Author: watson

Thanks Louise for photo - Lucy Brouwer Nottingham tour guide
Events

Spring tours of Nottingham’s architecture

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Thanks to everyone who has joined me for a walk so far this year. Please keep spreading the word about these events to your friends. 

Thanks to Louise for the photo from Deco in the Details pt. 1.

Here’s your update on forthcoming dates from Watson Fothergill Walk. If you’d like to explore Nottingham’s historic architecture with tour guide Lucy Brouwer here are the dates, click the links for tickets and all details:

There are still limited tickets available for tours in March 2025:

The Carrington Crawl, Saturday 8 March, 1 pm

Watson Fothergill Walk, Sunday 16 March, 10 am

The Hine Hike, Sunday 23 March, 2 pm

April dates now added:

Watson Fothergill Walk, Sunday 13 April, 10 am

Watson Fothergill Walk, Sunday 27 April, 2 pm

All tickets are £20 each including all booking fees. 

Watson Fothergill Walk tickets also available on Yuup

Deco in the Details 1 & 2 will be back later in the year – you can also book a walk for your group on a date of your choice. Minimum charge £100 (up to 4 people), T&Cs apply. Contact Lucy by email.

Events, Research

Let’s see Nottingham differently!

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As promised, more walks are coming up. There are still tickets available for both parts of Deco in the Details in February. March sees the return of the Carrington Crawl, plus more chances to join me for the Watson Fothergill Walk and Hine Hike in Nottingham city centre. I can also take private bookings for groups of 5 or more on weekdays and I can present illustrated talks to groups, so please drop me a line if you’d like to organise an event. Terms and conditions apply.

Click on the links below for info and tickets: 

Nottingham: Deco in the Details Part One – Weds, 12 February, 2 pm

Nottingham: Deco in the Details Part Two – Weds, 19 February, 2 pm

Watson Fothergill Walk: City Centre – Sun, 23 February, 10 am SOLD OUT more walks soon or book a private tour

Watson Fothergill Walk: The Carrington Crawl – Sat, 8 March, 1 pm

Watson Fothergill Walk: City Centre – Sun, 16 March, 10 am

Hine Hike: The Buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine – Sun, 23 March, 2 pm

Tickets are £20 each* 

Valid gift vouchers purchased before the end of 2024 will be honoured – please send an email if you have any difficulty redeeming vouchers. 

*This now includes ALL FEES and is the same price across all platforms (Eventbrite, Yuup and TripAdvisor) whose fees vary. This helps my small business to reach a larger audience. 

Thanks to Jane for the photo!

Hire a House Historian

Lucy Brouwer (seen here with her mate the Left Lion) is a tour guide, art historian and researcher who likes to look at things differently. If you’d like to hire a researcher to look into the history of your house, business premises or other pre-1940 building then send an email via this form. Rates start at £57 for a preliminary investigation into each property. More details here.

Events

Architecture Walking Tours Are Back!

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Back again for 2025!

Have you been putting it off? Did you miss out on tickets last year? Now is your chance to join me to discover Nottingham’s unique architecture – Watson Fothergill Walk and Deco in the Details are back. 

Forthcoming dates (with more to come throughout the year)

Deco in the Details Part 1 – Wednesday 12 February, 2 pm Tickets £20 each including booking fees*

Deco in the Details Part 2 – Wednesday 19 February, 2 pm Tickets £20 each including booking fees*

Watson Fothergill Walk – original city centre tour –  Sunday 23 February, 10 am. Tickets £20 each including booking fees*

*Tickets are now the same price on all platforms with fees included across the board. Previously purchased gift vouchers will be honoured until their expiry date – please contact me directly if you have any difficulties redeeming vouchers. Tickets are also available on new events platform Yuup:

Deco in the Details Part 1

Deco in the Details Part 2

Watson Fothergill Walk

Make sure you’re on the mailing list for a reminder when more tickets are released.

Here’s my short video on YouTube with a lesser known view of several Fothergill buildings.

Events

Winter… already?!

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It’s been a great year for Watson Fothergill Walk!  Thank you to all the people who have joined tours of Nottingham’s great architecture, loads of you have returned for my new Art Deco tours and I’ve received some lovely 5-star reviews on Tripadvisor. Thank you everyone!

Thanks Christine G for the photo of me and my mate Agamemnon a.k.a. Left Lion.

All the tours will be back for more dates in 2025. Meanwhile, maybe you’d like to recommend the tours to a friend, buy a gift voucher for a future tour or leave me a review. Any of these help me to keep doing the tours and work on new routes around Nottingham.I do not have vouchers for the Deco in the Details tours, if you’d like to make a gift of tickets for these, please contact me.

I do not have vouchers for the Deco in the Details tours, if you’d like to make a gift of tickets for these, please contact me.

Events

Watson Fothergill Walk- Back in 2025

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Left Lion is paying attention! Photo: Christine Gaukroger

The “Winter Wonderland” in the centre of Nottingham means that I can’t do justice to the Watson Fothergill Walk route until 2025. Meanwhile there is one more (sold out) Deco in the Details walk to go or you can book a Hine Hike, Lace Market Heritage Tour or an Illustrated Talk for your group.

Drop me a line to organise your event.

Meanwhile, make sure you’re on the mailing list for updates and news of new walks coming up next year and follow WatsonFothergillWalk on Instagram for photos.

Research

Hire a House Historian

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I am now available to carry out research on the history of houses and the people who lived in them, in Nottingham and the surrounding area. I’m particularly interested in Victorian properties but will branch out where appropriate resources are available. 


If you’d like to see who lived in your house* through time or maybe you want to discover if a renowned architect was involved in designing your property, then please contact me to arrange a research package. 

For more details see the Hire a House Historian page here.

*or shop!

Have a look at some research I did last year on a house in Elm Bank, Mapperley Park… Inside Elm Bank

And here’s another house, this time in Chilwell, with Watson Fothergill connections that I looked into in 2021.

I’m not only interested in Fothergill houses… Nottingham has a lot of Victorian architecture and I’m always interested to find out more.

Admiral Duncan figure Head by Nigel King
Events

Deco in the Details… more dates

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It’s been great to try out these new tours – thanks to everyone who has joined me so far. The October date for Deco in the Details Part 1 is now full, but tickets are still available for Deco in the Details Part 2 on Sunday 27 October 10 am. 

There will  be more scheduled dates for these tours in November:

Deco in the Details Part 1 – Sunday 3 November, 10 am

Start and end at Nottingham’s Council House to look for traces of Art Deco in the architecture of the 1920s & 1930s. We’ll look at the rise of chain stores like Montague Burton, F.W. Woolworth, and Marks & Spencer, as well as the use of concrete in industrial buildings and the influence of car ownership on the city’s architecture in the 1930s.

Admiral Duncan figure Head by Nigel King
Figurehead on the former Admiral Duncan Pub, Lower Parliament St, Nottingham. Photo: Nigel King

Deco in the Details Part 2 – Sunday 17 November, 10 am

Starting outside Victoria Centre Clock Tower, we will look for more buildings by T.C. Howitt, see how indestructible the bomb-proof Fire Station really is, and trace the influence of shopping and entertainment on Nottingham’s changing layout. Seek out the remnants of the Art Deco era including hints of streamline moderne and even some Egyptian hanging gardens.

All tickets £15 each plus booking fee. Full details and tickets on Eventbrite

Deco in the Details: Traces of Art Deco in Nottingham Architecture

There are just 3 tickets remaining for 

Watson Fothergill Walk: Architecture of Victorian Nottingham on Sunday 20 October, 10 am

Due to the impending arrival of Winter Wonderland on Old Market Square –

Watson Fothergill Walk will return in 2025! – make sure you’re on the mailing list for updates.

In the meantime you can book walks for groups by emailing Lucy via this form

Art Deco, Events, New Tour

Nottingham: Deco in the Details Part 2 Work-in-Progress

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Thanks to everyone for the positive response to my Art Deco Architecture tour…I’ve discovered that Nottingham has enough buildings from the 1920s and 1930s to make two new walks (or a tour in two parts) – so I need to road-test the second part. There are a VERY LIMITED number of discounted tickets for a work-in-progress version of Deco in the Details Part 2 for Wednesday 11 September at 2 pm.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nottingham-deco-in-the-details-part-2-work-in-progress-tickets-999238588517?aff=WFWebsite

The new Deco in the Details walks will be run in full in October on Sunday 6 October (Part One) and Sunday 27 October (Part Two) both with 10 am starts.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nottingham-deco-in-the-details-part-1-tickets-995294601947?aff=WFWebsite
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nottingham-deco-in-the-details-part-2-tickets-995331612647?aff=WFWebsite

I hope to continue to run these in the future – so send me a message if you have a group that would be interested in a private booking.

Art Deco, Events, New Tour

Autumn walks…including new Art Deco tours

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Summer: Blink and you’ve missed it! Thanks to everyone who has joined me for a walk and hello to new visitors. I’ve got one more scheduled Watson Fothergill Walk to come in October and my new Deco in the Details walks are also coming up…read on!

August & September’s Watson Fothergill Walks are almost full – but there are still a few tickets available for 

The Carrington Crawl – Saturday 21 September, 1 pm. 

Explore some of the houses Fothergill built in Nottingham and discover his family life in the home he built for himself on Mapperley Road. 

What’s next for Watson Fothergill Walk?

There will be a city centre Watson Fothergill Walk on Sunday 20 October, 10 am

Explore the Nottingham buildings of Victorian Architect Watson Fothergill… also known as Fothergill Watson.

Thanks to the positive response to my Art Deco Architecture tour… there will be two new walks (or a tour in two parts) looking at Nottingham’s buildings of the 1920s and 1930s – 

Deco in the Details Parts 1 & 2.

These walks can be done in any order – you can choose to do either or both. 

The first will be a repeat of the tour commissioned by the Art Deco Society UK

Nottingham: Deco in the Details Part 1, Sunday, 6 October, 10 am

This walk explores Nottingham’s architecture from the 1920s and 1930s, starting and ending with T. Cecil Howitt’s Council House sculptures.

We’ll look at the rise of chain stores like Montague Burton, F.W. Woolworth, and Marks & Spencer, as well as the use of concrete in industrial buildings and the influence of car ownership on the city’s architecture in the 1930s.

The second is

Nottingham: Deco in the Details Part 2: Sunday 27, October, 10 am

This walk will cover the north side of Nottingham City Centre and finish at Sneinton Market. You’ll see the work of local architects, uncover how the Palais de Danse added a touch of glamour to Nottingham and seek out remnants of the Art Deco era, including hints of streamline moderne and even some Egyptian hanging gardens. Starts Outside Victoria Centre and finishes at The Bath Inn. 

All tickets are £15 plus Eventbrite booking fee.

Art Deco, Events, New Tour

New Walk! Deco in the Details

watson

My newest walk, Nottingham: Deco in the Details will be running for The Art Deco Society UK on Saturday 14 September, start 10 am.

This new walk looks at Nottingham’s architecture of the 1920s and 1930s and will explore the influence of Art Deco on the buildings in the city.

Tickets are available via The Art Deco Society UK – with a discount for members:

Nottingham Deco in the Details, Saturday 14 September, 10 am

I hope to rerun this walk and put together a second part of the tour that will cover the other side of town. These tours will be added to my regular event programme in due course.

Many of Nottingham’s Art Deco-influenced buildings are further out of the city centre, so I am also working on a self-guided tour that makes them easier to find! Watch this space or sign up for the Watson Fothergill Walk newsletter to receive updates.