Have an amazing Autumn half-term in Nottingham

Gareth Morgan All, Opp Notts

Nottingham Caves Festival – 17 – 23 October in Old Market Square
A Caves Festival hub marquee will be in Old Market Square from Monday 17 to Sunday 23 October, hosting free events and activities – open daily 10.30am – 6pm.

Visitors will be able to discover the history of Nottingham’s awe inspiring caves with free activities including:

• Discover the fun side of archaeology with Trent and Peak archaeology. Grab a trowel and get digging – who knows what you might find?
• Book onto an amazing virtual reality exploration (using a real virtual reality headset!) of two caves, using innovative technology developed by Nottingham based Hot Knife. Visitors can wander around the caves, learn about their history and even go into passageways that aren’t accessible in real life
• Enjoy a talk with Nottingham’s official archaeologist, Scott Lomax, and learn about recent archaeological discoveries in the city
• Go on a guided walking tour of the city using the Nottingham Caves app, and learn how to see the caves beneath your feet
• Experience ‘artificial caving’ in a cave designed and built by Hangfast – no need to go underground! See what it’s like to explore and navigate a tight space in limestone tunnels similar to those found in the Yorkshire Dales (available Mon-Fri only)

Half-Term fun at the Galleries of Justice and the City of Caves
This thrilling family friendly Halloween tour offers a fascinating look at the true-life witch trials that took place in the past. Visit our courtroom to learn about the hysteria that led to the accusations being made and discover the evidence which led to the trials. See what’s on at GoJ. Or explore a hidden world beneath your feet and journey through a maze of original sandstone caves on our actor-led family tours and discover the fascinating history beneath the streets of Nottingham. See what’s on in the Caves.

Half-Term at the National Ice Centre
Get your skates on this October Half-Term with skating at the National Ice Centre and Skate with a Princess Party on Monday 24 October!

Plus, What’s On the Theatre Royal and Concert Hall!
Have a does of George’s Marvellous Medicine at Theatre Royal & Concert Hall – 19 – 22 October

What’s On at our historic sites? Wollaton Hall, Green’s Windmill and Newstead Abbey
Visit Wollaton Park and their Museum Explorer Activity Trail – 17 – 28 October. Go on a journey of discovery with a FREE trail of the Hall and Park. Collect yours from reception in the Great Hall. Drop by at Green’s Windmill for Cupcake Baking – Saturday 22 October 11am – 2pm – and bake some delicious cupcakes with our own flour. £3 per child. Or, try Children’s Twilight Adventure Walk – 15, 22 and 29 October 4 – 6pm at Newstead Abbey! Explore Newstead in the twlight, following the paths through the gardens and woods. Wrap up warm and bring a torch! Includes refreshments in the cafe for children. £8 child, £4 adult. Book on 01623 455916.

There are also loads of FREE ParkLives activities happening across Nottingham

There’s Half-Term Mardi Gras Fun from 17 – 28 Oct in across our libraries
Join us for Mardi Gras fun in our libraries – come dressed in your most colourful carnival outfits, ready for games and crafty fun. Get in the carnival mood at: Sherwood Library – Wednesday 19 October 11am-12pm, Southglade Park Library – Friday 21 October 2pm-3pm, Basford Library – Tuesday 25 October 2pm – 3pm, Clifton Library – Wednesday 26 October 11am-12pm, Meadows Library – Wednesday 26 October 2pm-4pm, Bulwell Library – Thursday 27 October 2pm-3pm, or Radford/ Lenton Library- Friday 28 October 2pm-3pm!

Click here for more on all the activities on offer in Libraries

What’s on in Children’s Centres in your area?

Aspley, Broxtowe and Bilborough
Stay, Play and Learn – Autumn – Have fun at the Phoenix Adventure Playground, Monday 17 October, 10.30am-12.30pm
Stay, Play and Learn – Music – Come and make some noise at Aspley Children’s Centre, Friday 21 October, 10.30am-12.30pm

Sherwood and Edwards Lane
Stay, Play and Learn – Fitness – fun and physical activity for all the family, Edwards Lane Community Centre, Tuesday 18 October, 11.30am-12.30pm
Celebrating Difference and Cultural Awareness –take part in the parade for five to 13-year-olds, try on costumes, play instruments and sing cultural songs, Forest Fields Play Centre, Friday 21 October, 3.30pm-5.30pm

Clifton
Autumn walk with Nutrition Team – walking to Flower Park and back for lunch from Clifton Young People’s Centre, Wednesday 19 October, 11am-2pm (meet at 10.45am) booking essential, call 0115 876 2625

The Meadows
Messy Play – come and have fun making mess, Meadows Children’s Centre, Kirkby Gardens, Tuesday 18 October, 10.30am-12 noon, call 0115 876 1320

Bulwell and Bulwell Forest
Play, Stay and Learn – Messy Play – come along and have fun getting messy around the theme of autumn, Bulwell Children’s Centre, Steadfold Close, Monday 17 October, 1.30pm-3pm, call 0115 876 2220

Dunkirk, Wollaton, Lenton and Lenton Abbey
Craft session – try your hand at a number of creative activities, Wollaton Children’s Centre, Arleston Drive, Wednesday 19 October, 10.30am-12 noon, call 0115 876 1320

Sneinton
Messy Play – get involved and get messy at Sneinton Children’s Centre, Thursday 20 October, 1.30pm-3pm, call 0115 876 1700

Hyson Green, Radford
Stay, Play and Learn – Goose Fair theme –drop in and play at Hyson Green Children’s Centre, Gregory Boulevard, Monday 17 and 24 October, 1pm-2.30pm, call 0115 883 8202

St Ann’s South
Stay, Play and Learn – Babies – bring along your tots for a play session to St Ann’s Valley Centre, Monday 18 October, 10am-11am, call 0115 876 1700

Anyone who cares for or is expecting a child can register to use the centres. For more information head to www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/childrenscentres

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All the fun of Goose Fair!

Gareth Morgan All, Opp Notts

Today nearly half a million people go to Nottingham Goose Fair, making it one of the biggest funfairs in Europe – but its early origins have as much to do with cheese fights and trouser sellers as Geese. ‘Gooseh’ as some people affectionately call it, can actually be traced back 1,000 years to the arrival of the fair of the Feast of St Matthew, which later became the Goose Fair when livestock sales became its main theme. But the fair used to be famous for being the place where you could buy just about any form of pre-industrial revolution nibble or fashion accessory.

Horse sales were the fair’s biggest draw in part of the middle ages and cheese was also sold by the ton for decades. This led to no less than a full scale ‘Cheese Riot’ in 1766! An account of the disorder, reproduced in a guide by the long-defunct Nottingham Information Department in the 1950s, describes the moment fun turned to fromage fury:

“Cheeses were picked up and hurled at stall holders. This started a riot in which stalls were overturned and cheeses bowled along the ground. The mayor himself was knocked over by a flying cheese, and finally the magistrates had to call out the Dragoons [mounted soldiers], Nottingham then being a military centre.”

The phrase ‘Goose Fair’ first appears in 1542 in one official record about the purchase of a pair of trousers at the ‘Goose Fair Nottingham’, by John Trussell, a steward of the Willoughby family from Wollaton.

“It was actually a very small event at one time,” says David Cross, who runs who runs historical walking tours of Nottingham.

“When it first became widely known there was already a big fair at Lenton Priory which was larger. The fair as we know it today is absolutely massive compared with what it once was.

“When farming was done by hand a lot of the crops would get left on the ground and wasted. Unless you let birds like geese go into the field and eat the grain to fatten up. This is the practice which first led to the current name emerging in the 16th Century.”

The fair’s current home on the Forest Rec is also a relatively new development in the course of its history. Prior to 1937 it was always held on Old Market Square, before it completely outgrew the site.

Rumour has it when the council house was being built on the square in the mid-1930s local officials became nervous about the increasingly rowdy and noisy fair leading to damage of the new building. So they shunted it up the road to keep the rabble out of the way.

The first rides appeared in the latter part of the 18th century starting with roundabouts operated by hand, and by the 19th century the fair’s status as a trading point had diminished as it became more an event of pleasure than business.

Since then it has gradually grown to now attract more than 400,000 people over the five days. Livestock sales have long gone but dozens of decades-old traditions remain – including the Cockrell-on-a-stick lollipops and mint sauce and mushy peas.

“One of my favourite stories is the year when 22,000 geese came through the fair,” added David.

“I’ve worked out this meant 60 Geese a minute were sold that year at the fair.

“There have only been odd interruptions. The Plague stopped it 1646 and there were pauses during both world wars. But it’s now one of the biggest events of its type throughout Europe and is known across Britain. It’s really gone on to put Nottingham on the map.”

Blog reproduced from NottsTV and you can sign off your visit to Goose Fair on OppNotts by clicking here!

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Nottingham Castle to become a Fun Palace this Weekend!

Gareth Morgan All, Opp Notts

As part of a national festival of Arts and Science, Nottingham Castle Museum is to host a weekend of activities for children and families on Saturday and Sunday 1 and 2 October, so that ‘everyone can be an artist; everyone can be a scientist.’

Inspired by the summer exhibition of drawings by Leonardo de Vinci, scientists from the Pathology Department of the University of Nottingham and QMC, working with visual artist, Chrys Allen and performers from Nottingham’s Nonsuch Theatre Company, will encourage families to explore the science of forensic analysis, how the body’s cells reproduce (and sometimes go wrong), and digital scanning technology in the diagnosis of disease.  The artists will help participants interpret their scientific observations in drama and drawings.

Fun Palaces weekend is an annual celebration of workshops and events first started by theatre director Joan Littlewood over 50 years ago at the Theatre Royal Stratford in the East End of London, where she brought artists and scientists together to show how everyone can get involved in different aspects of popular culture.  Now a national celebration, Fun Palaces have been revived in recognition of the part that art and science can play in our everyday lives.

October also sees the national celebration of drawing and illustration, The Big Draw, which the Castle Museum is marking with special events around the final two weeks of the Leonardo Exhibition.

The activities at the Castle Museum on 1 and 2 October have been funded by the Pathological Society as part of their drive to encourage scientists to reach out to members of the public, and organized by the Nottingham-based company Ignite! who work to get more creative programmes into schools and education.

Families can simply drop into the activities at the Castle Museum from 11:00 to 3:00 on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 October. The workshops are free, though entry to the Castle grounds is charged at weekends.

Work from the Fun Palaces events in Nottingham will also be exhibited in various locations in February 2017 as part of the Nottingham Festival of Science and Curiosity.

Information on all the events at the Castle Museum for Fun Palaces and The Big Draw can be found here.

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