All Over The Place
Maximus had arrived by train the previous evening, and Saturday was going to involve us running all over the place. Some of that running would even be literal.
There were several things on the agenda. She was heading into Nottingham for the Stray Kids World Tour “RUN IT” live viewing at the cinema, Forest were playing Manchester City at 5:30, and of course it was Saturday, so there was the small matter of parkrun.
I’d already decided that the late football kick-off meant there wasn’t much point dropping Maximus at a station afterwards. I might as well drive her all the way home. That was going to make for a very long day, but that was a problem for Future Me.
Colwick Calling
For parkrun I chose Colwick, one of the two closest start points in England, the other being the newer Holme Pierrepont, which I ran earlier in the year. That event is just across the Trent. Colwick therefore needed to be ticked off sooner or later, and today was as good a day as any.
The course itself was good. It’s almost entirely on tarmac, with just a short section of trail, which is more or less how the official description sells it. Better still, it was pretty-much dead flat. Finding the start from the car park was slightly more challenging. The facilities weren’t exactly thrust under your nose either. The advertised café turned out to be a tin shack halfway around the course, and I only spotted the toilet while actually running past it. Fortunately, neither was desperately required.
I got round in about 33 minutes, which was perfectly acceptable. Venue 83. Boom!
Into Nottingham
Maximus was meeting her friend at Nottingham Station as soon as possible after 10am, and we arrived at about 10:15. I decided I might as well leave the car there for the whole day. It cost no more than parking at the Embankment, I could leave it there all day, and getting away afterwards wouldn’t be any worse. Besides, I quite like the walk back up London Road towards the City Ground. It somehow feels more like going to Forest did when I was a kid and travelled in by train.
First, though, I needed breakfast. I stopped at 200 Degrees on Carrington Street for a sandwich, pastry and coffee, all of which hit the spot nicely.
It was also my first proper look around central Nottingham in I genuinely don’t know how long. Quite a lot has changed.
For a start, the Broad Marsh Bus Station has been thoroughly jazzed up, and the whole Broad Marsh area is in the middle of a huge transformation. The new bus station and adjoining car park are already complete, while redevelopment of the wider area continues. The old shopping centre is disappearing too, while the brutalist NCP car park at the bottom of Maid Marian Way was in the process of being demolished. So this end of Nottingham looks very different from the city I remember.
Even the station looks different, having been cleaned up and acquired trams, although underneath it all it’s still recognisably the same building.
Straying Around Nottingham
Anyway, back at the plot, I was obviously doing a bit of caching. Maximus had disappeared to watch Stray Kids for much of the afternoon, leaving me free until about 3:30, when she was due to finish straying.
I wandered through the Old Market Square and into the Lace Market for a while, then worked my way around the top end of the Victoria Centre. Eventually that brought me towards the Royal Centre and the cinema where Maximus was busily enjoying herself.
From there I headed along Upper Parliament Street towards Maid Marian Way, which marked the greatest extent of my wanderings. I returned through the Old Market Square and eventually started making my way back towards the station.
“Wanderings” might be slightly generous, though. My ankle had decided to hurt again and, brilliantly, I’d left the ankle support in the car. Consequently my pace wasn’t exactly electric and I spent a fair amount of the afternoon hobbling around Nottingham.
Brace Yourself
I needed to return to the car anyway. My bag needed dropping off, and I had to retrieve Maximus’s coat and Forest shirt before the football. I reached the station at about 2:30, where I also treated myself to the radical medical intervention of actually putting my ankle brace on. I bought some painkillers as well.
Remarkably, doing sensible things helped.
Rather than hobble another mile back towards the cinema, I decided to try the tram. What a wonderful invention. Everywhere should have them.
I waited about two minutes, jumped aboard and in less than five minutes had covered a journey that would have taken my increasingly argumentative ankle considerably longer on foot. I was actually early, so retired to Caffè Nero outside the cinema for coffee and a sit down.
Technology. Public transport. Chairs. All magnificent things.
To the Football
Maximus and I had already agreed that we’d get a taxi to the football because time would be relatively tight. I ordered one, it arrived within ten minutes and we set off towards Trent Bridge.
Progress was somewhat hindered by the roadworks around Maid Marian Way, where demolition of the old car park was causing considerable traffic disruption. Eventually the driver dropped us just over Trent Bridge with about 75 minutes until kick-off. Plenty of time, therefore, for a visit to the club shop before heading into the City Ground.
And then the football happened.
I’m not saying this lightly, but it was by far the best performance I’ve seen from a Forest team since I started going regularly again nearly two years ago. I’ve seen Forest win in that time. I’ve seen them win big. What I hadn’t seen was them comprehensively beat a genuinely top-quality side in quite the way they did against Manchester City.
Top result. A few more of those and we’ll be laughing.
The Long Road Home
The walk back to Nottingham Station was easy enough, but arriving at the car merely revealed the next stage of proceedings.
There was a lot of driving ahead.
We broke the journey at Leicester Forest East services to get some food. While we were there, in one of those slightly surreal motorway service station moments, Phil Foden turned up with his family and sat in the public area eating fast food just like the rest of us. Apparently Premier League footballers also experience Leicester Forest East.
The journey onwards wasn’t particularly pleasant because fog had started to descend. I also wasn’t travelling my familiar route towards Milton Keynes any more. The house there has finally been sold, and Kas now lives in Olney, so that was our destination.
The journey there was straightforward enough. The journey back was rather more tedious. The fog became thicker and the M1 had been limited to 50mph for much of the way. Eventually I arrived home at quarter past midnight.
After spending so long sitting in the car I wasn’t remotely ready to go straight to bed. Some decompression was required. So I sat down and watched the highlights of the Forest game. More than once. Obviously.
It had been a ridiculously busy day: parkrun, Nottingham, caching, Stray Kids logistics, a dodgy ankle, trams, taxis, football and several hours of foggy motorway driving. But it had also been one of the most enjoyable days I’d had in ages.
