Goose Fair

For the past 16 years, ever since my friends moved to Nottingham, I've been saying I must go to Goose Fair. Last weekend I finally got round to going.

Goose Fair is thought to have started in the 1200s and was originally a fair for traders, particularly those trading geese - thousands would be walked to Nottingham from Lincolnshire to be sold. These days it's just a funfair with rides and food but because of its origins and because it is reputed to be the biggest fair in Europe it is both well-known and well-attended. Truancy rates in the local schools always soared on the Friday of the fair and so now the day is set aside as an inset day.

I went to the fair on Saturday evening after spending the afternoon sitting inside and outside various old Nottingham pubs. With the sun shining it was so nice to be able to sit outside and relax enjoying a good beer, a nice lunch and good conversation.

Outside Ye Old Trip to Jerussalem

Inside Ye Old Trip to Jerusalem

We started with lunch at a bar opposite the castle and then wandered down to 'Ye Old Trip to Jerusalem' for 3 beers. Well, why have one when you can have three? The pub sells real ales and offers a 'pick and mix' of them - three half pints of beers of your choice served on a wooden platter. Of course it had to be done. The pub itself is interesting as it's built into the caves. Nottingham is riddled with sandstone caves that until relatively recently people still lived and worked in. It's possible to do a tour of the pub's cellars but these have been withdrawn at the moment. I would be interested in going along on one when they start them up again as caves always interest me and caves that are utilised as modern day buildings interest me even more.

Next we went along to 'The Royal Children' which apparently got its name when the children of King James II's daughter, Princess Anne, were entertained there back in the 1600s. Inside is a whalebone which used to hang above the door and was painted with the name of the pub. This dates to the time when whale oil became popular in oil lamps and the whale oil companies would use the bones as a means of advertising.











Finally we stopped off at 'The Salutation', another old and well-known pub. This seemed to be a bikers' pub and had loud music and lots of men with leather and tattoos. It also sold real ale and I got quite a nice beer. It's built over caves which are open to the public, though we didn't go down them. (Got to leave myself a reason to go back!)

After this we made our way to Goose Fair and spent a few hours wandering around, trying out rides and food. I went on the big wheel to get a good view of the whole fair and was able to appreciate the size of it. I had hoped to see more of Nottingham but it was too dark by this time and the bright lights of the fair blotted out of the rest of the view.

I ate mushy peas with mint sauce and bought cocks on sticks as presents. Mushy peas are something I usually eat with chips, but here they were sold as a snack in their own right and the stalls had large bowls of mint sauce on their counters for customers to add and stir into their tubs of mushy peas.



The cocks on sticks are a tradition and have been made out of sweet rock for over 100 years by the same family. It took a while to find the stall as it's only small but eventually we did. Originally they were sold as geese on sticks but at some point the name was changed to the snigger-inducing cocks on sticks by the classy ladies of Nottingham.

Finally we headed home. Goose Fair done, old pubs done, caves under pubs still to do.

Peregrine falcon

I drove home from Exmoor via Cheddar. I'd walked around here a few years ago, but hadn't been in the caves. As I like caves I felt like I'd missed out. I spent most of the day here and bought a day ticket which gave me admission to both sets of caves, the museum and an open top bus tour through the gorge. 


First I went into Gough's Cave which I walked through with an audio guide. Unfortunately the audio guides, which are included with the price of the ticket, are aimed at children. It would have been nice to have had an adult version giving me facts about the caves rather than telling me 'when my parents are ready' to do this, that and the other! The caves were well worth seeing though, with lots of interesting formations. There were racks of cheeses maturing inside too. 


Next I went down the road to Cox's Cave and the Crystal Quest. The name itself had me a bit worried and I was right. I know I was in Cheddar, but do things really have to be this cheesy? The cave was a lot smaller than Gough's Cave and most of it was some kind of adventure quest with dummies and voices and sound effects leading you through in search of some kind of magic crystal. 


The museum was quite interesting as was the bus tour through the gorge. The guide pointed out a layby where the RSPB had a telescope set up watching a couple of peregrine falcons who had nested at the top of the gorge. When I got back to my car I drove back to the layby and stopped for a while to chat to the RSPB people and check out the falcons. I was just too late to see the male fly off and the female was nowhere to be seen. I decided to stick around for a bit and was glad I did. After a while the male reappeared and flew round for a bit before coming in to land. Once back on top of the gorge he was very difficult to see. But patience paid off and he took off again for another fly round before settling in a much more viewable position. 


He was wonderful to see, but if I'd been there without the RSPB pointing things out and making them obvious I'd probably have never noticed him. I've been trying to learn about birds for a while now. It would nice to know what it is flying past me when I'm out walking and I should be learning about all things nature-ish for my walking group leader's qualification. I find it hard to identify birds as when I look in a bird book they never quite look the same. I've thought about joining the RSPB on and off for a few years now, and I think I really should. Their magazines might help me with gaining knowledge and I'd be quite happy to support them. But as I've spent way too much money lately, it will have to wait a while.