The New Newport News News 147:  Nottingham edition

The Buckitts next day started easy, as their train departed by 11 and they were practically next door to the station.  They picked up “rando sandos” and had a leisurely latte at an outdoor café called “Out of the Woods” a apropos since they were heading towards Sherwood Forest.  [more about that later!].

Boarding the Northern Line⁵, they passed through a tunnel maybe a ½ mile long to view farmland with some horses, few cattle and no sheep.  To me, it looked like USA’s Midwest, with glorious rich-looking dirt.  To Carol, the Brits look a lot fatter and more tattoo’d than the Americans I’ve seen lately, with an amazing amount of flesh on display from all ages.  In fact, looking at some of the girls leaning over, the word “cheeky” came to mind.

Meadowhall was a prosperous mid-size town with an IKEA and shopping, whereas Penistone [yes, that’s how it was spelled] was having their annual agricultural fair.  Sheffield was a very healthy manufacturing city, which was good to see.  The names in Britain are endlessly amusing: Dronfield, Alfreton, Ilkeston.  In Chesterfield they saw a very old church with a twisted and precarious steeple.  Upon looking it up online, they discovered that it had been in that tumble-down shape for centuries!

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Arriving in Nottingham, the Buckitts walked from the train station to their first hotel of the trip, the Leonardo.  They got very used to this walk over the next few days, as many trips involved trains⁵, buses, and trams. 

After a rest and unpacking, Andrew and Zoe went off to the world headquarters of Warhammer gaming company.  Andrew has been gaming with friends, making terrain and painting figures since he was aged 9 or so.  So, this was a secular pilgrimage for him.  Zoe has recently started her own D&D group.  They were amazed with the enormous gaming diorama to be seen there, with exquisitely painted figurines; and they enjoyed a themed dinner.

Meanwhile, the other 3 took a cab over to Nottingham Castle.  It is now a mostly modern estate, but still retains a medieval wall and gatehouse.  The view from the elevated terrace were spectacular.  In the grounds were a famous statue of Robin Hood and a fantastic free Sherwood themed playground, which Carol badly wanted to play in.  She settled for 1000 photos.

The inside of the manor house was the history of the castle, important in the Wars of the Roses and a wonderful exhibit of art themed around the forest.

They walked down the hill toward the canal and found dinner at the Canal House, where they scoped out where to meet for the next day’s adventure.

¹ Cousin Vinny’s: a stop on a bus tour that involves a store, often with a demo of what they make there and a long opportunity to purchase.  Always includes restrooms. 
² Trough: an all–you-can-eat buffet.  Always looks more delicious than it is.
³ CTC is Cheap Tourist Crap.  It is not necessarily inexpensive.  Often to be found in Cousin Vinny stores.
⁴ Buckitts [4 Buckles, 1 Prewitt]
⁵ Former is a term usually used in connection with trains, and means one who loves locomotives and knows all about them personally, by name and number, and are foaming mad for trains in general. [ Ron and Carol like trains very much and love to ride them, but we are not foamers.]