UKC

Any good, is it? What sort of place is it to live?

J

In reply to jamesboyle: It's quite good when the gunsmoke clears.

In reply to jamesboyle: The climbing wall there is awesome for bouldering. Nottingham as a place isn't to bad. There are some bad parts like all big cities. It has a reputation for shootings but a lot of the city is nice. Just stay away from the meadows and saint anne's.

In reply to jamesboyle: Lived there for two years. Its horrible.

One redeeming feature is its central location in the country which makes access to other areas, airports etc. easy.

In reply to MG: i think it has an undeserved reputation as being crime ridden and rough. I spend quite alot of time there and quite like it. Good nightlife. transort links good especially if nr a tramline. can be virtually anywhere in england by car in hrs

In reply to idiotproof:

Entirely deserved in my experience. We lived in a middling area and had someone stabbed outside our house at 3am. It is filthy dirty. The traffic is terrible and all funnelled through what could otherwise be an OK centre. The night-life you refer to results in the city centre being a no-go area covered in vomit and piss every weekend evening. There are acres and acres of soulless housing estates, many of them full of violent gangs. I would say live in one the very pleasant villages to the East or, if you want to live in a city, Derby.

In reply to jamesboyle: lol

I have lived in st anns for nearly 3 years, I have a decent car parked on the drive, and my housemate has a decent car parked on the road in front.

the worst we have had is some of the local kids cherry knocking!
we regually walk come less than sober by ourselves and have never had a single problem!

the climbing wall is decent
the peaks seems to take forever to get to though, dispite not being far away!

has most of the good bands go through it, although often mid-week
decent techno nights, theatre etc etc so the night life is good...

on the whole ive been quite happy here

In reply to jamesboyle:

It depends what sort of thing you like.

Nightlife etc good, girls easy, fifth best shops in the country apparently, if you can make it this weeekend:

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/homenews/Morris-dancing-gala-city/article...

In reply to jamesboyle:

The weather is better than most places being sheltered by the Peak District. It's as safe as anywhere. I'd recommend Nottingham.

In reply to jamesboyle:

i lived i Nottingham for 5 years and really liked it. Great nightlife and a nice little city centre. Not sure if it's true but the women outnumber the men 5 to 1! I met my wife there.

The climbing centre there is pretty good and it's close to the peak district.

In reply to EricpAndrew:


How far it seems depends a lot on wherebouts in Nottingham you are, but even living East of the city it only used to take just over an hour to Hathersage.

In reply to jamesboyle:

Don't be tempted by Ilkeston, Kimberley or Eastwood's proximity to the roads leading Peakward. These places really do make Apocalypse Now look like The Good Life. I used to deliver christmas cards in Ilkeston for the Scouts and I got a spear* thrown at me, honestly a bloody spear! I'm just glad that guns are too technical for them.

*not a racial slur, the thrower was white, it was hard to tell under the crusted fast food detritus but I'm fairly sure.

In reply to jamesboyle: Positives about Nottingham include the nightlife (excellent pubs, bars, restautants and in particular a very vibrant live music scene), and the bouldering wall. I would ignore the talk about town being a no go area, never had a problem and used to walk back home regulary, buses run late anyway. Negatives, crime is defintely an issue, repeated break ins to cars etc, but no paranoia about shootings! Also the traffic is pretty abysmal in town, and the M1 can be a total disaster at the time you might want to get away on Friday afternoon. Reasonable places to live include Sherwood, Beeston, West Bridgeford, but you defintely want to case the streets and atmosphere, pubs etc for a bit before commiting. Live closer to M1 for access to the Peak, linking to the south peak via A6 is a great option and popular for Notts climbers,
45 mins to High Tor...

As for outdoors stuff on your doorstep, can cycle north to Bestwood park, then out to Newstead Abbey, Sherwood forest on tracks, but you will mainly be travelling north and west into the Peak I imagine.

In reply to Clarence: I occasionally cycle through Ilkeston on the way to the Peak and always fear for my life.

In reply to jamesboyle:

I lived there for 3 years as a student, which I guess gives a bit of a different perspective (student bubble). All in all I loved living there.

It seemed quite bad in terms of theft - I had my bike nicked, my mate had some clothes nicked off the line (!) and our house was broken into once. A lot of other people I knew were burgled, and it was bad for bike theft generally. My mate was once mugged at a cashpoint, but since he was wandering around in the middle of nowhere completely off-his-head drunk, it was partly his own fault.

Otherwise I thought it was great! I didn't think the nightlife was that rough (wasn't as bad as Reading, where I'm from, for example) and there's a massive variety of bars and clubs. The shopping is pretty good, and the Peak District is pretty accessible. The weather was definitely worse than down south - it rained more and was a bit colder. But I didn't have a car so perhaps suffered more as I walked everywhere.

I think if you pick the right bits to live and go out on the right nights to the right places it's great.

In reply to jamesboyle:

Thanks loads, guys - really appreciate the feedback. Especially Clarence, who made me nearly wet myself picturing the incident with the spear.

I'm going over for an interview and to scout the city on sunday/monday. Is there a decent hostel near the University (of Nottingham) that anyone can recommend?

Thanks again, everyone.

J

In reply to jamesboyle: The University btw is one of the nicest bits. Really pleasant campus. Suggest you walk through the centre at around 10-11pm to see if it is to your taste.

In reply to jamesboyle:

If it's still holidays, I'd give the uni a ring and see about getting a room in one of the halls on campus. They're pretty cheap, I believe.

In reply to David Riley:

I second that!!
(I'm a Nottinghamshire lad born and bred, so maybe a little bias)

Re the suggestion to Derby : I now work in Derby (sinfin) and have seen more crime here in the last 3 years then the 7 years I used to work in Nottingham ( Radford ) Although all citys have bad and good areas I guess!

The plus points for Nottingham : fantastic nightlife,great shopping, independant cinemas, Indoor Arena, 30+ museums, playhouse's, Theatres, world class sports facilities, great Cricket at Trent bridge, and two football teams, And only 45 mins to the Peak District!!


Cheers
Jamie.

In reply to mungo:

That's the "Chatsworth Estate" bit of Derby though, a friend of mine was shot in the face while stopped at the traffic lights on Sinfin Lane (outside the Oast House). Rolls Royce began a campaign to try and persuade subbies that Sinfin wasn't dangerous after that one. It's no better or worse than The Meadows in Nottingham or Moss Side in Manchester.

In reply to mungo:

Is that called 'football'??

In reply to jamesboyle:
My knowledge of Nottingham is a few hundred years out of date, but I recall a particularly nasty Sherrif who used to be in charge of law and order for the area...

In reply to jamesboyle:

I have lived in Nottingham since 1984. I started in the Meadows (PhD student) and moved to just above St Anns in 1992. The city has the usual problems and advantages of big cities with the following notable advantages and disadvantages:

The crime levels are about average for a city of its size but way overstated in the press (even when the drug gangs were shooting each other...which seems to have stopped now).

City centre is really compact and is excellent for entertainment from high to low brow and has great shopping. Very good for restaurants.

The climbing wall is one of the best of its type in the UK but is small and hence is best for bouldering.

Uni's are both ranked above average for their type; city schools are well below average but improving.

The communities are really divided partly as the middle classes chase the good schools in places just outside the city like West Brigford and the city has a ring of problem estates. This leads to overstated dangers in bad bits (which have cheap housing) and overstated benefits of the 'good' bits. Nottingham has a unique character, independant and slightly awkward and not quite proper northern. There are some bad points that dont get much publicity like some problem communities in some small towns to the north and north east (unless you are worried about the BNP when these communities will be well known to you).

The city has some of the best beer in some of the best pubs in the UK based on a chain linked to Castle Rock Brewery... a big change from my arrival when it was one of the worst cities for beer albeit some good pubs. Sadly a few years back one of the big boys purchased our 100% microbrewery based pub (still not bad despite this).

Football teams are currently very disappointing but the panthers ice-hockey team do OK and the rugby and cricket teams (international venue) have their moments. We have a national water sports centre which is great for canoeists rowers etc (if the Olympic funding needs don't close it). Sports facilities in general are OK.

Commuting, busses and trams are better than average for a city of this size IMHO (except for the posh estates on the outskirt towns). May be the only proper UK city not linked anywhere to the motorway system with a duel cariageway.

In reply to jamesboyle:
I think the best thing about Nottingham is Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem!

In reply to Only a hill:

Tourist trap with average beer but a must see for vistors I guess.

In reply to jamesboyle:

And the statue of Brian Clough had a KFC bucket on its head bearing the words "I (heart) Leeds" last saturday...

In reply to Offwidth:
I must admit I was disappointed to hear it was a Greene King pub, but the place has such character and history!

In reply to Only a hill: it's not the oldest pub in Nottingham you know, just thinks it is.

In reply to ceri:

The Sal's quite grim, though didn't Tony Robinson declare it was part of the Bell that was the oldest pub?

Nottingham is ok. Castle Rock pubs are fantastic, though there are a couple of other unlikely candidates for best pub out there. I'll let you find them for yourself. The violence has always been blown out of proportion, though the big student population is a burglar magnet. Propblem with Nottingham is that the city is a donut authority, and the outlying areas, like Beeston or Brdgford, are in separate districts, even though, to all intents, they are part of the city. This makes all the statistics skewed.

The countryside is very dull, though, and it's still an awkward distance to the Peaks. I won't stay here for ever.

PS In Nottingham Chatty doesn't mean talkative & friendly, it means frayed and tatty. Fact.

In reply to Clarence:


Thats quite a damning piece of evidence against the place...

In reply to jamesboyle:

I live in Ilkeston and work at Nottingham City Hospital.

Ilkeston has some rough areas and some nice areas, I found it quite hard to find a house to rent in the nice bit, but I did find one. It takes about an hour to get to Hathersage, less to get to Matlock.

Nottingham - I was told by a police marksman that the gun crime problem has massively decreased, he was bemoaning how little work he had to do! Nottingham wall is okay for bouldering, but I much prefer the wall in Derby.

It's a good place to live and plenty of climbers have based themselves here in the past (Doug Scott, Andy Perkins)

In reply to Offwidth:

Which one was that?

There is still Nottingham Brewery and Alcazar Brewery, both with tricky pubs but excellent beer (try Windjammer or Bombay Castle at the Fox and Crown). EPA from Nottingham Brewery is their best IMHO, (all of these 6% or greater by volume).

In reply to jamesboyle:

Thanks for all the help, guys.

J

In reply to winhill:

(try Windjammer or Bombay Castle at the Fox and Crown).

Yes !

Even better is their Thai food.

In reply to ceri:

As far as I was aware the Trip was the oldest pub just not the oldest continously run as a pub. On the subjects of Nottigham and crime one of the greatest was before my time here: the demolition of some amazing historical buildings for Maid Marian Way and the Broadmarsh.

The pub near the ice stadium that was 100% microbrews was Bunkers Hill now owned by a Bass subsuduary I think.

In reply to jamesboyle:

I've lived here for 5 years now, in Beeston, Lenton, the Park and now the Lace Market. Admittedly my experience of living in cities in limited but I quite like it. The city centre's lively, there's a good range of bars/pubs/clubs and the Peak isn't too far.

The crime aspect of Nottingham is overplayed. One thing which really affects the stats is that the 300k people in Nottingham live in a very urban setting, whereas somewhere like Leicester takes more outlying village and green space into account. I'm sure if you did the stats on crime in the urban centres of most cities Nottingham wouldn't stand out.

In reply to Offwidth:


the people that used to run it now run a nearby pub just in Sneinton - Irish connection, but I'm blowed if I can remember it's name - sort of opposite where the Peggers was (now THAT was a pub......)

In reply to toad:


The King Billy?

In reply to ebygomm:

That's it. I've only been in during the day, but it was ok. A couple of Abbeydale beers on, plus a couple of others.

In reply to katonka:

Yeah, although I didn't go anywhere near the front lines of city centre on a friday night, all the people I spoke to during my speed-ale-downing in the Old Trip on monday afternoon were quite pleasant folk. The city seems quite a cool place with a lot of amenities, and proximity to the peak seems favourable as well.

Really appreciate all the good info and advice I've got from everyone here - thanks!

J