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Forest Recreation Ground | |
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![]() A view across the ground from Mansfield Road in 2005 | |
Location | Nottingham, England |
Coordinates | 52°57′54″N1°09′36″W / 52.965°N 1.16°W |
Area | 80 acres (0.324 km2) |
Created | 1845 |
Operated by | Nottingham City Council |
Status | Open year round |
Website | www |
The Forest Recreation Ground is an open space and recreation ground in Nottingham, England, approximately one mile north of the city centre. This urban space is bounded by the neighbourhoods of Forest Fields to the north, Mapperley Park to the east, Arboretum to the south and Hyson Green to the west. It is best known as the site of the city's famous annual Goose Fair. [1]
The name "Forest" derives comes from the Middle Ages when the land that is now a recreation ground was part of the Sherwood Forest that once extended from the city of Nottingham to the north of Nottinghamshire. The site was the southernmost part of Sherwood Forest and was part of the open area known formerly as "The Lings" [1] which, largely covered by gorse and scrub, extended into the parishes of Lenton, Radford and Basford.[ citation needed ]
The site of the Forest was one of the original areas to be protected in perpetuity by the 1845 Nottingham Inclosure Act, which set aside some 80 acres (32 ha) of Sherwood Forest for public recreational use. In commemoration, the Mayor of Nottingham planted the "Inclosure Oak" which can still be seen at the Mansfield Road entrance to the Forest. Joseph Paxton, a leading gardener and architect of the nineteenth century, was responsible for the criss-cross formation of walkways. [1]
For over 300 years the Forest has been home to sport, including horse racing, cricket and football. It was home to Nottingham Racecourse by 1773, and it remained there until it moved to its current location at Colwick, south east of Nottingham, at the end of the 19th century. Nottingham Forest Football Club first played their games on the Forest after their formation in 1865, hence the club's name. [1] [2] [3]
Standing at the Mansfield Road entrance is Forest Lodge, built in 1857. This Grade II listed building was originally used as a Police or Keeper's Lodge and a police cell can still be seen at basement level. A red granite monument stands at the Monument Gate on Forest Road East, commemorating the fallen of the Boer War. [1]
By comparison with its sporting heritage, the use of the Forest for the city's traditional Goose Fair is relatively recent. The fair has existed since at least 1541, but it only moved to the Forest in 1928, from its previous long term home in the city's Old Market Square. [4]
The city's Goose Fair is held on the Forest in October of every year. Other smaller travelling fairs and circuses take place on the recreation ground throughout the year, usually coinciding with local school holidays.
The Forest Recreation Ground boasts floodlit hard surface courts and grass pitches for ball games, and a traditional bowling lawn. There is also an enclosed children's playground. These facilities are maintained by Nottingham City Council.
The Forest Recreation Ground supports many important habitats and species. Mature trees include turkey oak, English elm, pedunculate oak, sessile oak, rowan, silver birch, common lime and horse-chestnut. Additionally, there have been more recent plantings of London plane, beech, various maples and silver lime. Perennials include autumn crocus, spring crocus, bluebell, ramsons, primrose, wild privet, hazel and guelder rose.
Certain parts of the Forest play host to relic meadow flora such as meadow foxtail, short-stemmed meadow-grass, Yorkshire fog, red clover, white clover, oxeye daisy, germander speedwell and meadow saxifrage.
With such an abundance of habitat, the Forest attracts many birds such as nuthatches, treecreepers, mistle thrushes, tawny owls, song thrushes, great spotted woodpeckers and chaffinches.
The caves of the Rock Cemetery are a Geological County Wildlife Site. The thin turf here supports early and silver hairgrass, harebells, bird's-foot trefoil and spiked sedge. Conspicuous insects include the holly blue, hornets and cockchafer beetles.
The Forest is home to a park-and-ride site, with spaces for more than 950 cars. Nottingham Express Transit's Forest tram stop is adjacent to the car park, and provides frequent services to and from the city centre and other city locations. [6] [7]
As with much urban parkland, the Forest has been threatened by development. Proposals for a recreation centre, to be built on the eastern fringes of the Forest, were rejected following public opposition to loss of green space. However, mature trees and greenery at the northwest corner of the ground have been cut down to provide 989 parking spaces for the Park & Ride that serves the "Forest" stop for Nottingham Express Transit.
As at summer 2008, the Forest was the subject of a public consultation to decide on regeneration priorities, to be funded by an expected Heritage Lottery Fund award. For the last four years, Nottingham City Council and Nottingham's Partnership Council have worked on plans to restore the parkland to its former glory and to better serve the needs of today's park users. The project is also backed by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) and by local organisations such as Friends of the Forest.
The Forest's £5.2 million restoration project was completed during September 2013. The project encompassed: the restoration and refurbishment of the lodge (now office space) and the pavilion (which now houses a new café, public toilets and office space); the reparation and improvement of footpaths; replacement of park benches, improvements to access to sporting facilities; the amelioration of lighting and security; the expansion of planting areas; and the creation of higher-quality activity areas for young people. Additionally, railings were erected, for example the new green-coloured metal fences next to the bus stop near the Forest's Mansfield Road entrance, as well as the custom panelled columns. [1] In design, these railings are very similar to the historic ones nearby.
The final phase of the Forest project created a sports zone with new sports pitches and changing rooms, paid for by the Premier League, the Football Association and Sport England. [8] Work started on the sports zone in November 2014 and completed on 28 October 2015 with an opening event and the unveiling of a plaque in memory of local community activist Jim Taylor who was a driving force behind the project. [9] [10]
‘Friends of the Forest’ is a not-for-profit organisation, funded by donations and public subscription. It supports efforts to maintain the Forest as an accessible, open, green space which has historic importance for the City of Nottingham. Friends of the Forest has worked with Nottingham City Council to prioritise refurbishment and replanting, and to organise voluntary activities that benefit the Forest and increase local awareness of green issues. [11]
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located 33 miles (53 km) south-east of Sheffield and 45 miles (72 km) north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham is the legendary home of Robin Hood and to the lace-making, bicycle and tobacco industries. The city is also the county town of Nottinghamshire and the settlement was granted its city charter in 1897, as part of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Nottinghamshire is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county borders South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Nottingham (323,632), which is also the county town.
The Nottingham Goose Fair is an annual travelling funfair held at the Forest Recreation Ground in Nottingham, England, during the first week of October. Largely provided by travelling Showmen, it is one of three established fairs in the United Kingdom to carry the name, the others being the smaller Goosey Fair in Tavistock, Devon, and the even smaller Michaelmas Goose Fayre in Colyford, East Devon. In recent years, there have been more than 400,000 visitors to Nottingham's fair annually.
Nottingham Express Transit (NET) is a 20-mile (32 km) tram system in Nottingham, England.
Clifton is a suburb and historic manor in the city of Nottingham, in Nottinghamshire, England. As of the 2021 census, it had a population of 22,936.
Hyson Green is a neighbourhood in Nottingham, England. It is home to a variety of cultures with a thriving local economy. Hyson Green has the largest ethnic minority population in the city. Since 2006 Hyson Green has seen a larger rise in development and direct international investment than any other area of Nottingham.
Sherwood is a large district and ward of the city of Nottingham, England, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 15,414. It is bordered by Woodthorpe to the northeast, Mapperley to the east, Carrington to the south, New Basford and Basford to the west, and Daybrook and Bestwood to the north.
Hucknall station, also formerly known as Hucknall Byron station, is a railway station and tram stop in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England. It is located on the Robin Hood railway line, 5 miles (8 km) north of Nottingham, and is also the northern terminus of the Nottingham Express Transit (NET) tram system. The station has park and ride facilities, with nearly 450 parking spaces for use by both tram and train passengers.
Nottingham and District Tramways Company Limited was a tramway operator from 1875 to 1897 based in Nottingham in the United Kingdom.
Nottingham City Transport (NCT) is the major bus operator of the city of Nottingham, England. NCT operates extensively within Nottingham as well beyond the city boundaries into Nottinghamshire county. Publicly-owned, it is today the second largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom after Lothian Buses in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Carrington is a small suburb of Nottingham, England, located approximately 1.3 miles (2.1 km) north of Nottingham city centre. It lies next to the areas of Sherwood, Mapperley, Forest Fields, Basford, Sherwood Rise and the Forest Recreation Ground.
Nottingham is the seventh largest conurbation in the United Kingdom; despite this, the city's transport system was deemed to be poor for its size in the 1980s. In the early twenty-first century, the UK government invested heavily in the transport network of Nottingham, which has led to the re-opening of the Robin Hood Line and the construction of a light rail system, Nottingham Express Transit.
The Meadows or Meadows is an area of Nottingham, England, south of the city centre, close to the River Trent and connected to West Bridgford in the Borough of Rushcliffe by Trent Bridge and the Wilford Suspension Bridge. Victoria Embankment runs alongside the River Trent to the south of the Meadows and is home to the Nottingham War Memorial Gardens.
The Forest is a tram stop on Nottingham Express Transit (NET) in the city of Nottingham. It takes its name from the nearby Forest Recreation Ground, the site of the city's famous annual Goose Fair. The Forest serves as one of several park and ride stops on the NET network, with more than 950 car parking spaces located next to the stop.
Hyson Green Market is a tram stop on the Nottingham Express Transit network, serving the suburb of Hyson Green, City of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England.
Radford Road is a tram stop on the Nottingham Express Transit network, serving the suburb of Hyson Green, City of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England.
Noel Street is a tram stop on Nottingham Express Transit (NET), in the city of Nottingham suburb of Hyson Green. The tram stop opened on 9 March 2004, along with NET's initial system. It is located on a one way section of the tramway, and is served only by northbound trams; the nearest southbound stop is the Hyson Green Market tram stop. The tram stop is located on a contra-flow reserved track alongside Noel Street, which is at this point one way southbound, and has a single side platform flanking the single track.
Beaconsfield Street is a tram stop on Nottingham Express Transit (NET), in the city of Nottingham suburb of Hyson Green. The tram stop opened on 9 March 2004, along with NET's initial system. It is located on a one way section of the tramway, and is served only by northbound trams; the nearest southbound stop is the Radford Road tram stop. The tram stop is located on street track in Noel Street at its junction with Beaconsfield Street. Noel Street is at this point one way northbound, and the stop has a single side platform flanking the single track.
Shipstone Street is a tram stop on Nottingham Express Transit (NET), in the city of Nottingham suburb of Hyson Green. The tram stop opened on 9 March 2004, along with NET's initial system. It is located on a one way section of the tramway, and is served only by northbound trams; the nearest southbound stop is the Radford Road tram stop. The tram stop is located on street track in Shipstone Street and adjacent to Shipstone Street play area. The stop has a single side platform flanking the single track.
Kings Clipstone is a settlement and civil parish, in the Newark and Sherwood district, in the county of Nottinghamshire, England. The parish lies in the west of the county, and north west within the district. It is 122 miles north of London, 15 miles north of the city of Nottingham, and 5 miles north east of the market town of Mansfield. In the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 312. The parish touches Clipstone village, Edwinstowe, Rufford and Warsop. The parish was formerly part of the wider Clipstone parish, on 1 April 2011 it became a separate parish. The area is within Sherwood Forest, well known for the Robin Hood legend.