illustration: Rikki Marr
BUS STAND AND PROTEST
We’ve all been there. You arrive at the bus stop, seconds late, and the bus drives off only to wait at the traffic lights… right next to you. You can’t gerron the bus because “It’s not a bus stop,” says the driver. Well, one bloke decided that NCT had gone too far this time. He stood in front of a green line bus in the city centre, adamant that he be let on, despite his lack of punctuality. Fight the power, man.
ANTI-BEGGING POSTERS REWORDED
Remember that Nottingham campaign that created national uproar? Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire Police have taken the negative feedback on board and amended some of the outdoor adverts. They previously said things such as “Begging: watch your money go to a fraud”, whereas now they’ve been reworded to say “People who beg often have serious drug or alcohol problems. Please give to a charity, not to people begging.” Bit less harsh.
BATTLESHIP SUNK
Oceana’s had its day. But… it’s having an £800,000 makeover, and is being rebranded as the seventh Pryzm in the country. It’ll still hold most of its usual shenanigans, as well as a retro ‘vinyl’ area – so cool, man – a tiki cocktail bar, and another bar with loads of different kinds of beers. It reopens on Friday 1 July so you can expect Lower Parliament Street to be filled with the fine gaggles of Nottingham’s shoeless, vomiting citizens once more. Can’t wait.
FIND YOUR ZEN IN… CLIFTON?
We’re happy to wind the windows up when driving through Clifton, Nottingham, but winding down to meditate...? Maybe not. However, in North Clifton near Lincoln, Buddha Maitreya has created a haven where you can do just that. The 76-year-old has spent 35 years turning a weed-infested farming plot into the Pure Land Meditation Centre and Japanese Garden. There’s carp, cherry blossom trees, and even wooden pagodas... But has he turned the Man of Trent pub into a McDonald’s and KFC, though?
LIGHT SAVERS
Just when all the excitement of Batman died down, Wollaton Hall have dropped this blinder. Nottingham City Council have realised they can save £5k a year and cut carbon emissions by switching the gaff’s lighting over to LED lights. 72 rooms and 30 chandeliers deep, it’ll be no easy task. Plus, it’s bound to get confusing for all the animals in there. First one to walk in on that giraffe having a rave-up while the gorilla is on the ones and twos, gerrin touch.
COUNTY AND FOREST FIGHT
Seventeen riffraff scallywags have been banged up for scrapping after two football games back in March. Forest lost to Derby, and County lost to Exeter, so somehow the hooligans worked out their anger was best directed at their footballing neighbours. Bleddy knuckleheads. The Major Oak on Pelham Street had to deal with the mess, and the coppers came to clean up afterwards, arresting the vicious lot at their various homes. Luckily nobody was seriously hurt, but c’mon you rapscallions, pack it in.
VAPE RED TAPE CUT
For many a smoker, hospital visits mean gasping for a chuff, but the rule of having to leave the grounds completely for a fag has received many a head nod. Now, hospital bosses at QMC have decided that electronic cigarettes are permitted just outside the building. They reckon they're a decent tool for stopping smoking. So if you're a smoker who really must have a chuff while you get yer toenails resurfaced, you can now rely on yer leccy fag.
ACTING BIG MAN
Wollaton lad and Television Workshop veteran Tom Blyth has only gone and won a $25,000 scholarship for bleddy Juilliard in New York. Yep, the performing arts school has been educator to many legends and now one of our own, who’s even appeared in a Robin Hood movie. Thing is, our Tom needs cash to make the dream come true, so he’s set up a GoFundMe campaign to get over the last hurdle. Let’s go, Nottingham. The time is nigh!
More Nottingham News
Overheard in Notts
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
