Just up ahead around the corner is a vast area for Boots. They're a very big
pharmaceutical company. They've got chemists in virtually every town in
Britain and it's their headquarters here based in Nottingham.
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Nottingham is in the East Midlands area of the United Kingdom and is the second
largest city within the region.
Once you leave the dominating River Trent you remain are calm and protected
canal through the city. Nottingham Castle stands over the canal to the north. The
grey kite and L-shaped buildings are the home of Her Majesty's Revenue and
Customs which are quickly followed by Nottingham Train Station. The canal then
bears right, coming out between two professional league football teams on to
the River Trent. I'll follow the river out of the city
to Holme Pierrepont Water Sports Centre. I don't know if you can remember a
couple of videos ago, quite a number of videos ago I went to a wood yard
on Lenton Lane in Nottingham. This is the bridge that I'm moored up at. In fact
you can smell the wood in the air. It was Brooks Bros and they sell lots of oak
face ply, beech face ply that sort of thing and I walked it down the bank here
onto the onto the boat.
There's quite a large marina here and it's right next to a retail park
including a number of restaurants and a food supermarket. With lots of mooring
along this stretch it's an ideal place to stay overnight and explore the city
Nottingham is internationally known to have links with the legend of Robin Hood.
Through a number of additions and retellings of the story, many characters
have been associated with the heroic outlaw. These include Maid Marian, his
band of outlaws The Merry Men and of course his chief opponent, the Sheriff of
Nottingham. The bronze statue of Robin sits below
the large dominating walls of Nottingham Castle. The Norman castle was originally
a wooden structure and was built in 1068 on the orders of William the Conqueror.
The castle was replaced by stone during the reign of King Henry II and
because of its location near the River Trent, as well as the Royal hunting
grounds of Tideswell, it served as one of the most important in England for
nobles and royalty alike.
Right in the city centre now at Castle Wharf.
Just to the side of me is Nottingham Magistrate's Court. I know it very
well because I've spent many, many an hour stood outside working for BBC News
waiting for the not-so-nice people of society to arrive!
The city has a great public transport system including the largest publicly
owned bus network in England, good rail links as well as a modern tram system.
The Lace Market is a historic quarter mile square area of the city. It was the
centre of the world's lace industry during the British Empire. These
buildings were used as sales rooms and warehouses for storing, displaying and
selling the lace.
I must say it's really strange seeing Nottingham that I used to work in,
everyday, from a canal perspective. It's very, very different. You see a lot of the
sides of the buildings in a completely different light. The strangest being the
brick BBC building behind Premier Inn. Having worked here for over a decade,
I've never seen it before from the water. The canal made a sharp turn here and
heads down the side of London Road. At the junction of the canal and the River
Trent is Meadow Lane Lock. I wanted to top my water tanks up here but after
talking to two desperately looking boaters, I was politely informed the
pressure of the water was more like a trickle as they'd been filling up for
nearly an hour and only had a quarter of a tank filled.
The canal spans between two notable football league clubs. Notts County is on
one side and is the oldest professional football club in the world.
Nottingham Forest is positioned on the bank of the river which along with
Liverpool is one of only two clubs in England to have one consecutive European Cups
There are lots of mooring spots along the bank of the River Trent but be
aware of some rather large party boats that go up and down here. On the southern
bank is Trent Bridge Cricket Ground. It's a major venue for international Test
matches and also hosts other important cricketing events such as the Twenty20
cup finals and regular One Day international games.
Just down there is Colwick Marina and in there is Narrowboat Zero Gravity.
That's where Saxon and Emma are busy doing their sail-way up. I did contact
them but unfortunately they're not there today :-(
This is 12 year old Ethan. His grandparents eagerly approached me at
the Crick Show and explained how Ethan was an avid viewer and they wanted me to
write him a note on the back of a show pamphlet. So I did better than that and
sent him a Journey with Jono mug and a load of stickers. Ethan has autism and
ADHD and has a boat of his own called Mucky Duck. The story doesn't end there.
The family has a labradoodle called Buster and his mum's written a
children's book called That Dog Has Got A Beard which is about the experiences
of raising Ethan and the fact it's okay to be different. So, hi Ethan. Thanks for
sending me the copy of the book and Molly says hi to Buster. I've included a
link to the book in the description below. If you've not already subscribed,
please do. It doesn't cost you anything and by clicking the bell icon, you'll be
notified about future releases. Until next time, see you later.