Nottingham Castle

Nottingham Castle is a castle in Nottingham, England. It is located in a commanding position on a natural promontory known as "Castle Rock", with cliffs 130 feet (40 m) high to the south and west. In the Middle Ages it was a major royal fortress and occasional royal residence. In decline by the 16th century, it was largely demolished in 1649. The Duke of Newcastle later built a mansion on the site, which was burnt down by rioters in 1831 and left as a ruin. It was later rebuilt to house an art gallery and museum, which remain in use to this day. Little of the original castle survives, but sufficient portions remain to give an impression of the layout of the site.

Medieval history

There is some uncertainty whether a castle existed on the site before the Norman Conquest. If there was it would have been smaller and far less elaborate in design than the one that stood there afterwards, keeping in line with Anglo-Saxon architectural tradition.

The first Norman castle was a wooden structure and of a motte-and-bailey design, and was built in 1067, the year after the Battle of Hastings, on the orders of William the Conqueror. This wooden structure was replaced by a far more defensible stone castle during the reign of King Henry II, and was imposing and of a complex architectural design, which eventually comprised an upper bailey at the highest point of the castle rock, a middle bailey to the north which contained the main royal apartments, and a large outer bailey to the east.

Nottingham

Nottingham (ⁱ/ˈnɒtɪŋəm/ NOT-ing-əm) is a city in Nottinghamshire, England, 30 miles (48 km) south of Sheffield and 30 miles (48 km) north of Leicester.

Nottingham has links to the legend of Robin Hood and to the lace-making, bicycle (notably Raleigh bikes) and tobacco industries. It was granted its city charter in 1897 as part of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Nottingham is a tourist destination; in 2011, visitors spent over £1.5 billion - the thirteenth highest amount in England's 111 statistical territories.

In 2013, Nottingham had an estimated population of 310,837 with the wider urban area, which includes many of the city's suburbs, having a population of 729,977. Its urban area is the largest in the East Midlands and the second largest in the Midlands. The population of the Nottingham/Derby metropolitan area is estimated to be 1,543,000. Its metropolitan economy is the seventh largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $50.9bn (2014). The city is also ranked as a sufficiency-level world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

Hawkwind videography

The British space rock group Hawkwind have been active since 1969, but their earliest video release is Night Of The Hawk from their Earth Ritual Tour recorded at Ipswich on 9 March 1984. Since then, there have been numerous video releases covering the evolution of the band; some are professional broadcast shoots, others commercial, and a few are amateur.

There have also been some live video shoots of the band during the 1970s, although none have seen a commercial release. These include an early 12 April 1970 The Roundhouse, London performance and a Hawklords performance at Brunel University, Uxbridge on 24 November 1978.

The Hawkestra event, a reunion featuring appearances from all past and present members on 21 October 2000 at the Brixton Academy, was professionally filmed but disputes between band members would indicate any forthcoming release unlikely.

Promotional

Space Ritual

Nottingham (UK Parliament constituency)

Nottingham was a parliamentary borough in Nottinghamshire, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1295. In 1885 the constituency was abolished and the city of Nottingham divided into three single-member constituencies.

History

Nottingham sent two representatives to Parliament from 1283 onwards.

The constituency was abolished in 1885 and replaced by Nottingham East, Nottingham South and Nottingham West.

Members of Parliament

1295–1640

1640–1885

Notes