It was just last Friday that I cut and paste some of the ideas that were being promoted by the City Council for the future of The Castle and Robin Hood. If you read the blog you might have also read the interesting comment made by Bakersfieldlad – one of my regular contributors! Worryingly he made reference to a blog written by a Canadian visitor…
Plimouth Plantation – a world class attraction
I am at risk of being just grumpy about our lack of using Robin and The Castle – but if you want a third party view read this young travellers brutally honest view of us a city. It’s here. If you are of a sensitive disposition and think that we have got it even half right go here instead.
As I picked up my Nottingham Post on Friday night my heart sank even further. It seems that visitor numbers have fallen through the floor at the Castle. in 2010 we had 266,490 – in 2011 that had fallen to 170,225. A drop of 36%. Wow. At £5.50 a pop that’s quite a drop in revenue too.
Why?
Well, because the Castle is crap. It’s not a Castle, but that could be overcome. The cafe is poor. The art is dated – and of limited interest. Robin Hood plays too small a part. The story of Nottingham is demoted to the basement. The Cave tour is not a great experience. Once in a lifetime is plenty.
It shouldn’t be like this. Good luck to the Castle Committee – but they need to act quickly though… Before it’s too late and those visitor blogs start spreading!
Tim, please don’t go holding your breath on anything improving too drastically too quickly.
Both the city and the country are run by people who use the word ‘strategy’ without fully comprehending what good strategy looks like. Both are run by people who ‘consult’ without considering whether they are consulting properly.
The future of the Castle is out to consultation but where and to who? Had it not been for your blog I would be unaware it was and I’m a Nottingham resident. All too often consultations happen without those who would like to be and (more importantly) should be consulted knowing.
How are the powers that be ensuring this consultation engages those it should? Residents of the city? Short journey day trippers? People who have visited Nottingham and will have a view? People who have not visited Nottingham but might (or have been put off)? Etc, etc, etc.
Flawed consultation will result in flawed strategy and in 2, 5 or 10 years time we will be back where we are.
Why the fear of/opposition to engaging specialists to do specialist work?
Jim, I’m not holding my breath. I’m an eternal optimist, but we were here 3 years ago. The Sheriff’s commission did a consultation, we knew what we wanted.
We needed, as you say, to engage a specialist to look at how you make a visitor attraction work. This can’t be run by the Council. Everyone in the know knows this! So why do we keep plodding on. Ted Cantle told me it was all about ‘small steps’, but at this rate we will never get there. This to me looks like another announcement!
Another interesting blog and its no surprise the visitor numbers have dropped at the “Castle”- whats there? Not a lot and not much worth seeing and certainly nothing worth going back for – esp at £5.50. Nearby though is a much better Nottingham attraction – the Galleries of Justice where you do get exactly what you pay for and probably more besides. Had a great few hours there some years back. It starts with a visit to the police station where you are told you wont be going home! You are then taken into the old court room where you are allowed to take part in a trial – wow, audience participation! When I was there it was trial from the Luddite riots of the 1820s. You can then self – explore the cells and rooms at the back of the building and visit the courtyard where executions took place.There are actors around too in costume and in role -just like at Plymouth Plantation in your pic. Its something like this which is needed at the “Castle”, those paying £5.50 have an expectation they will get something for their money. The main characters from the legend should be there, there should be the odd display, stunt or fight and there is space on the green. Of course none of this will happen unless the Council hand the site over to some organisation with vision and ideas. Can you imagine what Disney or indeed a UK film studio could do with that site? It would bring in huge numbers of tourists who would then leave with a smile on their face. It wouldnt hurt Nottingham’s reputation either. I visited the old Robin Hood attraction on Maid Marian way many years back. There was some controversy about the odd dialect used but at least it did try to tell the story and entertain Joe Public. Dont know why it shut down but tourists coming to the city would have been better served by that experience than the dull-as-ditchwater offering currently available up at the “Castle”. Like cowanglobal, I wont be holding my breath though…..public servants have no reason to be enterprising and forward looking when they get paid just for turning up to meetings and also now have gold plated pensions part funded by the taxpayer………
Thanks, I just find the whole issue of the Caslte / Robin Hood story frustrating. It seems so obvious to most ordinary folks that this is Nottingham’s greatest asset which for some reason we don’t use? I’m pleased there is some progress, but if I am honest we are not much further forward than we were in 2009 – when I was part of the Sheriff’s Commission. We don’t need any more reports – we need builders on site!
Tim – managed to find a web page about the closure of TALES of ROBIN HOOD in 2009 on Maid Marian Way. There was a prophetic warning in the article in that it was felt that .. “Nottingham will “fall off tourist map” after closure of Tales of Robin Hood” Ok three years on the chickens seem to have come home to roost. The Council failed to help this attraction, the landlord jerked up the rents enormously and so it shut down with a loss of local jobs. If the Council keeps on acting like King John ie raking in all those extra taxes but not helping out an important local business it will take a real life Robin Hood to come along and redistribute some of the undoubted wealth the council almost certainly has squirreled away in secret bank accounts…..They saved Notts County, why cant they help Robin?
Here is the link to the website about the closure of Tales of Robin Hood
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Nottingham-fall-tourist-map-closure-Tales-Robin-Hood/story-12271988-detail/story.html
Yes, worrying – there is another story in tonights Post about people going into a shop asking about Robin Hood. The Tales was privately run and wasn’t great – it had run its course – and needed a massive injection. But the longer we go on considering the options we lose our place on the map!