20th Century Pubs Nottingham
Zig Zag Walking Tour of 4 Nottingham Post WW2 Pubs on Friday 24 February 2023.
How often can you wait 77 years to do something for the first time – for it to be worth the wait? Well, first you need to live that long and then do something you’ve never done before – or at least can’t remember ever doing. In my case, that was a foot tour (not really a pub crawl) on 24 Feb in Nottingham of 4 pubs all built or rebuilt – and renamed as well since 1945.
With about 30 participants enrolling to take part, it’s very clear that these Zig Zag are getting very popular. And no wonder – a lot of forethought, preparation and research is lavished on organising and leading them, by Zig Zag stalwarts Anthony Hopwood and Tony Ebbs.
The incentive here was the astonishing news that nearly 400 pubs (about 32 a month) closed in 2022 in England and Wales (as reported recently, for example, in SPOTLIGHT, the online publishing arm of Nottingham Trent Uni’s Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism).
Researcher Toby had identified 4 pubs well worth a visit – before it’s too late, was the implication.
The first was The March Hare in Carlton Road – like all 4 pubs, friendly and lively, with the distinctiv feature that former landlords had once refused to accept a booking by the Beatles – £25 was just too much!
Next was The Wheatsheaf on Sneinton Road – again, friendly with a great atmosphere and a pool table. A regular here kindly explained to me the difference between billiards, snooker and pool – a distinction which, till then, had completely passed under my radar.
Then one I’ve often passed on Canal Street and been puzzled by the name – The Newshouse. Are you puzzled? It would be worth a visit to this smart wood-panelled real ale pub to find out the reason for the name, once a relatively common one for pubs in run-down areas, as this once was, but is no longer.
Finally, a remarkable visit to the very distinctive New Castle (not Newcastle), near the end of Sneinton Road, close to Sneinton Market. Like the other 3 pubs, built in the once classic design of at least 2 distinct bar rooms separated by the serving bar located between them. The highlights here were threefold, apart from the beer and splendid company – the light and airy conservatory serving as a bar room, the mounds of sandwiches, cakes and biscuits we were treated to (I’ve no idea who was behind that) and the impromptu tour of the underground passageways and storerooms, hollowed out of Nottingham’s legendary sandstone, no doubt centuries ago, and cleared of rubbish, rubble, mud etc by New Castle staff over several years.
This was a pub tour (crawl?) with loads of extra features (including The Queen Adelaide pub on Windmill Lane, now closed and converted into flats – but, from the carpark at the back, what must be the very best – unique - panoramic view of Nottingham. I do hope the current occupants don’t mind me mentioning this.
Keep an eye out for more upcoming adventures with Zig Zag, especially the next walking tour about abandoned buildings on Saturday 25 March.
By David Shackleton, a very recent convert to drinking in pubs.
