The Watson Fothergill Walk is back! I’ve set a date for a walk in the city centre on 30 May 2021 starting at 10 am. I’ve reduced that capacity to allow for social distancing so there will be just 12 tickets available!
This is the original Watson Fothergill Walk starting at Nottingham Tourism Centre. Learn about the buildings of one of Nottingham’s most prominent Victorian architects, his signature style and the influence of the Gothic on the city’s buildings. A walk of approximately 2km (1.25 miles)
September 2020 sees the return of The Hine Hike – my tour looking at the buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine, another architect who had a big impact on Victorian Nottingham.
For the following two Sundays, tours will be available for booking through Debbie Bryan. Tickets will include tea and cake or cream tea at her Lace Market shop at the end of the tours. Dates are:
Afternoon tea at Debbie Bryan available after these walks.
Tickets for these walks are £15 for tour + tea and £32 for tour + traditional cream tea (vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free options available on request). All the details of this special package can be found on Debbie Bryan’s website.
Finally, there’s a chance to visit Clawson Lodge at the end of The Carrington Crawl... The Ukrainian Centre has reopened and they are offering a small group a chance to have a look around inside and to enjoy tea and biscuits at the end of the walk.
This walk will take place on Saturday 19 September, starting at 1pm. Tickets are £12 each and there will be small charge for refreshements at the Ukrainian Centre. Again, all walks are subject to social distancing with reduced numbers.
Tour Guide Lucy is also available to lead private walks for small groups – please get in touch to explore Nottingham’s great Victorian architecture.
Trying out my tours with smaller groups has worked well so far. Here are some photos from The Carrington Crawl this weekend.
The Carrington Crawl: Social Distancing version Photo: @theparkestate
This was a private booking for 5 people, and as you can see there is room to spread out and see some beautiful examples of Fothergill and Summers’ domestic architecture.
The Norris Homes on The Carrington Crawl. Photo: @theparkestate
At last! The walks are returning with added social distancing! Having completed the preparation for Visit England’s We’re Good To Go mark, I am now delighted to invite groups of up to 5 people (maximum groups are 6 so that includes your guide!) to accompany me on The Watson Fothergill Walk, tour of Nottingham city centre.
As groups have to remain small for now, I am offering private tours for groups of up to 5 people. Please contact me if you can make up a group of 5 or are happy to join another small group to make up a tour. The walk takes 2 hours and is best at quiet times of day.
I am also scheduling Sunday morning walks… the first will start at 10am, on 2 August 2020. Tickets are £12 each.
The next will be on 16 August 2020, 10am. Again tickets are £12.
NEWS FLASH! These have filled up very quickly so I have added more and will add more as demand dictates. If you can do weekdays please let me know as with small groups it might be possible to conduct tours at quieter times. TICKETS for all forthcoming dates (August 2, 16, 23, 30) are on Eventbrite.
If you would like to organise a walk for up to five people, please contact Lucy to select a suitable date and time.
At the moment I am only able to take groups of up to 6 (including me!) so there are just 5 tickets for The Carrington Crawl on 15 August 2020.
NEWS FLASH! The first walk is already full! But I have added more dates (Aug 20, 11am & Aug 22, 2pm): Tickets for all forthcoming walks are available on Eventbrite.
If you have a group of 5 people or less and would like to arrange a time to do the walk then please get in touch. (I can also do walks on weekdays.)
We successfully tried out the walk with social distancing in place and so I’d like to try more dates.
Thanks to the Promenaders for trying out The Carrington Crawl!
The Carrington Crawl looks at the domestic architecture of Watson Fothergill and his assistant LG Summers at Mapperley Road, Sherwood Rise and Carrington.
Some great photos of Lucy in action during a wet but enjoyable Watson Fothergill Walk on 16 February. It was great to see people so keen to join in the first public tour of the year! Photos by theparkestate on Instagram (follow them for some great photos of houses by Fothergill, Hine and other Nottingham architectes in Nottingham’s Park Estate).
16 February 2020 Watson Fothergill Walk. Lucy guiding in the rain! Thanks to theparkestate for the photos.
As previously mentioned, I’ve listed the walks on TripAdvisor, had some lovely reviews so far. If you’ve been on my walk (and enjoyed it!) please leave a review.
Links to all the tickets for forthcoming walks are here on Eventbrite.
I’ve been busy reading, researching and thinking about new walks and talks for the new year. But I’m ready to get out walking again, so I’ve set up some dates for The Watson Fothergill Walk in February and March 2020.
The first walk, which will start at 10am outside Nottingham Tourism Centre and finish at Debbie Bryan on St Mary’s Gate, will take place on 16 February. Tickets are £12 each and include coffee or tea and cake at the end of the walk.
It is once again likely that I will be adding afternoon walks to these dates if there is sufficient demand, so if you prefer to start at 1pm, please get in touch to express an interest…
A busy August so far with several walks, both public and private. It’s great to share the love for Nottingham’s architecture with so many people. Here’s some of the Facebook reviews I’ve received so far.
A very informative and interesting walk, Lucy is obviously very passionate about the subject. A very hot, sunny Sunday so we were all wilting a bit but loved it and got some good photos. I was born and bred in Nottingham but learnt a lot from this walk. I will walk around in future looking up at the history of our (mainly) beautiful city.
Heather, Facebook, August 2019
Did the walk today, interesting informative and a super guide. I would recommend this to anyone interested in architecture or the history of Nottingham
Brenda, Facebook, August 2019
The next Watson Fothergill Walks will be in September 2019 – there are three dates now booking on Eventbrite.
I’m running another chance to join me for The Hine Hike: The buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine on Wednesday 5th June 2019, starting at 6pm. Tickets here.
Thomas Chambers Hine, 1813-1899, was possbly Nottingham’s most prolific architect of the Victorian Age. His work across the 19th Century ranges from overseeing the development of The Park Estate, to building the biggest lace warehouses in the Lace Market, and includes the conversion of Nottingham Castle to England’s first provincial art gallery outside London.
Explore the buildings of Thomas Chambers Hine “the father of the Midlands Architects” and his impact on the built environment of Nottingham city centre. This evening walk will take in a overview of the Park Estate, progress via Hine’s home and office on Regent Street towards Nottingham Castle. The walk will continue across the city centre to investigate some of Thomas Chambers Hine’s lesser known buildings and finish up with some of his large scale projects in the Lace Market.
This is a walk of 3km (1.9 miles) approximately 2 hours. The walk starts at Nottingham Playhouse and finishes in the Lace Market.
