[Albion] Nottingham

[Sid and the Sharknados]

It is, yes. Great little boozer. But a 25 minute walk to Trent Bridge.

It's great.
Also the furthest north I've ever found Harvey's on tap. Although I should have gone for the Castle Rock like I normally do when I'm in Nottingham.

 

[Midland_Seagull]

This is my local away day. Made up that I managed to get a ticket this week when a few popped up. The Stratford Haven has a great selection of beers and is 10 mins walk to the ground.

 

[NottinghamGull]

This is my local away day. Made up that I managed to get a ticket this week when a few popped up. The Stratford Haven has a great selection of beers and is 10 mins walk to the ground.

I’d also suggest Stratford Haven or other places in West Bridgford are worth a visit. Plenty of good bars and places to eat and a short 10-15 minute walk to the ground. Nottingham city centre also has a great selection but more like a 30-40 minute walk. Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem good for CAMRA fans but not if you want to watch the City vs Liverpool game. No TVs. Sometimes I’m not even sure they have electricity, but great beers. Hooters for the younger crowd but average food. Will likely have a good football atmosphere. Vat & Fiddle near to station is another good Castle Rock Brewery pub - they tend to be good value as well as good drinks (castlerockbrewery.co.uk). Cricket fans will know the TBI (Trent Bridge Inn) but they had doormen checking tickets or ID for Forest fans only last year.

Looking forward to the game with my son. Atmosphere last year was great. Just hope we get a better result this time.

 

[Giraffe]

Driving up on the day, any recommendations on where to park

West Bridgeford area has a car park or two that is cheap. Also lots of places for lunch around there.

 

[Stat Brother]

Jnr is up there now, celebrating his 19th birthday weekend.
Naturally he forgot to take his ticket with him.

Here is the pure undistilled joy he has with me as his father.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Jnr is up there now, celebrating his 19th birthday weekend.
Naturally he forgot to take his ticket with him.

Here is the pure undistilled joy he has with me as his father.

View attachment 170227

Should have told him to collect it from the ticket office.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

I’d also suggest Stratford Haven or other places in West Bridgford are worth a visit. Plenty of good bars and places to eat and a short 10-15 minute walk to the ground. Nottingham city centre also has a great selection but more like a 30-40 minute walk. Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem good for CAMRA fans but not if you want to watch the City vs Liverpool game. No TVs. Sometimes I’m not even sure they have electricity, but great beers. Hooters for the younger crowd but average food. Will likely have a good football atmosphere. Vat & Fiddle near to station is another good Castle Rock Brewery pub - they tend to be good value as well as good drinks (castlerockbrewery.co.uk). Cricket fans will know the TBI (Trent Bridge Inn) but they had doormen checking tickets or ID for Forest fans only last year.

Looking forward to the game with my son. Atmosphere last year was great. Just hope we get a better result this time.

Just for taking the time to rate the food at Hooters, I applaud you sir!

 

[Easy 10]

Found a nice little boozer just off Market Square which has the game on. There's a big Christmas market here in full flow, so the doris is happier than a dog with two dicks.

In other news, I inhaled a full english this morning (eggs, bacon, sausage, tomato, hash browns, beans, mushrooms, toast). £4.99.

Ridiculous. Makes you realise what a RIP-OFF it is living daan saaf.

 

[NottinghamGull]

food at Hooters, I applaud you sir!

We settled on Hooters as well as close to the ground and plenty on TVs to watch the 12:30 match. At least you are well looked after by the staff and a bit of atmosphere. Forgot about the German market. Enjoy your German sausage

 

[ElectricNaz]

f***ing gutted. Had an attack of gout in my big toe this morning, got as far as the M40 before having to turn back home as I cannot handle the pain of it, the rest of the drive each way, walking to the ground etc. Annoyed after a 3 hour round journey, the ticket price, paid parking in someone's driveway and petrol all for nothing.

Genuine question - should I be calling the club to explain my non attendance in this case? Will I get a penalty for not showing up? Or are penalties purely for giving others a ticket?

 

[Easy 10]

Sorry to hear of your trevails @ElectricNaz

As it turned out, I had some of my own. I didn't even make kickoff. Get this. I was happily ensconced in a boozer in Market Square, Nottingham City Centre, watching the 12.30 with a few shandies. Around 2pm, I sloped out and stood at one of 2 or 3 bus stops to get a bus to the game. A bus pulls in, and I step on to ask the driver "do you go to Trent Bridge mate ?"
"Oh, err. MmmNnnn...Yeah, yeah. Trent Bridge, yeah"
Bit uncertain, weirdly, but right-o. So I pay and sit down.

So whilst the bus went in roughly my expected direction (I knew the City Ground was south-east of Market Square), it soon veered off into uncharted territory. I was embarking on a grand tour of Nottingham housing estates. I'd have picked this up with him sooner, but we then got onto a dual carriageway with signs for the cricket and football grounds. "Excellent" I thought. He must be looping round. But no. He took an exit that then took me into another council estate rabbit-hole, and I could see from my Google Maps app that I was getting further and further away from the City Ground.

So he pulls in at another stop around some more slums, and I mince up to his cabin. "Err...I wanted Trent Bridge ?"
"Ahhh...oh shit. Sorry, no, this doesn't go to Trent Bridge"
"Umm...WTF ? I'm going to the game, it kicks off at 3. I SAID Trent Bridge"
"Ahh bollocks. Really sorry mate"
"For F8CK sake. So what do I do now ?"

He fumbles and brings out a load of laminated bus times sheets. I tell him f8ck it, just let me off here. "THANKS for that MATE"
Anyway, I'm outside some shithole pub called The Peacock somewhere or other. I whistle up a local cab firm, fortunately the guy turns up within 5, and £12 later I'm at the away end at the City Ground at 3:10pm.

I walk in, and I don't even know we're losing. Their shitty big screens are showing the game live (whats the point of that btw ?), and the numbers / scoreline / clock are too small in the top-left of the screen too far away for me to read it. So I'm there for a good 10-15 minutes of the game thinking its 0-0, until our fans chime up with "1-0 AND YOU STILL DON'T SING". I'm then like..."Huh ? Oh, we're LOSING ?....F8ck me".

Thankfully it all turned out great in the end. But christ.

 

[Eeyore]

Sorry to hear of your trevails @ElectricNaz

As it turned out, I had some of my own. I didn't even make kickoff. Get this. I was happily ensconced in a boozer in Market Square, Nottingham City Centre, watching the 12.30 with a few shandies. Around 2pm, I sloped out and stood at one of 2 or 3 bus stops to get a bus to the game. A bus pulls in, and I step on to ask the driver "do you go to Trent Bridge mate ?"
"Oh, err. MmmNnnn...Yeah, yeah. Trent Bridge, yeah"
Bit uncertain, weirdly, but right-o. So I pay and sit down.

So whilst the bus went in roughly my expected direction (I knew the City Ground was south-east of Market Square), it soon veered off into uncharted territory. I was embarking on a grand tour of Nottingham housing estates. I'd have picked this up with him sooner, but we then got onto a dual carriageway with signs for the cricket and football grounds. "Excellent" I thought. He must be looping round. But no. He took an exit that then took me into another council estate rabbit-hole, and I could see from my Google Maps app that I was getting further and further away from the City Ground.

So he pulls in at another stop around some more slums, and I mince up to his cabin. "Err...I wanted Trent Bridge ?"
"Ahhh...oh shit. Sorry, no, this doesn't go to Trent Bridge"
"Umm...WTF ? I'm going to the game, it kicks off at 3. I SAID Trent Bridge"
"Ahh bollocks. Really sorry mate"
"For F8CK sake. So what do I do now ?"

He fumbles and brings out a load of laminated bus times sheets. I tell him f8ck it, just let me off here. "THANKS for that MATE"
Anyway, I'm outside some shithole pub called The Peacock somewhere or other. I whistle up a local cab firm, fortunately the guy turns up within 5, and £12 later I'm at the away end at the City Ground at 3:10pm.

I walk in, and I don't even know we're losing. Their shitty big screens are showing the game live (whats the point of that btw ?), and the numbers / scoreline / clock are too small in the top-left of the screen too far away for me to read it. So I'm there for a good 10-15 minutes of the game thinking its 0-0, until our fans chime up with "1-0 AND YOU STILL DON'T SING". I'm then like..."Huh ? Oh, we're LOSING ?....F8ck me".

Thankfully it all turned out great in the end. But christ.

It would have been even better if you hadn't known at all. At 3-1 you would have felt better during the last ten minutes.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Sorry to hear of your trevails @ElectricNaz

As it turned out, I had some of my own. I didn't even make kickoff. Get this. I was happily ensconced in a boozer in Market Square, Nottingham City Centre, watching the 12.30 with a few shandies. Around 2pm, I sloped out and stood at one of 2 or 3 bus stops to get a bus to the game. A bus pulls in, and I step on to ask the driver "do you go to Trent Bridge mate ?"
"Oh, err. MmmNnnn...Yeah, yeah. Trent Bridge, yeah"
Bit uncertain, weirdly, but right-o. So I pay and sit down.

So whilst the bus went in roughly my expected direction (I knew the City Ground was south-east of Market Square), it soon veered off into uncharted territory. I was embarking on a grand tour of Nottingham housing estates. I'd have picked this up with him sooner, but we then got onto a dual carriageway with signs for the cricket and football grounds. "Excellent" I thought. He must be looping round. But no. He took an exit that then took me into another council estate rabbit-hole, and I could see from my Google Maps app that I was getting further and further away from the City Ground.

So he pulls in at another stop around some more slums, and I mince up to his cabin. "Err...I wanted Trent Bridge ?"
"Ahhh...oh shit. Sorry, no, this doesn't go to Trent Bridge"
"Umm...WTF ? I'm going to the game, it kicks off at 3. I SAID Trent Bridge"
"Ahh bollocks. Really sorry mate"
"For F8CK sake. So what do I do now ?"

He fumbles and brings out a load of laminated bus times sheets. I tell him f8ck it, just let me off here. "THANKS for that MATE"
Anyway, I'm outside some shithole pub called The Peacock somewhere or other. I whistle up a local cab firm, fortunately the guy turns up within 5, and £12 later I'm at the away end at the City Ground at 3:10pm.

I walk in, and I don't even know we're losing. Their shitty big screens are showing the game live (whats the point of that btw ?), and the numbers / scoreline / clock are too small in the top-left of the screen too far away for me to read it. So I'm there for a good 10-15 minutes of the game thinking its 0-0, until our fans chime up with "1-0 AND YOU STILL DON'T SING". I'm then like..."Huh ? Oh, we're LOSING ?....F8ck me".

Thankfully it all turned out great in the end. But christ.

As a chronic travel catastophist, I am definitely the most qualified person to point out that you could have looked up which bus you needed, rather than relying on the bus driver knowing what on earth they were going on about (which is never going to end well).
I'm pretty sure you could have just walked for that matter but we'll brush over that.

 

[Bry Nylon]

Sorry to hear of your trevails @ElectricNaz

As it turned out, I had some of my own. I didn't even make kickoff. Get this. I was happily ensconced in a boozer in Market Square, Nottingham City Centre, watching the 12.30 with a few shandies. Around 2pm, I sloped out and stood at one of 2 or 3 bus stops to get a bus to the game. A bus pulls in, and I step on to ask the driver "do you go to Trent Bridge mate ?"
"Oh, err. MmmNnnn...Yeah, yeah. Trent Bridge, yeah"
Bit uncertain, weirdly, but right-o. So I pay and sit down.

So whilst the bus went in roughly my expected direction (I knew the City Ground was south-east of Market Square), it soon veered off into uncharted territory. I was embarking on a grand tour of Nottingham housing estates. I'd have picked this up with him sooner, but we then got onto a dual carriageway with signs for the cricket and football grounds. "Excellent" I thought. He must be looping round. But no. He took an exit that then took me into another council estate rabbit-hole, and I could see from my Google Maps app that I was getting further and further away from the City Ground.

So he pulls in at another stop around some more slums, and I mince up to his cabin. "Err...I wanted Trent Bridge ?"
"Ahhh...oh shit. Sorry, no, this doesn't go to Trent Bridge"
"Umm...WTF ? I'm going to the game, it kicks off at 3. I SAID Trent Bridge"
"Ahh bollocks. Really sorry mate"
"For F8CK sake. So what do I do now ?"

He fumbles and brings out a load of laminated bus times sheets. I tell him f8ck it, just let me off here. "THANKS for that MATE"
Anyway, I'm outside some shithole pub called The Peacock somewhere or other. I whistle up a local cab firm, fortunately the guy turns up within 5, and £12 later I'm at the away end at the City Ground at 3:10pm.

I walk in, and I don't even know we're losing. Their shitty big screens are showing the game live (whats the point of that btw ?), and the numbers / scoreline / clock are too small in the top-left of the screen too far away for me to read it. So I'm there for a good 10-15 minutes of the game thinking its 0-0, until our fans chime up with "1-0 AND YOU STILL DON'T SING". I'm then like..."Huh ? Oh, we're LOSING ?....F8ck me".

Thankfully it all turned out great in the end. But christ.

If only you’d been wearing the inflatable Lone Ranger outfit whilst stood outside The Peacock, on some desolate council estate on the outskirts of Nottingham. That would have been comedy pathos that is impossible to write.

 

[Easy 10]

As a chronic travel catastophist, I am definitely the most qualified person to point out that you could have looked up which bus you needed, rather than relying on the bus driver knowing what on earth they were going on about (which is never going to end well).
I'm pretty sure you could have just walked for that matter but we'll brush over that.

It was at least a 30-40m walk, on a chuffing cold day. Who does that when there are plentiful buses ?

And maybe it's just me, but I'm usually REASONABLY confident on local bus drivers actually knowing where they are going ?

 

[kevo]

Sorry to hear of your trevails @ElectricNaz

As it turned out, I had some of my own. I didn't even make kickoff. Get this. I was happily ensconced in a boozer in Market Square, Nottingham City Centre, watching the 12.30 with a few shandies. Around 2pm, I sloped out and stood at one of 2 or 3 bus stops to get a bus to the game. A bus pulls in, and I step on to ask the driver "do you go to Trent Bridge mate ?"
"Oh, err. MmmNnnn...Yeah, yeah. Trent Bridge, yeah"
Bit uncertain, weirdly, but right-o. So I pay and sit down.

So whilst the bus went in roughly my expected direction (I knew the City Ground was south-east of Market Square), it soon veered off into uncharted territory. I was embarking on a grand tour of Nottingham housing estates. I'd have picked this up with him sooner, but we then got onto a dual carriageway with signs for the cricket and football grounds. "Excellent" I thought. He must be looping round. But no. He took an exit that then took me into another council estate rabbit-hole, and I could see from my Google Maps app that I was getting further and further away from the City Ground.

So he pulls in at another stop around some more slums, and I mince up to his cabin. "Err...I wanted Trent Bridge ?"
"Ahhh...oh shit. Sorry, no, this doesn't go to Trent Bridge"
"Umm...WTF ? I'm going to the game, it kicks off at 3. I SAID Trent Bridge"
"Ahh bollocks. Really sorry mate"
"For F8CK sake. So what do I do now ?"

He fumbles and brings out a load of laminated bus times sheets. I tell him f8ck it, just let me off here. "THANKS for that MATE"
Anyway, I'm outside some shithole pub called The Peacock somewhere or other. I whistle up a local cab firm, fortunately the guy turns up within 5, and £12 later I'm at the away end at the City Ground at 3:10pm.

I walk in, and I don't even know we're losing. Their shitty big screens are showing the game live (whats the point of that btw ?), and the numbers / scoreline / clock are too small in the top-left of the screen too far away for me to read it. So I'm there for a good 10-15 minutes of the game thinking its 0-0, until our fans chime up with "1-0 AND YOU STILL DON'T SING". I'm then like..."Huh ? Oh, we're LOSING ?....F8ck me".

Thankfully it all turned out great in the end. But christ.

Blimey. Sounds like you went on a tour of The Meadows, which used to be one of the most notorious council estates in Britain.

 

[Easy 10]

If only you’d been wearing the inflatable Lone Ranger outfit whilst stood outside The Peacock, on some desolate council estate on the outskirts of Nottingham. That would have been comedy pathos that is impossible to write.

In that weather, it would have been utterly flaccid.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

It was at least a 30-40m walk, on a chuffing cold day. Who does that when there are plentiful buses ?

The walk will warm you up. Buy a 4-pack or something to drink or a cup of tea if you want to.

And maybe it's just me, but I'm usually REASONABLY confident on local bus drivers actually knowing where they are going ?

Yeah that's completely insane. Bus drivers are basically soulless colons put on the world to make other people more miserable. Expect nothing. You could have looked up which bus you needed in seconds.

Incidentally, and it's not particularly relevant to this, my friend from Nottingham told me the buses yesterday were generally cocked up and running slower and less reliably than normal, for no perceptible reason.

I did get the right bus, and still missed the first 5 minutes and the Forest goal, by the way.

 

[Horses Arse]

Sorry to hear of your trevails @ElectricNaz

As it turned out, I had some of my own. I didn't even make kickoff. Get this. I was happily ensconced in a boozer in Market Square, Nottingham City Centre, watching the 12.30 with a few shandies. Around 2pm, I sloped out and stood at one of 2 or 3 bus stops to get a bus to the game. A bus pulls in, and I step on to ask the driver "do you go to Trent Bridge mate ?"
"Oh, err. MmmNnnn...Yeah, yeah. Trent Bridge, yeah"
Bit uncertain, weirdly, but right-o. So I pay and sit down.

So whilst the bus went in roughly my expected direction (I knew the City Ground was south-east of Market Square), it soon veered off into uncharted territory. I was embarking on a grand tour of Nottingham housing estates. I'd have picked this up with him sooner, but we then got onto a dual carriageway with signs for the cricket and football grounds. "Excellent" I thought. He must be looping round. But no. He took an exit that then took me into another council estate rabbit-hole, and I could see from my Google Maps app that I was getting further and further away from the City Ground.

So he pulls in at another stop around some more slums, and I mince up to his cabin. "Err...I wanted Trent Bridge ?"
"Ahhh...oh shit. Sorry, no, this doesn't go to Trent Bridge"
"Umm...WTF ? I'm going to the game, it kicks off at 3. I SAID Trent Bridge"
"Ahh bollocks. Really sorry mate"
"For F8CK sake. So what do I do now ?"

He fumbles and brings out a load of laminated bus times sheets. I tell him f8ck it, just let me off here. "THANKS for that MATE"
Anyway, I'm outside some shithole pub called The Peacock somewhere or other. I whistle up a local cab firm, fortunately the guy turns up within 5, and £12 later I'm at the away end at the City Ground at 3:10pm.

I walk in, and I don't even know we're losing. Their shitty big screens are showing the game live (whats the point of that btw ?), and the numbers / scoreline / clock are too small in the top-left of the screen too far away for me to read it. So I'm there for a good 10-15 minutes of the game thinking its 0-0, until our fans chime up with "1-0 AND YOU STILL DON'T SING". I'm then like..."Huh ? Oh, we're LOSING ?....F8ck me".

Thankfully it all turned out great in the end. But christ.

No gout though?

 

[Guinness Boy]

Canal house was a great recommendation. No football on but really good beer and food and a bouncer with a sense of humour.

Went back after the game and the rest is on the train thread