Last chance to book early bird tickets for our famous Christmas pub crawl, we may have a subterranean exploration as well! www.zigzag.tours for tickets. Limited supply.
David our resident blogger has written a review of our fabulous Derwent Valley Tour.
The trip to the Derwent Valley a few weeks ago was a wonderful way
to round off ZigZag’s touring season. About 20 of us – many already
known from previous tours this year – met at Nottingham Station,
for the trip to Derby. Here we met the remainder of the party and
then journeyed on to Belper, where we met Barry Joyce. Barry’s
energy and commitment is what led the drive – over five long years
until 2001 - to have the Derwent Valley Mills added to the UNESCO
World Heritage List.
Without an enthusiastic and knowledgeable leader to provide the
commentary, you may well look, but see and appreciate nothing.
Barry is that commentator, both in Belper and later in the day at
Cromford.
We learnt that thanks to entrepreneur Jedediah Strutt (2 nd half of
the 18 th century) and several generations of his family, Belper
became the first mechanised cotton spinning town in the world – and
led the way in developing fire-proof construction methods. These
then enabled the design of the first skyscrapers in America.
After Belper, then Cromford and the world of Sir Richard
Arkwright.
In Cromford, Arkwright took mechanisation and industrialisation
many steps further. This enabled him to employ large numbers of
unskilled workers (many of them children as young as seven) for the
process of producing cotton yarn suitable for spinning into cloth.
They came from areas further afield and so needed housing, so
Arkwright built them rows of cottages, which still stand today.
Just like the innovations launched by the Strutts in Belper, this
housing was also a new concept, seen now as "the first factory
housing development in the world".
We looked, we saw and, thanks to Barry, we understood and
appreciated the historical importance of the Derwent Valley, the
long battle to get it UNESCO listing, and the religious tensions
underlying these developments.
And yet we had plenty of time to a
David our resident blogger has written a review of our fabulous Derwent Valley Tour.
The trip to the Derwent Valley a few weeks ago was a wonderful way
to round off ZigZag’s touring season. About 20 of us – many already
known from previous tours this year – met at Nottingham Station,
for the trip to Derby. Here we met the remainder of the party and
then journeyed on to Belper, where we met Barry Joyce. Barry’s
energy and commitment is what led the drive – over five long years
until 2001 - to have the Derwent Valley Mills added to the UNESCO
World Heritage List.
Without an enthusiastic and knowledgeable leader to provide the
commentary, you may well look, but see and appreciate nothing.
Barry is that commentator, both in Belper and later in the day at
Cromford.
We learnt that thanks to entrepreneur Jedediah Strutt (2 nd half of
the 18 th century) and several generations of his family, Belper
became the first mechanised cotton spinning town in the world – and
led the way in developing fire-proof construction methods. These
then enabled the design of the first skyscrapers in America.
After Belper, then Cromford and the world of Sir Richard
Arkwright.
In Cromford, Arkwright took mechanisation and industrialisation
many steps further. This enabled him to employ large numbers of
unskilled workers (many of them children as young as seven) for the
process of producing cotton yarn suitable for spinning into cloth.
They came from areas further afield and so needed housing, so
Arkwright built them rows of cottages, which still stand today.
Just like the innovations launched by the Strutts in Belper, this
housing was also a new concept, seen now as "the first factory
housing development in the world".
We looked, we saw and, thanks to Barry, we understood and
appreciated the historical importance of the Derwent Valley, the
long battle to get it UNESCO listing, and the religious tensions
underlying these developments.
And yet we had plenty of time to a
Great Notts Weekender
A weekend cycle tour in Nottingham.
Culture, Heritage, Food and Wine.
Date: Friday 23, Saturday 24, Sunday 25 September
Start/Finish: Nottingham
Duration: 3 days
Difficulty: easy/medium
Highlights: South Notts villages, Stilton cheese, locally made wine, canal paths, country lanes, old railway tracks, Grade I listed buildings, castles, industry, architecture.
Ever fancied a weekend in Nottingham? Love Cycling? Exploring Nottingham by bike with local guides is a great way to explore. Our weekender is designed to see as much as possible at a leisurely pace, filling you full of information and good food.
Our expert guides have put together three tours based on history, architecture, food and wine which will leave you wanting more. A discount is available when booking all three tours.
Itinerary:
Friday 23 September – 1845 Nottingham Enclosure Act tour
On Friday, we kick start the weekend with some mid-nineteenth century urban history and the 1845 Nottingham Enclosure Act, followed by a light dinner and glass of natural wine at one of Zig Zag’s favourite dining establishments, Little Brickhouse, a true slice of the continental.
Time: 17:30 – 20:00
Start: Broadway Cinema, Nottingham, NG1 3AL
Finish: Little Brickhouse Restaurant, Nottingham, NG1 5FB
Duration: 2.5 hours
Distance: 10 km
Difficulty: easy/medium
Surface: tarmac, quiet roads where possible
Included in the price: light dinner and glass of natural wine at Little Brickhouse Restaurant
Saturday 24 September – Food & Wine tour
On Saturday, we will explore South Nottinghamshire and a number of historic villages with medieval origins, to sample the local cheeses (including the world famous stilton), including a visit to Hanwell Wine Estate, Nottinghamshire’s best vineyard, where we stop for lunch with the chance to sample some fantastic wines. We will then meander back towards Nottingham at a leisurely pace.
Time: 10:00 – 16:00
Start/Finish: Zig Zag, Nottingham, NG3 2DG
Duration: 6 hours
Distanc
