The East Midlands city of Nottingham has long been associated with the legend of dashing outlaw Robin Hood, and a more recent history in the lace, coal and manufacturing industries. But with Sherwood Forest, Sherwood Pines and the stunning Peak District National Park on the doorstep, a plethora of retail and leisure facilities, great schools and handy transport links across the East Midlands and beyond there is plenty more to this popular Midlands city.
Read on to find out 10 things you may not know about Nottingham and why it might be just the place for you!
Nottingham has a rich cultural heritage beyond famous son Robin Hood
Impressive Nottingham Castle was constructed in the 11th century by the Anglo Saxons and the town grew up around it in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest, at one stage playing host to the Sheriff of Nottingham. Following an impressive £30 million revamp, the Castle and its museum offer a taste of life in the city over the centuries.
With a strong literary pedigree
The city was even named a UNESCO ‘City of Literature’ in December 2015, a title bestowed on only Dublin, Edinburgh, Melbourne, and Prague before it.
The accolade is thanks to Nottingham’s flourishing modern literary and poetry community and publishing sector although the city has strong links to literary heavyweights Lord Byron, D.H. Lawrence and Alan Sillitoe too.
And for those younger scholars, there are some outstanding primary and secondary schools too
There are an impressive 89 primary schools in the Nottingham area and 33 secondary schools and academies in the city. Many of which offer sixth form provision.
There are three further education colleges in Nottingham too: sixth form college Bilborough College, Nottingham College (formerly separate colleges the Central College Nottingham and New College Nottingham) and the Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies which is linked to Nottingham Trent University.
There are a number of popular independent schools in Nottingham too, including Nottingham High School, which was established in 1513.
Nottingham also has an award-winning public transport system and great links to the East Midlands region and beyond
This includes the biggest publicly owned bus network in the country, Nottingham City Transport (NCT), the Nottingham Express Transit tram system and busy Nottingham train station with services from East Midlands Railway, CrossCountry and Northern trains to destinations such as London St Pancras, Liverpool Lime Street, Leicester, Birmingham and Cardiff.
In addition to its excellent public transport services, East Midlands Airport is just 25 minutes away by car, flying to a number of locations across Europe and beyond. The nearby M1, A52 and A46 also offer convenient road connections.
Plus, a strong connection to travel of the two-wheeled variety
Nottingham has a strong cycling history as the home of the famous Raleigh Bicycle Company which was established locally in 1886 and a Raleigh factory remained in the city until 2003. Indeed, the city has a strong history with the bicycle industry as Sturmey-Archer, who developed the first three-speed hub gears, were also based here.
When it comes to sport in general, Nottingham excels, and the city was even named the Home of English Sport in 2015
The city is home to the National Ice Centre, Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre, and Trent Bridge international cricket ground amongst other impressive facilities. Professional football teams Notts County and Nottingham Forrest are also based locally and date back to 1862 and 1865 respectively with Nottingham being crowned the UK’s first City of Football in 2014.
Powerhouse Nottingham is home to the largest metropolitan economy in the East Midlands
Nottingham’s economy and GDP output was even the seventh largest in the UK in 2014. The city was also the first in the East Midlands to be considered a Globalization and World Cities Research Network sufficiency-level world city, meaning Nottingham has a significant impact on the global economic network. In 2015 the city was not only a top 10 UK city for job growth but there were more new companies established in Nottingham than any other UK city that year too.
Nottingham likes to work and play hard, with an award-winning nightlife
A frequent recipient of the Purple Flag award as a “great, safe and vibrant place for a night out”, Nottingham has an enviable pub and club scene and a lively student population.
The city is home to not one, but three Universities, the most of any East Midlands town or city. This includes the University of Nottingham, founded in 1881 and a top 20 UK university and 8th in the UK for research power, Nottingham Trent University, Guardian University of the Year 2019, and the highly rated University of Law Nottingham campus.
And on that note, Nottingham is also considered one of the top 10 cities to invest in student buy to let properties
According to RW Invest, Nottingham comes in at number 5 of the Best Places to Invest in Student Accommodation for 2021 for buy-to-let investors. This is thanks to the city’s average rental yield of 3.81% and high growth expectations for average house prices (+24% by 2025) plus a great pool of potential tenants on offer at the city’s three universities. All of which offer an extensive range of undergraduate, post graduate and business courses to around 65,000 students annually.
With very competitive house prices
Homebuyers will be pleased to hear that popular Nottingham is competitively priced for the area when it comes to house prices. In the last year, properties in Nottingham sold for an average price of £235,314. This is on par with Nottinghamshire overall but more affordable than the UK average (around £250,000), and the East Midlands region overall (£247,614). Particularly when you compare it to Oxton (£531,091), Bleasby (£530,954) and Wysall (£510,000).
Property prices have risen an impressive 14% in the past year though, so if you are after a good deal, don’t procrastinate!