Nottingham
Nottingham began as a Saxon settlement occupied by the Danes until 920AD when the English captured it. In 1067 William the Conqueror built a castle and Sherwood Forest was preserved as a royal hunting ground - now associated with Robin Hood and his Merry Men. The main industry was wool and in the 13th century the hospital of St Thomas and two leper hostels were founded. In the late 1500's a group of local religious thinkers formulated new, nonconformist, ideas; they became the Pilgrim Fathers and sailed to New England in 1620 on the Mayflower. In the civil war Parliamentarian troops occupied the town, razing the castle in 1651 to prevent it falling into royalist hands. By the late 17th century silk, malting and glass making were booming.
The first theatre was built in 1760 and a general hospital in 1782. The population reach 28,000 in 1801 and Nottingham gained a police force in 1835 and a prison in 1846. The Chesterfield and Nottingham Canals opened in the late 18th century connected the River Trent with Langley Mill, and in 1839 a steam railway between Nottingham and Derby opened. By the 19th century the hosiery industry was flourishing and new industries began, including Players cigarettes in 1877 and Raleigh bicycles in 1887. Nottingham was made a city ten years later. By the late 20th century the main industries in Nottingham were textiles, tobacco, bicycles, pharmaceuticals and printing.
Today Nottingham’s award-winning Galleries of Justice and City of Caves offer a unique insight into the city’s past. Retail addicts are spoilt for choice as the city features all the big names you would expect, alongside individual boutiques and exclusive designers. Sporting facilities are second-to-none and include the nationally recognised Nottingham Racecourse, The National Watersports Centre, Nottingham Tennis Centre and National Ice Centre, as well as football at Forest & County or cricket at historic Trent Bridge.
All of this lies on the doorstep of some of Britain’s most stunning countryside – from the woodlands of Sherwood Forest and the magnificent country houses and parks of the Dukeries to the rolling hills of the Vale of Belvoir.