October 10, 1999 – In Which I Learn How Nottingham Got its Name

I am off early to Nottingham. I have to change trains in Derby. It takes me a while to figure out that the destination city they are announcing, which the train official pronounces “Darby,” is the one I want.

I start off at the Tales of Robin Hood, a tourist attraction geared towards kids. It’s a Disneyesque ride that includes a run-in with the malevolent Sherriff of Nottingham who tosses us into the dungeon from where Robin Hood rescues us.

Afterwards I take a bus tour of Nottingham, starting at Nottingham Castle. The original castle on this site was destroyed during the Civil War; only its ruins remain today. The current 1650 building was a ducal palace and today is a museum and art gallery. In the 12^th century, the Royal Deer Park stretched for hundreds of acres right up to the palace walls. It was in this park where Robin Hood poached the King’s deer. In the 1850s, the Duke sold the park and today it is an exclusive residential area where gas street lights are hand lit each evening and extinguished each morning by a lamplighter.

While King Richard I (“the Lionheart”) was away on the Crusades, supporters of his brother, the eventual King John, took over Nottingham Castle. This included the Sheriff of Nottingham. According to legend, Nottingham Castle is the scene of the final showdown between the sheriff and the heroic outlaw who was King Richard’s man. A bronze statue in front of Nottingham Castle immortalizes Robin Hood. I find the statue disappointing. It is small and the archer figure looks almost childlike, not the dashing figure of legend.

The tour takes us through the old Lace Market, which once flourished here. Lace is still made here; supplying the lace for Diana’s wedding dress. Our tour guide points out the Jerusalem Pub, the pub from where the Lionheart departed in 1089 for the Crusades and purportedly the oldest pub in England.

And a more modern landmark, we pass the ice arena where the first “perfect-10” Olympic figure skaters, Torvill and Dean, got their start. I remember a couple from New Brunswick I met in the Augusta Denny’s last year when they asked for directions. They were originally from Nottingham. He was a skater; Christopher Dean’s original partner, he said!

We hear the story of the unfortunately named Saxon warrior from whom Nottingham gets its name. The poor fellow was named Snot. The settlement became known as Snotengerham. When the Vikings arrived, they could not pronounce Snotengerham and so it became Nottingham.

I head back to the train station and run to catch the 16:55 train, which is leaving in one minute.