Trip to the Caves, Tunnels and Castle of Nottingham
3rd October 2023
Our group of ten travelled to Nottingham on the Robin Hood Line from Worksop station, an excellent way to travel to Nottingham centre. A short walk took us to the City of Caves, near the site of the former Broadmarsh Shopping Centre.
The earliest inhabitants in the area chose to settle on the massive sandstone outcrop, now the city centre. The soft stone allowed caves and tunnels, up to 800 of them, to be created, initially using rudimentary tools. Our guide led us down to an extraordinary cave network where people had once lived and worked in industries such as tanning, and brewing. For centuries the caves have provided a perfect storage area for ale.
Families were living in the caves until 1845
Moving ahead in time we found ourselves walking through air-raid shelters used during WW2.
After coffee in the café of the Nottingham Contemporary Art Centre we made our way up to the Saxon market square with its market cross (a lot newer than our village cross).
Our route to the Norman castle took us along High, Middle and Low Pavements, passing many of the city’s finest buildings including Willoughby House, now the hub of the Paul Smith fashion group.
Willoughby House on Low Pavement, Paul Smith Fashion House
As well as all things ancient Nottingham also embraces the modern!
We stopped at Newdigate House to look at the blue plaque for the French General Tallard, who during his stay there as a prisoner of war in1705, introduced celery into the English diet. Life in Gringley would have been very different without his initiative. To find out more about celery in Gringley, follow this link
Newdigate House Blue Plaque
"In this House lived Marshall Tallart from 1705 to 1711.
While prisoner of War after The Battle of Blenheim 1704"
Newdigate House is currently home to the Nottingham Club. The World Service Restaurant moved into the premises in 2000.
We left Newdigate House and walked onwards to Nottingham Castle which fittingly stands on Castle Rock, another large sandstone outcrop. Following its destruction after the Civil war it was re-built as a pleasure palace by the 1st and 2nd Dukes of Newcastle from Welbeck Abbey. It is now Nottingham’s main museum, with lovely grounds.
We stopped for lunch in the Terrace Café, where as well as having a good lunch, we enjoyed stunning views of the city.
The Terrace Cafe
Next on our list was Mortimer's Hole. Our guide Barry took us deep into Mortimer’s Hole, a massive tunnel leading from the castle to the foot of the outcrop. We learned about the young Edward III who used the tunnel to enter the castle, depose the Pretender Edward Mortimer and claim his rightful crown. Barry entertained us wonderfully with stories of the history of Nottingham and its importance as the traditional boundary between the North and South of England.
Very conveniently, at the base of the Castle Rock we found ourselves at the Trip to Jerusalem, one of England’s oldest inns. Its own interesting history, built inside the rock, was equalled by its excellent range of real ales. It was a difficult place to leave, but we had to make our way back, via Nottingham Canal Basin, to the station and our train back to Worksop.
We had a lovely trip. Many thanks to Sue for stepping in at the last minute and doing an excellent ‘Blue Badge’ role.