About Nottingham & the UK

Nottingham is both an ancient city, and a vibrant centre of modern British life. If you would like to spend some time here, either before or after the conference, then you will find that there is something to suit all tastes. It is also almost exactly at the centre of England, and so it is easy to get from here to anywhere else in the UK.

In the sections below, you will find a lot of information that we hope will help you to make the most of your trip.

• Nottingham
• What's on in Nottingham
• Nottinghamshire and the rest of the UK
• What's on elsewhere in the UK

About Nottingham

Nottingham is an ancient city in the heart of England. It was reputedly the home of the legendary Robin Hood, and today the Tales of Robin Hood centre is the region's most popular tourist attraction. It boasts some of England's oldest pubs, including the "Trip to Jerusalem" which dates from 1189AD and occupies several caves underneath the remnants of Nottingham castle. Today Nottingham offers some of the best shopping in Britain outside of London and has a huge number of excellent restaurants, pubs, theatres, music venues, museums and places of historic interest. Here are some links to useful web sites:

• Nottinghamshire County Council Tourism Site

• The Tales of Robin Hood

• Nottingham Museums

• The Nottinghamshire County Council Official Visitor's Guide to Nottinghamshire

• UK City Experience

• The Nottingham City Council Online has its own What's on, plus other information

What's on in Nottingham

We will update this with information as it becomes available. This will likely include:

• Cricket at the world-famous Trent Bridge ground

• Performances at Nottingham's varied theatres and concert halls

• Ghost tours of Nottingham - City ghost walks, and visits to the extensive caves underneath Nottingham

  In particular see their very helpful page with links to various sites about Nottingham

• City Walks in Nottingham

Some favourite restaurants

Some of our favourite restaurants are:

• French

  • Pierre Victoire in central Nottingham - best ever sticky toffee pudding here. Do not go here if you are on a diet!

• Thai and Japanese

  • Lady In Grey, Sawley - nice Thai that Helen likes, but it's a fair way out of Nottingham

  • Yod Siam, Beeston - another nice Thai that we all like and quite close to the University (about ten minute's drive)

  • the Ginza is on the more expensive side, but is Craig's favourite in Nottingham

  • Wagamama in the city centre is a quick and good noodle bar

• Indian

  • Laguna Tandoori

• Italian

  • Pizza Express make really nice pizzas, despite being a chain restaurant. Also they are very friendly to people with small children, as Helen can attest!

  • Californian Pizza Factory is Craig's nomination for pizzas

Some favourite pubs

There are many pretty pubs in tiny villages, as well as the historic central Nottingham ones and some good ale pubs around Nottingham. Some of our favourites are

• some excellent historic pubs within walking distance of each other in central Nottingham are

  • The Trip to Jerusalem where Nottingham's contingent set out for the Crusades in 1189 AD

  • The Salutation Inn

  • The Royal Children

  • The Pitcher and Piano is an attractive building (once a church, now deconsecrated)

• The Martins Arms in Colston Bassett

• The Crown at Old Dalby

• The French Horn in Upton

• the Tynemill pubs such as the Limelight next to the Nottingham Playhouse in the centre of Nottingham, the Victoria Hotel in Beeston, the Stratford Haven in West Bridgford and the Lincolnshire Poacher

• The Test Match in West Bridgford has an interesting art deco interior

About Nottinghamshire and the rest of the UK

For walkers, Nottingham is close to the beautiful "Peak District" - which represents the English countryside at its most picturesque. And of course, Nottinghamshire itself is an attractive area with many pleasant walks.

Some favourite walks and cycling routes

• Cycling and Cycle Trails in the Peaks

• Peak District Trails and News

• Walks in the Peak District

• peakwalking

• Stepping out in North Nottinghamshire - with some events listings also

• Shining Tor in the Peak District is one of Craig's favourite walks

What's on elsewhere in the UK

August and September are the best months to visit Britain, with the weather about as good as it gets ;-)

We won't try to tell you about all the possible attractions of Britain, instead we suggest that you have a look at some of the following tourist web sites such as:

• Information Britain and its Nottinghamshire page

• Visit Britain

• Great Britain Touring Guide

• UK tourist info .com

• All Edinburgh's Festivals

• Britain's Automobile Association (AA) has Travel and Leisure pages where you can book accommodation, find maps and tours.

• Street maps are also available from streetmap.co.uk and multimap.co.uk

• accommodation and travel guide for Scotland

• English Heritage re-enactments, concerts and other events in historic locations

However we will provide some information about events during August or September that you might like to see before or after the conference, such as:

• The Edinburgh Festival, with adjacent events such as the Festival Fringe, Book Festival, Film Festival, all during August . Some information about the Festival in 2003 is now available, and includes two Ring Cycles for the hardy!

• The world-famous Edinburgh Military Tattoo from 1st August to 30th August 2003

We hope you enjoy your trip to Nottingham!