Riding Through The Glen
Posted by: thestoryandthetruth on: June 1, 2009
Tea for Three
We spent the weekend in Nottingham, celebrating the birthday of Anna’s brother. Some time was spent figuring out three things Nottingham was famous for. We came up with Robin Hood (who has at best a dubious connection to the place), Brian Clough (who definitely wasn’t from there) and Games Workshop (which is merely mildly embarrassing). After this discussion, we spent some time in what has been voted the third dirtiest pub in Britain, and then in another bar not far from the site of a spot of gun crime last weekend.
All of which is a bit unfair to point out, because we had a great time and Nottingham doesn’t deserve its at times grim reputation. On Sunday morning, we spent some time in the grounds of its castle, eating a picnic breakfast and reading the paper (which was a bit thin this week except for a nice kicking of the BNP and a decent column on electoral reform from the always reliable Andrew Rawnsley). Every city looks better in the sun, but the high ground occupied by the castle gives great views of Nottingham whatever the weather, and its grounds are very well kept (no doubt in part due to the fact you have to pay to get in).
We also visited The Walk, which – uniquely amongst similar establishments in Britain – actually smells and feels like the continental cafe-bar it is trying to be. Excellent cake, very nice coffee, and tea pots to die for. They have a blog here, but alas during our visit the new staff uniform was not in use. Finally, we braved the ever-tempting Fopp, where naturally we bought things purely because they were cheap.
A grand time, then. So, in defense of this fine city, we’ll make one last comment on the fame debate: our interlocutor on the issue was from Bristol. People in glass houses and all that…
2 Responses to "Riding Through The Glen"
June 1, 2009 at 3:37 pm
We’ve been to Ye Olde Trip – we were particularly fond of the pregnancy seat, of which legend has it that anyone who sits in it becomes pregnant, and which was graced with a polite notice saying ‘Please do not sit on this chair’. Perfect.
Boy French’s flat is right there next to the Lace Quarter tram stop, so … good point! 
Leave a Reply
71 is the number of an apartment we return to regularly in Whinfell Forest, Cumbria. We like it there.
‘We’ are Anna French and Dan Hartland. The Story and the Truth is a sort of inadequate catch-all term for what goes on here: we tend to talk about novels, history, food and fashion, politics and music, but there may also be photographs of soft toys and musicians. Stick around and see.
Sounds We Like
Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More
Dan already wrote about this album here, but Anna's been loving it, too! Like a happier and more stirring Noah and the Whale, Mumford & Sons have a great way with arrangement and melody which makes for a great listen from start to finish. There are highpoints which you'll skip for, but the whole record hangs together perfectly. One of our favourites of the year!
Words We Like
Escaping The Delta, by Elijah Wald
We all know the cliches: Delta blues as the music of the downtrodden, a remnant of slave art, a holler-back to West African forms. Wald never pretends that he has not bought into, continues to buy into, the cult of the Delta bluesman, but shows they were in truth informed not by ancestral memory but by radio playlists. Robert Johnson in particular is assessed not as a unique genius but an accomplished magpie, able to assimilate the pop forms of the day - not just blues, but country and vaudeville - and regurgitate them anew. Escaping the Delta refashions the blues not as cultural fetish but as a particular product of its era and its people. Controversial among those who read books about acoustic blues, but a compelling and rewarding thesis.
Flicks We Like
Alice In The Cities (1974)
It helped that we watched this one together quietly on a calm, dark night. Wim Wenders's careful film, shot beautifully in a grainy black and white, follows a journalist with writer's block as he is left stranded in New York with a young girl, whom he must help find her grandparents back home in Germany. Nowhere close to a voyage of self-discovery, their journey instead feels like a walking round in a circle. Neither of the characters have a true sense of place in a globalising world, and with an inventive economy Wenders explores their resultant, reflective, wanderings.
Anna's Latest Flickr Photo
|
June 1, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Lace! There’s a lace market quarter and everything.
The Trip to Jerusalem, England’s oldest pub.
Nottingham Castle and its caves.
- Elizabeth