A Teller Of Legends

Amongst the few highlights  of Friday's Light Night, was overhearing part of a tale from the evil Sheriff of Nottingham.

He was in the Lace Market entertaining a group of people of stories about things that had happened in the city centre a long time ago.

His audience seemed enthralled with his tale. I stayed a little while, before moving on to the next event

Castle Colours

Although I never made it to the castle to see the lights there, I took this photo from the top of the multi-storey car park, which isn't too far from the castle grounds.

The coloured lights on the trees look quite effective, while the castle is just bathed in light from the inside, which was open, so you could look round and see the new exhibition that's on at the moment.

And with that final shot, I jumped into my car and drove home to some fish & chips and review what I had just taken.

Down In The Dustcart

Whilst people were enjoying the delights of Light Night, some people weren't having  such a nice time, like these bin men who were clearing away the rubbish from one of the fruit and veg stalls located in the city centre.

There are some lyrics I remember from the Dire Straits song 'Your Latest Trick', about dustbin lorries:

"And prehistoric garbage trucks, have the city to themselves"

Well this one certainly didn't, as there were loads of people milling about looking for the next illuminated show.

A Relaxing Time

The annual Light Night festival took place tonight in Nottingham city centre.

I was hopeful that it would be an improvement on last years. There was certainly a lot going on, and it was better than the last one, but for some reason, I didn't find a lot of it exciting.

And also for some unexplained reason, a lot of my shots are in black & white. I have no idea why. Maybe its something to do with the mood I was in.

I began my exploration in the Old Market Square, then walked up to the castle. Being free entry, there was a ginormous queue of people waiting to go in. I thought I couldn't be bothered waiting. so had a stroll down to the Brewhouse Yard area.

On the way back I popped into a gallery for local artists to display their work. I noticed that there were about four artists sketching or painting an oldish man that was posing on a sofa. To add a bit of surrealism, a bowler hat had been suspended near his head.

Not being able to draw or paint, I took his portrait instead.

City Lights

A shot from the Castle grounds of the Nottingham skyline, which I took during Friday's Light Night celebrations. There is of course the big ferris wheel situated in the Old Market Square on the left. The Victoria Centre flats in the middle and of course the dome of the Council House on the right.

Wheel Of Light

The city centre came alive tonight when the annual Light Night festival took place across various areas of the city, much to the delight of the thousands of people that I saw walking around the Lace Market, Hockley and the castle.

Of course the highlight for many was seeing the Nottingham Wheel lit up and people seeing the skyline in the night sky.

The Writing's On The Wall

A return to the delights of Light Night, as it was a bit of a slow day in town today, and could find nothing worth shooting during my lunch time walkabout.

Gail and I missed this, when we arrived at the castle, but I noticed that some writing had appeared on the wall of the castle entranceway. A chap with a laptop or iPad was standing near the Robin Hood statue and he was using some gizmo to beam writing and shapes on the building.

Sometimes the software itself would find itself shown to everyone. I don't know what the software they were using was called, but it looked fun to use.

Lighting Up Time

Tonight saw Nottingham city centre lit up once again, as it was the annual Light Night festival. The yearly event where buildings are used as cinema screens, strange things pop up in all sorts of places and it is generally very cold.

Well this year was no different. The castle was tonight's backdrop, where a group calling themselves 'Elemental Force' projected a show containing animation, photos and pyrotechnics. It seemed to relay the history of Nottingham, and included of course Robin Hood, lace making and Raleigh bikes.

I was pleased to see that the Daleks and the Tardis were making a return visit. They looked very good last year standing next to the Robin Hood statue, where they were trying to terrify the fabled outlaw. This year they were placed outside the Theatre Royal. I must admit it didn't look so good. Possibly because where they were was quite bright, and so they lost some of their impact, as where they were before was quite atmospheric and darker, so they all stood out more.

Still I suppose I shouldn't complain, as we were lucky to get anything with the continuing cuts in finances and relative poor state of the economy, as it is funding for the arts that always seemed to get trimmed first, rather than say sport.

The Lion Roars Tonight

Besides the opening of the Big Wheel, Friday saw what was known as "Light Night". Where the council put on various light shows across the city, to attract more visitors. I couldn't get to them all, as we were going to see Boy George at the Concert Hall. But I did snap this illuminated lion. A lot of people were looking at him so I suppose he would be known as a roaring success!