So Does Nottingham have touristy places?

Yes so after being asked about whetherI know about the existence of a certain place by the name of  "Nottingham Castle", to which I could not honestly say yes but was too ashamed to say no, I decided I do not know the city well enough, and am therefore adamant that I take every effort to go out of my way and familiarise myself with it.

So does Nottingham have "touristy places"? As much as I would like to believe there are, being foreign myself, after some time spent living here, and doing some research, there is, honestly, not much to see.

Nonetheless, I have made a worthwhile trip to the city centre where you can walk through the renown Lace Market (don't expect too much though, for it really isn't much more than a small area of quint, old, Victorian style buildings), shop round UK's biggest high street apparel stores back-to-back, and treat yourself to a warm snack like Jacket Potato or afternoon tea at Saint Peter's Church cafe.

So it's Thursday, not a perfect day for a trip, but for a student who has no lesson for a good half of the day, nothing can be better than taking an escape from familiar school and hostel grounds for a little exploration. (No, I won't reveal that I decided to add the "little exploration" to my itinerary because I got to return a few items to some stores there)

The Lace Market

The Lace Market  is what I set out for. It sounds like a elusive quaint little place, full of Victorian style brick buildings, stuck in past. Though  after having been there I found that we came really close to stumbling on its grounds on several occasions in the past.

There was never a market in the sense that there were stalls like a typical market, but you can still see the old  trading houses, warehouses and showrooms that in the old days used to display, store and sell the lace products. I came across this building that once belonged to one of such trading houses. It has Navilles Textile written on it's entrance, situated at the corner of busy cross-road along Stoney Street. It must have been a booming business back then, with its prime location and magnificent brick building.

Many other trade houses and warehouses like this constitute the Lace Market, a quater-mile square area at the heart of Nottingham. Once the heart of the world's lace industry during the days of the British Empire, it is full of impressive examples of 19th century industrial architecture and thus is a protected heritage area. It's probably the oldest part of Nottingham City and used to be occupied by the Saxons who first settled in the city. The street names are tell-tale signs of this: Fletcher Gate (Butchers' Gata, where Gata is a Danish word for Street) and Fishers' Gate. After the Norman Conquest, the Saxon area was merged with the Norman area centred around the castle, and Lace Market then became the administrative centre of the city, becoming a commercial and cultural sector as people conduct business, erect institutions here.

Now the area houses a school, a few cafes and some modern textile companies.

The once-booming Navilles Textile

Apparently, this are is now the centre square of a school, if I'm not wrong.

Another alley in the Market, where roads are wide enough for, presumably, courier  vehicles and heavy-duty trucks to load/unload textiles.

Saint Peter's Church
Compared to other cathedrals and churches in the UK, this is a humble church standing on a raised hill not far from the Lace Market. It has a little backyard surrounding the church, which rises high above ground level and ends with a pointed top. On Cafe Open Days, visitors can have afternoon tea inside the church at its little cafe. For just just 3 pounds, you get 2 sandwiches, one packet of chips plus a drink. Nice deal!

Old Market Square
This is a spacious open ground laid with stone slabs in front of the magnificent parliament building. It is excluded from trams and traffics, and is mainly used to host events such as the Christmas Market during festive seasons. Stalls selling piping hot Jacket Potato can be seen on a regular basis, while shops of all classes are all easily accessible from here: Clarks, Primark, River Island ect ect.

The Old Market Square under a clear sky!

Spotted outside a Cafe ^^

OK, this might look disgusting but it's simply the NICEST thing to have on a cold day in town!
Jacket Potato with beef&onions fillings (ooooo, such generous lady she was, gave me so many scoops of beef stew I had a hard time holding the box such that nothing whelmed out of it!)

This picture sums up how wonderful the day have been:)