Nottingham, county town of Nottinghamshire, is built on a number of hills on the north bank of the River Trent. The most important town in the eastern part of the Midlands, Nottingham looks back on a long tradition as an industrial town. Noted in the past for its lace, curtains and stockings, its
industry now centers on pharmaceuticals, textiles, mechanical and vehicle building. Nottingham has two large theatres, several art galleries, the annual Goose Fair and other historical attractions. The town, which since 1948 has had a university, is known as "Queen of the Midlands", on account of its broad streets and parks, such as the Arboretum, Embankment and Colwick Park. It is the focal point of a prosperous and developing region. In addition, the coalfield centered on Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire is the largest and most important in England.
The nuclear physicist, George Green (1793-1841), and William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, were both born in the suburb of Eastwood. Lord Byron went to school in Nottingham and later lived a short distance north of the town in Newstead Abbey.
Nottingham is a good base for visiting Sherwood Forest, the scene of the medieval legends concerning Robin Hood, who as an outlaw with Little John and his other "merry men" robbed the rich to pay the poor, finally defeated the scheming Sheriff of Nottingham and was rehabilitated by King Richard. The image of this folk hero is to be found all over the town. The enormous area of woodland which once existed has by now been considerably reduced, although it has managed to retain its atmosphere of daring romantic adventures. Near Edwinstowe, where Robin and his "Maid Marian" were married in the presence of the king, stands the famous old oak, the "Major Oak", which is over 1000 years old and has a circumference of over 30ft/10m.
The town of Snotingaham or Snotengaham was occupied by the Danes in 868 and became the capital of the five boroughs of the Danelaw - the others being Derby, Leicester, Lincoln and Stamford. In 1068 William the Conqueror had a castle built here. Later Nottingham was to become one of Britain's earliest industrial towns, and as such became a center of the Luddite riots of 1811-16. aimed at the destruction of the new industrial machinery. The hosiery industry, which formerly flourished in the whole county, was founded in Elizabethan times by a local parson who invented the stocking-frame, a device which was soon adopted throughout the surrounding area.
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