667,\n-1.1667)1.
External Links
\n\n\n\n\nCategory:Nottinghamshire