Begin at
Nottingham Castle.
Near the top
of Castle Gate is the Severns’ Building, a medieval dwelling that was
re-erected on this site in 1968, and later became the Nottingham Lace Building.
Hilda Lewis (1896-1974) started writing
her historical and children’s fiction when she moved to Nottingham in the
1920s. Her novel Penny Lace, features the city's Victorian lace industry.
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| Hilda Lewis |
Proceed down
Castle Gate to no. 51.
Ann Gilbert (1782-1866) once lived in this
Georgian house. Gilbert, a literary critic, wrote children’s poetry and hymns.
Her younger sister and collaborator, Jane Taylor, wrote the words to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Gilbert
is buried in Nottingham’s General Cemetery.
Continue along Castle Gate and cross Maid Marion
Way; named after one of Nottingham’s most famous characters, and known as Nottingham’s
ugliest road.
Passing the
Royal Children pub turn left, before turning right into Hounds
Gate.
At the
corner of Hounds Gate and Albert Street is the former studio of the renowned artist
Evelyn Gibbs (1905-1991), writer of
the influential book The Teaching of Art
in Schools. Gibbs also illustrated several of Hilda Lewis’s books.
Walk past M&S for a quick stop up Castle Gate, diagonally across from Weavers (the family business of the author Geoffrey Trease) is the church in which two lace workers, Matthew and Lucy, married. Their daughter, Alma Reville (the editor and scriptwriter) was born in Nottingham in 1889, a few hours after her future husband and collaborator Alfred Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone.
Part of the centre is now a Christian bookshop.
Turn back past M&S and turn up Low Pavement. No. 26, on the site of Jamie’s, is the former residence of Abigail Gawthern (1757-1822). Gawthern’s diaries were copied into one important volume, documenting how Nottingham's professional classes
lived at that time. She died in this house.
Crossing the
street, now head along Bridlesmith Gate.
On the right
is Waterstone’s, the self-declared ‘finest bookshop in the Midlands’, and
Nottingham’s largest, a fine Victorian building. Waterstone’s host a
programme of events, including talks from top authors, such as local talents
Mhairi McFarlane, Elizabeth Chadwick and Eve Makis.
As
Bridlesmith Gate becomes High Street, continue to Pelham Street. On this corner
sits a gorgeous Art Nouveau building. Now ZARA, it used to be Boots’ premier store,
featuring book sections and a library, all thanks to the influence of Florence Boot (1863-1952). She placed the library
counters at the back of the shop so patrons had to walk past the merchandise.
For the longer route (an extra 25min walk) continue with the following excursion by heading up Pelham Street. Alternatively, scroll down and join the second half of the trail.
Walk up
Pelham Street and turn left into George Street along which is the Nottingham
Arts Theatre. Past plays held there include The King
and I, created from Margaret Landon's (1903-1993) novel;
Annie Get Your Gun, from the
book by Dorothy Fields (1905-1974)
and her brother Herbert;
and the stage premiere of Alan Sillitoe’s Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.
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| Dorothy Fields |
Turn right
at Old Lenton Street, then right again at Broad Street, home of the Broadway Cinema.
They host a popular Book Club, established by Pam
McIlroy and currently run by Leanne
Wain.
Continuing
along, Rough Trade is on the right. Supportive of literary events they host
live poetry, spoken word, book launches and readings. Local poets Panya Banjoko, Becky Cullen, Di Slaney, Sue Dymoke, Aly Stoneman and
editor of Left Lion Bridie Squires, have
all performed there.
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| Panya Banjoko |
At Goose
Gate turn left and head down through Hockley, all the way to the Nottingham
Writers’ Studio on the corner with Lower Parliament Street.
Authors Paula Rawsthorne, Megan Taylor and Alison
Moore - whose first novel, The
Lighthouse, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize - are all members of
the writers' studio.
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| Alison Moore |
Return up through
trendy Hockley. This area is
featured in Caroline Bell-Foster’s The Cat Café. The Nottingham author is
best-known for her Call Me Royal
series.
Continue
down through Pelham Street and back to the ZARA building. Then continue the
trail with Option Two.
Second half of the trail:
From ZARA
head along Smithy Row.
Joining Long
Row, The Works bookshop is on the right. Next to this is an alleyway down which
is Five Leaves, one of the few independent bookshops to open in a UK city
centre this century.
This radical bookshop hosts regular literary events. Notts
writers Shreya Sen-Handley, Giselle Leeb
and Rhiannon Jenkins Tsang have
all featured at the venue.
At the next
corner, turn right, where Speakers’ Corner awaits at the site of the Brain Clough
Statue.
Continue up Queen Street, cross Upper Parliament Street and head up
South Sherwood Street.
On the left
is Nottingham’s Theatre Royal, Theatre Square, which hosted the world premiere
of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. The Scarlet Pimpernel also made its first appearance here, two
years before Baroness Orczy turned her play into a novel, spurning
13 sequels.
Take a left at
Shakespeare Street.
On the left is Nottingham Trent University’s Arkwright
Building. Among the authors who have undertaken MA writing courses at NTU are Clare Littleford, Nicola Monaghan, Kim Slater and Frances
Thimann.
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| Nicola Monaghan |
Sarah Jackson is currently one of NTU’s creative writing lecturers.
The Arkwright Building has been a public library and it was once University College at which Rose Fyleman (1877-1957) attended.
At
Shakespeare Street and North Sherwood Street is the Nottingham Mechanics
Institute, home to Nottingham Writers’ Club’s regular meetings. The
award-winning author Glenis Wilson
is a member the club which was established in 1927.
Continuing
along Shakespeare Street, take a left onto Goldsmith Street where the Boots
Library is situated. This NTU library is open 24-7 during term time. Florence Boot (born Florence Rowe), her father a bookseller, introduced
lending libraries into Boots stores.
Nottingham
University’s first hall of residence was named after her.
Carry along
Goldsmith Street. Turn right and head up Chaucer Street. Towards the top, on
the right, is the Nottingham Women's Centre, run by women, for women. The only
women’s library in the East Midlands, it contains many rare books and magazines.
The library was relaunched in 2014 with special guest Kat Banyard, author and founder of UK Feminista.
At the end
of Chaucer Street turn left and head along Clarendon Street to Wollaton Street.
Cross over to Vernon Street. From there cross Derby Road and enter North Circus
Street.
Here is Nottingham Playhouse. Host to several
writing groups, they also feature many plays from local writers; the Nottingham playwright
Amanda Whittington being a Playhouse
favourite.
Continuing
round and meet Oxford Street. No. 1 Oxford Street is site of the original
Nottingham Girls High School founded in 1875.
Now on Arboretum Street, the
Girls High School’s former pupils include the authors Helen Cresswell, Stella
Rimington and Julie Myerson.
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| Julie Myerson |
On the corner
with Regent Street is the family home of the Hines. Nottingham novelist Muriel Hine (1873-1949) features the
home in some of her ‘Lacingham’ novels.
At the top
of Oxford Street turn left on The Ropewalk. Continue to the corner where the
former Nottingham General Hospital (1782-1991) is.
In the mid-19th
century the famous local architect TC Hine added a storey, the clock and the
chapel. Hine’s granddaughter, Muriel
Hine, achieved national fame as a novelist with her light fiction, which
explored the challenges and expectations faced by women.
Left down
Park Row and right into Postern Street leading to St James Terrace.
Here is the
site of The Royal Standard plaque at St James Terrace, which marks the raising of the
Royal Standard by Charles 1st, starting the English Civil War.
During this time, the Governor of Nottingham Castle’s wife was the biographer
and translator Lucy Hutchinson, the writer of Order and Disorder, the first epic poem written in English by a
woman.
On the
corner, at the top of St James Street, is no. 76, Newstead House, where Lord Byron
lived between (1798-99). His daughter Augusta Ada Byron, later known as Ada Lovelace, was a pioneer of
computing science, taking part in writing the first published program.
Back on St
James Terrace, continue down to Friar Lane and take a left. On the right is St
Luke's House, home to the Nottingham Society of Artists founded in 1880. There
is a book celebrating their history by Nigel Corlett and Marjorie Macmillan. It’s called For The
Very Joy of Art.
Continuing
along Friar Lane – which crosses Maid Marion Way – and turn left at Beast
Market Hill.
Now in the old Market Square there are many links to Nottingham’s
literary heritage.
Dorothy Whipple
(1892-1966), described by J B Priestly as the "Jane Austen of the 20th
Century" was once Nottingham’s best-known novelist. Most of her novels are
set in Nottinghamshire, or as it appears, ‘Trentham’. Her novel They Knew Mr Wright (1934) was made into
a 1946 movie partly filmed in the Market Square.
At the far side of the square is Nottingham's Council House with its stone lions. This grand and official building has been the workplace of the City Councillor and author Catharine Arnold.
Continuing
up and left along Long Row the Bell Inn is on the left. This is a former
meeting place of Nottingham Writers’ Club whose former members include Helen Cresswell.
Mary Howitt (1799-1888) lived opposite Long Row,
just facing the lower corner of the Exchange in a fine old mansion now replaced. Wordsworth
called her writing elegant. She’s now best known for The Spider
and the Fly.
A few doors
along from The Bell is Bromley House Library founded in 1816. Mary Howitt and her
husband William, also a famous writer, attended Bromley House Library. Mary wrote: “The
remarkable well-supplied library at Bromley House furnished us with the
constant stores of literature.”
Current members of the library include the author Rowena Edlin-White who has been a director here for twenty years.
Tours of the historic library can be booked.
On the top
floor of the subscription library is the current office of Nottingham UNESCO
City of Literature whose Director is Sandeep
Mahal.
A little
farther is Nottingham’s Central Library. Covering four
floors this is the principal library of the East Midlands.
This trail is currently a work in progress. If you know of an
appropriate person or place that can be included (along this route) then please let
me know via the 'contact' page above.
I’m especially interested in knowing if Katharine ‘Mollie’ Morris can be linked to the city centre.
Once the trail is polished, it will appear on the Nottingham
UNESCO City of Literature website.
