QUOTES OF THE DAY
AS RUBBISH IS FINALLY COLLECTED, ANGRY NEIGHBOURS FEAR ANOTHER MONTH’S DELAY
“Not everyone has been as lucky as us. So many have died or are suffering from long Covid because they were simply not protected. We need to show them that they are not forgotten and we care.”
Jo Whiley gives an update on her sister Frances as she renewed her call for people with learning disabilities to be prioritised in the vaccine rollout
“It’s easy to ask these questions, but what is hard is to deliver PPE in the teeth of a pandemic. And that’s what my team did. And yes, there were individual challenges in access to PPE, but we never had a national shortage, because of my team.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock
“Genuinely, because of the immense possibilities of the rollout, because science has given us this way of creating a shield around our population, we can really look at that June 21 date with some optimism. I’m very optimistic that we’ll be able to get there.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson aims to
fully remove all of England’s coronavirus restrictions on June 21
NEIGHBOURS in St Ann’s say they don’t want to wait another month for their recycling bins to be collected.
Terry Smith, 64, of Grassmoor Close, said residents had been forgotten for over a month by binmen as the area became a “mess”.
But he was relieved when the bins were finally collected on Monday morning.
He said: “They have just come and emptied the bins.
“They have not picked up any of the rubbish on the floor. They have just left all that.
“We don’t want another recurrence of it, of the same problem. “They have done all Grassmoor.” Mr Smith, a full-time carer for his wife Linda, 60, added: “We seem to be the forgotten ones.
“From where we are at the top end of Brandreth Avenue and Grassmoor Close, we seem to be forgotten.
“If you get on the opposite side of the road of Brandreth their bins get emptied every week. But ours are not touched.”
He went on: “We are putting out our recycling in our garden waste bin until they empty the plastic bin.
“Let’s just hope something happens. It seems to fall on deaf ears with their people.
“They don’t realise what we have to put up with.”
On Sunday, Paul Gascoine, of Brandreth Avenue, said the street had become untidy and that he was having to leave black bin bags outside as the bins hadn’t been emptied since January 21.
The 37-year-old said: “It’s normally every other week. The last two they have been missed. And you just can’t get hold of anyone at the council for a reason why.”
Green waste bins were still being collected, said kebab shop general manager Mr Gascoine.
But he added: “Obviously the problem is if we fill the green bin with the recycling you have got no room for your green bin waste which would then attract a lot more attention from pests if you were to leave it out in the street.”
His mum, Iris, who also lives in Brandreth Avenue, had been trying to call Nottingham City Council.
“She rang 13 times on the same day to get zero reply to actually talk to anyone with regards to what’s going on.”
A city council spokesman confirmed the bins had been collected but did not elaborate on why collections were missed.
JOBS are up for grabs at Beeston’s new £50m cinema complex which is opening in the coming months.
The Arc Cinema is set to open the doors in the centre of Beeston this summer and is now looking to recruit a permanent full-time manager.
The brand new cinema will offer digital laser projectors in its eight screens, state-of-the-art immersive surround sound systems, luxury leather recliner seats and a café / bar area.
Brian Gilligan, director at The Arc Cinema, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for a special person to recruit and lead their own team to deliver a hugely enjoyable leisure experience to the people of Beeston in an exciting work environment.
“Ideally we’d like a passionate individual with a hospitality background and a love of film, obviously. We pride ourselves in taking great care of our customers, and on becoming a central part of each community that we serve.”
The full-time manager role will pay between £30,000 to £35,000 a year.
Once the new manager is appointed they will be looking to recruit 20 additional new staff.
The cinema will show the latest blockbuster and independent films as well as broadcast screenings of opera, ballet and theatrical productions.
There will be a full range of snacks and drinks on offer and all the screens will be licensed so viewers can enjoy a beer or glass of wine while watching the film.
Work on the Beeston Square development began in November 2019, with the entertainment complex forming the second phase of a wider development to refurbish the shopping precinct, among other improvements.
A fly-through video shows how the new cinema complex will look when it opens.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday that entertainment venues such as cinemas could reopen on May 17 as part of Step 3 of the roadmap out of Covid lockdown restrictions.
Some cinemas had reopened last summer but closed again due to the Tier 3 restrictions which came into force in Nottinghamshire and much of the country last October.
However, the film industry has also been hit by a lack of new box office releases due to the pandemic.
PLANS have been revealed to create a tourist hub in Nottingham through the relocation and refurbishment of current services.
The Nottingham Travel Centre in Victoria bus station is to be moved to the Nottingham Tourism Centre in Old Market Square, which is also going to undergo changes.
It is hoped the new central location for the travel centre will be more convenient and accessible for locals and tourists alike.
Refurbishment works at what will be the new tourist hub will include prominent displays about Robin Hood.
The makeover will also help to showcase the recently overhauled range of more than 250 artisan products and souvenirs, many of which have been made by local, independent businesses.
The new ranges include environmentally-friendly products with a low carbon footprint, upcycled products and unusual and unique souvenirs and gifts that celebrate Nottingham’s culture and heritage.
While the tourism centre is currently closed due to lockdown, it is hoped that the refurbishment will boost visitor numbers when it is permitted to reopen.
To further support the recovery of Nottingham’s tourism sector, tourist board Visit Nottinghamshire is also redeveloping its website to allow visitors to make direct bookings for attractions, experiences and hotels.
It has also launched a new Nottingham toolkit online to help other businesses promote the city to visitors.
Kinga Kapias, marketing and communications manager at Visit Nottinghamshire, said: “The tourism centre will become a one-stopshop for visitors, who will now be able to purchase transport tickets as well as tickets for events and activities, learn about everything that Nottinghamshire has to offer, and buy Nottingham-themed souvenirs and Nottingham Forest FC merchandise.
“The refurbishment and the relocation of the Travel Centre will help to transform our Tourism Centre into an exciting new tourist hub right in the heart of the action on Old Market Square.”
Simon Redgate, manager of the Nottingham Tourism Centre, said: “Whilst online services and apps are becoming increasingly popular, plenty of people – not least of all tourists - like to make their travel arrangements the old-fashioned way, in person.
“Relocating the Travel Centre to this prime city centre location at our Tourism Centre will help to ensure that Nottingham’s award-winning public transport system is as accessible as possible for both our visitors and residents.
“It’s expected to further increase footfall on what is already one of Nottingham’s busiest streets - which, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, saw almost 100,000 visitors a week during peak months - giving us the opportunity to showcase the wonderful range of products from local businesses we stock, and provide information and inspiration about everything visitors can do and see in Nottinghamshire.”
finds out
LOCATED on the now-demolished Gardeners Arms pub site, the well is said to have been visited by people with a range of ailments.
It became a venue for social gatherings and people would sit in the shallow flow of water, which came from a spring and was described as being cold enough to kill a toad.
Houses have been built on the flattened pub site – and locals suggested a plaque as a good idea to remember the historic landmark, that lent its name to the area.
Sneinton artist Kathryn Cooper, 41, a mum-of-two, said: “My heart sank when I found out there are houses there and just nothing to commemorate it.
“I just think St Ann’s, it’s kind of been brought down so low, it’s got a really bad reputation.
“I think in a lazy way people sort of think there’s no merit to certain areas.
“To find that out about St Ann’s, I just think it would lift the spirits of people who live there.
“I find it humbling to live near something like that.
“It could become like a pilgrimage-type place. Local people could make a fuss about it.”
Accounts assistant and student Joann Worrell, 42, of Kildare Road, St Ann’s, said: “It’s always nice to tell the history of the area.
“I knew there was a well. I didn’t know the significance of it.
“It would be nice to know exactly where it was.”
Hilary Silvester, executive chair of
Nottingham Civic Society, said: “There has been talk in the past to put some sort of commemorative feature. I don’t think there’s a plaque there.
“It would be a good idea because it was a local kind of holy well, if you like.
“It’s important to commemorate these ancient sites and the beliefs the people in the local area had.”
Before work started on the homes at the site, conservation architect Valeria Passetti, who had been contacted by an “interest group” at the time, explained that efforts had been made to create a memorial.
“By the time I got involved the housing development had been approved by planning. It was too late to oppose the planning application.
“I tried to raise awareness of the importance of the site.
“Although there was a project for a housing development, work had not started on the site yet – the site was still intact.
“[We wanted to] preserve and create a memorial to the history of the fountain as well.
“I would be very much in favour of a plaque.
“Given the circumstances, I think that a plaque would probably be the best way we have got left to make sure that history is not forgotten.”
City archaeologist Scott Lomax said: “The date of the well’s construction is not known, but we do know that it was in existence by 1409 when St Ann’s Chapel was referred to as being next to the well.
“We don’t know the precise location of the well but it was located on the site of the former Gardeners Arms public house, which is now occupied by housing, at the corner of Wells Road and Kildare Road.
“The use of the term ‘well’ is a little unfortunate because it conjures up images of a hole in the ground from which drinking water was extracted.
“This ‘well’ was actually a subterranean chamber, entered via steps, with a shallow flowing stream of water which came from a spring.
“In 1677 the well was described as being ‘under an arched stone roof, of rude workmanship.’
“People would enter the chamber and sit in the water, which was described as being so cold that it could kill a toad.”
Mr Lomax explained that the well may possibly have be known as the Owswell – although this is uncertain.
“Certainly, the well was known as Robin Hood’s Well by 1500 and I believe possibly by 1485, when a piece of land very close to the well was called Robin Hood Close,” he said.
“It continued to be known as Robin Hood’s Well into the 18th and 19th centuries.
“In fact, during the 18th century there was a chair, cap and horn which, it was claimed, had belonged