Welcome to the December
Castle Transformation Newsletter
This month, we feature:
- Project update - Seasons greetings, Filming, Adventure play, rebellious discovery
-?Nottingham Castle Trust News - Castle in winter comp
- Nottingham Castle - A Year to Celebrate?
-?Object of the Month -?Snow Piece, Bulwell Forest
- Top Trumps - No. 8:?Michael of Meigle
- G F Tomlinson - Round-up and litter pick
- Bottletop - Tender awarded
Image: The Robin Hood statue hit the national press this month
Watch the latest time lapse images for December on our website
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December 2019 ? Project Update
Welcome to our project news for December 2019
Seasons Greetings! - Firstly, we would like to take this opportunity to wish our readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We are very grateful for all of your support this year ? our readership is now nearly 10,000 strong! We have had a great year both on site, and behind the scenes, as plans for the Castle have steadily transformed into a fantastic reality. The scale of this project is enormous and it wouldn?t be possible without the help and support of everyone involved ? so thank you, and Merry Christmas! It wouldn't be Christmas without a famous old picture of Christmas Robin Hood!
Filming with Notts TV - Notts TV has been a frequent visitor to site this month, as they start to capture footage for their documentary on the Castle. Both journalists and NTU students have been involved with the filming at this early stage. Footage so far has included interviews with project staff, filming of the roof works and general views of the site. We look forward to working with them in the new year to continue this exciting project.
Adventure play tenders - The tender process for the design and build of the adventure play area continued this month, with the submission of designs and meetings held with the tendering companies. It has been wonderful to see the ideas and proposals for the transformation of this previously under-used space (the Castle ditch), and we can?t wait to bring it to life. We will be able to announce the contract award early in the new year.
Rebellious article discovered! - Earlier this month an interesting find came to light during work in the new Rebellion Gallery. Some crumpled pages from the Daily Mail dated May 13, 1985, were discovered during final opening up works in the gallery - presumably having being left there during the creation of the mezzanine in the 1980s. Upon closer inspection it became apparent that the pages featured a story on the establishment of the Conservative Centre Forward ? a short-lived group of 32 Conservative back benchers who openly opposed Thatcher policies. Obviously, the rebellious theme of this gallery was pre-destined!
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Nottingham Castle - A Year to Celebrate -
Preparations continue to develop for our exciting opening celebrations planned for 2021!
We received around 20 submissions to our open call for ambitious proposals from national and international artists.
Our artistic panel and opening celebrations steering group are currently shortlisting applications to invite candidates to interview in January.
The artistic panel is made up of local experts and our steering group comprises partners across education, tourism, media and heritage. The scoring looks closely at their track record of delivering large scale projects, experience of working with communities and their approach to developing the full proposal, amongst other aspects.
We expect to announce the successful company at the end of January.
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Nottingham Castle Trust News
Christmas at the Castle: Callout for Crafty Camerawork?
We all know that Christmas is a time for spreading goodwill and spending time with those closest to us. However, the frantic pre-Christmas rush - from last minute gift-buying to Christmas Day logistics - can often leave less time to enjoy the festive cheer! To help you get in that Christmas mood, we at Nottingham Castle invite you to pause those stressful preparations and join us in celebrating the best of our Castle?s winter landscapes.? ?
We are currently on the hunt for pictures capturing Nottingham Castle at Christmas, taken by the keen-eyed photographers among you. Whether these photographs are of the bustle of the Castle?s old Christmas market, the panoramic views of the city offered from our viewing points, or the Castle grounds in winter-time hibernation (see right), we would love to hear from you.
All image entries are welcome. Excitingly, the best photographs have the chance of being used in future promotional material. If you would like to contribute, please email your image to the email address below with your full name as the subject line. If you are feeling especially creative, then feel free to caption your photo with a wintery theme!
We look forward to hearing you. Get scouring those camera rolls!
Please send photos to [email protected]. If your photo is selected for promotional use, you will be contacted with a relevant consent form.
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Object of the month
This month, we feature a seasonal oil painting...
What is it? -?For our Christmas newsletter we have selected an oil painting of an atmospheric winter scene. ?Snow Piece, Bulwell Forest, Nottinghamshire? was painted by Thomas Barrett (1845 ? 1924) and donated to the museum in 1890.
Why is it significant? -?Thomas Barrett was Assistant Principal at the Nottingham School of Art between 1881 and 1920 and was also a member of the Staithes Group of artists. The group took their inspiration from the French Impressionists & was based in the North Yorkshire village of Staithes. Laura Knight, another Nottingham artist who features in the museum collection, was a member of the group as well and had a studio in Staithes.
Tell me more -?Snow Piece was donated to the museum as part of a bequest from Mr Henry Lammin who had lived in Newark on Trent before moving to Brixton Hill in Surrey. In October 1890 he invited the museum director, George Harry Wallis, to select paintings from his collection for bequest to the museum at his death. The bequest also contained a collection of 100 pieces of 18th?and 19th Century British, European and Chinese porcelain. Our painting is listed in the Catalogue of the Permanent Collection published in 1900.
More information at archive.org.uk
A Brief History... The Staithes Group 1894 - 1909
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Top Trumps #8
Welcome to the seventh character in the series of Castle stories, turned into a game of Top Trumps.
Top Trumps #8 is Michael of Meigle, a Scottish Prisoner of War held prisoner at Nottingham Castle?1298 -1299
Find out more at:
https://www.poms.ac.uk/record/source/8363/
https://bbc.in/395nkVP
Please email us?to let us know whether you agree or disagree with our scores.
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Contractor update - The latest from G F Tomlinson
Check out the latest G F Tomlinson Newsletter via the Nottingham Castle Twitter page @nottmcastlebid
The Newsletter details construction progress updates to the Ducal Palace refurbishment and extension, along with the new Visitors Centre. The team has also begun access improvement works to the caves and the refurbishment of the site?s bandstand!
The G F Tomlinson team has also been out in the community, helping with the Nottingham Litter Pick, along with 40 volunteers from companies based across the East Midlands. ?
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Nottingham Creatives to help bring city's rebellious past to life?
A local company has been chosen to create a series of animated films to be played in the new Rebellion Gallery at Nottingham Castle.
Bottletop, which is based within the Antenna Media Centre in Beck Street, saw off significant competition from across the country to land the contract at the iconic tourist attraction, which is currently undergoing a major refurbishment.
The company will now produce a range of animated pieces for the new Rebellion Gallery.
Bottletop went through a rigorous tender process where it had to show a creative interpretation of the brief and explain its vision for this part of the castle project.
Read more about the Bottletop projects
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