Episode 21 – Castle Rock Great things happen for a reason. And a decision by a judge and three magistrates at Nottingham Crown Court in 1977 paved the way for what has become one of the most consistently successful breweries and pub companies in the city. Chris Holmes and his business partner Ron Picking had…

Episode 17 – Matthew Curtis on returning to the pub During the darkest days of lockdown you probably had that Zoom chat with your mates – what you wouldn’t give just to be able to walk back into a pub and have a pint. In NottsNight land, the winter lockdown started at the end of…

Episode 16 – Hockley Helles When we founded NottsNight, we had a certain image of drinker in our minds. It was the kind of grown up who had shunned bars serving drinks in jam jars, who preferred a bag of pork scratchings to a side of unicorn shavings and definitely not the type of person…

Episode 15 – The Robin Hood Beer and Cider Festival Some people still yearn for the days when the Nottingham Beer Festival was set inside the old Victoria Baths in Sneinton, where your half pint was accompanied by the smell of chlorine and sweaty Speedos . Thankfully, nostalgia is a thing of the past –…

Episode 14 – The Art of Beer We’re a bunch of creative buggers in Nottingham. Where else would could you find the utter brilliance of someone designing the Raleigh Chopper, while just down the road someone else was inventing Ibuprofen to numb the pain when you smashed your nuts on the gear stick? And there…

Episode 10 – Canning Circus We don’t care what anyone says; for NottsNight, Canning Circus is just about the most perfectly formed of all Nottingham neighbourhoods when it comes to pubs. There is genuine choice, and friendly but firm competition around here, and the summer of 2021 saw another addition in the shape of the…

Episode 12 – Nottingham Pride It’s mid September and the sun is still shining. Around four thousand people are marching through the streets for Nottinghamshire Pride, cancelled last year and delayed this year because of Covid. At the front of the parade, colourful costumed dancers, a fire engine – and behind them, hundreds of rainbow…

Episode 13 – The West of Ireland When mentioning men of the cloth and the remote West of Ireland, you might immediately think of your favourite scene from Father Ted. But the story of three hapless priests trying to just bungle along in the middle of nowhere is nothing compared to the tale of the…