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.

In 2015 it was announced that Nottingham would be designated a UNESCO City of Literature. Nottinghamshire is closely associated with world-famous literary figures and has been the home to many recognised authors, poets and journalists. This book explores the connections between these figures, their works and places within the county. Perhaps the most famous Nottinghamshire writers are D. H. Lawrence, associated with the mining community of Eastwood, and Lord Byron, whose ancestral home was at Newstead Abbey. However, a host of other literary figures are also associated with the county, from J. M. Barrie, who created Peter Pan, and Alan Sillitoe, who chronicled post-war working-class life in Nottingham, Booker-prize-winner Stanley Middleton, nineteenth-century husband-and-wife team Mary and William Howitt to modern-day author Susanna Clarke, the Victorian mesmerist and writer Spencer T. Hall and many others.Nottinghamshire’s Literary Heritage explores the fascinating history of the county’s remarkable literary legacy, as well as being a guide to the locations where that heritage can still be found.

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 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.