Boasting independent bars and restaurants, plus a great selection of charity shops for the thrift-lovers among us, the Nottingham suburb of Sherwood has been a popular destination for a leisurely afternoon for many years now. But just off the high street, Haydn Road offers a surprising selection of local staples. In this new regular feature - celebrating lesser-known but much-loved areas of Nottinghamshire, Sophie Gargett meets the traders of Haydn Road and muses on the merits of local shopping.
As a teenager growing up in Hucknall, I always loved taking a trip into Notts to visit my favourite independent shops. I distinctly remember making the pilgrimage to Derby Road to check out Celia's Vintage Clothing, afterwards grabbing some pancakes at the Warsaw Diner, picking up much-anticipated albums in Selectadisc, nipping into Backlash for 70s lurex jumpers, and delving into an unnamed junk shop in West End Arcade, where I bought my first record player.
Nowadays, most of those spots have unfortunately closed down - a symptom of that contemporary dilemma that sees towns and city centres questioning how to maintain a local shopping experience. Along with the competition from the internet, on the ground high rents, business rates, inconsistent footfall, parking charges, and competition from chain stores are just some of the challenges faced by retailers.
Yet Nottingham still has a great range of indie businesses dotted about the city centre and beyond - if you’re curious enough to seek them out - and whether it be retail, entertainment or hospitality, it often feels like it is our independents who keep the culture vibrant and varied in the city.
More and more, I turn to these dependable small businesses, particularly in my local area of Sherwood. Just off the high street, Haydn Road is at first a rather modest thoroughfare, dotted with houses, a school, and a business centre. However, in a 500 metre strip you’ll find all kinds of local independent businesses.
The picturesque Sherwood Cobbler offers engraving, watch repairs, and personalised gifts, along with regular and more bespoke shoe repairs. It is packed with machinery, tools, and a variety of footwear waiting in the wings to be fixed, with a piquant scent of leather and shoe polish filling the air. When I nip in to get some troublesome boots re-soled, owners Dave and Vanessa Fryer, who have run the business for the past fourteen years, tell me that the cobbler is in fact the oldest independent cobblers in Nottingham, dating back to 1934.
There’s Cross My Heart Collective, a tattooist where you can leave with custom ink, rainbow hair or locally made candles. A recent addition next door is Func, a local streetwear brand-cum-barber. Up the road a little is Bikes Love You, where bicycles are diligently serviced and occasional arty happenings take place upstairs. Then there's Billy's, the convenience store, where among other things, you can pick up their speciality: Billy’s homemade samosas - so famous there’s a special WhatsApp group that tips off locals about every new batch.
Despite the challenges independent stores face, a strip like Haydn Road’s seems to thrive nonetheless, evidencing people’s desire to buy from humans, to share an interaction, to enjoy a little extra personality or hear a little knowledge about the products they are taking home
LeftLion readers will probably be familiar with the Thompson Brothers greengrocers, who feature in the magazine each month. A place to snap up fresh fruit, veg and plants at brilliant prices, you’re likely to also get swept into some friendly and interesting conversation with the brothers themselves (head to page 9 for their monthly column, with some fascinating historical tidbits they shared with me about Haydn Road).
Another staple of the street is Divine Coffee Shop: an LGTBQ+ friendly space with an emphasis on ethically-sourced products and coffee, which has been open since 2014 and is owned by Ashe Wright. Ashe believes there are numerous benefits of supporting streets like Haydn Road.
“You’re supporting people who are trying to make a living and enrich the local community - not lining the pockets of shareholders and umbrella companies,” he explains. “You are directly investing in that community and keeping the local economy going, while also helping to create jobs for local people - which in turn can mean less car and bus journeys, lowering environmental impacts and improving air quality.”
2025 marks thirty years since the launch of internet behemoths Ebay and Amazon, whose existence began the erosion of our local shopping experience by taking it online. More recently, the likes of Temu and Shein joined the ranks, churning out goods and raking in millions, despite accusations of poor working conditions, negative environmental impacts and questionable product quality. But small businesses aren’t just providing local jobs, handy goods, and well-loved regional products - they’re often looking to make a difference environmentally, and offer their customers ways to cut down on wastefulness too.
Waste Nott, a zero-waste shop and volunteer-led CIC, is one of my favourite spots on the street. Offering a huge range of unpackaged food products at really decent prices, you can bring your own clean containers, or buy a paper bag or glass bottle, thus offering a very different shopping experience to the traditional modern supermarket.
There’s a calmness to the process, whether it’s a lack of brands screaming for attention on the shelves or the process of carefully pouring pasta, nuts and cereals. You definitely leave with a slight sense of satisfaction from making an effort to shop more sustainably.
“We have very high numbers of returning customers, and the thing that always amazes us is that the customers are so nice and the number of people who say ‘We just appreciate you being here’,” says volunteer Mark Jenkinson. “We're a voluntary organisation and we're not-for-profit. So it’s encouraging when people appreciate you.
Despite the challenges independent stores face, a strip like Haydn Road seems to thrive nonetheless, evidencing people’s desire to buy from humans, to share an interaction, to enjoy a little extra personality or hear a little knowledge about the products they are taking home. A community exists in each unit - a local microcosm giving back to their neighbourhood and making the place unique.
Although it may take a little extra effort, shopping locally is definitely the way forward to keeping our neighbourhoods thriving. So stay cool, shop local, and don’t forget to celebrate your streets.
Why not visit the indie shops on Haydn Road during Sherwood Art Week between 28 June to 6 July and see a variety of creative work from local artists in business premises throughout the area.
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