Nottingham Light Night 2010

For some time now, Nottingham has had a reputation for violence, especially at the weekends. Being a city with two universities and a cosmopolitan population, combined with the influx of stag and hen parties, the melting pot can occasionally bubble over.

Last year I posted on Nottingham's Light Night, details of which can be found here. Like many councils, knowing when they are onto a good thing, decided to make this year's event a two night affair. The overall objective of the Light Night is to try and get all age groups into the city centre at night.

Many of the city's restaurants had special offers on to entice people through their door, along with various guided walks around the town, ranging from an historical tour to Ezekial Bone's Guts and Gore Tour. St Mary's Church, in the Lace Market area of the city, had a choral evening. We listened to a part of this but were sat too close to the tea and biscuit area so the enjoyment was lost in someone's digestive.

But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Walking down Long Row towards the Old Market Square, the scene is set with the return of the pyramids and Nottingham Wheel. This has had a new name as the word "Eye" is reserved for the London Eye. London does not appear in Nottingham Eye, so being as I'm only a simple bear, cannot understand why certain organisations get so worked up over a little word.

Once again the Council Office was open for all to have a look around. We ventured in last year during Nottingham's Big Night Out, another event, started by BBC Radio Nottingham's breakfast show host, Andy Whittaker.

We proceeded down to the Congregational Hall, on Castle Gate, where I met this friendly dragon.

To prove that he was friendly I did my variation of a lion tamer in a circus.

Outside the hall was the starting point for the Goddess Parade and we watched people in their final minutes of preparation for a while. One of these was a young lady with her Fire And Ice puppet. Her mother, who can be seen in the foreground in the picture below, proudly told us that her daughter had made the puppet herself. Thanks to the power of email and Internet, kelliiexuk passed on the following information:

A group of people (7 ) at my school -Big Wood- Made it along with assistance from city arts. They ran a workshop first to give people a taster of what this prodject would be like. From that, a few people stepped in to take on the challange. The puppets 'skeletal' frame was built by willow, with a covering of glue and tissue paper, along with the decorations. It was lit by L.E.D pop-in lights which were added last thing. The legs were tied around my ankles and the arms were supported by polls.

I filmed kelliiexuk setting off on her parade walk before watching a student troupe doing some street entertainment before running up to Low Pavement to capture other parade entrants.

Meandering our way over to the Trip To Jerusalem we stopped off to watch some slides being projected onto the castle wall, complete with a quadraphonic soundtrack. I would like to say that this was produced for the Nottingham Light Night, however it had already been used in York. Down at The Trip the Morris dancing was in full flow and we had a quick chat with Mike from the Dolphin Morris .

Walking back up Castle Road and into Nottingham Castle grounds we were just in time to watch our council tax go up in colourful smoke.

This was done on the hour throughout the evening to the enjoyment of many.

The evening was really beginning to chill down, so, across town we traped to previously mentioned St Mary's, situated in the Lace Market area of Nottingham, after which it was back to the Market Square to catch a few tunes from local band, Wholesome Fish.


Leaving The Square behind us to head for Exchange Arcade, situated at the back of the Council House, we almost literally bumped into an old friend from last year, so we stayed and watched him make acquaintances with a group of people.

Upon entering the Arcade, the Sinfonia Chorale were in full voice with their voices dancing around due to the superb acoustics inside the small setting.

Heading up Long Row and back towards our parked car we were pleased to see the Dukesbox back in town.

As you can see, the Dukes had quite a large audience and were keeping them entertained with Zeppelin, Madonna, Elvis Costello and Vanilla Ice (remember him?) covers.

Our last stop was after we caught up with the Motoring Nun.


She? was riding round on an electric piano and stopped briefly to have a jamming session with a late night busker. I managed to capture part of this on my video below.




And so endith our Light Night, thank you Sister for the send off.

The images below show all the events that were happening over the event. Other towns and cities throughout the United Kingdom are now hosting similar events. Click here to find out if there is one near you.

Here's looking forward to 2011.

Finally, once again, I must thank Guzzisue for the use of her photographs as Ian and myself were far too busy trying to use the video and keep our hands/paws warm.

Nottingham Light Night 2009

We missed the opening night of this year's Nottingham Light Night on Thursday 12th February as the weather was not too great. As it happens (going into Jimmy Saville mode), Thursday was only the opening of the Nottingham Eye so I don't think we missed out on anything of great importance.
Friday we headed into town by bus and walked up the Hockley area where there were light patterns being projected onto the buildings.
On the pavement there was a large mat that was sensitive to weight thus changing patterns when children walked across it.
From here we walked to the Lace Market where a group was entertaining a small crowd with their songs. More of the shops and businesses got involved in the evening this time and the following display caught Ian, Guzzisue and my eyes.
Walking down to the Old Market Square we could see the Nottingham Eye, which had been repainted since its last visit, and music coming from the covered stage area. We decided to give this a miss and went round the corner of the Council House onto Long Row where there was a robot chasing after children and shooting them with a water spray.
Near to the robot there were some small lighted pyramids. Scattered around the city centre were other illuminated shapes in keeping with the theme. The photo below shows the pyramids on Long Row with the Eye in the background.
In the newly revamped Trinity Square a 1970's disco had been set up complete with lighted floor, a la Saturday Night Fever. Luckily there was no John Travolta doing his thing. Ian never did understand why that film was so popular.
From here we had a five minute trek across town to the castle where on the castle walls there were images being projected with backing music. In the castle grounds a hot air balloon was being primed and looked very colourful. Unfortunately, as for most of the evening I did not have much joy with my photography. One photo that did work was this tree in the castle grounds, looking quite eerie.
Down the hill from the castle is the world famous Trip To Jerusalem where in the courtyard several Morris groups were going through their routines, including the Dolphin Morris with Ian and Guzzisue's friend Mike trying keep the troop organised. I tried to lead them in a dance but alas they were too far away to see me.
There were so many events taking place all over the city centre that it was impossible to see everything. The Gallories Of Justice were open for the evening competing with ghost walks around the centre, special offers from restaurants, and a plethora of street entertainers.
To conclude I will leave the last word to this gentleman and his stance says it all about the 2nd Nottingham Light Night!

Diary Dates

With Xmas now a distant memory it is time to start planning this years activities, so here are a few ideas for 2009.

The 9th Japanese Bike Show at Castle Donnington is on next weekend, 7th & 8th February. Details here. I really enjoyed myself at last years event and Ian was pleased to pick up a gasket set for the Suzuki at a knock down price. A link to the 2008 event is here. We are hoping to be there sometime on Saturday so look out for us.

The sandracing continues over at Mablethorpe with four meetings remaining for this season. We hope to get over again sometime but a lot is dependant on Guzzisue's broken arm. She is off to the hospital this week for a check up, but has at least another four weeks with the metal support. Here is a link to the remaining meetings. Remember to wrap up warm if you venture out here and something to sit on is a good idea as well.

April sees the start of the Round Britain Rally an event that Ian and myself have done for the last three years. In this the entrant is given a list of landmarks, with at least one in every county on mainland UK. The entrant then has to take a photo of their motorcycle at the landmark to gain points. It is not necessary to do all of the landmarks, just as many as you are able. The points value for each landmark varies, so for example one in the Highlands will be worth more than one in Nottinghamshire. Here are a few examples from previous years.
The Tibetan Centre at Eskdalemuir.

Footplate sculpture at Flint railway station.

Welsh harp sculpture at Llangollen and

Victorian drinking fountain and trough, Norton. This landmark was a little elusive for a few entrants in 2008.

Easter's highlight is the Red Marley Hill Climb. We have attended the hill climb twice, see last years report here, so this time we are going on Easter Sunday to see the trials meeting.

One event that neither Ian, Guzzisue or myself have been to yet is the Thundersprint, held at Northwich. This year the event takes place over the weekend of May 9th and 10th. Here's hoping we can get there this year, if so I will give a bear's eye report.

The East Coast Challenge carries on, with the 2009 event starting on March 1st. Ian and myself managed to combine this with the Round Britain Rally landmarks for Norfolk and Suffolk last year. A rather sedate challenge by itself with a 200 mile trip to visit 5 given towns, ending back at your start point no less than 7 hours later but within 24 hours.

Nottingham often gets into the news for all the wrong reasons, one of the problems for a vibrant multi cultural city, but two events that we will be supporting are the Nottingham Light Night on February 12th and 13th. Last year for this event there was music in several places around town, the Nottingham Eye in the Market Square and several buildings lit up for the evening.
Here are some of my photos taken last year.
The Nottingham Eye with in Council House in the background.

The Nottingham Lion overseeing the activities in the Market Square.

A lady making her way down to the centre from the Angel Row area.

These pyramids are on Long Row.

Fire jugglers entertained on the Council House steps

while a samba band played on a stage in the Market Square.

The Dukes Box were playing requests in St Peter's Square.

Walking up Bridlesmith Walk towards the Galleries Of Justice, an old court building and now an award winning museum.

Finally over the Spring Bank Holiday in May there is the Nottingham City Pulse, a three day music extravaganza. Last year there was music from The Blockheads and The Beat as two groups from Ian's golden era, among with many others. Below are some clips I managed to record over the weekend. Listen and hopefully enjoy. The recording quality varies a little as it was a very windy weekend.

Kick 'N' Rush, a local skiffle band


Bombay Bajas an internationally known group of musicians.


Railroad Bill, who are undergoing a name change. Their website does not have much information at present.


The Real Macaws. A talented group from Yorkshire.


The Bikini Beach Band play well known tunes in a surf style. Great fun and look out for the dancers in grass skirts.


The Blockheads. I don't think any introduction is necessary here!


So these are a few of our plans for 2009. I hope some of these are useful to you. If there is any activity in your city go out and support it. these events are put on for your enjoyment.