Can anyone tell me about Nottingham?

Captain Graphite

So I'm moving to Nottingham next month, Beeston to be precise. I've googled it a few times and have seen mixed reports of it. The thing I'm reading a lot about the city is that it has high rates of gun crime and theft but what'd worry me more is stuff like random assaults and scumbag/chav population. Is Nottingham particularly bad for it or is it more or less the same as any city?

Also if anyone has any recommendations for good pubs/restaurants, or any recommendations for good places to visit, that'd be great. Basically, any advice or feedback about the place would be most appreciated.

dd972

Had a bit of a bad rep for gun crime a few years back but seems to have that under control now, it's got a good tram and public transport system,generally speaking it's an OK city, people from the Midlands/North of England are generally friendly and more like the Irish than Londoners

Captain Graphite

"generally speaking it's an OK city" - well that's about as much as I was expecting, so cheers for that. Yeah I read that the gun problem has decreased and was mostly just between gangs anyway....but still, you see the word "Shottingham" and you do start grimacing a little.

Thanks for the reply anyway.

iambrazil

I visited there quite a bit for a while as my girlfriend was living there for a year and I always liked it.

Some places to check out - the Vat & Fiddle which is the main pub for the Castle Rock brewery. The Lincolnshire Poacher is nice too. King William IV pub near the arena - looks really rough from the outside which put me off for ages but it's not at all once you get inside.

Broadway cinema is great and they serve good food / beer.

more food/pubs recs - Desi Downtown, Noodle King, Kayal, the Orange Tree

the beer festival is on in October. it's on in the grounds of the Castle and is definitely worth heading to.

youreadthis

Nottingham is a student city, but it's nice and doesn't deserve it's bad reputation at all. Been many times as have a few friends and my sister who went to uni there.

BrianBoru00

I think maybe you could compare it to Limerick city.
Bad rap but most of it is isolated in a few areas. Most inhabitants will have had no experience of the incidents making the news on a regular basis.

Orchard Rebel

I grew up in Notts, in a village south of the city. I also did my postgrad law exams at Nottingham Trent Uni, so I experienced it as a student as well as a local.

To be honest, I think the media portrayal of it as a modern Dodge City was way over the top. Whilst there are obviously certain areas you have to watch yourself in at night - there were never any "no go" areas. If you use your common sense, you'll have a great time. The city has a terrific nightlife, a great mix of restaurants, loads of culture, two league clubs (although being honest, you're red or you're dead), a test cricket ground and enough shopping to exhaust even my wife.

Beeston's a decent enough place. There are decent bus/rail links to the city centre - they're even talking about extending the NET (Nottingham's Luas) out there.

One other thing: the male/female ratio - it's a myth....

Procrastastudy

I've heard the Sheriff is a real asshat

haro124

I spent nearly every summer there and really loved it but I did stay in west bridgford which seemed to be a relatively nice area ! My cousin worked in somewhere called bullworth or bullwel I can't remember which and that seemed to be a right hole !

Orchard Rebel

haro124 wrote: »

I spent nearly every summer there and really loved it but I did stay in west bridgford which seemed to be a relatively nice area ! My cousin worked in somewhere called bullworth or bullwel I can't remember which and that seemed to be a right hole !

Bulwell - wouldn't be my suburb of choice. Best area of all is Rushcliffe - the borough to the south of Trent. There's West Bridgford and then some nice villages out towards the Vale of Belvoir. Rushcliffe regularly features in the quality of life surveys as it's one of the view outside the south-east which does well.

Captain Graphite

Orchard Rebel wrote: »

I grew up in Notts, in a village south of the city. I also did my postgrad law exams at Nottingham Trent Uni, so I experienced it as a student as well as a local.

To be honest, I think the media portrayal of it as a modern Dodge City was way over the top. Whilst there are obviously certain areas you have to watch yourself in at night - there were never any "no go" areas. If you use your common sense, you'll have a great time. The city has a terrific nightlife, a great mix of restaurants, loads of culture, two league clubs (although being honest, you're red or you're dead), a test cricket ground and enough shopping to exhaust even my wife.

Beeston's a decent enough place. There are decent bus/rail links to the city centre - they're even talking about extending the NET (Nottingham's Luas) out there.

One other thing: the male/female ratio - it's a myth....

Thanks for that reply. All sounds promising. Don't know the first thing about cricket and I wouldn't have a big interest in football but might go to a Forest game just for the experience.

Yeah I went with Beeston mainly 'cause it was very close to University Park, where I'll be based most of the time, but also heard it was kind of a quiet-ish area. Had been looking at Lenton and Dunkirk too but heard they were a bit more studenty, and since I'm a boring old postgrad now I wasn't really looking for that kind of atmosphere.

Oh and I'm afraid you'll need to expand on the male/female ratio bit for me! I wasn't aware there was a myth involving that.

iambrazil wrote: »

I visited there quite a bit for a while as my girlfriend was living there for a year and I always liked it.

Some places to check out - the Vat & Fiddle which is the main pub for the Castle Rock brewery. The Lincolnshire Poacher is nice too. King William IV pub near the arena - looks really rough from the outside which put me off for ages but it's not at all once you get inside.

Broadway cinema is great and they serve good food / beer.

more food/pubs recs - Desi Downtown, Noodle King, Kayal, the Orange Tree

the beer festival is on in October. it's on in the grounds of the Castle and is definitely worth heading to.

Cool, cheers for that list. Will try and remember these.

Procrastastudy wrote: »

I've heard the Sheriff is a real asshat

I'm distraught that Alan Rickman isn't actually the sheriff. That was my main reason for picking Notts in the first place.

iambrazil

one place I forgot to list - Annie's Burger Shack. I went a few times when it was in a different premises but I'm sure the burgers are still amazing. Great choice of meaty, veggie or vegan burgers and Sunday roasts too.

Alun

Captain Graphite wrote: »

Oh and I'm afraid you'll need to expand on the male/female ratio bit for me! I wasn't aware there was a myth involving that.

When Nottingham was famous for it's lace industry in Victorian times, it attracted lots of young, single women to the city as workers in the lace factories. Hence the ratio of (available) women to men was supposedly the highest in the country Not applicable at all now, of course.

I lived there too for a while, albeit quite a long time ago. I worked in Beeston and it was an OK place from what I remember. I lived in a village called Ruddington south of the city which was quite nice. It had a lot of pubs, that's all I can remember

sweeney1971

I use to work there in the Worksop area which was alright did not feel threatened etc, but go futher in and its over run with crime, thugs, no go areas for whites.

Orchard Rebel

sweeney1971 wrote: »

I use to work there in the Worksop area which was alright did not feel threatened etc, but go futher in and its over run with crime, thugs, no go areas for whites.

Worksop isn't a suburb of Nottingham - if anything it's a suburb of Sheffield.

Never heard of any no-go areas for whites in Nottingham.

sweeney1971

Orchard Rebel wrote: »

Worksop isn't a suburb of Nottingham - if anything it's a suburb of Sheffield.

Never heard of any no-go areas for whites in Nottingham.

The white people will tell you different. It has not quite reached Ireland yet, be thankful it never does. Nottingham IS a big area.

AnonoBoy

sweeney1971 wrote: »

It has not quite reached Ireland yet, be thankful it never does. Nottingham IS a big area.

I don't think Nottingham will ever get so big as to reach Ireland.

Orchard Rebel

sweeney1971 wrote: »

The white people will tell you different. It has not quite reached Ireland yet, be thankful it never does. Nottingham IS a big area.

The city itself extends from Clifton to Rise Park and from Stapleford to Gedling - it isn't a huge area. The trouble spots tend to be either side of the City Centre (The Meadows, St Ann's etc) but I've wandered through both over the years without incident. If there is a huge race problem, it's been kept well hidden.

From what I hear, the EDL is the big problem in English cities right now....

HavingCrack

Orchard Rebel wrote: »

From what I hear, the EDL is the big problem in English cities right now....

Bradford, Luton and parts of Birmingham all have pretty big problems at the minute. I'd say Leicester probably does as well due to the non-white majority, say that provide a breeding ground for EDL support.

The founder of the EDL actually has Irish parents, always found the fact that he embraced English extremism a bit odd .

Captain Graphite

Orchard Rebel wrote: »

The city itself extends from Clifton to Rise Park and from Stapleford to Gedling - it isn't a huge area. The trouble spots tend to be either side of the City Centre (The Meadows, St Ann's etc) but I've wandered through both over the years without incident. If there is a huge race problem, it's been kept well hidden.

From what I hear, the EDL is the big problem in English cities right now....

I've googled Nottingham a fair bit and those two areas seem to be the most frequently mentioned when it comes to the rough parts of the city. Forest Fields was another one I saw mentioned a bit. From what I can see on Google Maps though I doubt I'll have much cause to go into these areas.

Have to say I hadn't even thought about anything like the EDL. Didn't realise they were that big a problem.

Orchard Rebel

Captain Graphite wrote: »

I've googled Nottingham a fair bit and those two areas seem to be the most frequently mentioned when it comes to the rough parts of the city. Forest Fields was another one I saw mentioned a bit. From what I can see on Google Maps though I doubt I'll have much cause to go into these areas.

Have to say I hadn't even thought about anything like the EDL. Didn't realise they were that big a problem.

Forest Fields is ok. I used to crash on a friend's floor there when I was at college.

The EDL are basically a bunch of thugs using the existence of militant Islam as a convenient excuse to cause trouble. The vast majority of English people seem to regard them as an embarrasment and give whichever city they're marching in a wide birth.

I wouldn't let it put you off though. England's a fine country with fine people and Nottingham is still a good city.

Butterface

I'm studying in a town not too far from Nottingham. We go in to the city for the odd night out during the year, and I think it has a pretty decent nightlife. I will say that sometimes upon hearing my accent, I've had a few digs from guys about Ireland and being a paddy.. but I always have a charming comeback!;)

I'm in between Notts and Leicester, and would definitely prefer Nottingham for a night out!

Orchard Rebel

Butterface wrote: »

I'm studying in a town not too far from Nottingham. We go in to the city for the odd night out during the year, and I think it has a pretty decent nightlife. I will say that sometimes upon hearing my accent, I've had a few digs from guys about Ireland and being a paddy.. but I always have a charming comeback!;)

I'm in between Notts and Leicester, and would definitely prefer Nottingham for a night out!

Out at the vet college at Sutton Bonington?

Butterface

Orchard Rebel wrote: »

Out at the vet college at Sutton Bonington?

No, at Loughborough University. It's pretty much equidistant from Nottingham and Leicester.

grenache

BrianBoru00 wrote: »

I think maybe you could compare it to Limerick city.
Bad rap but most of it is isolated in a few areas. Most inhabitants will have had no experience of the incidents making the news on a regular basis.

I'm from Limerick and visit Nottingham regularly.

It's not at all comparable, in my opinion. Nottingham has shaken off the whole "shotgun city" monicker. It is a modern, multi-cultural thriving city. Limerick is none of those. There are a few bad areas in Nottingham (like any city), places like St Anns and the Meadows. But there's not any "no-go" areas such as Moyross or Southill in Limerick. As a city, Limerick is more comparable to Hull. Certainly in terms of it's rep and aesthetics.

OP you will enjoy Nottingham - make sure to check out Rock City, great place for gigs from well reknowned artists. Make sure to see Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem too - oldest pub in Britain. If you like football, head out London Road direction to see Forest or County and get your grub afterwards in nearby Hooters

Best of luck with the move!