I've been to Nottingham 3 times in the past. This wasn't there the last time:
I think it's some kind of travelling big wheel, that goes from city to city giving locals a sense of what it must be like to go on the London Eye (a quarter of the size, but no danger of unexploded fireworks). That's the only explanation for the advertising hoardings on the cabins:
Appealing to Welsh-speakers throughought the land...
There was a TV crew on the wheel while I was there, but it wasn't open to the public yet. Of course, if you were to take a ride then you'd be rewarded with panoramic views of the city's skyscape, like this one from the castle:
Ah, car parks and incinerator chimneys...
Talking of the castle, it isn't actually a castle, it's a stately home built where the now-demolished castle was:
On the more positive side, Nottingham has trams:
OK, so they may be decked out like EasyJet, but at least they're trams.
And on the theme of garish orange:
See, the thing is, if you create yourself a niche brand that you build on the strength of its nicheness, you don't get to diversify. That's just the way it is. Accept it.
What do you do with disused churches?
That's right, you turn them into pub restaurants. Hey, if you're going to desanctify a religious building, you may as well go the whole way!
I have some sympathy with the pubs, though, as they're being shoved out of their traditional premises by menswear shops:
I always wondered what happened to cartoon animals when they grew up. Now I know:
There's a man whose life has been dominated by one decision made by his parents. With eerie coincidence, my dad used to play darts with a man called Robin Hood.
Talking of whom... I always thought that this statue of Robin Hood was a bit out of proportion:
Fortunately, through the miracle of modern technology, I can quickly lengthen the body below the waist to get this:
Yes, that's better.
Why do all the women in Nottingham aged 18-25 wear a uniform? Here it is (snapped from behind so they don't see me taking it and beat me up):
Short skirt or shorts, opaque black or brown tights, calf-length boots: I saw this so often, I can only assume there must some kind of cult in operation.
And finally, a photo to stir the heart. Nottingham is going for a world record:
Yes, it's going for a world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as Robin Hood. Uh? Are they trying to wrest the record back from rivals Derby or something? Surely nowhere else on the planet would there ever be any kind of gathering of people dressed as Robin Hood? This is like me claiming a world record for the largest number of people wearing blue shirts in my house at the same time.
Gawd, if my daughter does go to the University there, I've just blown a dozen blog entries in one...