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Nottingham Castle is now closed for around two years to allow for a £30m makeover.  Its always been a bit underwhelming, so any change is probably for the better.  One feature which can’t be improved is the views from the top, so these won’t be possible again for a while.

 

People who haven't been in Nottingham for a while can play Spot the Landmark.

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The high ground in the background is Colwick Woods.

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Towards West Bridgford, with various floodlights, and the green roof of County Hall on the right.

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QMC in the centre distance.

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Looking at the first picture it strikes me that modern architechts must lack imagination if all they can produce is a box shaped building.

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What made me look twice at those two pictures is that on the first picture you can see the Council House. On the second picture it appears to have been demolished!  :)

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American tourists seem to enjoy it.

When I was at People's College there were groups of students (including me, sometimes) who would bunk off afternoon lectures and hang around the castle entrance soliciting Americans to show them around the area.

 

There was no charge for us doing this but we always ended up with cash - usually dollars - as a tip.

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There's nothing wrong with the castle as a museum , the grounds are very good too & the view over the meadows is splendid.
But castle? so OK that's what it's always been called but I think it's not a good title for it  :P .

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I have many happy memories of visiting the castle. As a child I went with my parents and we had a grand day out. Dad and I went down Mortimer's hole before the days of health and safety legislation. Part of the tour involved us going on our hands and knees through a tunnel. It was wonderful and so exciting. I loved looking at the old coaches and the tea shop was nice. When our son was primary school age I wanted to give him a similar experience. We caught a train to Nottingham. It was packed with cricket supporters and when I offered a lady a seat  asking my son to sit on my lap people thought we were odd! Our son loved the castle, especially the playground and the trip down Mortimer's hole. It was not as exciting as the one I went on with my Dad. No crawling through tunnels!  My disappointments were the terrace was partly closed so we did not see the views. The coaches were gone and I was told they are now at Wollaton Hall Industrial Museum. We did not have time to go there. The tea room had been moved but it was OK. He had a good day, but we have visited lots of National Trust, Cadw in Wales, English Heritage and Historic Scotland castles that have more to offer. It is very hard to decide which is our favourite. 

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One of the things I miss about Nottingham is the view south from the castle walls.  It used to look straight over the canal and railway yards.  Those were the days when people had proper jobs :)

 

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On 8/13/2018 at 11:05 PM, Compo said:

One of the things I miss about Nottingham is the view south from the castle walls.  It used to look straight over the canal and railway yards. 

 

There's an entire scene in Saturday Night Sunday Morning from that location.

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Stood there a few times over the years,,and looked out on the changing scenery,,took Donna to that spot in 85'' after getting her to watch the film.......just to give her the feel of Nottingham......she always had the impression that Nottingham was a bad place don't know why,i was the only Nottm. person she knew,,...lol

                           She soon grew to love the place and our people,,even saying ''ey-up mi duck'' at times,,

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Maybe it was the film that made her think it was a bad place, Ben.  I'm not knocking SN & SM.  interesting story and film, but it probably affected the way some viewed the Queen of the Midlands after that.

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You maybe right Loppy........compared to Devon in the 60s Nottingham was to say the least a bit ''nitty gritty''....

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My memories of boyhood trips up to the Castle terraces in the late 1950s / early 1960s we’re not just the view (through a lot more smoke than now) but also the sounds of not only many steam engines on the railways but also the hooting of barges on the canal which still had commercial traffic. 

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I remember going there with my parents and sister after tea on a Sunday. Entry was free...unlike today.  I was fascinated by the collection of carriages which was situated very close to where the scene between Albert Finney and Rachel Roberts was filmed. Remember the smell of the decaying leather in those rooms.

 

Usually, we'd have an ice cream and sometimes dad would take a few photos with his box brownie. Then we'd go home.  Lovely memories.

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Been there many times, my uncle worked there as some sort of foreman with the curators,in those days, early 60's, it cost 1 old penny to go in through the turnstyle,that was operated by a foot lever inside the little building, whenever I went there with a friend my uncle would give us a tour of the castle where members of the public never went, I remember on one occasion going on the roof of the castle,that was an experience,at the time I think the top of the flag pole was the highest point in Nottingham

 

Rog

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I remember going on a school trip from Berridge. I think it was a project on the history of Tiguocobauc, Snottingham etc...when there were lots of downtrodden troggs living round Broadmarsh!  Sorry, Trogg!

 

We went on a guided tour of the caves, including Mortimer's Hole. Fascinating. Shortly afterwards, the caves were closed due to some concerns about their safety.

 

Took a class of children when I was teaching, by which time they were running educational workshops. The children learned to make items of historical costume, including the typical pointed lady's mediaeval hat with a guimpe and discovered where the phrase "pin money" originated. They also learned how people of wealth coped with needing the toilet when they didn't want to leave the banqueting table! Some of the boys suggested adopting this system in the school dining room!  I don't think so.

 

When I worked in Nottingham years ago, as did my mother in those days, we would meet for lunch in the castle grounds where we'd sit and eat sandwiches with a flask of coffee by the bandstand. Seems like only yesterday!

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4 minutes ago, Jill Sparrow said:

Let's say they weren't short of an individual pot to p*ss in which the servants then emptied and replaced under the table! Uninterrupted eating and drinking!

 

Worse than dogs.  At least they take their business outside! :Shock:

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My understanding of a guimpe is the piece of fabric held loosely beneath the chin, as above. There seems to be a bit of confusion on Wikipedia between guimpe and scapular...which covers the shoulders and chest area, as per the traditional nuns' habit. The children certainly weren't making things like that...we'd have been there all week!

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