Dave Mooney – författare

The largest city in the East Midlands, Nottingham has been an important centre in the area since the Middle Ages. The old Saxon borough was built around the area known today as the Lace Market and an adjoining settlement developed around the Norman castle, famously occupied by the Sheriff of Nottingham in the legendary Robin Hood stories. In later centuries Nottingham became a major manufacturer of lace and several other famous names in industry also made their home in Nottingham, including Boots the chemists, Raleigh cycles and Player’s the cigarette manufacturers. The city also has a strong cultural legacy, associated with writers such as D. H. Lawrence and Alan Sillitoe. With two universities, many new industries and commercial developments, a new tram system, and a UK sporting centre with the oldest professional football team in the world, Notts County, and Nottingham Forest, and the test cricket venue of Trent Bridge, Nottingham is a vibrant, modern British city proud of its heritage including the Goose Fair which is still held every year.This fascinating A–Z tour of Nottingham, its interesting people, places and historic events, is fully illustrated and will appeal to all those with an interest in this city in the East Midlands.

Beneath the surface of Nottinghamshire lies a hidden world. The area was associated with coal mining for centuries and although today the last mines have closed, the county has a rich mining heritage and physical remnants of the coal industry still abound. The city of Nottingham is built on red sandstone which has been worked and hollowed out over millennia. Early records show that it was known as ‘the place of caves’ in the language of the ancient Britons. Many of Nottingham’s iconic buildings are built into the rock, Nottingham Castle has a network of caves beneath it and other caves are used for the cellars of public houses. Further afield, Cresswell Crags is a network of natural caves occupied in the Stone Age which contains cave paintings and more recent ‘witch marks’, which relate to local superstitions and folklore. The Byron family is interred in its crypt in Hucknall and numerous other churches in the county have crypts beneath their floors.This book takes readers on a tour of Nottinghamshire underground, exploring natural and man-made features with a story to tell. The stories include the strange and unusual and this fascinating portrait of Nottinghamshire underground will interest all those who know the county well or are visiting.

Nottingham is reputed to have nearly 1,000 caves beneath the city. The most extensive cave system of any city in Britain, caves have been associated with Nottingham since the Middle Ages. Over the centuries these caves, many of them excavated by human hands, have been used for multiple purposes - housing, tanneries, wells, storerooms, breweries, cesspits, sand mines, follies, air raid shelters, etc.In this book Nottingham historian Dave Mooney examines the history of the caves, how they were used, how they were rediscovered and how they are still used today. Along the way readers meet the key characters who have been involved with the history of the caves and descriptions are given of notable examples of the cave systems that are still in use today. Illustrated throughout, The Caves of Nottingham will be of interest to all those who live in or are visiting Nottingham and who wish to know more about its remarkable caves.

Nottingham has long been famed for its pubs. In the Middle Ages the city was already a prosperous centre of trade for the East Midlands, and three of its pubs date from this era – Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, the Salutation and The Bell Inn. The city continued to grow during the Industrial Revolution, attracting many new industries such as lace making, bicycle manufacture and tobacco, and many new pubs were opened. The city continues to thrive and is today the largest city in the East Midlands.In Nottingham Pubs, author Dave Mooney takes the reader on a fascinating journey through some of the city’s most interesting, oldest or most famous watering holes, following nine walks around different parts of Nottingham and nearby areas, including Kimberley, which was home to one of Britain’s largest independent breweries until its closure in 2006. Many of the pubs have retained features and traditions of previous ages, and the variety of Nottingham’s pubs today is revealed here, including the characters that have frequented or run the public houses, for which Nottingham is justly renowned.