Nottingham trams

The Nottingham tram network has been expanded – there are three lines now – and although the building has been absolutely agony, with roads closed for months and monumental traffic jams, and shopkeepers along the route nearly suicidal, the end result, I think, is excellent. Of course, being a city resident and old, I don’t  pay, and this probably sways my judgement.  They have thought to put    a park and ride car park at each end of all the lines, and one line is highly convenient for my daughter’s house, and that convinces me that it’s really well planned.

But what I’ve been particularly enjoying has been spotting the names of the trams. It’s kind of a crash course (not literally, thank goodness)  on the history of Nottingham people, and who is considered worthy of having a tram named after them.

Of course, there’s a Robin Hood, but there are a number of writers, which is quite appropriate since Nottingham has just become a UNESCO City of Literature. I have no idea why Nottingham, more than other cities, or what it means for the future, but it’s kind of nice. Anyway, the writers who have trams named after them are Lord Byron, Alan Sillitoe and D.H. Lawrence. None of the still living Nottingham writers have been honoured with a tram. Perhaps there’s a worry that they’ll go out of fashion. I really like Jon McGregor, but he wasn’t born in Nottingham. However neither was Byron. 

There’s also a tram called after a successful screenwriter, William Ivory, formerly a  Nottingham dustman, and one for Stephen Lowe the playwright and director. And while we’re on the stage, there’s a Vicky McClure, named for the actor. She was a member of the Childrens’  Television Workshop, along with Samantha Morton, Jack O’ Connell, Joe Dempsie , and many other successful actors. Oldest son went there – he loved it, and also made quite a bit of cash from doing  bit parts in TV dramas, although he ended up being an accountant.

Then there are scientists. There’s an  Ada Lovelace; she was Lord Byron’s daughter and a pioneer of computing (I did actually understand Bernoulli numbers when I took a little historical walk which included her grave, but as soon as I didn’t need to understand them, they went.)

 George Green has a tram and an engineering building at the university named after him – he was a largely self taught  mathematical genius, and  you can visit the windmill in Sneinton  where he was the miller, and which has been restored. The storage buildings on the site have been turned into a little science education centre. As a lot of his work is on electricity and magnetism, there are lots of fun things to do. It’s quite a good place to take children.

Another scientist with a tram is Sir Peter Mansfield, who developed the MRI scanner. He failed his eleven plus exam and failed to get into grammar school, which just shows how rubbish the system was, and how stupid it is for those Conservative idiots to want to bring back grammar schools. Not that grammar schools have gone away entirely. They are popular with parents who are sure their children will pass the exam and then won’t have to mix with the riff raff. Personally I think learning to cope with all sorts of people is an important part of education.

 There are trams named after quite a lot of different  sporting types. There’s Brian Clough, manager of the Nottingham Forest side who won the European cup two years in succession, and Viv Anderson who was the first black footballer to play for England. There is a tram called Torvill and Dean, after the Nottingham Ice dancers who scored perfect tens at the Sarajevo Olympics. Why they didn’t get a tram each, goodness knows.  Although they did move in perfect unison ha ha.

There are two boxers -  Carl Froch, the world super middleweight  champion, and one named  Bendigo after the all England bare knuckle champion. He was one of triplets who were named (naturally) Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego, and therefore became famous as Bendigo;    and had a serious drink problem in later life. I don’t think he can have been punchdrunk, as bare knuckle boxers couldn’t hit as hard. It would simply break their hand. But some of his fights went on for over a hundred rounds, which I shouldn’t imagine does your head much good. Anyway, later still, he stopped drinking, got religion and became a lay preacher.   So a happy ending of sorts. Bendigo in Australia is named after an Australian fighter who was named after the Nottingham Bendigo.

Sid Standard is also a sporting hero, but he isn’t famous for winning, but for getting kids into cycling. So really a more worthwhile hero than many others. And David Clarke of Nottingham Panthers ice hockey team has a tram.

The latest sporting hero is Stuart Broad, who took 8 wickets for sixteen runs in the Ashes here in Nottingham at Trent Bridge last summer. Actually, it was a bad thing for Nottingham in some ways, because all the people who’d travelled to Nottingham to see the match went home. Instead of five days it lasted two and a bit, so the city must have lost money on it. But I can’t tell you how satisfying it was to see the Australians collapse.  A tram was immediately selected as the perfect tribute to a wonderful display of bowling, and to everyone’s joy at thrashing the Aussies.

One tram is named William Booth, after the founder of the Salvation Army, born in 1829 in Sneinton, Nottingham. There are lots of local people you won’t have heard of, but who have trams named after them as a tribute to their charitable work, which is a really nice thank you to them. One is named after a lady who has volunteered for Homestart, which provides support for struggling families, and when the Nottingham Evening Post asked for nominations for people to have trams named for them, the family she has supported for years immediately nominated her.  And some are named for nurses and midwives who won nurse of the year awards.

A very important  businessman commemorated with a tram is Jesse Boot, founder of Boots the Chemist, still a big employer in the city, and an important city benefactor, helping to get the university started and giving it a great deal of land.

Then there’s the tram called George Africanus. He ran various businesses in Nottingham, including a servants’ registry. He was brought  to Britain from Sierra Leone as a slave in 1766, when he was about three, but died in 1834, a well known and prosperous businessman.  And there’s Sat Bains, who runs a Michelin starred restaurant.  I haven’t been there - whenever I suggest a posh restaurant, Phil says he won’t pay that when he eats better at home. Huh. Flattery.  And stinginess. Still, he's lovely really.