Nottingham Now (2000 onwards)
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Nottingham's Old Market Square (2011)
1 April 2000
The Nottingham Arena and the Arena Rink of the National Ice Centre were opened to the public by local ice skating legend Jayne Torvill
25 October 2000
The Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change was launched in Nottingham; inviting all local authorities and their local strategic partners to commit to reduce emissions, systematically address the causes of climate change and to prepare their community for its impacts
2000
Nottingham City Transport launched the Easyrider ‘smartcard’, the first contactless smartcard system to be introduced in the UK
27 April 2001
The Sky Mirror, by the internationally acclaimed artist Anish Kapoor, was unveiled outside the Nottingham Playhouse; at the time, it was the most expensive piece of civic art funded by the National Lottery
2001
The DH Lawrence Pavilion opened, featuring a 250 seat theatre, exhibition gallery and amphitheatre, situated at the University of Nottingham Lakeside art centre next to the lake at Highfields Park
2001
Nottingham won the Large City category of the Britain in Bloom competition
1 August 2002
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip visited the city as part of their Golden Jubilee celebrations and officially opened the Nottingham Ice Centre, before watching a special ice gala that had been choreographed by Nottingham’s Torvill and Dean
September 2002
The Screen Room, listed as the world’s smallest cinema in the Guinness Book of Records, opened on Broad Street in Nottingham; renamed ‘Screen 22’ in 2011
2003
The restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms, run by local chef Sat Bains, was the first Nottingham restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star
2003
Nottingham won the Large City category of the Britain in Bloom competition
6 October 2003
Nottingham University staff member and Emeritus Professor, Sir Peter Mansfield, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work in the application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
2004
Eurostat’s Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) definition listed Nottingham’s functional urban region population as 825,600
2004
Nottingham had a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of £24,238, the highest of any English city apart from London
9 March 2004
The first Nottingham Express Transit trams went into public service from Hucknall, through Bulwell, Hyson Green and The Forest (Goose Fair site) and through the city centre to Nottingham railway station with a branch line to Phoenix Park just off the M1 at junction 26
2004
Remodeling of the Maid Marian Way dual carriageway was completed, with the inclusion of wide pedestrian crossings and areas of planting to replace the 1960s pedestrian subways of stairways and ramps
March 2005
Attenborough Nature Centre was officially opened by Sir David Attenborough, an award winning Visitor and Education facility surrounded by the beautiful Attenborough Nature Reserve
9 November 2005
Nottingham City Council was named Transport Authority of the Year at the UK Bus Awards in London
23 February 2006
Nottingham University became the first foreign university to establish an independent campus in China when a purpose-built campus, developed in partnership with the Zhejiang Wanli Education Group, was officially opened in the city of Ningbo, by John Prescott, the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister
1 June 2006
Castle College Nottingham was formed from the merger of Broxtowe College and The People’s College
25-29 October 2006
GameCity, the independent annual videogame festival, was launched in Nottingham
November 2006
Nottingham University unveiled the largest magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner in the UK, using a 40-tonne 7T (seven tesla) magnet with a magnetic field 140,000 times that of the Earth’s
2007
Nottingham City Transport became the first bus company in the UK to introduce Ethanol powered ‘Eco’ buses
April 2007
The £9 million restoration of Wollaton Hall, Gardens and Deer Park was completed
12 September 2007
Nottingham won the Large City category of the Britain in Bloom competition
6 October 2007
A 23-year-old man from Hucknall died after when he stepped in front of a tram at Weekday Cross; the first fatality since the trams were re-launched in the city
23 June 2008
The final section of Aspire, a 60 metre (196ft) tall, red and orange steel sculpture and the largest free standing public work of art in Britain, was put in place on the Jubilee Campus of the University of Nottingham
5 September 2008
New Art Exchange, the UK’s only centre dedicated to African, African Caribbean and South Asian visual arts, and the largest facility of its kind outside of London, was opened in Nottingham’s Hyson Green
10 September 2008
Nottingham received a Gold Award and became Champion of Champions in the Britain in Bloom competition
6 November 2008
A nine foot tall bronze statue of Brian Clough was unveiled in Nottingham city centre, at the junction of Queen Street and King Street, near the Old Market Square
24 July 2009
The Sheriff of Nottingham’s Commission and Advisory Panel met for the first time to lead a debate on how to make the most of Nottingham’s legendary outlaw, Robin Hood, for the benefit of Nottingham’s residents and visitors and for Nottingham’s reputation
September 2009
Nottingham City Council reaches agreement to purchase Capital One’s Loxley House on Station Street, enabling staff to move out of a number of old, unsuitable and expensive city centre buildings and move to a single headquarters building
14 November 2009
Nottingham Contemporary, one of the largest contemporary art spaces in the UK, opened with an exhibition of works by David Hockney and Frances Stark
20 November 2009
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom met for the first time in the East Midlands at Nottingham’s Albert Hall
December 2009
Nottingham was chosen as one of 12 candidate host cities as part of England’s official bid for the 2018 World Cup
25 April 2010
Nottingham born writer Alan Sillitoe died. Author of books such as ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’ and ‘The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’
May 2010
Nottingham City Council started to move staff into its new single headquarters building, Loxley House on Station Street
August 2010
The Nottingham brewed ale Harvest Pale, by Castle Rock Brewery, was named ‘Best Beer in Britain’ at the Great British Beer Festival
August 2010
Sat Bains restaurant in Nottingham was a new entry to the top ten in sixth position in Which? The Good Food Guide
10 September 2010
The University of Nottingham is the fastest rising UK university in the world top 100 and is the nearest Britain has to a global university, with campuses in China and Malaysia
14 September 2010
The Campaign for Better Transport identified Nottingham as the least car dependent city in England; rated 1st out of 19 cities
6 October 2010
Nottingham’s tram operator, Nottingham Express Transit, was voted ‘Operator of the Year’ for the second time at the Light Rail Awards
23 October 2010
The British Art Show, a major exhibition held every five years of new and recent works by contemporary artists based in Britain, opened for the first time in Nottingham in three venues; Nottingham Contemporary, New Art Exchange and Nottingham Castle
16 November 2010
Nottingham City Council was named Transport Authority of the Year for the second time at the UK Bus Awards in London
March 2011
The Spirit Nottingham website was launched; listing the incredible range of the city’s music, theatre, comedy, film, art, dance and events
22 March 2011
Huge redevelopment plans were unveiled, heralding more than £1.3 billion of spending on new projects in the city, including the proposed Victoria Centre and Broadmarsh Shopping Centre expansions, redevelopment of the railway station and construction of two new tram lines
18 May 2011
Sir David Attenborough officially reopened the 1956 Newton and 1887 Arkwright buildings at Nottingham Trent University, following a £90 million transformation and linking of the two buildings
June 2011
Fewkes Lace Factory in Mapperley closed; it had been Nottingham’s last remaining lace factory
22 June 2011
The Invest in Nottingham Club showcased Nottingham’s £1.5 billion of construction projects to investors at the St Pancras Hotel in London
8-9 August 2011
Minor public disorder, arson and attempted looting took place in some areas of Nottingham, with five police stations attacked, following the riots in London and copycat disorder in Birmingham, Manchester and other cities
23 August 2011
Improvements to railways in Nottingham and the county in the previous 15 years led to an increase in passenger journeys at city stations of 86 per cent and of 219 per cent in the county
6 October 2011
Nottingham’s renowned Restaurant Sat Bains was awarded a second Michelin star, making it one of the top twelve in the country; only eight restaurants in England have two stars and another four have three stars
2 November 2011
East Midlands Airport was named as Best British Airport at the British Travel Awards in London
21 November 2011
Nottingham brewer Castle Rock took the top prize at the Society of Independent Brewers Business Awards in London
14 December 2011
The University of Nottingham beat 178 universities from 42 countries to be ranked first as the most environmentally friendly campus in the UI GreenMetric Ranking of World Universities
14 February 2012
Nottingham was voted as a top ten city in Europe and ranked as a leading European city of the future in the latest analysis in the FDI European Cities and Regions of the Future 2012/13
14 May 2012
Nottingham Station’s new multi-storey car park opened on Queen Road, completing phase one of the redevelopment of the station into a world-class transport hub
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For other information about Nottingham click here
If you want to know more about Nottingham’s past there is further information in ‘Events and dates in Nottingham’s history’ and through these websites:
The Nottinghamshire Heritage Gateway
The Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire
Nottingham Local Studies Library
